Our Great God

OUR GREAT GOD

Isaiah 55:8-11

Perhaps you have heard of the little boy in the Sunday School class who, during activity time, was busily drawing and sketching. His teacher, wishing to show her interest and encourage him, said, "Sammy, what are you drawing?" He calmly replied, "God." After a bit of thought, his teacher gently said, "But Sammy, No one really knows exactly what God looks like." He glanced up at her with a rather scathing look and indignantly replied, "Well, they will when I get through!"

What is your view and concept of God? What is God really like? Does he really exist? Can His existence be conclusively proven? I am sure there has never been an intelligent creature who has not speculated upon the answers to these and other related questions. Of course, answers are as varied as the background and view points of those asking such questions.

Yes, man has varying views about God. Some see God as a mysterious, invisible force, devoid of personality, occasionally interjecting itself into man’s affairs to slightly adjust the wheels of man’s fate and self-imposed destiny. In their view this nebulous, mystical force, permeates the universe and is inter-connected with all life; guiding and controlling the common evolutionary destiny of all creatures. The common and popular expression, "The force be with you," is based upon more than innocent science fiction fancy. It reflects a dangerous new-age view of God that can undermine the faith of even those who have been reared and nurtured in a Bible-believing home.

There are those who see God as a weak, doddering, hesitant and ineffective grayhaired old man; sitting up above on the circle of the universe. He awakes, yawns and stretches himself each morning and looks down upon the earth to see what mischief man has gotten up to overnight. He throws up his hands in despair at the mess he sees and then perhaps makes a few minor adjustments to salvage the worst situations.

There are those who see God as just a dusty relic of history. Some commonly view Him as a cruel and vengeful God of wrath; looking down upon the earth, poised to pierce the wicked and unwary with a lightning bolt of terrible justice and judgment.

Some look at God as a mere life preserver to grab when they run aground on the shoals of adversity or are capsized by the storms of life. Others look upon Him as a sort of spiritual spare tire to use when they have a flat or breakdown on the road of life. Many see Him as a sponge or handy wipe they can use to wipe up their spilled spiritual milk. A common concept conceives Him as an umbrella to break out when it clouds up and rains on life’s parade.

Can God make a stone so heavy that He cannot lift it? Could God throw a spear so far away He could not reach it? Could God devise a puzzle so complex He could not solve it? How many angels could God cause to dance on the head of a pin? All the old conundrums about God’s character and attributes serve to speak to the awesome nature of our great Sovereign and to man’s puny attempts to cut Him down to a quantity and quality he can deal with. Such silly sayings reflect man’s desire to be the master of his own fate. His wish to row his own boat, captain his own ship, rule his own life and do his own thing shows through. In his pride, he seems to feel ridicule will somehow absolve him of responsibility to recognize and serve his Creator, the Lord of the universe.

But the great God of this universe is far beyond man’s finite comprehension or definition. He defies man’s wish to confine Him in a theological box or display Him as an intellectual trophy. He thwarts man’s attempt to analyze Him in the crucible of logic and dissect Him in the test tube of reason. He remains far above and beyond all man’s mundane attempts to bring Him down to his own level of mental mediocrity.

God someday will have the last word and last laugh on the matter. (See Prov. 1:18-23, Phil 2:9-11) In the meantime, God Himself has spoken of the futility of man’s frail attempt to find Him out. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa. 55:8-9)

It is clear finite man can never fully comprehend and understand the great and infinite nature of the God of this universe. But just as Moses, Isaiah, Peter and John were given glimpses of His glory in their personal encounters with Jehovah, we are also given glimpses of His greatness and the majesty of our great God throughout the scriptures. His attributes are described in simple terminology designed to clearly convey aspects of His infinite character to His finite creatures. In this heavenly glimpse of His divine Being God unveiled to the beloved John when he was in the spirit on that momentous Lord’s Day, we can also make some divine deductions about OUR GREAT GOD. Here we can see A LARGE GOD - A LIVING GOD - A GOD WITH A LIMITLESS AND LASTING LOVE.