God's Greatness

The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is His! He is the One who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear. Psalms 24:1-2 (TLB)

The entire world belongs to God – the glorious eternal King. God is the source of all creation and all things come from and depend upon Him (Psalm 24:1: see also 1 Corinthians 10:26). He upholds and maintains the whole world (Daniel 4:34-35; Ephesians 1:11). The true and living God (God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Spirit) is the Creator, Sustainer, and Possessor of the whole world (Psalm 19:1-4; see also Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-5). “The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting king” (Jeremiah 10:10). As the true and living God, He personally provides and guides His creation toward a meaningful and good purpose (Philippians 2:13).

God is always present in His created world and is never separated from any part of His creation. In fact, God is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-holy, and all-present (Psalm 33:13-15, Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 16:17; Jeremiah 23:24; Hebrews 4:13). At one, God gives total and undivided attention not just to one thing at a time but to everything and everyone everywhere in His world (Psalms 139:7-10). God is everywhere in His fullness as He is free from limits and bounds (1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 40:12-26; Isaiah 66:1). Even more, God already knows everything about us, including our inner motives, heart  desires, and even the number of hairs on our heads (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalm 139:1-6, 23; Jeremiah 17:10; Matthew 10:30; Luke 16:15; Romans 8:27). In other words, God knows everything and about everybody all the same time. In some mysterious way, God is immanent, that is, He is present in the day-to-day human existence. As Spirit, God is living, working in His world, and stands ready to help His people. God is near “to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear (respect) Him; He will also hear their cry (prayer) and will save them. The Lord keeps all who love Him” (Psalms 145:18-20, NASB).

For those who know and love God, we are never separated from God's uplifting presence (see Romans 8:35-39; see also Psalm 86:5; Jeremiah 23:23; Hebrews 4:14-16). The psalmist exclaimed, “I can never be lost to Your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, You are there. If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, Your strength will support me” (Psalms 139:7-10, TLB). The prophet Isaiah looked for the Messiah to be named Emmanuel, meaning, “God with us”; and Matthew reported that God fulfilled that promise in Jesus Christ (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). As Spirit, God chose to humble Himself and take on the form of human flesh in Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:6-11). Believing Christians join with Peter in confessing that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16, NIV). At the end of the age, God’s presence will be very clear: God will live with His people (Revelation 21:3).

God is always faithful and He will never fail (1 Corinthians 10:13). We can always depend on God. Of all the heavenly bodies created by God, the earth is where God has chosen to be His own special sphere of activity. God selected the planet earth, and there He sent His Son – Jesus Christ to live, to minister, to die, and to be raised from the dead, that we humans might be saved. We humans are God’s stewards of the earth (1 Timothy 6:17). As stewards, we must treat God’s earth with goodness and care. Indeed, in Jesus Christ (who is God in human flesh) “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17), and He is continually “upholding the universe by His word of power” (Hebrews 1:3). Indeed, God has the whole world in His hands (Exodus 19:5)!

References

Life Application Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.

Butler, Trent. Holman Bible Dictionary. Broadman & Holman Pub., 1991.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994.

Packer, J.I. Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs. Carol Stream, IL:  Tyndale House Pub., 1993.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1989.