The more I grow in faith, the more I enjoy talking about and listening to others discuss God. The more I grow though, the more some of those conversations bother me. We covered the Ten Commandments months ago so now isn’t the time to go into the misuse of His name. Some of the references that bother me most are the ones that seem more friendly in nature. One type that comes to mind are references to God as “the big guy upstairs”, as if He’s a benevolent grandfather looking down and rooting for the good guys. Another problem I have is with the seemingly widespread practice of reading a Bible verse, then announcing to God that they are claiming the promise in question, as if He’s a genie who’s required to redeem the golden ticket they’ve just submitted.
I know that many who speak of God in these ways are saved and mean well, but it seems that they have an extraordinarily limited vision of the type of Being they are speaking to. He’s not a man of any sort. He’s not just a greater version of something we are already acquainted with. He’s unlike anyone else there is or has been or ever will be. Today’s passages give us a small reminder of that.
In 1 Samuel 13 we see Him promise to bring down a king. In Jeremiah 50, we see that Him promise to bring down a great empire. He can confidently make such announcements, though it’s not because He is so much more intelligent or powerful than the rulers or nations in question. It’s because He ordains it. He isn’t subject to anyone else’s will. He controls every aspect of His creation.
The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.Psalm 29:10-11
What a revelation! I particularly note the last line. A strong person can grant some semblance of safety. A rich person can grant some degree of comfort. A wise person can deliver those who will listen from certain predictable calamities. Charismatic, powerful leaders can impose a truce or even a treaty between peoples. No person I’m capable of understanding can remove the desire for conflict. No human king can grant true peace as effortlessly as He governs history’s greatest calamity.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.Romans 11:33-36
After hearing the “If you give a million monkeys a million typewriters, they’ll eventually write the entire works of Shakespeare’ argument to justify the possibility of Godless evolution one too many times, I once calculated the time necessary to randomly type Psalm 23. Even making some extraordinarily generous assumptions, I discovered that the number of years required is written as a 4 followed by 799 zeros. In practical terms, this means it will never happen, but technically speaking, it is not impossible. What IS impossible is scratching the surface of the depths of God in that amount of years. Or even 4 followed by 799 zeros times 4 followed by 799 zeros years. God is infinite. Infinite in His wisdom, infinite in His intelligence, infinite in His imagination, infinite in His very Person. The amount of Himself revealed in His written revelation is virtually nothing. The amount of Himself we’ll open our eyes to during our first millennium in Heaven will be laughable. The more we will learn of God, the more we’ll realize there is to know. The more we’ll see that when it comes to this Person who imagined and created us, there truly is no end.
How deep are the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge? After an eternity spent learning at His feet, I will have just begun to find out. What an amazing future He’s offered us! That’s the one promise I can’t wait to claim.
Michael (mmattix)
Sixty-six books in a year 