Encounter the Truth

At the most fundamental level, the term “glory” speaks of the excellence of God himself: his worth and his beauty, the perfection of his character, his holiness and his power. But this language is also used to speak of the visible display of God’s worth and majesty—the visible expression of the fact that this glorious God is present.

Essential to our humanity is our limitation when it comes to space. But not so with God. Essential to his divinity is his ability to be in all places at once—fully present everywhere there is to be. Our God is omnipresent.

Essential to our humanity is our limitation when it comes to space. But not so with God. Essential to his divinity is his ability to be in all places at once—fully present everywhere there is to be. Our God is omnipresent.

Being eternal and unchanging, God knows all things and never grows in his knowledge; he is never surprised by anything; his degree of insight and understanding never develops. In his eternity, he knows everything there is to know—he knows all that has happened, is happening, and will happen—and he knows all this fully, and at once.

Being eternal and unchanging, God knows all things and never grows in his knowledge; he is never surprised by anything; his degree of insight and understanding never develops. In his eternity, he knows everything there is to know—he knows all that has happened, is happening, and will happen—and he knows all this fully, and at once.

We can know God and, as believers, we do know God. But Christians have long used the language of “incomprehensibility” to express the truth that it is impossible for us, as finite creatures, to fully grasp the infinite God; we can’t know God as he knows himself; we can’t know and comprehend all that he is. It’s more than we could expect or manage; and it’s more than God has given us to know.

We can know God and, as believers, we do know God. But Christians have long used the language of “incomprehensibility” to express the truth that it is impossible for us, as finite creatures, to fully grasp the infinite God; we can’t know God as he knows himself; we can’t know and comprehend all that he is. It’s more than we could expect or manage; and it’s more than God has given us to know.

Everything in this world draws its strength, integrity—its very existence—from something else. Everything, that is, except God himself. He truly is independent of all other things. He needs nothing for anything; he depends upon no one and no thing. He is entirely self-sufficient.

Everything in this world draws its strength, integrity—its very existence—from something else. Everything, that is, except God himself. He truly is independent of all other things. He needs nothing for anything; he depends upon no one and no thing. He is entirely self-sufficient.

As human beings, we are changing and declining daily; our world itself is changing and will not last. But against that rather depressing backdrop, the Psalmist proclaims the glorious truth that God himself does not change. The Lord is the Unchanging One. All else will change and decay and much will disappear. But the eternal God does not.