The supremacy of God and the Obedience of Man
The Supremacy of God and the Obedience of Man
Deut. 10:12-22
“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of Lords, the great, the might, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”
How does the finite grasp the infinite? How does man, who is a mere dot on earth that is a particle of sand in the solar system, which is a point in space in the Milky way which is but a speck in the universe, grasp the God who can encompass the whole universe in the mere palm of his hand? It is impossible. All we can do is stand in awestruck wonder at the immensity of God.
However, herein lies the audacity of man. As we stand before the immeasurable God of the universe, we attempt to conform God to our perspective. We diminish God by believing we have the wisdom and authority to reject and redefine God’s law to fit our thinking. We can grasp many of his other attributes, for we have some residue of them still in us. To have his image imprinted in us means that we have a reflection of them in us, and so we can at least grasp some aspect of their meaning. We have an inkling of his love (albeit distorted and corrupted by sin) because we love. We can relate to his knowledge and wisdom because we also possess a reflection of knowledge and understanding. But to grasp his immensity and supremacy, we cannot fathom, for there is nothing in a finite being that can relate to one who is infinite in all things. The moment we try to grasp his immensity, we have already distorted it because the finite can only put something in the context of the finite. As we confront the supremacy and vastness of God, all we can do is stand back in complete awe and wonderment, fully realizing our inability to understand him.
In this passage, Moses, who had a glimpse of God’s glory, reminds the people of the supremacy of God above all the universe. He is unparalleled in his power and being. Therefore there is no one like him, and no one is equal to him. There is no other view of God that is legitimate apart from the self-disclosure of God as he has revealed himself in the Bible. In verse 17, Moses reminds the people, and us, that God is unequaled by using three adjectives. He is the “great, the mighty, and the awesome” God. To see God, we must acknowledge his greatness. The word “great” refers to something remarkable in magnitude and nature. He is mighty, that is, one who is unequal in strength and ability. Last, he is “awesome,” which comes from the word “to fear” and thus speaks of one we are to hold in such honor that there is a sense of fear in his presence. Not the fear of a person standing in the presence of a terrible threat, the fear that comes when we recognize that he is so beyond us in his being and holiness that we become painfully aware of our unworthiness to stand before him.
So how do we respond to such a God? How are we to live? We find the answer in verses 12-13. In light of the exalted nature of God, all we can do is fear him by walking in obedience to him and serving him with every ounce of our being. It is to make him and obedience to him the motivation of every act and attitude of our life. So today, instead of trying to understand and conform God to your ideas of him, just stand in awe and worship him for his unmatched greatness.
Deut. 10:12-22
“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of Lords, the great, the might, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”
How does the finite grasp the infinite? How does man, who is a mere dot on earth that is a particle of sand in the solar system, which is a point in space in the Milky way which is but a speck in the universe, grasp the God who can encompass the whole universe in the mere palm of his hand? It is impossible. All we can do is stand in awestruck wonder at the immensity of God.
However, herein lies the audacity of man. As we stand before the immeasurable God of the universe, we attempt to conform God to our perspective. We diminish God by believing we have the wisdom and authority to reject and redefine God’s law to fit our thinking. We can grasp many of his other attributes, for we have some residue of them still in us. To have his image imprinted in us means that we have a reflection of them in us, and so we can at least grasp some aspect of their meaning. We have an inkling of his love (albeit distorted and corrupted by sin) because we love. We can relate to his knowledge and wisdom because we also possess a reflection of knowledge and understanding. But to grasp his immensity and supremacy, we cannot fathom, for there is nothing in a finite being that can relate to one who is infinite in all things. The moment we try to grasp his immensity, we have already distorted it because the finite can only put something in the context of the finite. As we confront the supremacy and vastness of God, all we can do is stand back in complete awe and wonderment, fully realizing our inability to understand him.
In this passage, Moses, who had a glimpse of God’s glory, reminds the people of the supremacy of God above all the universe. He is unparalleled in his power and being. Therefore there is no one like him, and no one is equal to him. There is no other view of God that is legitimate apart from the self-disclosure of God as he has revealed himself in the Bible. In verse 17, Moses reminds the people, and us, that God is unequaled by using three adjectives. He is the “great, the mighty, and the awesome” God. To see God, we must acknowledge his greatness. The word “great” refers to something remarkable in magnitude and nature. He is mighty, that is, one who is unequal in strength and ability. Last, he is “awesome,” which comes from the word “to fear” and thus speaks of one we are to hold in such honor that there is a sense of fear in his presence. Not the fear of a person standing in the presence of a terrible threat, the fear that comes when we recognize that he is so beyond us in his being and holiness that we become painfully aware of our unworthiness to stand before him.
So how do we respond to such a God? How are we to live? We find the answer in verses 12-13. In light of the exalted nature of God, all we can do is fear him by walking in obedience to him and serving him with every ounce of our being. It is to make him and obedience to him the motivation of every act and attitude of our life. So today, instead of trying to understand and conform God to your ideas of him, just stand in awe and worship him for his unmatched greatness.
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