God is Awesome

Romans 11v33-36

5^th April 2024

It seems to me that Paul's letter to the Romans is possibly the greatest work of theology ever produced. It has been a great revelation and a great encouragement to the Church for 2,000 years, and it always will be. In the first eleven chapters, Paul sets out the Gospel of Christ with amazing clarity and tremendous depth, in an remarkably logical way. If we read it and study it we will certainly come to the view that God is awesome. Paul himself, having written these amazing chapters, setting out the deep truths of God in such an powerful and beautiful way, bursts into praise. He can't help himself, I think. He says this:

Romans 11v33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Paul knew that God is awesome. That's why he dedicated his life to spreading God's message. I wanted to say "fabulous" but God is not a fable. I wanted to say "fantastic" but God is not a fantasy. God is the most real thing there is. All of reality is only here because God created it (Genesis 1v1). There is nothing as solid and true as God. God is wonderful, in the sense that we cannot plumb the depths of God; we can only wonder at how great He is. God is perfect. If something happens in our life that we don't like, it cannot be God's fault, because God is without fault. God is perfect.

God is so perfect that we make up words to describe how perfect He is. We say He is omnipotent, which means He's perfectly powerful. We say He's omniscient, which means he knows everything. We say He's omnipresent, which means He's everywhere.

There's nothing God doesn't know. There's nothing He doesn't see. There's nothing that happens behind His back. There's nothing in the future that He hasn't foreseen. God is everywhere. He never sleeps. He never makes a mistake. His plans are perfect. We don't like them sometimes, but they are.

In this short doxology, Paul describes three aspects of the perfection of God: God is perfectly wise, God is perfectly knowledgable, and God is perfectly self-sufficient. "Who has ever given to God that God should repay Him?" God doesn't need anything. God didn't create us because He needs us. He didn't save us because He needs us. He did so because He loves us.

"From Him and through Him and to Him are all things". Everything was created by God. Everything holds together through God. As Paul told the philosophers in Athens "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17v28). Everything finds its fulfilment in God. God is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1v8). God is the sustainer, the healer, the provider, the forgiver. God is perfect in every way.

God is awesome, is He not?

We are not. We've made in His image (Genesis 1v26) but we're so fallible, so frail. so weak, so ignorant. In many ways, we're so unlike God. We're not omnipotent, omniscient or omnipresent. Our wisdom is so limited, our judgements so flawed. As God asked Job:

Job 37v4-7
"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone
while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"

God doesn't need us, but we really need Him. As God also asked Job:

Job 40v2
"Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!"

They don't call God "Almighty" for nothing. If we argue with Him, we are wrong. If we fight Him we will lose. If we worship Him and submit to His perfection, we will live for ever, growing more and more like Him. It is insane to oppose HIm or reject Him. It is wisdom indeed to rejoice in His wisdom, power and mercy.

God doesn't need us, but He loves us, and He sent His Son to die on the cross to redeem us. May we never forget to give grateful thanks for His amazing mercy.