If you can fit God into your head he's not the God of the universe. At the same time, the God of the universe fits into our flesh in Christ Jesus. Go figure.
I think any time you start talking about certain God qualities you're going to run into seeming contradictions: God the infinite is incarnate in the finite. There is one God in three persons. God died. God is just and forgiving. God is timeless, yet works in time - to name a few. It looks crazy.
This presses on a couple points. We like to grasp God on our own terms and compartmentalize him. But such attempts will always fail. God isn't in the business of explaining himself, he's in the business of saving us. Perhaps, the God who exceeds or transcends our human dimensions should look this way. Of course, when we read the Bible, our gut reaction goes, "that doesn't make sense" as if a God would completely makes sense to us.
In Genesis 1:1, God is assumed. There is no explanation for him. After, when God reveals himself to Moses in the burning bush as "I am who I am" or "I will be who I will be," God doesn't credential himself with a laundry list of abstract qualities. God binds himself to concrete promises, and defines himself and his people through blessing and redemption. He calls the shots and solicits our faith.
But come on God, give us the rundown, inquiring minds want to know! Lets face it, who puts their fear, love and trust in isolated attributes anyways? See how much sooner people make a god out of money, clothing, health and the like - and yet none of these things posses the true attributes of divinity. For us, a god is something we trust, pure and simple. In the same way, God, first and foremost, is relational - he is what demands our faith and dependency for all our good.
God chooses to reveal himself through story. He doesn't lay out a host of articles, abstract formulations and stringed-together attributes. When Jesus comes, he is true to form, he comes in concrete story for our good. Sure, character traits have their place, but ultimately its the narrative that gives any meaning and definition to them. It's the narrative that creates faith like that of children. (Isn't that how children learn anyways, through story?) Children love to hear their favourite stories over and over. Especially the children of God with the Gospel. The Laundry list.. doesn't quite do the trick.
In my head I liken it to a 3D person interacting in a 2D world. The existence of such a person doesn't jive with the preconceived notions of those on the inside. God isn't subject to what confines us. Likewise, God chose to enter our playing field in a tangible way for our good. And for us mere space/time objects, the incarnation is a huge bridge in revelation of the character of God. It doesn't rationalize him, and it may not satisfy all our curiosities, but he reveals the mystery of his grace.
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