Unfathomable

Romans 11:33-36

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Our Bible reading today comes from Romans Chapter 11, beginning with verse 33.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

When we try to comprehend a little bit of who God is, it’s really difficult for us. It’s such a tremendous contrast to who we are. You know, we can think of the power of a level four tornado and how immense that seems to us. And yet to God, that’s just like the motion of his little finger. Or think if you went to the beach, if you were to scoop up a huge pail of sand and try to imagine sitting down and counting out all those little grains of sand as if that was somehow representative of years. And to think that God has been around longer than any little pebble of sand in the world. Or we think about feats of strength, human strength that people can do, trying to pull vehicles and trucks, some of these really strong men that do that. But to think of the awesome power of God that he can move mountains simply with his breath. Or I think of a sixth grader who can just spell words amazingly with just tremendous knowledge. And yet how tiny that gift seems to be when you compare it to God and all of his knowledge. Or the size of the universe, and to think that the Earth is so small that we can’t even think about how tiny it is and everything else out there. And to God, that’s just part of the great expanse of his entire creation.

No wonder Paul, in the book of Romans, says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. What a contrast between this enormous, immense being God and us frail little human beings. And a lot of times, because we cannot see God and we sense this huge contrast between us and Him. It’s easy for us to be very afraid of God. It’s very natural thing. In fact, if you look at most religions that are designed in the world by people, you’ll find that they try to figure out some way to appease this God. They try to find some way to make this God happy because there’s a sense that somehow he’s angry with us and there’s something just not right.

But when we look at biblical Christianity, when we look at how God has designed a religion for us, it’s completely the opposite. When he comes and speaks to us, certainly he makes us aware of our sinfulness, but when he comes and speaks to us, it’s nothing but his love and his grace and his mercy. It’s coming from an and completely different perspective, rather than trying to build a ladder from us up to God to try to reach Him. He has dropped down a ladder through the work of his Son and all the wonderful things that Christ has now come to accomplish for us.

And so this enormous God out there has chosen to find you and to find me through the message of the Gospel. I remember one of my seminary professors used to say it like this. The plan of salvation. In other words, to get us to heaven. The Plan of salvation is so personally designed that even if you were the only person to have ever lived in the world, he still would have carried it out. He still would have sent Christ, even if you were the only person that had ever lived. He chose to enter world history for us. Become our brother. Take all of the guilt of my sin and your sin on himself. When he suffered and died on the cross to rise again, victorious from the grave, and then ascend back up into heaven and promises to go there to make an amazing place for us.

In the book of Romans here that I’m reading from Saint Paul talks about how all three persons of the Trinity have been involved in this amazing work to ultimately get us to our home in heaven. And that’s why Paul concludes with these words. When we see a reflection of the Trinity, for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom we glory forever. Amen.