Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5, 31; 1 John 4:11-16;
Revelation 5:9-14
Today we begin a new series based on two literary volumes
called “The Attributes of God”. These are a compilation of sermons and other
writings by A. W. Tozer – a CMA pastor, a magazine editor, and a prolific Christian
writer.
His books outline 20 different qualities of God –
characteristics that scripture, as well as personal experiences of all who call
Jesus Christ Savior, show to be vitally important for our lives. And while, by faith, we believe that these are
true, they are nearly impossible to prove.
After all, how do you prove God?
When I was growing up, the dinner table was always
the place that our family caught up on the day’s happenings. My brother and I attended college together,
and at one evening meal, we made some comments on our calculus class, in which
we learned that it could evaluate an infinite series as easily as it could
finite numbers.
Our Mom, after listening to our demonstration of
such “great knowledge” (!), offered her own take on the subject with these
words - “I just can’t imagine infinity.
Doesn’t everything have to end sometime?” Either my brother or I replied “Can you
imagine an end to space? What would that
look like?” Mom countered with “I
can’t imagine that either!”
In retrospect, Mom had, in that brief moment,
defined the very problem that so many have with understanding God. They find it difficult to fully trust a being
who is less than perfect, who is limited by their own life’s understandings, who
came into existence at some definable moment in the past, and who will cease to
exist at some predictable moment in the future.
But at the same time, they find it impossible to accept the fact that anyone
could be totally understanding of every infinitesimal concept throughout the
universe and throughout all time, including that which has yet to be. They don’t like the idea that a Being could
exist before anything did, that anyone could have absolute power and control
over everything and everyone that exists, that the word which has been
transcribed by humans could be the acceptable word of the LORD, and
that God’s way and commands will never allow any exception, variation, or
denial.
And therein is the reason for this series – to
reveal the hope and promise that this perfect and absolute Being offers to all
who will acknowledge, trust, and to the best of their ability, follow in His word. Today we begin with consideration of the Infinite
Nature of our God – a truth that I believe my Mother, in the new life she now
lives with her Lord, finally and fully understands.
Read Genesis 1:1-5, 31
In the first verse, of the first chapter, of the
first book of the Bible, we discover the first hint of God’s infinite nature – If
He created the heavens and the earth, then He must have existed before “the
beginning” of all things. God – the Alpha
and the Omega, the One with no beginning and no end - is the “Infinite” of and
for our lives. And in His creation of the
heavens and the earth, God’s initial work established two separate entities – presumably
the first to be God’s and the second to be humanity’s - but left them empty and
devoid of substance. The remainder of this
chapter, as well as the parallel version in chapter 2, outlines the further
development of the earth, but we are left wondering about “the heavens”. Where do we read about God’s work regarding
them?
Perhaps it isn’t finished yet, and is waiting for
the earth’s history to conclude? We don’t
know, and are left wondering why there isn’t more!
But in the next verse, we discover that God did not
create all things in one fell swoop, which, of course, He could have, if that had
been His desire. As we continue to read
through this chapter, it becomes apparent that the divine Plan was to put
creation together in specific steps, that which scripture calls “days”.
We also read that the Spirit of God was “hovering
over the waters”, which some believe is not a reference to liquids, but to
chaos in this initial step of creation.
And what would it take to convert a chaotic existence into an orderly
one? It would take a Being who had
planned it all, understood it all, and who was able to execute the ultimate plan
to perfection.
The last issue that we want to consider is God’s
proclamation after each step as it's being “good”, and at the completion of the “sixth
day”, He proclaims everything as “very good”.
The LORD is saying that all is just as He would have it be
at this point. But what about the word “good”
– what does it mean for us? In Matthew 19:16-17, we read of Jesus’ conversation with the
rich young man, who had come to get advice from Jesus. He refers to Christ as “Good Teacher”, and
Jesus replies that only God is “good”, with the implication that only God, as
well as the things of God, can ever be seen as “good”, and that nothing
else ever can.
God’s plan for this existence is “perfect”, at least
in His sense, as evidenced by His pronouncing these efforts as “good” and “very
good”. And we are to see God’s created goodness
as the best for this life.
Read 1 John 4:11-16
The love of God is also eternal, and John is
reminding us that we have been invited to share in and with that same
love. And the love that lives within us
by faith in Jesus Christ, is also the LORD’s promise of eternity.
Why did Jesus leave glory, to come to live with
us? It was because God greatly desired
that we should experience His love.
Why did Jesus share so much of the truth of God with
us, whether we understood and accepted it or not? It was because the love of God wanted us to appreciate
His truth.
Why did Jesus surrender His humanity at Calvary, and
rise to eternal life on the third day? So
that we, by faith and trust in Him, might share in that precious and eternal
love and life!
This entire passage is God’s promise that His
eternity can also be ours, simply by acknowledging that “Jesus is the Son of
God”. Interestingly, God isn’t
requiring that we love Him in the same way that He loves us (which would be impossible!), or even that we must
love Him at all. We are expected to
claim that Jesus is God, and that He is our Savior, and by implication, that
there is no other, and that will be our love for Him and His word.
Life comes from God.
It began at creation, it continues through our human birth, and it will
finally be evidenced in salvation. But
between the time of creation, and the time of eternity, humanity has been given
responsibility for faithful living. And
because human life is ours to care for, it falls far short of Godliness. But God in Christ understands this, and has
made a way for us, in spite of our inability to acquire His life and love on
our own.
Since God is eternal, we have His promise, as both Creator
and Savior, that by faith in Jesus, and by the presence of His Spirit in our
life, His life can be ours.
Read Revelation 5:9-14
This passage contains a hint of the Passover story -
that time when the blood of a sacrificed lamb became the means of identifying
the people of God, which allowed them to escape condemnation when the angel of
death passed over Egypt. But now, a new Lamb is being proclaimed as
Savior, not only for Israel, but for people of “every tribe and language and
people and nation”. And these people
have been “purchased” by the Blood of this new Lamb for the expressed purpose that
we might be the servants (priests?) of the Living God. The Lamb is the only One who is worthy to reveal
and bestow the ultimate and eternal plan of God, that is given for the people
of God.
My friends, we are those people, saved by the eternal,
unchanging, excessive, indescribable, sacrificial, and exceptional grace and
love of our One and Almighty God. In 1 Peter 2:4-10, we read in verse 9 that “9 But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His
own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light;“
And this is God’s promise and call on us that will
be kept for eternity.
