WHO CAN KNOW HOW TRULY GREAT GOD IS?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

(Job speaking):

What a big help you are to me—poor, weak man that I am! You give such good advice and share your knowledge with a fool like me! Who do you think will hear all your words? Who inspired you to speak like this?

The spirits of the dead tremble in the waters under the earth. The world of the dead lies open to God; no covering shields it from his sight. God stretched out the northern sky and hung the earth in empty space. It is God who fills the clouds with water and keeps them from bursting with the weight. He hides the full moon behind a cloud. He divided light from darkness by a circle drawn on the face of the sea. When He threatens the pillars that hold up the sky, they shake and tremble with fear. It is His strength that conquered the sea; by His skill He destroyed the monster Rahab. It is His breath that made the sky clear, and His hand that killed the escaping monster. But these are only hints of His power, only the whispers that we have heard. Who can know how truly great God is?

Job 26:1-14 (Good News Translation)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Go back to Genesis, Chapter 1. Back to the time man was created on the sixth day of creation.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. ”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food. ” And it was so.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the sixth day.  Genesis 1:24-31 (NIV)

The sixth day of creation. And it was quite a day.

Livestock, the “creatures that move along the ground”, and wild animals were made by God who saw that His work was good. It’s amazing to think that the variety of creatures we see today were all fashioned by the hands of God. A beaver couldn’t be more different than a giraffe, an elephant from a dog, an armadillo from a rabbit, and yet God made them all just the way they are with specific characteristics and purposes.

Just as He made you and me.

For after God made the livestock, “creatures that move along the ground”, and wild animals, he got to work making mankind, and He didn’t have to come up with a wide range of shapes and sizes and oddball designs for man as He did with the animals, and the birds and sea creatures created days earlier. No, God has a special design for mankind: His own image.

What does this mean?

Simply put, you, I, and every man or woman ever created has God’s DNA within them. He has left an imprint on all of us. And no matter how much a person might want to deny God in their lives, they can’t remove Him from inside themselves. He built us that way and in doing so, is always with us because He is in us.

And so man and woman came to be on the sixth day, created in the image of God who finished off the day by blessing them in several ways.

First, so there wouldn’t be just one man and one woman, God commanded them to “be fruitful and increase in number” so that mankind might fill the earth He created. And we have continued to do that ever since and quite well if you look at the world’s population figures.

Secondly, God granted the things He had created – mankind as well as the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – “every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it” for food. Every green plant was given to provide sustenance for what God made. Think about that and give thanks the next time you sit down to have some carrots or green beans or corn – or blueberries or peaches or apples – then give thanks and praise to God as He made them so we could have them as food.

Finally, God delegated authority to mankind, allowing man and woman to subdue the earth, ruling over “the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” In other words, man was given dominion over some parts of God’s creation.

Only some of creation.

You see man, created in God’s own image and granted limited dominion, was later corrupted by sin as the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, violated God’s command and thus condemned every man and woman who would come after them to affliction. God’s perfect creation became marred but He nonetheless was still a part of our DNA. It’s just that sin entered into it as well and we’ve suffered from warring within our flesh ever since.

This sin affliction has a certain power to it which affects man and his behavior, always to the bad. And so if you couple sin’s power over man with the delegated authority God granted on the sixth day of creation, you can see there is a recipe for disaster, particularly when man tries to pursue power outside of what God appointed.

Have we seen this not carried out in life? Mankind abusing power with often devastating results. It has happened, it is happening today, and as long as man is on earth as we know it, it will continue to happen.

That is until Jesus returns.

Mankind needs to wake up. God made us in His own image but we are not God. Not even close. And if we truly knew of His greatness, if we truly knew how great God is, we wouldn’t even try it.

For consider the rest of the Genesis creation account.

Day 1: God created the heavens and the earth. Take a look in the skies and consider the expanses of the universe that is beyond what we can see. Then consider the very ground you are standing upon and think about the entire world beyond the small area you occupy. God formed it all with His hands. In one day. Sometimes I have trouble forming a thought in one day let alone forming heavens and earths. Such are the pathetic limits to my creative power compared with God.

But God wasn’t done on Day 1. It wasn’t enough for Him to create the heavens and earth and so He made light and darkness as well. It was quite a first day but God was far from done.

Day 2: God created the sky to separate “waters from waters”.

Day 3: God created the land and the seas, then allowed the land to produce “vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” The food for mankind was created before mankind came around so food would already be in place for them. All part of God’s perfect order and design.

Day 4: Light was created on Day 2 and refined on Day 4. Scriptures tells us that God made “two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.” And then for good measure “He also made the stars.” Then “God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.” Sunsets and sunrises came to be on Day 4.

Day 5: Before God made “mankind as well as the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground”, He created “living creatures that would reside in the seas and birds that would “fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” And God blessed them and allowed them to be fruitful and multiply. Yes, fish and birds came before mankind but it was all a part of His perfect creation plan.

Now, considering all this, do we not serve a truly great God? Only a fool would think otherwise – and I’m afraid man can often be very foolish. For we too readily forget how great God is. We, for some reason, take His majesty and power for granted.

In Job, Chapter 26, Job has heard for the final time from his friends. Bildad’s short statement in Chapter 25 were the last words the friends would speak. But Job was far from done speaking and after he sarcastically addressed his so-called friends, he speaks of God’s might:

“The spirits of the dead tremble in the waters under the earth. The world of the dead lies open to God; no covering shields it from his sight. God stretched out the northern sky and hung the earth in empty space. It is God who fills the clouds with water and keeps them from bursting with the weight. He hides the full moon behind a cloud. He divided light from darkness by a circle drawn on the face of the sea. When He threatens the pillars that hold up the sky, they shake and tremble with fear. It is His strength that conquered the sea; by His skill He destroyed the monster Rahab. It is His breath that made the sky clear, and His hand that killed the escaping monster. But these are only hints of His power, only the whispers that we have heard. Who can know how truly great God is?”

With reference to God’s creation power, Job does a good job of reminding us of God’s omnipotence. No one or nothing is greater.

And yet, even with the knowledge of what we know and see of God, we are only seeing hints of His power, whispers of His almighty voice.

And so when we witness the devastation of a tornado with all its fast and furious funneling, we think we are seeing God’s fullest power on display. When we watch a hurricane develop across the seas and spiral toward landfall, often with amazing destruction, we feel we are viewing God’s incredible muscle in the winds and rain. But are we really seeing the extent of God’s power - the power that formed the heavens, earth, seas, sky, land, day and night, as well as every plant, tree, bird, animal and man?

Indeed, Job had it right. For who can know how truly great God is?

None of us can fathom it.

And none of us should ever feel like we rival it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com