Immensity
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro:
Last week we started talking about The Attributes of God and specifically looked at His Infinitude —that means God has no limits. He’s not bound by time, space, or knowledge. There’s no edge to Him. You can’t measure Him, and you’ll never find the end of Him. He’s bigger than we can ever imagine.
This week, we’re going to look at another attribute that goes right along with that: God’s Immensity… When we say God is immense, we mean that He fills all space.
There is another, very similar, attribute that we will look at later on in this study… God’s Omnipresence, but today we are just going to look at His Immensity and what it means for us.
A.W. Tozer said it like this: “When we say that God is immense, we are saying that His nature is so vast that it cannot be contained within the universe.” In other words, the universe isn’t big enough to hold God!
And when we really believe this truth, it will change how we live and how we react when difficulties come our way.
It means that God is never far away. It means nothing is hidden from Him. And it means He’s big enough to handle anything we face.
In the book of Isaiah we have an amazing description of just how immense God is.
Read Isaiah 40:12-31
Meat:
As I stated last week, all of God’s attributes branch off from His infinitude. Which means that…
God’s Immensity...
1. Cannot be Measured
1. Cannot be Measured
Our brains like to measure things: acres, pounds, miles… Days, months, years… hot, cold or warm… all of these units of measure… ... But you can’t measure God.
King Solomon even realized this… during his dedication prayer of the first Temple, he said…
18 “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built.
God’s immensity…
1.1 Expands Beyond All Creation
1.1 Expands Beyond All Creation
v.12 of Isaiah 40 says…
Isaiah 40:12 “12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?”
Our finite minds cannot even begin to grasp the true immensity of God…
He can hold all the oceans in the palm of His hand. Think about that.
All the water in the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern (Antarctic) Oceans —and God holds it as a drop in the palm of His hand…
He measures the sky with the span of His hand—from the tip of His thumb to the tip of His pinky.
He can weigh the Rocky Mountains and the Himalayas like you’d weigh produce at the grocery store.
And yet so often, when difficulties come our way…
we act like He’s too small to handle them.
We worry... We panic… We try to carry it all on our own shoulders—as if the God who holds oceans like a drop and weighs mountains like apples… somehow can’t handle our problems.
But if He’s that immense, that powerful, that beyond comprehension—
then in reality… nothing we face is too big for Him.
The bills, the sickness, the broken relationships, the fear of the unknown—they’re like dust on the scale to Him. He sees it. He knows it. And He cares.
The same God who formed the stars knows your name.
The One who shaped the mountains hears your prayer.
The One who holds the oceans… also holds your life in His hand.
So trust Him… …
The Fact that God’s Immensity cannot be measured also means that…
1.2 He Doesn’t Need Advice
1.2 He Doesn’t Need Advice
He never needs to ask for help.
He doesn’t call a meeting.
He doesn’t phone a friend.
He doesn’t run His plans by a council of experts.
He never says, “Hmm… I didn’t think of that.”
Look at vv. 13-14…
Isaiah 40:13–14 “13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding?”
The obvious and implied answer is… NO ONE!
Because if He needed help or needed to get advice from anyone else, He would cease to Infinite, and He would cease to be God…
But… if we’re being honest… We Try to Give Him Advice Anyway…
We tell Him how to fix things.
“Lord, if You’d just get me that job…”
“If You’d just change her heart…”
“God, if You could just make this go away by next week…”
We bring God our requests (which is good!), but sometimes we slip into treating Him like a personal assistant. We give Him the plan, and we expect Him to carry it out.
We question His timing.
“Why haven’t You answered yet?”
“What are You waiting for?”
“God, this would’ve been so much easier last month…”
It’s like we think our calendar is wiser than His eternal perspective.
We criticize His methods.
“Why did You let this happen?”
“Why did You do it that way?”
“I would’ve handled it differently…”
When life doesn’t go how we expect, we act like God made a mistake—like we know better than the One who sees the beginning, the end, and everything in between.
When the reality is… The wisest minds on earth can’t scratch the surface of His wisdom.
He doesn't make mistakes... He doesn’t overlook details… And He doesn’t need anyone to give Him advice.
When we finally come to the realization… when we truly believe that God’s immensity cannot be measured…
1.3 It Puts Life into Perspective
1.3 It Puts Life into Perspective
When we get a right view of how immense God is, we begin to see:
How small our problems are
How silly our pride is
How amazing His grace is
Which leads to point number 2… God’s Immensity…
2. Builds Our Faith
2. Builds Our Faith
The realization of God’s Immensity causes our worries to shrink and our faith to grow…
God’s Immensity Builds our faith…
2.1 In His Power
2.1 In His Power
People often make the mistake of putting their faith in powerful world leaders, thinking that human strength, status, or political influence can fix what’s broken.
They look to presidents, prime ministers, military commanders, kings, or billionaires—as if one strong person could hold the world together.
We’ve seen it in history:
People thought Caesar would bring peace to the empire.
Some believed Hitler would restore Germany’s greatness.
Others put hope in U.S. presidents, thinking, “If we just elect the right one, everything will be okay.”
Even today, people rally behind leaders—on the left or the right—believing they will be our savior, our hope, our solution… But they’re still just people. Broken, limited, and sinful like the rest of us…
But v.15 of our passage says…
Isaiah 40:15 “15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.”
In other words—all the great nations, with their rulers, armies, missiles, money, and military strategies—they’re nothing compared to God.
Just a drop. Just dust.
Not even enough to move the needle on His scale.
We look at the world today and feel the tension:
Israel and Hamas locked in war, because Hamas refuses to release the hostages they abducted a year and a half ago.
Russia and Ukraine grinding through a bloody conflict with soldiers and civilians dying on both sides.
Iran racing toward nuclear capability, threatening Israel and destabilizing the region.
China getting stronger and constantly challenging the West.
Economies teetering, nations divided, and global leaders struggling to keep order.
It all feels overwhelming… Some turn on the news and wonder:
Who’s in control?… Where is this going?… Should we be afraid?…
But God says…
Iran’s nuclear ambition? Nothing but Dust.
Russia’s army? Hardly A drop in the bucket.
The combined strength of every world power? Not even enough to shake the scale in God's courtroom.
In His immensity… He rules above the chaos… He sees beyond the headlines… And He holds all of history in the palm of His hand.
And so His immensity builds our faith in His power… … It also builds our faith…
2.2 In His Uniqueness
2.2 In His Uniqueness
Look at v.18…
Isaiah 40:18 “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?”
God is calling out the human tendency to try and compare Him to something or someone else… The truth is, no one even comes close.
But throughout history, many have tried.
History is full of rulers—kings, emperors, and prophets—who thought themselves divine. But when you line them up next to the God of Isaiah 40, their so-called greatness crumbles.
Think of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus… In chapter 1 Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to kill every newborn Hebrew boy… as if he had the right to decide who lives and who dies.
Fast forward to chapter 5, Moses and Aaron bring a message from All Mighty God to the New Pharaoh…
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
And how did Pharaoh respond??
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
Pharaoh sees himself as the highest authority, equal to or even above Israel’s God… Through 9 plagues he hardens his heart… but after the last one… his attitude changed…
31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel...
and even after that, Pharaoh was faced with the harsh reality of the fact that he didn’t even have the power to keep his entire army from drowning in the Red Sea…
Now think about Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
He was the most powerful man on the planet in his day—ruler of a global empire, a builder of cities, and a man who believed no one could touch him.
In Daniel 3, he builds a 90-foot golden statue and commands everyone to bow down and worship it. He’s not just demanding political loyalty—he’s demanding spiritual allegiance, as if he were a god.
And when three Hebrew men—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—refuse to bow, Nebuchadnezzar explodes with rage:
15 “Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Did you catch that?
He’s basically saying: “Not even your God can save you from me.”
But what happened?
God did save them. And Nebuchadnezzar had to watch it with his own eyes.
You’d think that would humble him, right? Maybe for a moment… But pride is persistent. And in Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar walks out onto his royal balcony…
30 “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’
And in that very moment, God silences him.
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
God strikes him with insanity.
He lives in the fields, eating grass like an ox, his hair growing like feathers, his nails like claws.
The man who thought he ruled the world couldn’t even rule his own mind.
But eventually, he lifts his eyes to heaven—and he realizes God’s Sovereignty and God’s Immensity...
34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way:
There is only one God. And it’s not him.
The Caesar’s of Rome…
Demanded to be worshipped as gods.
Built temples in their honor
But every single one of them died.
Their empires fell. Their temples crumbled.
Even in recent history, we’ve seen men claim to be divine—false messiahs who led people into deception and destruction.
Jim Jones convinced over 900 people to drink poison in Jonestown, claiming to be the reincarnation of Jesus.
David Koresh claimed to be the final prophet and “Lamb of God.” His compound in Waco ended in fire and tragedy.
Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, claimed to be the second coming of Christ.
They all made big claims, demanded total loyalty, and ended in disaster…
You know what sets our God apart from all these so-called gods—whether they’re ancient kings, cult leaders, or man-made idols?
They all died… Their power faded… Their stories ended…
But our God??… He is alive!!!—eternal, unchanging, and still reigning today.
And that’s just part of what makes Him utterly unique.
He’s not like any other.
He doesn’t rise and fall with time.
He doesn’t need our help to stay relevant or powerful.
He doesn’t need a monument to remind people He existed.
He was, He is, and He always will be… and Our faith in Him should be strengthened just from knowing that.
And God’s Immensity Builds our Faith…
2.3 In His Attention to Detail
2.3 In His Attention to Detail
Back to Isaiah 40… v.26…
And I do like the NAS version better for this verse…
26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
It’s one thing to know that God created the universe—that shows power… But Isaiah says God knows and names each star… That shows care and detail.
Think about that:
There are billions of stars—too many for any scientist to count.
Yet God knows each one, and not a single one moves from its spot without God knowing it or allowing it to happen.
If God keeps track of every star in the sky, how much more does He see you, know you, and care for everything happening in your life?
Jesus said it like this…
6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
7 “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
God is not just sustaining the universe;
He is personally involved in your story—your family, your health, your finances, your struggles.
And when we feel unseen, forgotten, or overwhelmed,.. our faith can be strengthened in knowing that…
We are never off His radar.
And Nothing slips by Him—no prayer too small, no tear unnoticed, no detail ignored.
God’s immensity…
3. Changes Everything
3. Changes Everything
When we truly see the immensity of God —not just with our eyes but with our hearts—it changes how we face life... It changes how we walk through trials… it changes how we pray… it changes how we hope.
3.1 He Knows Our Struggles
3.1 He Knows Our Struggles
Even when it feels like He doesn’t… v.27 says…
Isaiah 40:27 “Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God?”
“Why do you say,… My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God’?”
Let’s be honest—sometimes it can feel like God isn’t paying attention.
You pray… and nothing changes.
You wait… and it gets worse.
You wonder… “Does God even see me right now?”
But Isaiah is reminding us that…
God hasn’t lost track of you… You’re not off His radar. He knows exactly where you are and what you're going through.
Just because you don’t feel God, doesn’t mean He’s not there.
And…
3.2 His Strength Never Ends
3.2 His Strength Never Ends
We get tired. We get Worn out. We get Drained.
Even the strongest people you know hit their limit.
But God NEVER does…
Isaiah 40:28 “28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.”
He never runs out of power, never runs out of patience, and never runs out of wisdom.
He never says, “I need a break” or “I can’t deal with this right now.”
While we hit our limits on a daily basis—emotionally, physically, mentally—… He has no limits.
That’s why Isaiah says His understanding is unsearchable…
Because God is never confused, He’s never caught off guard, and He’s never unsure of what to do.
He is always strong enough. Always wise enough. Always present.… even when life doesn’t make sense.
And here is why His Immensity changes everything…
3.3 He Shares With Us
3.3 He Shares With Us
Isaiah 40:29–31 “29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah moves from who God is to what God does—especially for those who are weak, tired, and at the end of themselves.
God, in His Immensity, doesn’t just have strength—He shares it.
He gives power to the ones who admit they need it.
And He renews the weary who wait on Him.
What does it mean to “wait on the Lord”?
It doesn’t mean sitting around doing nothing.
It means trusting Him, leaning on Him, and expecting Him to move in His perfect time.
Closing:
How big is your God?
If the god you believe in is small, distant, or limited, then your faith will be small as well.
- You’ll panic when life gets hard.
- You’ll crumble when your plans fall apart.
- You’ll question His love when things don’t go your way.
But if the God you know is immense…
If He truly fills all space, sees all things, and holds all power in His hands…
Then that changes everything.
It means you’re never alone—even when you feel abandoned.
It means your prayers are never lost—even when the answer is delayed.
It means your problems are never too big for Him—even when they feel crushing to you.
And it means you can rest—even in the storm—because the One who commands the stars also holds your life.
I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.
2 Every step is getting brighter,
As the golden stairs I climb;
Every burden's getting lighter;
Every cloud is silver lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eye,
At the ending of the rainbow,
Where the mountains touch the sky.
3 I don't know about tomorrow,
It may bring me poverty;
But the one who feeds the sparrow,
Is the one who stands by me.
And the path that be my portion,
May be through the flame or flood,
But His presence goes before me,
And I'm covered with His blood.
Refrain:
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.
Prayer
