It has been said by some one that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with the solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God. We shall be obliged to feel
“Great God, how infinite art thou,
What worthless worms are we!”
But while the subject humbles the mind it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. He may be a naturalist, boasting of his ability to dissect a beetle, anatomize a fly, or arrange insects and animals in classes with well nigh unutterable names; he may be a geologist, able to discourse of the megatherium and the plesiosaurus, and all kinds of extinct animals; he may imagine that his science, whatever it is, ennobles and enlarges his mind. I dare say it does, but after all, the most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. And, whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatary. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrows? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.
Incomprehensible
What do we mean when we say that God is incomprehensible?
It means three things:
- God is utterly beyond us, and we cannot learn anything about Him unless He chooses to reveal it to us.
- Our knowledge of God, though accurate, is partial.
- The knowledge we do have about God from His revelation will contain mysteries.
If God is incomprehensible, then why do we study Him?
We study Him because He has invited such study by giving us a revelation of who He is.
Infinite
What is meant by saying God is infinite?
This means that God’s communicable attributes have no limits except those limits which He has placed on Himself.
Explain this:
You can take any of God’s communicable attributes and find something of that attribute in human persons. In humans, however, this attribute always has its limits. In God, however, these limits are entirely removed.
- Humans know some things, but God’s knowledge is not limited by anything. He knows all things.
- Human justice is limited because our knowledge is limited, but God is omniscient; and therefore, His justice is perfect.
- Humans have wisdom, but God’s wisdom never comes up against something that He can’t figure out.
- Humans are faithful, but God’s faithfulness never flags or fails.
Eternal
What does it mean to say that God is eternal?