Things Revealed...

The first verse of the Bible tells us much about the character and nature of God. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Far removed from modern evidential apologetic methods, the Bible never once attempts to “prove” God’s existence. Throughout the entire canon of Scripture, God’s existence is presumed. Because of this, the Bible gives its readers the proper understanding and context for the “infinite and finite” dilemma. An infinite God could never prove Himself by mere finite methods and devices. The Bible is consistent throughout its pages in defining God as the ultimate reality. If God would appeal to finite human reasoning—which is a gift and an approximation of his own thinking—then He would be showing that a higher standard exists by which even He is judged. Hebrews 6:13 quickly puts this notion to rest: “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.”

Another important point that we learn from Genesis 1:1 is that God is outside of time. “In the beginning, God…” God is there before the beginning. This cannot happen in a finite space, time, and matter continuum. Genesis 1:1 reveals God is wholly separate and distinct from His creation. His attributes and existence are not dependent upon the creation, quite the opposite in fact. Without Him there would be no us. The finite needs the infinite, not the other way around.

As the world-order is not self-created, so also it is not self-sustaining, as God is. The universe is constantly upheld by God; without this activity of the divine Son (Col 1:17; Heb. 1:3), every creature of every kind, including ourselves, would cease to be… God is not “in” space or time; space and time are dimensions of the created order, and God is not bound by them as we are. He is able to act in the created order in ways that are not accessible to our understanding.1

Since God, by biblical definition, is not bound by His creation parameters, it stands to reason that we need Him to reveal Himself to us. And this is exactly what He has done through His Word. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29). In this often-misquoted verse, God is telling His finite creation that there are certain things that we’ll never understand about Him, and His infinitude and eternality are among them. But we are given a revelation from Him—His Word—that we are to comprehend and, in fact, belongs to us for our benefit. Far from being an “out” or a plea to finite ignorance, this verse teaches that we are expected to understand what God has revealed—the infinite to the finite. While this verse is often used as a way to explain away our inability to understand God’s self-revelation, it actually teaches the exact opposite. The book of Hebrews teaches that it is only the Word of God that is able to pierce “as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The infinite can fully understand the finite, but the finite will try in futility to fully comprehend the infinite. “Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isaiah 29:16).

Genesis 1:1 sets the tone for the entire Bible. The biblical God is infinite and outside of His creation. Yet, He is also personal and intimately involved with His creation:

God is immanently present as the sustaining cause of the universe… Without God’s creative sustenance, the world would not exist. Traditionally this doctrine has been called creation ex nihilo (“out of nothing”). By “out of nothing” theists mean that there would have been nothing unless He had made something…ex nihilo creation stresses the radical contingency of everything other than God. God alone is a Necessary Being. That is to say, He is a Being that cannot not be. Everything else in the universe is contingent (something that can not be). But what can not be must be created in order for it to exist; it must pass from non-being to being.2

This radical concept from the Bible that the Infinite has revealed Himself to the finite has wreaked havoc both inside and outside the church. Next week we will take a cursory look at several instances in church history where this clash has occurred.

Read: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

1 “God the Creator,” The Reformation Study Bible (Ligonier Ministries: Orlando, FL, 2005), 868.

2 Norman L. Geisler and Paul D. Feinberg, Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective (Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI, 1980), 272-273.

Eric Rauch is the Director of Communications at American Vision.