Understanding God or Not

I just want to be honest and say I'm getting frustrated with how we act like we have it all figured out about God.  The more I study and think on God the less I'm certain about.  I create ideas and beliefs and then find them stretched and changed the very next year.  God is such a mystery.

There was this guy that lived around 300 years after Jesus named Gregory.  Known as Gregory of Nyssa.  He and his brother were instrumental in putting together the Nicene Creed that is so famous.


The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

There is a couple of things that make me really love this guy.
1.  He was known as the unorganized one of his family and wasn't very administrative.
2.  He is the only Cappodocian Father, who is not considered a "Doctor of the Church".

He was always stretching people's ideas of God and the Gospel.  The basics were clear, but so much was up for discussion.  In my past I have time and time again falling into this trap of following a certain doctrine and even preaching it only to find myself 10 years down the road not even believing it anymore.  It's frustrating.  I just want to love God and follow the example of Jesus.  In that, I want to explore ideas and grow in knowledge, but my trap is when I begin to feel like I've achieved and understand.  Then what I start doing is defending my idea of God instead of loving God and following Christ.  It happens so quietly and so easily.

I want to leave you with one of Gregory's quotes that I love and at the same time struggle with, but I'm ending with it because it makes me thirsty.  

"Concepts create idols, only wonder grasps anything" ---Gregory of Nyssa



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