1. INTRODUCTION. WHEN WE ADDRESS THE SUBJECT OF GOD’S GREATNESS, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT TO USE THE WORD GREAT IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. WE USE THE WORD GREAT BECAUSE IT IS A TERM THAT WE UNDERSTAND. WE KNOW THAT GOD IS GREAT, BUT, BECAUSE OF OUR FINITE UNDERSTANDING WE CANNOT COMPREHEND JUST HOW GREAT HE REALLY IS BECAUSE HE IS INFINITE! WE APPLY THE TERM TO ATHLETES, ENTERTAINERS, HISTORICAL FIGURES, AND A HOST OF PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS. BUT, COMPARED TO GOD, THERE IS NO COMPARISON; AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE COMPARED TO GOD, WHO IS THE EPITOME OF PERFECTION IN HIS TOTAL BEING. HE IS THE APEX OF PERFECTION, HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, WISDOM, LOVE, AND SO MUCH MORE. HAVING THUS LAID THIS FOUNDATION, WE CAN SEE HIS GREATNESS IN HIS CREATIVE GENIUS IN THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. GOD IS IN A CLASS ALL BY HIMSELF. BEFORE THERE WAS A WHEN OR A WHERE, THERE WAS GOD! PS. 90:2, “BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS WERE BROUGHT FORTH, OR EVER THOU HADST FORMED THE EARTH AND THE WORLD, EVEN FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING, THOU ART GOD.” TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATE GOD’S GREATNESS, WE LOOK TO THE LYRICAL MASTERPIECE PENNED BY CARL BOBERT IN 1886 THAT SAYS, “O LORD MY GOD, WHEN I IN AWESOME WONDER,
CONSIDER ALL THE WORLDS THY HANDS HAVE MADE;
I SEE THE STARS, I HEAR THE ROLLING THUNDER,
THY POWER THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE DISPLAYED.
THEN SINGS MY SOUL, MY SAVIOUR GOD, TO THEE,
HOW GREAT THOU ART, HOW GREAT THOU ART.” SO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, MY AIM IS TO GIVE US A GLIMPSE OF THE GREATNESS OF GOD IN CREATION.
2. THE TEXT. HERE WE HAVE THE FIRST DISPLAY OF GOD’S UNPARALLELED OMNIPOTENCE, AS HE MAJESTICALLY AND MASTERFULLY CREATES ALL THAT IS.
a) THE WORD CREATES COMES FROM THE LATIN EX NIHILO, MEANING OUT OF NOTHING. GOD CREATED THE WORLD AND THE UNIVERSE OUT OF NOTHING. HE DID NOT USE PRIOR MATERIAL, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PRIOR MATERIAL TO BE USED.
b) THE CREATIVE GENIUS OF GOD SILENCES THE SCIENTIFIC VIEW THAT THE WORLD CAME TO BE AS THE RESULT OF GASES THAT BROUGHT THINGS INTO EXISTENCE.
c) IT ALSO SILENCES THOSE WHO HOLD THAT EVERYTHING CAME INTO BEING AS THE RESULT OF THE BIG BANG THEORY, WHICH TEACHES THAT THE UNIVERSE EXPANDED FROM AN INITIAL STATE OF HIGH DENSITY AND TEMPERATURE.
d) ON THE CONTRARY, EVERYTHING THAT IS SEEN IS THE RESULT OF THE SPOKEN WORD OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
e) NOT ONLY DO WE SEE HIS OMNIPOTENCE, BUT WE SEE HIS SUPERNATURAL INTELLECT AND WISDOM IN THE STRUCTURE AND THE ORDERLY FORMATION OF THAT WHICH HE HAS CREATED.
f) THE WORLD DID NOT COME INTO EXISTENCE BY A CHANCE HAPPENING, BUT BY THE DIVINE WORK OF OUR GOD WHO IS GREAT!
g) IT IS NOT MY DESIGN TO GIVE YOU A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE CREATION, BUT TO SHINE THE LIGHT ON GOD AND HIS SUPERIORITY!
3. IT IS GOD, WHO REACHED WITHIN HIMSELF TO CREATE THE WORLD.
a) WHO SET THE WORLD ON its AXIS, CAUSING IT TO ROTATE AROUND THE SUN.
b) IT WAS GOD WHO MADE THE FIRMAMENT AND DIVIDED THE WATERS WHICH WERE UNDER THE FIRMAMENT FROM THE WATER WHICH WERE ABOVE THE FIRMAMENT.
c) IT WAS GOD WHO SET THE SUN ABLAZE IN THE SKY TO RULE THE DAY, AND THE MOON, THE LUNAR QUEEN OF THE NIGHT, TO RULE THE NIGHT.
d) IT WAS GOD WHO PLACED THE STARS ON THE BACKDROP OF A DARK SKY TO GIVE LIGHT AS THEY RADIATE WITH SPLENDOR AND TWINKLING.
e) ONLY GOD COULD COMMAND THE SEA TO MAINTAIN ITS POSITION AND NOT OVERFLOW ITS BANKS.
f) ONLY GOD CAN PUT THE WETNESS IN THE RAIN, THE COOLNESS IN THE BREEZE, THE GREENNESS IN THE GRASS, AND DESIGN THE BLUEPRINT FOR THE SNOWFLAKE.
g) ONLY GOD CAN CAUSE HERB YIELDING SEEDS TO GROW, AND FRUIT BEARING TREES THAT PRODUCES FRUIT AFTER ITS OWN KIND.
h) ONLY GOD CAN CREATE ANIMALS AFTER THEIR OWN KIND.
i) ONLY GOD COULD FORM MAN FROM THE DUST OF THE GROUND, AND EXHALE TO PUT BREATH IN MAN, THAT HE BECAME A LIVING SOUL.
j) YES, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, FROM THE THINGS THAT I HAVE JUST MENTIONED GIVES EVIDENCE THAT GOD IS GREAT!
4. WE ARE CREATED TO, SERVE AND WORSHIP GOD! THAT WAS HIS PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING.
a) GOD CREATED US FOR HIMSELF.
b) BEFORE GOD EVER CREATED THE WORLD, WE WERE IN THE MIND OF GOD.
c) ALTHOUGH WE WERE IN THE MIND OF GOD, THERE ARE STILL SO MANY WHO’S MIND IS NOT ON GOD.
d) WHAT ABOUT YOU?
e) DO YOU EVER THANK GOD FOR CREATING US IN HIS IMAGE?
f) DO YOU EVER THANK GOD FOR THE LIFE THAT HE HAS GIVEN US?
g) DO YOU EVER TAKE THE TIME TO THANK GOD FOR HIS GREATNESS?
h) DO YOU EVER THANK GOD FOR THE COOL BREEZE ON A HOT AND HUMID DAY?
i) DO YOU EVER THANK GOD FOR THE WARMTH OF THE SUN, AND THE REFLECTOR THAT HE PUT IN THE MOON TO GUIDE US AT NIGHT?
j) SINCE WE ACKNOWLEDGE HIS GREATNESS, IT MAKES SENSE TO SUBMIT TO HIM.
5. GOD’S GREATNESS, CAN NEVER BE MATCHED.
a) HIS GREATNESS CAN NEVER BECOME OBSOLETE.
b) HIS GREATNESS CAN NEVER DIMINISH.
c) HIS GREATNESS CAN NEVER BE SUPPRESSED.
d) HIS GREATNESS CAN NEVER BE ABDICATED.
e) HIS GREATNESS MIGHT BE QUESTIONED, BUT IT CANNOT BE QUENCHED.
f) HIS GREATNESS CANNOT BE ADEQUATELY DEFINED.
g) GOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREAT AND FOREVER WILL BE GREAT.
h) FOR THAT FACT ALONE, WE SHOULD GIVE OURSELVES TO HIM WHOLE HEARTEDLY.
6. CONCLUSION/HE’S SO GREAT THAT HIS…
• JOY IS UNSPEAKABLE
• AUTHORITY IS UNQUESTIONABLE
• LOVE IS UNMEASURABLE
• POWER IS UNCONQUERABLE
• JUDGMENT IS UNBLAMEABLE
• WISDOM IS UNFATHOMABLE
• PEACE IS UNSURPASSABLE
• TRUTH IS UNSHAKEABLE
• TOUCH IS UNFORGETTABLE
• FAITHFULNESS IS UNDENIABLE
• FRIENDSHIP IS UNMATCHABLE
• GRACE IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE
• YES, OUR GOD IS GREAT
• BUT HE IS ALSO GREATER THAN GREAT
• WE SHOULD PRAISE HIM, WORSHIP, AND SERVE HIM
