When Christians argue that Jews limit G-d by their stubborn insistence on strict monotheism, by being so certain that He would never become one of us by becoming a man, they accuse Jews of putting G-d in a box. If G-d is so powerful, they ask, what would stop Him from taking on flesh to dwell among men as one of us, doing all the normal things we mere mortal do and even dying at the hands of His own creatures? As one popular messianic blogger put it recently, it’s a non-starter to even think that something is “impossible” when it comes to the Almighty. G-d can do anything, can’t he?
There are actually many things that even G-d can’t do either because they are indeed impossible or because they go against His very nature. What are some of those things? Here are a few examples:
He can’t contradict Himself, G-d cannot make another god like Himself, nor G-d can make one of his own creatures into a god comparable or equal to Him. He just can’t do it! But I can go on. G-d cannot stop existing, even for a short while, and He cannot die or commit suicide – He’s eternal. Still think that the “impossible” is a “non-starter with G-d? G-d doesn’t think or act like a human being – His ways and thoughts are high above ours. G-d cannot divide Himself into multiple persons a la Christianity; that He is One and there’s no one besides Him is part of monotheism 101 of the Hebrew Bible. G-d cannot get tired. G-d cannot be tempted to sin. And yet Christianity claims that by becoming a man G-d did all of these things and then some.
So, to say that there are absolutely no limits to G-d, it’s just not the case. His limits are all things that go against His very nature or things that are simply absurdities originating out of human minds.
Christianity and G-d becoming one of us
New Testament calls Jesus “an image of G-d” (Colossians 1:15). This is an image which Christianity has made of G-d, to worship the G-d of Israel through something they thought was far more tangible and relatable – a human being like themselves, but also a deity, a demigod. Some Christians retort that since Jesus was not an image like an ancient idol made of stone or metal, he cannot be called an idol. However, they forget that not all idols (and false gods) need to made by hands. Indeed, the Bible explicitly warns us not to worship any of G-d’s creation, be it the sun, moon, stars, angels, men. Jesus was indeed an image of G-d. But all human beings are made in G-d’s image. You and I, we are images of G-d too, but to worship us would be idolatry. Idolatry begins when human beings worship images made to represent G-d or some powerful aspect of G-d’s creation. For many, it begins when they glorify other human beings like themselves, as G-d, be they mythical heroes, demigods born of union between gods and men, deified kings and mystical gurus.
Christians, who insist that G-d could not possibly have been totally against worship of physical imagery of Him (like Jesus), often remind Jews that there were physical objects and even images (cherubs and bulls) in the Temple of G-d. If G-d allowed those, how could G-d be averse to imagery, they ask? But they argument is completely false and devoid of reason. True, Israel had used physical objects in their devotion to G-d, but the objects themselves even prayed to – they were mere decorations. The Ark, the holiest object in the Temple, was never worshiped, it didn’t contain G-d within it, and even though its construction was commanded by G-d Himself and blessings even came to those who cared for it, it was never exalted to a divine status. On the other hand, Jesus was and is worshiped and prayed to and is viewed as the “second person of G-d”. There’s a world of difference and its incomparable between physical objects the facilitated service before G-d and imagining G-d as a divine man. If the Ark was ever worshiped, it would be rightly called an idol. The brazen serpent (to which, ironically, Jesus compared himself in John 3:14) became an idol and was destroyed (2 Kings 18:4), even though it was once a holy object through which G-d healed. The brazen serpent is a good lesson to those who today make excuses for idolatry.
Most of Christianity has used images to worship Jesus and G-d for the last two thousand years, until the Reformation. Why did they do this? The answer is simple: with humanity proclaiming a mortal man as deity in the flesh, G-d, who once warned that there was no physical form to Him, could finally be represented as a physical image! Exactly as G-d warned, it didn’t take long for people to make images of their fleshly deity, both in literature (the New Testament and countless Church writings) as well as in the form of actual physical statues and icons. And yet, the Christians believe that it is the Jews who are in the wrong for being obedient to G-d’s stern warning!
Daily Minyan 
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