This is part 1 of a 3-part series. View the entire series here.
Have you ever met a new friend who is so interesting and delightful that all you want to do is just sit down with them and say, tell me absolutely everything about you, and start at the beginning?
Tell Me Everything
When you really want to get to know someone, when you want to discover who they are and why they do the things they do, the most natural course of action is to go all the way back to their origin story. Who and where did they come from? What inspires them? What motivates them?
The other day, I was talking with God while on a walk. It was beautiful and sunny outside, trees full of new spring growth, all kinds of birds singing in the branches. I was mostly just thanking Him for that, for the day and for beauty and for life. Then out of nowhere, I felt prompted to say to God the very thing I always want to say to a new friend. It seemed a little silly, but in the moment I was so overwhelmed with love for Him and a desire to just know Him that I said it anyway: God, tell me absolutely everything about You, and start at the beginning.
Pretty hefty ask, I’ll admit, considering the fact that our fallen human brains couldn’t even handle knowing everything there is to know about God. But in all His grace, He knew exactly how to answer my (probably) naive, (definitely) audacious request. He brought to my mind this passage from the gospel of John. It’s one of my favorites in all of Scripture.
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. – John 1:1-5 NLT
The Beginning Has No Beginning
God is the beginning of everything, and yet He has no beginning Himself. He has always been.
In John 8, Jesus is talking to a crowd of people. He references Abraham, saying, “‘Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to My coming. He saw it and was glad.’” To which the people respond, “‘You aren’t even fifty years old. How can You say You have seen Abraham?’” And then Jesus says, “‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!’” (John 8:56-58 NLT).
This has always hurt my brain a little bit. We live and breathe by clocks. Time is how we order our lives. Time is the context in which we make sense of ourselves, others, and the world around us. So to imagine a God who operates outside of time, who has no beginning and no end, no origin story, who simply is, feels almost impossible.
There have always been three distinct-but-unified Persons interacting and communing together—Father, Son, and Spirit. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God” (vv. 1b-2). One God, three Persons. Separate, but not.
It’s easy to comprehend the idea of one being. It’s easy to comprehend the idea of three separate beings. But three separate Beings who are really one Being, but are still distinct from one another, but who are all the same, but who—
You get the idea. More things that hurt my brain.
But therein lies the wonder of our God.
The Wonder in the Mystery
The Bible talks at length about the mysteries of God. Some of those mysteries have been revealed to us through Christ, through God’s Word, and through communion with Him in prayer (Jeremiah 33:3; Colossians 2:2; Ephesians 1:9). But there are some things we won’t ever know about Him until we are fully glorified after Christ’s return: “‘The LORD our God has secrets known to no one’” (Deuteronomy 29:29 NLT).
This not-knowing is so important. It’s frustrating, yes. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that. I’m the type of person who’s okay with mystery up to a point, but then I want to know what the deal is. I want facts. I want to ask a question of my Father and get a direct answer.
But the not-knowing is what keeps us humble. God is more wonderful than we can comprehend. We know there are always going to be more and more and more beautiful things to discover about Him. We can’t see the fullness of His plan, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring—and that’s exactly why we cling onto the hem of His robe, why we continually fall to our knees in awe of Him. We don’t know, but we know it’s good, because He’s good.
If we could reach the depths of Him, He wouldn’t really be worth worshipping.
