Surpassing Knowledge
In Job 11:7, a rhetorical question is asked: “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?” It is both a statement of sober realization that as humans we will never fully understand God, and also a statement of just how magnificent and glorious God is. The thought is continued in verses 8-9: “It is higher than heaven--what can you do? Deeper than Sheol--what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.” God is simply too complex for us to fully wrap our minds around, and anything we might compare God to is insignificant in comparison.
In the ancient letter commonly called First Clement, written by a bishop of Rome in the early second century, I was struck by a statement Clement made as he was describing in his own words the extent of God’s power. He said: “The heavens, being put in motion by his appointment, are subject to him in peace; night and day accomplish the course ordered by him, in nothing hindering one another…The unsearchable things of the abyss, and the secret ordinances of the lower parts of the earth, are held together by the same command...The ocean, impassable to men, and the worlds that are beyond it, are governed by the same commandments of their Master…All these things the great Maker and Master of all things hath appointed to be in peace and harmony, doing good unto all things, but more especially unto us, who have fled for refuge to his mercies, through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and majesty for ever and ever. Amen.” (First Clement 20.1-2, 5, 8, 11-12, emphasis added)
What struck me was that we live beyond “the ocean impassable to men” as Clement understood the world. Our everyday life, what is ordinary for us, life on the American continent, was “the worlds that are beyond” to Clement of Rome. For Clement, the impassable seas were a physical statement of God’s power and unknowable-ness. He had no idea what if anything might lay beyond the ocean impassable. For us, it’s just where we live, mundane and normal. What once was unknowable and mysterious is now commonplace humdrum. Does that mean that because we have explored and learned more about the world in the 1900 or so years sense Clement that God has lost his mystery?
A more contemporary author referred to images of galaxies captured by satellite telescopes. “When I first saw those images, I had to worship… I just wanted to sit quietly and admire the Creator. It’s wild to think that most of these galaxies have been discovered only in the past few years, thanks to the Hubble telescope. They’ve been in the universe for thousands of years without humans even knowing about them.” (Francis Chan, Crazy Love pg. 26)
It’s amazing to me that a writer from California, a land that was only in the wildest imagination of a Roman 1900 years ago, can still find things in this universe to be amazed in, and find the unmistakable, inexpressible glory of the Creator. The more we learn about this wonderful universe that God created, the more we discover, and the more we come to understand, we also find that there is even more that we do not know. Every generation that explores more of God’s creation, only finds more to praise God for. The discovery of more of this world does not diminish God, in fact, it does the opposite.
David wrote about this phenomenon in one of his psalms: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:6-10)
The more we discover of this universe that God created, the more we discover just how awesome and majestic our God is. Not only that, we discover the lovingkindness and mercy of God. Though his presence is exceedingly great, his love is greater still.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)
Should our descendants discover extraordinary things about this world far into the future, should they set foot on planets we can only see dimly through telescopes, should they live with extraordinary technology that to us would be science fiction, but to them is just prosaic, the love of Christ will be greater still. And through the love of Christ we (and our descendants far into the future as God may ordain) may be filled with all the fullness of God. And the fullness of God, as we have seen, is very full indeed.
