Our journey with Pascal continues...
...it is equally dangerous for man to know God without knowing his own wretchedness and to know his own wretchedness without knowing the redeemer, who can free him from it. (Pascal, 556)
Over Christmas, we delighted in the sending of a savior to free us from our wretchedness. For we acknowledge with Pascal that:
If He (God) appeared once, He exists always; thus we cannot but conclude both that there is a God and that men are unworthy of Him. (Pascal, 559)
But what kind of a God is He?
- He exists always: He is infinite. He was and is and is to come. How can man, who is born on a particular day and dies a few years later, understand how something exists for all eternity? In short, he can't. We can study mathematics, we can relish in the limitless number system or graph, but we can't fully grasp the infinite. We are finite.
The God of the christians is not a God who is simply the author of mathematical truths, or of the order of the elements; that is the view of heathens... the God of christians is a God who fills the soul and heart of those whom he possesses, a God who makes them conscious of their inward wretchedness, and His infinite mercy, who unites Himself to their inmost soul, who fills it with humility and joy, with confidence and love, who renders them incapable of any other end than Himself. (Pascal, 556)
2. God... is not ... simply the author of mathematical truths : While it is true that God authored of all of the postulates, axioms, properties, shapes, patterns, and truths we seek. He didn't simply create the order and truth that we study in mathematics and walk away. That is in fact what some religions teach, but the Christian faith points to a God of relationship. Not only does the true God care about us not to leave us to our own devices, but he loves us enough to fill our very soul and heart.
3. God... makes them conscious of their inward wretchedness and His infinite mercy: Without Him we would never admit or see our sin. But He doesn't leave us there: He imparts to us His divine mercy by giving us His infinite self, so that we don't just acknowledge His existence, but desire to be with Him for all of it.
4. God... renders [christians] incapable of any other end than Himself: The grand finale! We are to find our end in an infinite being, who has no literal end. Does that not boggle your mind? It's simply beautiful to think that we, as finite beings incapable of any good, are brought to the infinite God in a way that we search longingly to be just like Him: full of grace, truth, goodness, faithfulness, joy, and love for all eternity!
Can we even begin to fathom such a one as this God?