God is utterly beyond any description. We must therefore employ two sideways means of describing Him. Firstly, we say that He is beyond what we can conceive. We say that,
God is omniscient—He knows everything.God is omnipotent—He is all-powerful.
God is omnipresent—He is everywhere.
Each example here contains the root ‘omni-’ which means ‘all’. We need this mindset because it warns us not to conceive God as being ignorant, weak, or in any way bounded. Such images would be too human and would therefore not be real.
Alternatively, it is sometimes easier to describe what God is not. For example, we could say:
God is infinite—His majesty and glory are beyond any imaginings.
God is eternal—He exists outside of time.
God is immortal—He was not born and will not die.
God is invisible—He cannot be seen by any physical means.
God is ineffable—He cannot be described.
Each of these descriptions imply a common misrepresentation of God —He is visible, He is mortal, and so on. Each error is incorrect because it shares they each portray a God made in our own image. We end up worshipping a God who is human and simply not real.
Both these approaches are somewhat abstract. One says that God is everything and the other says that God is not something. They all use words that veer between bland and everyday or shockingly new. In effect, these omni- descriptions and the negative classifications act together like the fencing that defines the perimeter round a vast field in which God resides. Those boundaries help exclude ineligible images of God and whatever remains contains some truth however hard it is to find.
Therefore, as we grow as Christians, we must force ourselves to confront our images of God. Our maturing depends on letting them go, which itself means trusting Him more.
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