Articles
Is God Limited?
“The greatness of God far exceeds the limited ways in which we see Him. In all the good things that grow out of love, it is we who are limited, not God” (Gary Henry).
Think about that: it is we who are limited, not God. Yet we act and talk like it is the other way around, that it is God who is limited. Our experience level is limited, but we measure the unlimited by our limitations. We get to thinking that because we can’t do a particular thing, then God can’t do it, either. We read God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can ask or think, but because we are not able to do that, God must be limited, too. In other words, we think those are nice words to read but not reality.
Think, would we expect a doctor to tell us the cure for an incurable disease is to dip in a muddy river seven times? Would we expect a General to tell his troops the path to victory is to march around walls thirteen times and then blow their trumpets? Would we expect man’s greatest malady to find its remedy in a man dying on a cross? Yet those are all things God said to do.
God loves to demonstrate His wisdom by letting wise men think they are wiser than He is. However, all those who think themselves wiser than God find out how foolish they really are. Belshazzar thought he was mightier and wiser than God. He was foolish. His father Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way, that as powerful as he was, he was a pigmy compared to the might and power of God.
Man is not going to manipulate God. Man gets to thinking God is like him. We barter with each other. We lie to each other. We take advantage of each other. We squash each other to climb higher. Therefore, we must be able to do that with God. God is not like man. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours. But His thoughts and ways do not have to continue to be higher than ours. He has revealed Himself so that His thoughts and ways can become our thoughts and ways. The objective is for man to become like Him, not for Him become like man. We are to become who He is.
Consider, He is righteous, therefore we know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him (1 John 2:29). We practice righteousness to become righteous like Him. God is love and everyone who loves is born of God (1 John 4:7). We demonstrate love until we become love. God is pure (1 John 3:3). Therefore, we purify ourselves to be as pure as He is. God is holy, therefore we become holy (1 Pet. 1:16).
The greatness of God is not simply found in His power, but in who He is. Who He is exceeds who man is. In all good things that grow out of love, God is not limited. It is man who is limited. To be sure, we will never be as powerful or omniscient as He is, but we can become who He is in heart, soul, mind, and character.
Man needs for God to be on His level so he won’t feel so guilty about sinning against God. See, if God is limited like me, then I don’t feel so bad about my limitations, i.e., my sins. But we are called to be someone higher. We are called to be like Him.
Rickie Jenkins
