Attributes of God = immensity
Notes
Transcript
Harmony of Science and Scripture (The Innumerable Stars)
The Innumerable Stars
Looking up at the night sky, one can see the heavens filled with stars. Before his death in 150 B.C., Hipparchus (a Greek astronomer) counted less than 3,000 stars. Ptolemy (a Greek astronomer of the second century) counted 1,058; Kepler (a German astronomer—1571–1630) counted 1,005; and Tycho Brahe (a Danish astronomer) cataloged 777. In 1609, Galileo turned his invention, the telescope, toward the heavens and realized the stars were innumerable.
Today, through the use of giant telescopes and radio telescopes (which “see” radio waves), we know our sun lies in a great cluster of stars called a galaxy. There are at least 100 billion stars in our galaxy, commonly called the Milky Way. Many of them are immensely larger than our sun, which is a million and a half times larger than the Earth.
The Milky Way is shaped like a thin watch; from rim to rim its diameter is 100,000 light years. (A light year is the distance light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second for one year.)
Astronomers estimate there may be as many as 100 billion galaxies (See fig. #7.) in the universe. If so, there are at least 40 sextillion stars. Some of these galaxies (each with approximately 100 billion stars), rotate and move through one another, mingling and interweaving like a giant suspended mobile, all moving in sync. The meticulous precision of our immeasurable cosmos points clearly to a Creator.
The Bible tells us God knows each star and has given names to them all (Psa. 147:4; Isa. 40:26). To give some idea of how many that would be, the names of the stars would fill 80 quadrillion books the size of an unabridged Webster’s Dictionary. Some stars are named in Scripture:
• Orion: Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 5:8
• Arcturus (Bear): Job 9:9; 38:32
• Pleiades: Job 9:9; 38:31
• Mazzaroth: Job 38:32 (NKJV)
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Immensity of God)
I’d say this is the highest thought I know of, in the Bible or out. And God does this “by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (40:26). Just as a shepherd keeps all of his sheep and not one is lost, so God keeps all of His universe. Men point their tiny little glasses at the stars and talk learnedly, but they’ve just been counting God’s sheep, nothing more. God is running His universe.
And then in the Psalms we read,
Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind. (Psalms 104:1–3)
Proposition - As we embark on the study of the attribute of God called “God’s Immensity.” We will be uncovering three aspects: 1) God’s immensity defined, 2) God’s immensity in Creation, and 3) God’s immensity on Display.
Interrogative question - How does God’s immensity affect your daily worship?
1. God’s Immensity Defined -
1. God’s Immensity Defined -
Transcendence (God exists outside of space and time) and immanence (God is present within space and time) are both attributes of God. He is both “nearby” and “far away,” according to Jeremiah 23:23. “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). That is God’s transcendence. “In him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). That is God’s immanence.
God’s omnipresence is closely related to His immanence, and Psalm 139:1-10 describes it in beautiful detail. In the New Testament, Paul declares that God “Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” and “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28). God guides, governs, and provides for His creation, even though He is so far above it (Ephesians 1:11; 4:6).
The immanence of God is also supported in the story of the Bible as a whole. The very existence of God’s Word in written form testifies to God’s interest and action in His world. Israel’s survival throughout biblical history and Jesus’ Incarnation bear powerful witness that God is present and involved. He is literally “sustaining all things by His powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). He is Immanuel, “God with us”; He is immanent. gotquestions.org
Transcendence - the quality of being completely separate, independent, and “above” or “outside” the created world, human experience, and understanding.
Emphasizes God’s “otherness,” holiness, and existence outside of space and time.
Immensity - the attribute of being infinitely and entirely present everywhere within the universe at all times, simultaneously and without being limited by it.
Describes the boundless and measureless fullness of God’s essence filling all space. It is closely related to omnipresence, but immensity describes the absolute, inherent attribute, while omnipresence describes it in relation to creation.
The Moody Handbook of Theology (Relative Attributes)
Immensity. Immensity may be defined as “that perfection of the Divine Being by which He transcends all spatial limitations, and yet is present in every point of space with His whole Being.”23 First Kings 8:27 emphasizes this truth (cf. also Isa. 66:1; Jer. 23:23, 24; Acts 7:48, 49). Solomon declared, “heaven and highest heaven cannot contain Thee.” Solomon had built a magnificent temple to the Lord but recognized that God could not be contained in a temple. Unlike human bodies that are bounded and limited to space, God in His immensity is not limited or localized. In His entire Being He fills all places, but not to the same degree. “He does not dwell on earth as He does in heaven, in animals as He does in man, in the inorganic as He does in the organic creation, in the wicked as He does in the pious, nor in the Church as He does in Christ.”24 There are also relative attributes that are related to creation, that is, they reveal some aspects of God’s person in His dealings with people and creation.
Systematic Theology (2. Immensity)
By this we mean that God’s nature
(a) is without extension;
(b) is subject to no limitations of space; and
(e) contains in itself the cause of space.
Immensity is infinity in its relation to space. God’s nature is not subject to the law of space. God is not in space. It is more correct to say that space is in God. Yet space has an objective reality to God. With creation space began to be, and since God sees according to truth, he recognizes relations of space in his creation.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Immanence of God)
God doesn’t travel to get anywhere. We may say in prayer, “Oh God, come and help us,” because we mean it in a psychological way. But actually God doesn’t have to “come” to help us because there isn’t any place where God is not.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.… If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. (Psalm 139:9–10, 8)
So it’s impossible to think of a place where God is not.
2. God’s Immensity in Creation -
2. God’s Immensity in Creation -
The world was created out of nothing -
By the will of God -
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
25 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer,
By the word of God -
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
By the Spirit of God -
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
13 “By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.
4 “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
By the hand of God -
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
By the mind of God -
24 O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.
5 To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. 20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And the skies drip with dew.
The world was created perfectly -
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
Creation was created for a purpose -
For God's glory -
1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.
6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
So people might worship and revere God -
5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 “You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.
12 “Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!
4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. 5 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. 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.
35 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name:
For God's possession and use -
14 “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.
12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.
11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them.
49 ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is the footstool of My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord, ‘Or what place is there for My repose?
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
3. God’s Immensity on Display -
3. God’s Immensity on Display -
God's immensity means that He transcends all limitations of space (He is independent, and above or outside of the created world) and is simultaneously present in the fulness of His being in every place without limits.
God transcends all spatial limitations -
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!
6 “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?
4 The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. 5 Who is like the Lord our God, Who is enthroned on high, 6 Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
God is near to all humanity -
27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
God is close to the poor and needy -
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.
God is with those who call on Him -
8 I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
8 He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me.
God is always present with His children -
15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?”
5 There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation.
2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.
17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.
God’s promise to be present -
15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
45 “I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God.
12 ‘I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
1 “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.
8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
God is present in His children through the Holy Spirit -
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
SO WHAT?
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (God’s Enthusiasm)
We make out that a revival is everybody running around falling on everybody else’s neck and saying, “Forgive me for thinking a bad thought about you. Forgive me for that nickel that I forgot to pay back.” Or we say a revival consists of people getting very loud and noisy. Well, that might happen in a revival, but the only kind of revival that would be here when the worlds are on fire is the revival that begins by saying, “Oh God, give me Thyself! For nothing less than Thee will do.”
The Message of Creation: Encountering the Lord of the Universe (3. Extravagant Diversity)
Our Sun is a star, a million times larger than the Earth. Yet it is only one star in 100 billion stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy. Each star is different in terms of size, lifetime, colour and temperature. In addition to the stars, vast clouds of molecular hydrogen and dust give birth to new stars and then are lit up in spectacular nebulae by their young stars. At the end of their lives the stars turn into exotic objects such as cold and dense white dwarfs, violent supernovae explosions, spinning neutron stars or colossal black holes. And the Milky Way Galaxy is only one galaxy in the 100 billion galaxies in the Universe. Once again these galaxies are in a variety of sizes and shapes, from the small Magellanic clouds visible in the southern hemisphere to vast elliptical galaxies such as M81, twenty times the size of our own Milky Way. And that’s not to mention the different forms of matter and radiation that make up the Universe, some of which we have yet to discover.
Why such a Universe? People often ask why God has created a Universe with more stars than the grains of sand on the beaches of the world. After all, human life could have arisen with a special creation of one star and one planet. My answer could be that the night sky would have been very boring and very few people could ever have done research in theoretical astrophysics! More seriously, we now know that such a Universe is important in sustaining human life. However, we are still left with the question of why this kind of Universe?
The answer is surely in the extravagant diversity of God. As we shall see in a later chapter, the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1). God is an artist who creates on a vast canvas with huge brush strokes. He celebrates diversity, making a Universe that communicates his greatness, joy and generosity. Such a God is shown throughout the Bible. In the New Testament, when Jesus turns the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, John records significantly that Jesus provided between 120 to 180 gallons of wine at a party where most of the guests were probably already well filled (John 2:6)! Why? Part of the reason is surely that God is extravagant in generosity.
How can the vastness of God's creation enhance your understanding of His greatness in your daily life?
In what ways does contemplating the innumerable stars encourage you to trust God more deeply?
How does recognizing God's immensity impact your personal walk with Him?
What practices can you incorporate in your worship to reflect your understanding of God's immensity?
How does the idea that God knows each star by name influence your view of your own worth to Him?
How can you apply the concept of God's immanence in your interactions with others?
In what everyday situations can you remind yourself of God’s presence and support?
How might understanding that God created everything out of nothing affect your outlook on life's challenges?
What steps can you take to foster a deeper sense of worship in light of God’s magnificent creation?
How can you use the knowledge of God's grandeur and the beauty of the universe to inspire others in your community?
