The Distant Drew Near

TEXT: Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

INTRO: The contemplation of God is an awesome task. Any attempt to comprehend Him in His Fullness would prove to be as futile as trying to dam up the mighty Mississippi with a twig; reach the top of the magnificent Mt Everest with a step stool, or stop the launch of the Shuttle with strands of thread.

Concerning the greatness of God, R. G. Lee once wrote: "God is the Creator behind all creation. God is the Designer behind all design. God is the Lawmaker behind all law. God is the supreme fact of history. God is the supreme fact of science. God is the supreme fact of philosophy... God is the Mighty God personally and actively present in the affairs of the universe. God is the great need of the human heart... God is the great need of the vast creation in which we live".

I. Great Attributes of God.

Scripture paints a beautiful portrait of a Great and Mighty God. Within the pages of the Holy Writ, He is seen as:

A. Eternal. "... LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God". (Psa 90:1-2)

B. Intelligent. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my 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)

C. Holy. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isa 57:15)

D. Good. "The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works". (Psa 145:9)

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him" (Psa 34:8)

E. Omnipotent. To Abraham He said "I Am God, Almighty"

F. Omniscient. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb 4:13)

"Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee" (Psa 139:12)

G. Omnipresent. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me". (Psa 139:7-10)

The Old Testament presents to its readers an Almighty, Awesome God. "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Exo 15:11)

II. Great Acts of God.

The Greatness of God is further attested to when considering His great works. The Psalmist exhorts all the earth to "Praise Him for his might acts ..." (Psalms 150:2) In Psalms 145:4 he states "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts".

The first verse in the Bible is much-quoted, yet often underestimated. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". Have you ever thought of the ramifications of that verse? The Psalmist puts it this way: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork" (Psa 19:1).

God’s great power demonstrated in nature is magnificent. If one would begin his contemplation of God by taking into effect all the marvels that surround us, we would be stand in utter amazement of our Great God.

Think for a moment of the great planet upon which we live. We call it earth.

Earth is a planet whose diameter is 8,000 miles. If you would tunnel to the core of planet earth, you would find a raging inferno registering temperatures in excess of 9,000o F. Yet you and I are cold in the winter and experience only mild discomfort in the heat of a bright summer day.

Take a moment to consider God’s acts of magnificence in the planets, comets, and the sun.

Our sun, the center of our solar system is 93,000,000 miles away. It diameter is 109 times that of earth (868,000 miles). Yet, even the sun wanes in significance when compared to the giant star Betelgeuse which is an incredible 800 times as big as our sun (Diameter of 700,000,000 miles)!!