HOW GREAT IS (Y)OUR GOD?

Are you overwhelmed with life’s challenges and problems? Are you tested in your faith? Are you facing a mountain that can not be moved? Are you worried and afraid about your future? Is it possible that you have lost some perspective on the greatness of God? Welcome to the club of frail humans who are trying to make some sense of this life. Isn’t it true that at one time or the other we all struggle with unbelief?

How can we stop worrying? Is there a cure for anxiety? Is it possible to hold up our faith in an age filled with skepticism? Where can I find true freedom? Can I trust God with all my life’s challenges? Does God still perform miracles? These and many more questions can be answered when we have the right perspective of who God really is.

In 1792 A.D William Carey understood the amazing power of God’s saving grace therefore he challenged his Baptist colleagues to get involved in the missionary enterprise with these words “EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD AND ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD” Carey not only made a bold statement but he acted on it and showed to the world that our God is indeed a great God. How about us? Do we only remain at the level of making bold statements or can we actually expect great things from God and attempt great things for God? Who has ever reached great heights by just only dreaming of them?
The great inventors and achievers of all times were not jut dreamers but they attempted something bigger than them, they were not afraid to fail they went and did great things. Has not Jesus said you will do greater things than these? Then what is stopping us? Why are we not seeing breakthrough in our lives? How great is (Y) our God?

I. THE GREATNESS OF GOD:
When it comes to explaining the doctrine of God each of us bring our own understanding of who God is therefore my explanation of God is not comprehensive, nevertheless let me explain the indescribable, uncontainable, all powerful and (untamable) God of the universe. Why is it necessary that we understand the greatness of God? I believe it will help us develop a Holy reverence towards the almighty God. Weather we like it or not the skepticism around us influences us a great deal. We fail to see how God is at work in our day to day life. In order to discover God’s greatness I will be sharing several scriptural illustrations from God’s word and real life stories. Hopefully by the end of this study you will get a glimpse of how great and awesome your God truly is? Let’s begin!

A.THE NATURE REVEALS GOD’S GREATNESS:
What a beautiful world we live in! Though through the fall of man and sin much has been damaged, yet there is still a lot of beauty out there. If only we have an eye for it the beauty of God can be seen and felt every where. Majestic mountain peaks, thundering water falls, magnificent sun sets, glorious rainbows, the brilliance of a frosty winter landscape, a crisp New England autumn day, the beauty of human love and the tenderness of a babies smile all these tend to reflect the glory of their awesome Creator.

When we look at this wonderful creation do we ever pause and ask ourselves how did this all begin? Whose master mind was behind all this? The Bible says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Not only has he created everything by his spoken word but also He sustains and rules everything by his awesome power. God’s creation doesn’t fail to reveal his greatness and give him glory.

The following scriptures convey how majestic and glorious our God is:

Psalm 89:5-11 “The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,…For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?... You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.”

Psalm 19:1-6 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.”

Psalm 104:12 “The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.” Psalm 148 explains how all of God’s creation is praising God because His name is alone exalted his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.”

I grew up in a country where people worship trees, mountains, rivers, animals, the sun and the moon etc. They see everything as god. It is called Pantheism where people believe that the universe or the nature itself is god hence they worship the nature. This popular eastern religious belief is increasingly becoming popular in the west. On the contrary the scriptures tell us that the whole nature is revealing God’s greatness by giving him the glory. If the nature is glorifying God are we as the cream of his creation expected to do any thing less?

B. GOD’S WORKS DISPLAY HIS GREATNESS:
We are fascinated with people who do extraordinary things that no one else has ever done before. Their names are entered into the Guinness book of world records: Chad Nederland who holds nine world records, for his 10th one held back two Cesna 206 airplanes from taking off by hand for one minute 6 seconds. Pretty impressive isn’t it? The funny thing about these records is that either the person who makes the record or some one else breaks it.
But some of the spectacular things that God had done in the history of humanity have been recorded in the Bible and preserved for thousands of years and no one can break those records.

Rightly so! God’s challenge to mankind: Isaiah 40:25-26 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

In the Old Testament the greatness of God often referred to His strength and mighty power. To name a few such mighty acts: Exodus 15:7 “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.” Not to mention the other mighty acts like parting of the Red Sea, the killing of the mighty Egyptian army, bringing water from a rock, providing Manna from heaven for forty years, rescuing people from a fiery furnace, shutting the mouths of the lions, causing the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar to eat grass like an animal and so on.

Job 26:7-14 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke. By his power he churned up the sea; By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?" All these great and mighty acts of God are just a small display of his power.

We only get a glimpse of God’s power how it would be like when God display’s all of his power at once? Who could possibly stand before such a fierce God?

C. THE PEOPLE PROCLAIM HIS GREATNESS:
Throughout the Bible we read of Kings, leaders, prominent and common people glorifying God upon seeing his mighty acts. Deuteronomy 32:1-4 After the great deliverance of God Moses proclaimed in the midst of the whole assembly of Israel: Deuteronomy 32:1 “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth…I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!”

After building a magnificent temple for God to dwell the King Solomon proclaimed God’s greatness: 1 Kings 8:22-27 “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below-- The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” When we accomplish something great do we turn back and give glory to God?

After his sanity was restored this is what the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar had to say: God was great: Daniel 4:34-35 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"

King Nebuchadnezzar finally learned his lesson and recognized God as a mighty God. Isn’t it amazing that instead of standing in awe of such a mighty God we carry attitudes? Are we so used to getting our way that we are upset when things turn out different? One of life’s lessons on the road to maturity is that we cannot control everything in life. A very hard lesson to learn for many of us on top of that for Christians it is even harder to digest when God doesn’t answer all our prayers and doesn’t fulfill all our desires. True character growth and maturity takes place though, when we can look up to God through our tears and pain and say “Lord I don’t understand everything that is happening to me; but you are still God and it is well with my soul and I trust in you.

God is great and powerful. Recognizing God as the almighty, all powerful is redeeming. When we know who we are and who he truly is then we have nothing to boast, except to fall on our faces and give him the glory. We worship Him for who He is not for what he can do for us. Yet this great and awesome Creator of the Universe loves to hear us call Him Father or Papa. I hope today that you will answer the call of God’s heart and that you will seek to know Him. Is your God too small that you can not trust him to do greater things in and through you? Some of us have some repentance to do. The greatest that you can do for God right now is to give him your heart and try your best to lead a live that is pleasing to God.

When we finally grasp how great our Lord then we can say the following: 1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Amen