The Majestic Holiness of God.

     Who is like thee among the gods, O Lord? Who is like thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?
                                    Exodus 15:11 NASB

     The idea of holiness in God is that of absolute perfection. God's absolute holiness far eclipses man's concept of what it means to be good, to be holy. The mind has a hard time to grasp the concept of the one who dwells in unaproachable light (1 Tim 6:16), the one who dwells in the high and lofty place, whose name is Holy (Isaiah 57:15). 
     Look at the majestic display of the holiness of God at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1-25). The writer of Hebrews has this to say about the awesome presence of the holy God

     For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned." And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said "I am full of fear and trembling." 
                                      Hebrews 12:18-21 NASB

     God came down in an awesome display of His holiness, and the people knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He far transcended them in His very nature and ways.
     The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Look at what Isaiah says about Him, and the fire of His holiness.

     Sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized the godless. "Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?"
                                          Isaiah 33:19 NASB

     
      The realization that a holy God cannot dwell among sinners should strike fear into our hearts. We may appeal to God's love, His mercy, His benevolence, all of which make up the character of God, but yet we see that sin has no place in His presence. Who indeed can dwell in the presence of the all consuming fire, while covered with the defilement of sin?
      Isaiah was also confronted with a display of God's majesty, when he had a vision of The Lord seated on the throne. The pillars shook, smoke filled the temple, and the seraphim cried "Holy, Holy, Holy." 
     When confronted with the absolute perfection of the sinless, perfectly holy God, Isaiah cried out "Woe is me, for I am ruined." He realized his sinfulness, in the presence of perfect purity, and it left Him in a dreadful awe (Isaiah 6:1-5). Yet we see provision for the cleansing of sin also, making one fit to stand in the presence of God (Isaiah 6:6-7).
     God is indeed holy, awesome, far above our concepts of Him. It is through His revelation of Himself to us that we are confronted with His sinless perfection, the awesome display of His majestic holiness. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and those who truly fear Him with a reverential awe, a solemn, even dreadful realization of who He is, and who we are in comparison to Him, will fall on their faces before Him and cry "Holy." This is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10).
     
                          
   
     

The All Knowing God.

     O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down, and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold O Lord, thou dost know it all.
                                 Psalm 139:1-4 NASB

     God is the all knowing, all seeing God. There is nothing that we can do that He is not aware of. Even our very inner thoughts He discerns. He hears our speech, and knows what we will say before we speak. 
     As the eternal God who has always existed, His knowledge has always existed as well. Nothing is new to God, nothing takes Him by surprise. As the ever present God who fills all things, nothing is hidden from His sight.
     God is very awesome indeed! He has known all before the foundations of the world were laid. This same God who sent Jesus to die for our sins, knew that we would fall before He even created us. 
     Once again, we find these things hard to grasp as we view God in all of His majesty and greatness. This should encourage a healthy fear of of the Lord within us, which is the beginning of wisdom, leading us to the knowledge of Him.
     
     

The Self Existance of God.

          "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
                            Revelation 22:13 NASB

     The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." As we saw previously, God is eternal. He has always been, and will always be.
     In the above text, Jesus states that He is the beginning of all things, the first and the last. This repeats the word of the Lord given through the Prophet Isaiah,
    
     "Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
      'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.'"

     And again He states,

     "Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none."
                                 Isaiah 44:6,8 NASB

     There is no other God, or any other being who pre existed God in order to create Him! God existed before all, and created all. This leads us to the conclusion that God exists in and of Himself.
     The creator of the universe was not created or caused by any other thing. He was not caused by chance, He did not evolve, He has always been, the self existing God.
     This should create in us an awe of God. Like the Psalmist, we should break out in praise,

     The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord, a God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all those who are around Him? O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
                                   Psalm 89:5-8 NASB

     God is indeed awesome as His word declares. We must ever be careful to fear Him, to avoid bringing Him down to our finite understanding, and thus creating a small god to our liking.

    
    

The Immensity of God.

     The eternity of God is a hard concept to grasp. Likewise, the idea that God fills up space is just as difficult to fathom, never the less, it is true.
     Read what the Psalmist writes,

     Where can I go from your Spirit? Or, where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there, if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.
                                         Psalm 139:7-10 NASB

     There is no place in the universe where God is not present. God fills all things, as He testifies of Himself,

     "Am I a God who is near," declares the Lord, "And not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?" declares the Lord. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" Declares the Lord.
                              Jeremiah 23:23-24 NASB

     Again, in the New Testament, testimony is given concerning the immensity of God. Stephen quotes Isaiah 66:1,

     "However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
     'HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord, 'OR WHAT PLACE IS THER FOR MY REPOSE?
                                           Acts 7:49 NASB

     God cannot be contained in houses or buildings that we human beings make for Him. He fills all things as the Apostle Paul states,

     The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
                                            Acts 17:24 NASB

     That they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said "for we are His children."
                                              Acts 17:27-28 NASB

     Which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
                                               Eph 1:23 NASB

     You see, God fills all things. He is everywhere. He cannot be contained in buildings, or confined by space. Billions of people exist on the earth today, but God cannot be squeezed out by such a large population of people. He fills the world, as Paul stated above, we live and move and exist in Him. He fills all in all, everything.
     Just as God is eternal, time cannot contain Him, so also space goes on to infinity. There is no end to space, and God infinitely fills all of space.
     Once again, we can but stand in awe of God. Our minds find it hard to comprehend the awesomeness of an eternal, and ever present God. God is indeed large, He transcends all of our limited conceptions of His true greatness. Do not limit God with your own ideas of His nature and character, but let Him reveal Himself to you through His testimony of Himself in His written word.

    

A Cry For Revival: Is God Unjust?

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The Eternity of God.

     Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
     Before the mountains were born, or you gave birth to the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
                                        Psalm 90:1-2 NASB

     It is of the utmost importance that we know God. Correct theology, and doctrine has its place of importance in understanding God. However there is a danger in seeking to define God. In desiring to know and understand God, we tend to shrink Him down to a manageable level; something that our finite minds can grasp. We want a God we can completely understand, without having to stretch our minds, or leave some things to faith.
     In doing this we place God within a box so to speak. We create a small god, someone who is limited much like we are. We bring Him down a little closer to our level, someone a lot like ourselves, of course with some divine attributes.
     The idea of eternity is one of those concepts that our minds, at least my mind, cannot grasp completely. In some sense, I can understand that time will march on for eternity, never ending, going on for ever and ever. I think that many, if not most of us can grasp the fact that our souls will exist throughout eternity, and God as well, exists forever, with no end.
     The tough one for me is the fact that God has existed from eternity, He has no beginning, as well as no end. That is impossible for the mind to fully comprehend. However hard to understand, it is still fact. As the above text states, God has existed from everlasting, and will continue on with no end (Psalm 90:2, 93:2).
     This is one of God's divine attributes. This is what makes Him God. He has always been and will always be. Nobody created God, there was no cosmic bang, or any other thing that was responsible for God to come into existence. He has always been.
     Sometimes it is good for us to have our view of God stretched. It is good for us to be unable to apprehend some of the truths about the very person of God. It keeps us in awe of Him, in awe of His character and majesty. It tends to produce a holy fear of Him in our hearts. It keeps us from creating a smaller god, one that we can be comfortable with.
     The biblical account of creation presupposes the existence of God, when it tells us "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). God already existed to create the world. We see the same thing in Proverbs, where we are told that God possessed wisdom at the beginning, at creation. In fact God has always possessed wisdom, from everlasting it has been established (Proverbs 8:22-31).
     When Moses was confronted by God in the burning bush, he wanted to be able to tell the Israelites who sent him. God said. "I AM WHO I AM, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14). God revealed Himself to Moses as the eternal God. In the same way, Jesus declared Himself eternal, thus making Himself equal with God (John 8:58).
     Centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah foretold the birth of One, "whose goings forth are from eternity" (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ has existed from eternity. All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him (Col 1:16). He is eternal, as is the Holy Spirit who was also in existence at creation (Gen 1:2).
     We also see the eternity of God in the worship that is ascribed to Him.

     Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
                              Revelation 4:8b

     The angelic beings have worshiped God from their beginning.They worship the one who has always been, who now is, and who will always be. The first worshipper, has worshipped the God who has already existed before him. In Revelation 4:8, every living thing in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, worship the eternal God.
     God is indeed the high and exalted One, holy, and eternal (Isaiah 57:15). This scripture paints an awesome picture of God. He is far above us. He cannot be brought down to a manageable level, to a place where we can be more comfortable with our views of Him. Yet He will dwell with those who are of a broken and contrite heart.
     Paul speaks of God in a similar fashion.

     Who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
                              1 Timothy 6:16 NASB

     Paul is encouraging Timothy to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the return of Christ. Likewise we are to fight the good fight of faith until Christ returns for those of us who remain faithful to Him (1 Tim 6:12-16).
     It is true that God is lofty. As God He transcends everything that we can imagine, yet He considers those who with broken hearts, will surrender their lives to Him and His service.
     The idea of an eternal God should cause us to fear and reverence Him, for it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10). Who are we as created beings to think that we can define God as we please? Get into the word of God with passion and purpose, determining to know God. Make it your all consuming pursuit, and He will lead you to the true knowledge of Himself (Proverbs 2:1-5).