Majesty - KG Ch8

August 25 - 11:58am

The night before last I went to the dock to see the stars. The expanse of heavens, the amazing vastness of creation, the glory of lights billions of miles away, a display of splendor and majesty, yet incomparable to the creator who is forever blessed.

The eighth chapter of Knowing God by Packer is upon the majesty, the absolute infinite greatness of God. The chapter is especially speaks upon Isaiah 40 and that rebuke to the Israelites who are not seeing God as great as He is, but are seeing other things as great.

The chapter opens describing majesty, a word I have no acquaintance with practically in my vocabulary, and then essentially a challenge that 'our God is too small'. In our focus on God being personal we have detracted from His greatness. "Today vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as o leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are--weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic. But this is not the God of the Bible! Our personal life is a finite thing: it is limited in every direction, in space, in time, in knowledge, in power. He has us in his hands; we never have him in ours. Like us, he is personal; but unlike us, he is great. In all its constant stress on the reality of God's personal concern for his people, and on his gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, patience and yearning compassion that he shows toward them, the Bible never lets us lose sight of his unlimited dominion over all his creatures." pg 83.

Packer continues by going to the very start; using Genesis as an example of God's mejesty combined with personality.

I thought this was really cool. I had never viewed Genesis as showing the personal character of God, but now that it has been made aware to me, it feels like this is something that is sooo clear that I have been overlooking.

God in Genesis: destroyer of Sodom + Gomorrah; wrathful curser and annihilator of the world by flood; cause of famine; mysterious. God in Genesis, this is what we often remember. His power, and destruction. To add to his majesty: creating the world and universe; cause of life; scattering nations by language; judge of all the earth; God Most High.

But the thing I overlooked here: God who walked with Adam; God who talks to, asks questions, and desires compassion; God who makes promises and loves his people; God of Genesis. A personal God, which continues through the whole Bible.

But nowhere does this personal quality directly go against his majesty. Through the Bible we see people actually scared of God because of his greatness. If they see Him they may well die. I don't know when that thought initially began, but the truth is in His majesty and our sin which deserves righteous wrath.

So, what are we to do to properly see God's greatness? "How may we form a right idea of God's greatness? The Bible teaches us two steps that we must take. The first is to remove from our thoughts of God limits that would make him small. The second is to compare him with powers and forces which we regard as great." pg 85

Packer continues with a meditation on Psalm 139;  which essentially is a meditation on God's unlimited presence, knowledge, and power. This meditation as an example of removing the limits we place on God. Isaiah 40 then is given as an example of comparing God to greatness: great tasks; the nations; the world; rulers; stars.

Thost stars which are so great and incomparable, God is greater. He made each of them.

The chapter ends with Isaiah 40:25-28. ""To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength. not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He wil not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." (NIV). A rebuke of wrong thoughts of God, of ourselves, and our slowness to believe in his greatness.

My Bible just flipped pages to Isa26. Verse 10 reads "Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD."

May we better see God's majesty and may his kindness lead us to repentance and a reliance on His powerful Spirit in us.