God is Infinite

It is very difficult to grasp that God is infinite, let alone try to explain it. The bible says that this is a real attribute of God and a part of His nature.  He has infinite knowledge, infinite wisdom, infinite resources, and infinite power. Definition of infinite means limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate. God knows no restrictions of space, ability, or power. There are no edges or limits to His presence, nor are there pockets where he is absent. Neither is there any place where God is not supreme. God is an inexhaustible source of wisdom, counsel, and knowledge. He has no bounds, no boundaries, to Himself in any area of His being.

We try with our human words to state who He is and what He is like. But there is no one and nothing on earth like Him. Whatever God is and all that God is, He is without limit. Infinitude can belong to but One. There can be no second.

I Kings 8:27 – “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.” Ps 147:5 – “Great is our Lord and mighty in power, His understanding has no limit.” Ps 119:96 – “To all perfection I see a limit but your commands are boundless.” Job 11:7-9 – Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? 

A.W. Tozer says, “the word infinite can only be applied to God. No created thing is infinite in any way and that is why it is so difficult for us to understand with our limited minds. Here are a few attempts to find Him infinite in creation: math, biology, and space. 

• Math. We know it exists because we even have a symbol in math that looks like the number 8 laying on its side which means infinite. Think of the largest number possible and then there is always one more. But God is innumerable.
• Biology. We once thought the smallest thing on earth was the cell until we found the atom, then we found protons in the atom, and now quarks within the proton. Can it even go smaller? I’ll bet with an infinite God it can.
• Space. They just keep finding more and more, trillions more galaxies in our universe. But God is above it all, outside of it all and beyond it all.

God is measureless and incalculable. There are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. You cannot put God in a measured box. He cannot be measured and He has no boundaries. The created limited world screams that only an unlimited God could have created it.

Jesus' riches are unsearchable. His infinite mercy “extends to those who fear Him (Luke 1:50). “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound through Jesus.” Tozer says, “The gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus is as limitless as God.” Ps 86:5 – You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” Nothing can separate us from His love. He has enough love to cover the whole earth and beyond. It is boundless.

Tozer says, “If you create God in your own image, it will be an image you can understand and you will never think of Him as infinite. When we create God in our own image then he can never surprise us, never overwhelm us, not astonish us, or transcend us.” 

John 3:34 – “God gives the Holy Spirit without limit.” Through he Holy Spirit unlimited truth is available to all believers. But when you have an unlimited God on your side, this opens up the impossible. Impossible become possible with and infinite God. 

It is impossible for a limited mind to grasp the Unlimited God, but we have to try. It is worthwhile to study about this infinite God. Even if we cannot know Him fully, based on what we do know, we can truly appreciate and praise Him for His infiniteness.

Transcript

Intro to Attribute

It is very difficult to grasp that God is infinite, let alone try to explain it. I know from the onset our efforts will be feeble at best. So why try? Because the bible says that this is a real attribute of God and a part of His nature. So, we ask the Holy Spirit to open our minds to understand the truth that God is infinite. And as we have stated, one attribute is connected and flows in concert with all of His other attributes so we need to understand this one too so we can grasp that His infiniteness is applied to all the others such as He has infinite knowledge, infinite wisdom, infinite resources, and infinite power.

To avoid confusion because I was confused, lets first understand the difference between eternal and infinite. Eternal means lasts forever, referring to time. Infinite means has no limit, referring to pretty much anything.

Definition of infinite means limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate. God is truly infinite, knowing no restrictions of space, ability, or power. He is everywhere. There are no edges or limits to His presence, nor are there pockets where he is absent. Neither is there any place where God is not supreme, for He governs all. He is like a deep abyss of divinity. God is an inexhaustible source of wisdom, counsel, and knowledge. He has no bounds, no boundaries, to Himself in any area of His being.

We try with our human words to state who He is and what He is like. But there is no one and nothing on earth like Him. All we can say sometimes is that He is glorious, majestic, all powerful, or vast but I’m afraid the greatest words or highest praise we can find fall infinitely short of who He really is. To be honest, I am glad that we cannot describe Him fully. He is greater than all language, than all expression of thought. If we could define Him in a statement that encompasses all He is, then we might think we know Him fully. And it is my personal opinion that we will never know Him fully even in heaven because we will never be equal to God. We won’t be infinite, but He will always be infinite.

Whatever God is and all that God is, He is without limit. Infinitude can belong to but One. There can be no second.

I.        How God is revealed through the Word

Here is a hint when studying God word or searching for something in the bible. Had to search different versions with different words: Infinite not in NIV. Unlimited, limitless, without measure, unsearchable, boundless, never ending, fathomless, inestimable, indeterminable. So here are some of the verses I found:

I Kings 8:27 – “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.”

Ps 147:5 – “Great is our Lord and mighty in power, His understanding has no limit.”

Ps 119:96 – “To all perfection I see a limit but your commands are boundless.” 

Jer 33:3 – Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know, hidden things unknown to you.

Rom 11:33 - O, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!

Job 11:7-9 – Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

Other verses: No one can fathom His understanding; Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?; no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end; His greatness no one can fathom; He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed and miracles that cannot be counted.

Consider this, there may even be attributes of God that we know nothing about. Maybe they will be revealed to us in heaven or not. We can only know what He has revealed to us. It should be enough to know that God is God period. He gets to decide what He reveals.

II.      How God is revealed through Creation

In our English language we use synonyms of the word infinite in different ways like saying someone has unlimited wealth but of course that isn’t correct by the true definition of the word. Tozer says, “the word infinite can only be applied to God. No created thing is infinite in any way and that is why it is so difficult for us to understand with our limited minds. 

But as I said, I would try and the closest I could come up with is in regards to math, biology, and space. 

ü  Math. It appears that we know it exists because we even have a symbol in math that looks like the number 8 laying on its side which means infinite. Think of the largest number possible and then there is always one more. Now think in the negative, -3, -300, -3 million, then in that direction there is also always one more. But even with that God is innumerable.

ü  Biology. As mentioned in God is Creator, years back we thought the smallest thing on earth was the cell until we found the atom within the cell, then we found protons, neutrons and electrons in the atom, and today we found quarks within the proton. Can it even go smaller? I’ll bet with an infinite God it can.

ü  Space. They just keep finding more and more, trillions more galaxies in our universe. But God is above it all, outside of it all and beyond it all.

Other words for saying God is infinite is to say that He is measureless and incalculable, or you can say He is without measure and cannot be counted. In our created world we use measurements to calculate amount, weight, gallons, distance, circumference, area, acres, mass, speed, even time. But none of this can be applied to God. There are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small.

As we have been trying to say all along, you cannot put God in a measured box. And this attribute truly proves this point. He cannot be measured and He has no boundaries. I feel that His created limited world screams that only an unlimited God could have created it.

III.    How God is revealed through Jesus

Eph 3:8 – Paul was “to preach to the Gentiles unsearchable riches of Christ.” I want to talk about three of the unsearchable riches of Jesus that I truly appreciate are that His mercy is limitless, there are no bounds to His grace, and His love is never ending.

MERCY: When we take the time to consider the weight of our sin, His infinite mercy the bible says “extends to those who fear Him (Luke 1:50). Without this mercy, we know the consequences of our sin is eternal death. We are finitely sick so to speak but God cures us through the shed blood of His Son. One of the unsearchable riches of Christ is that He suffered so we don’t have to. He faced the punishment that we deserved.

GRACE: It is another unsearchable riches of Christ. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound through Jesus.” Sin should bring great concern but the grace of Jesus brings us hope. God’s abundant provision of grace is a gift to us through Jesus. Tozer says, “The gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus is as limitless as God.  Those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. Eternal life is to know Jesus and the One true God who sent Him.”

LOVE: Ps 86:5 – You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” One of the unsearchable riches of Christ is that we are tethered to Christ and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:35). Since He represents the very nature of God, He also has an infinite love. Enough love to cover the whole earth and beyond. It is boundless.

Jesus prayed specifically to God in John 17 that He wants us to be one, he said, “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.” He means for us to share in His limitlessness for eternity. And for sure if God is going to answer any prayer that Jesus prayed.

IV.   How God is revealed through your Heart

Tozer says, “If you create God in your own image, it will be an image you can understand and you will never think of Him as infinite. When we create God in our own image then he can never surprise us, never overwhelm us, not astonish us, or transcend us.” And this is one of God’s favorite things to do for us. He will give you a bonus at work just when you need to make repairs on your car. You can be in worship and He will give you a vision of angels. These are just two small things He has done for me. Open up your mind to this infinite God and see what amazing things He will do for you. He can bring you from the natural into the supernatural.

When we think about how unlimited God is, it definitely brings to the forefront all of our limitations in our short lives here on earth. We have limited resources, patience, and physical strength. People around us try to limit us too. Think about how we put God in a box, well people put us in a box too. They are declaring what we can or cannot do or what we are or are not capable of. But when you have an unlimited God on your side, this opens up the impossible. Impossible become possible with and infinite God.

Can you put your trust in a God that doesn’t fit in any box you can fashion? That is why we continue to repeat that, “what we think about God is the most important thing about us,” because it affects everything we do. When we worry, we are basically saying that we don’t believe that God is infinite or can do anything about the details of our life. So, we’ll worry and seek other resources. We won’t seek God. We are saying we will not trust where we cannot see or cannot understand. It is very sad because this leads you away from infinite who can and wants to help you with any situation you find yourself in.

What you need to do is be obedient to the Holy Spirit. John 3:34 – “God gives the Holy Spirit without limit.” That is really saying something when you think about the Holy Spirit living inside of you. The Holy Spirit only speaks the truth so unlimited truth is available to all believers. God says to ask for wisdom and He gives it generously. 

Although it is obviously impossible for a limited mind to grasp the Unlimited God, we have to try. The bible says over and over that God is pleased with those who seek Him. He wants to bless those who put their trust in Him. It is always worthwhile to study about this infinite God. After being a Christian for so many years, I thought I knew God but after I started to really study and seek to know Him, I realize that I had viewed Him wrongly and definitely not fully as He is. Even if we cannot know Him fully in the area of the infinite, based on what we do know, we can truly appreciate and praise Him for His infiniteness.

Living a Radical Life for Jesus means believing that God is Infinite.