How great is our God?

Well? How great is He? It’s easy to say that our God’s greatness is infinite. He is, after all, the creator of all things, seer of all things, knower of all things, author of all love, writer of wisdom, and sovereign story maker for every individual who bears his image (that’s everyone). God is great! And his greatness is truly immeasurable.

But it’d be a pity if, knowing his greatness is immeasurable, we didn’t try to measure it at all. It’s all too easy to dismiss it and not meditate on God’s might, His holiness, and His glory. How great is our God?

Understanding God’s greatness helps us understand His humility, and understanding His humility helps us understand His love. See how Paul writes in Philippians 2 V5-7 of Christ’s example of humility:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

If we can understand the magnitude of His greatness, we can understand the magnitude of His humility – how much did Jesus empty himself to become a mere man? And since He humbled Himself as an act of great love for the world (John 3:16), getting a sense of the magnitude of Jesus’ humility will also give us a sense of the magnitude of His love for us.

So let’s try to illustrate it here. Jesus, being God, humbled Himself to the point of being a man. How far down did He stoop? How great was He to begin with? Let’s start with the Old Testament’s depictions of God’s greatness.

Psalm 97 says of God:

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him

and burns up his adversaries all around.

His lightnings light up the world;

The earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,

Before the Lord of all the earth.

Picture it - thick clouds, fire going out from Him, bright flashes of lightning, the earth trembling! Mountains melting like wax before Him! How mighty is our God!

Exodus 19 describes God as descending on Mount Sinai in fire, wrapping the mountain in smoke. The ground itself trembled, and when Moses spoke to God, God answered him in thunder – just imagine the voice of God! The people of Israel, though they’d consecrated themselves – presented themselves as clean and good and holy as they could – they were not permitted to even touch the mountain on which God had descended. How holy is our God!

The prophet Ezekiel had a vision of God. He described Him as having a “human appearance”, but of impossibly glorious substance: “gleaming metal” from the waist up, “fire” from the waist down, and “brightness all around him”. The prophet wrote: “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face…” (Ezekiel 1). How glorious is our God!

Isaiah had a vision of God, too, “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple.” One of the seraphim near him called out “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

When Isaiah saw God, he feared for his own life, knowing that he was not worthy to be in the presence of the mighty, holy, glorious God (Isaiah 6). How great is our God!

What incredible, awe-inspiring images of our creator! So mighty that all creation strives to honour Him. So holy that He is utterly unapproachable by His adversaries. So glorious that he is indescribably overwhelming – except to say that He is something like a man (which is really to say that humanity, His image-bearers, are somewhat like him).

Isn’t it amazing that Jesus, “in the form of God”, would humble himself so? Even though mountains would normally melt before Him in deference, creation was commanded to treat Him as no more than any man – except where He asserted his authority over it (for example, the storm in Matthew 8:27, or the fig tree in Mark 11:14).

When Jesus became a man, even small stones on the ground wouldn’t have melted before Him. They would’ve worn away at the soft skin of His feet until it became hard and callused. He would’ve sweated under the hot sun as if He weren’t its master and creator. He would’ve shivered in rain and wind, ached after long journeys, and felt relief in rest and shelter when He found it.

And He humbled himself further, didn’t he? Washing the feet of his students as if they were his masters – to model humility to them by placing himself beneath them. And then, after the Last Supper, abandoned by those same students. Given over to those who hated him most. Endured mockery, ridicule, flogging, and scourging. Laid down on the cross knowing all too well what those nails were for. Suffered a cruel death as punishment for nothing He did.

Pause with me and consider just how far Jesus stooped. Consider how much He emptied himself of his greatness.

And what for?

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. Jesus anticipated something great to make the suffering all worth it.

After suffering death, Jesus was raised to life and ascended to heaven, to His rightful place in glory. Let’s look at the risen Jesus as he appeared to John in Revelation 1:14-15:

“The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

What an amazing picture of Jesus in His glory! Imagine the sight of him! Imagine the powerful presence that causes John to fall at his feet “as though dead”! And try to imagine the voice “like the roar of many waters” as Jesus says in verses 17 and 18:

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

The first and the last. The living one. Died, and alive forevermore. Here is Jesus, glory restored. But this was more than just restoring the greatness He had put aside. He’s now the conqueror of death. The victor over hell. The eternal king. And in his victory over death, Jesus has won for Himself a kingdom of saints from every nation. A kingdom in which there will be no more death. No more brokenness. No enemy against the love of Jesus.

Because of what Jesus has done, we have a share in Jesus’ eternal inheritance. We have a share in his glory. And King Jesus, the living one, who lives forevermore will be all the more glorified for having saved each and every one of us Himself.

How great is our God!