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God's self-imposed limitations

God's unlimited ability

The God of the Bible is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient) and everywhere (omnipresent).

These attributes are found all over the scriptures. I will list just a few scripture references for each attribute.

God's omnipotence is supported by Genesis 18:14 where God Himself asks Abraham,

This is in response to Sarah's doubt over giving birth at an old age to a promised child. God makes this statement in Jeremiah 32:27.

His omniscience is seen in the book of Job:

"From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?" (v23) "God understands its way, and He knows its place." (v24) "For He looks to the end of the earth, and sees under the whole heavens," - Job 28:20, 23-24

His omnipresence is demonstrated most succintly in Psalm 139:7 where it says,

The Psalmist goes on to speak about how there is no where he can go where God isn't with him (verse 8-12).

Man's limits

Man is said to be finite (limited). This is an obvious attribute. But what is not so obvious is the fact that man can only know that which is limited. Every description of anything, is a statement of that thing's limitations. For instance, if you were to ask me what kind of automobile that I drove, as soon as I stated that it was a Ford, I have not only stated what it is, but more importantly, what it isn't. It's not a GM, Chrysler or foreign import. As soon as I tell you that it's a pickup truck, that is another limitation. You know that it is not a sports car, or sedan.

Any description that I might give about myself, is also a description of my limitations. When I state that I'm a male, that fact is also a statement that I am not a female. When I state that I have brown eyes, that is a limitation. My eyes can't be every color at once. A description of such a color is inconceivable to our finite minds.

Because man can only know that which is limited, God has placed limits upon Himself. One such limit is that God cannot lie:

Is it that God is trying to lie but He can't? Is He like Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Liar Liar"? Of course not. It is not outside of God's omnipotence to lie, rather it is outside of His nature. Unlike you or I, God chose His nature. He could be whatever He wanted to be. God's honesty is an exercise of self-restraint.

So God put this limitation upon Himself that He cannot lie. Why would He limit Himself? The answer is so that man could know Him. Imagine trying to know a god who can lie? It's impossible.

So the principle is that just because God has the ability to do anything doesn't mean that He exercises this ability. The God of the Bible doesn't exercise His omnipotence.

This is unlike the god of pantheism. Pantheism says that god is everywhere and everything at once. God is both good and evil. God is everything and nothing. God is you, me, we, them, and it, all at the same time. Pantheist religions are at least consistent with their presuppositions by admitting that their god cannot be known. The pantheistic god is a god that not only has no limits in ability, but practices that ability to the fullest extent. This god exercises its omnipotence to the highest degree.

The God of the Bible has infinite ability but finite actions and character. Again, He limits Himself so that we can know Him.

In the old testament, God gave us His Word. His Word defines Him. Remember the point made above. Every defining statement is intrinsically a statement of limitation. When God said He was good, He was establishing a line that He was not crossing. The limitation is that God isn't evil.

It is within the context of God's self-limitation, that we gain a better grasp of the seriousness of Adam and Eve's sin. For God to allow his creation to be unlimited, was to do two things:

1. It allowed man to be higher than God. If God had placed a limitation upon Himself that was not placed upon man, then who is really sovereign? This couldn't be better explained then in Genesis 3, where the serpent tempts Eve:

I am suggesting that one reason that man would be like God, is because He would be free of all limitations. Most importantly, he would be sovereign and be submissive to no one. God's limitations are self-imposed. No one else has imposed those limitations upon Him. This makes Him God. Man is to live under God's imposed limitations. This puts His creation in subjugation to God.

2. By man not limiting himself to God's standard, man had broken his relationship with God. After all, God limited himself so that we could know Him. He wants us to limit ourselves by striving for righteousness and eschewing sin so that we may know Him. This is why sin separates us from God.

Christ - God in limited form.

In the old testament, God limited Himself by His Word. In the New Testament, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the form of Christ. This incarnation means that God limited himself so that we may know Him. This is the same thing that He did with His Word. His Word is a limitation upon Himself so that we can know Him. This is why the Gospel of John says,

Jesus is called the Word. Christ was a personification of God in limited form. This is why Christ says,

The only way to know God, is to know Jesus Christ. Christ is God in limited form. Man's finite mind can only know that which is limited.

This is why truth is exclusive. Truth has to have limits to be knowable. One question that haunts are generation is "What is truth?" Christ states,

"For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." - John 14:37

Pilate responds with the question

We can then conclude that truth is both limited in extent (everything is not truth) and therefore knowable.

Now when I speak of Christ limiting Himself, this doesn't make Him any less God. Just as when I speak of God limiting Himself, this doesn't make Him any less omnipotent.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." - Colossians 1:15

The Bible teaches us that in Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead:

This is reiterated in 2:9:

Conclusion

We can therefore conclude that we can be Godly and have a relationship with the Father by limiting ourselves just as God did by dwelling in the flesh as Jesus Christ. These limitations are shunning sin and striving for righteousness. Sin separates us from God. Self-restraint is self control and is one of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:23). God is knowable and wants to have a relationship with us. He wants this relationship with us so bad that He is willing to give up certain freedoms. The question is, are you willing to do the same? What are you willing to give up so that you might know Him?