“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19
“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
I recently heard Pastor Alistair Begg relate a conversation he had with a fellow pastor at a church conference. As they walked toward their meeting room, the fellow pastor said, “Let’s head to the sanctuary.” Pastor Begg replied, “There is no sanctuary.” It left his friend confused because clearly there was a sanctuary – one like all churches have where we meet and worship God.
He went on to say that when the temple curtain was torn at Jesus’ crucifixion, God no longer dwelt there. Instead, He is found everywhere. He is no longer encountered only in one earthly place, closed off to all but a select few.
A Boxed God
Yet we humans love our little boxes and borders. Church is where we “do God.” Work is where we “make money.” We love to define God in our human terms, making Him more like us. Frequently untrustworthy, unloving or unforgiving. We box Him up and retrieve Him only when needed.
But friends, God is so much bigger than our little boxes. He is far grander than us humans. He is transcendent.
“But who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? So who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except to burn incense before Him?” — 2 Chronicles 2:6
We’ve spent many weeks looking at the character of God—all the reasons He should be revered and worshipped. He is merciful, patient, loving, forgiving, infinite, omnipotent, and so much more. Yet He longs to grow us into people who are more like Him. That’s a bit mind-blowing!
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”. – Isaiah 55:9
Even among my Christ-loving friends, I hear echoes of a god who “can’t.” We forget to pray because we think we know best, or because we assume God couldn’t possibly understand our problem. We place Him in our little box and open it only when absolutely necessary.
My dad, even as an 86-year-old man, lived with the “terrible twos” mindset: “I can do it myself!” It was one of the main reasons he remained so resistant to giving his life to Christ. If my dad couldn’t do it or think of a solution then no one else could. No doctor, no counselor, no mechanic, no one. Least of all the human-like God he imagined.
A Higher God
“In practice men do not by any means always “love the highest when they see it,” and truth is not always a welcome visitor.” J.B. Phillips, Your God Is Too Small
We say we believe in the infinite and almighty God, yet when faced with a problem, we first tinker away at it ourselves. And maybe after failing a time or two we begrudgingly turn to God. And even then we come to Him with our list of suggestions!
I count myself among those who think too small of God at times. I imagine Him more like a fallible human at times rather than the prefect, transcedent God that He is.
I’ve heard many a Christian woman comment that they struggle with the idea of God the Father because of their own imperfect human fathers. They won’t cry “Abba” because they don’t trust Him and can’t understand His perfect love for them. We make God more human instead of asking Him to make us more like Christ.
‘Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in praises, doing wonders?” – Exodus 15:11
Friends, there is no one like our God — no one. And we can know Him only as much as He chooses to reveal Himself to us. We glean from His Word and through His creation the pearls He has laid out for us.
I have found that unbelievers who seem to hate God have dragged Him down to their own level of humanness. They have stripped Him of His glory and holiness in order to sustain their own false ideas.
But when we see the God of the Bible—and I mean really see and study Him—we encounter an otherworldly, awe-inspiring God who entered our time to accomplish a great rescue of love. So let us stop shrinking God down to our size. Let us meet Him as He truly is—holy, infinite, glorious, and far beyond all we can contain. And let that vision of Him lead us not to fear, but to worship.
Our God by Chris Tomlin
Water You turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness, You shine
Out of the ashes, we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God
Did you miss a blog post in the 30 Days of Reverence series? Check out the series page by clicking here!
