Take time today to think about who and what God really is

Romans 11:33-36 (NASB)

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again?  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be the glory forever. Amen. 

One morning while driving to work I listened to a radio preacher who emphasized the great importance of worshipping and praising God consistently and persistently.  Why?  Because that’s what you will do when you enter heaven and what you will do for eternity (Revelation 5:11-13).  Romans 11:33-36 gives a great example of worship and praise of almighty God.  It is called Paul’s doxology (hymn of praise).  Paul had just written in Romans 9-11 that God has not forgotten His promises to the Jews.   God will save Israel just as He has reached out to save the Gentiles as Paul had written In Romans 1-8.  Paul is filled with such awe and wonder of the love and sovereignty of God where He offers salvation to both Gentile and Jew through Jesus Christ that he writes these glowing words of praise.  Haven’t you ever felt such gratitude and respect for what God has done in and through your life that you cannot contain yourself?  You have to extend your arms and shout high praise to God for what He has done in your life through all His blessings to you.  This is the imagery of the attitude of Paul as he writes these closing words in Romans 11. 

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God”.  How would you describe the riches of God?  What is He rich in?  Well, of course, it is written here that He is rich in wisdom and knowledge, but what else?  Rich in mercy, grace, faithfulness, peace, power, provision, forgiveness, goodness, love and an endless number of other characteristics.  The depth of His wisdom and knowledge?  Well, Paul quotes Job 5:9 that such depth is limitless, infinite, and incomparable.  His knowledge is described as omniscient, meaning that God has total, infinite, and perfect knowledge of everything past, present and future (Psalm 147:5, Isa 40:28).

How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways.  No one can figure Him out.  I was reading the early chapters of Exodus where God was telling Moses what Moses needed to do to convince Pharaoh to release the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt.  Yet while Moses was trying to do this, the Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not give in.  Why would God do that?   Why would God destroy Job’s family?  Why does God allow good people to suffer?  Why does God put up with evil?  Why does God love people who hate Him?  Why does God work through people to do His work on earth rather than do it Himself?  Why is the shedding of blood necessary for the forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22)?  So many questions like these…..they all demonstrate how unsearchable and unfathomable are His ways. 

Who knows the mind of God, who can ever be His counselor?  No one.  Basically who is greater and mightier and smarter and more powerful than God?  No one.  Only He deserves glory for all that He is and does even if our finite minds cannot explain or comprehend much, if any, of His will and ways.

Remember the movie “Rudy”?  Rudy had been rejected from Notre Dame for the umpteenth time despite all his sacrifices to get accepted.  He’s sitting in a church pew as depressed as can be.  A priest comes in and Rudy basically asks the priest “Why?”  Remember the priest’s answer?  “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him.” To me, that is what Paul is exclaiming in Romans 11:33-36.