Tag: isaiah 40:28

One Reason It Might Matter to You that God Is Infinite

Posted on by admin

God is infinite. Although this is an attribute of His that we may not view as having everyday relevance, God’s infinite nature delivers a very real “where the rubber meets the road” kind of hope. If you’ve ever felt you sinned too much, doubted too often, or “driven God crazy” with your shenanigans; you need to process carefully His infinitude.

To be infinite means to be without limits. We are finite. We are limited in many ways – by time, space, energy, brain power, etc. God has no limits or boundaries.

When it comes to His dimensions, they cannot be measured, for He is omnipresent (present everywhere) [Psalm 139:7-10, Jeremiah 23:24]. In terms of knowledge, His is beyond what we can comprehend, for He is omniscient (all-knowing) [Psalm 147:5, Romans 11:33-34]. When it comes to creative power and sustaining strength, He has an endless supply, for He is omnipotent (all-powerful) [Isaiah 40:28, Jeremiah 23:27]. As to time, God never races the clock, for He is eternal and timeless (Psalm 90:1-2, Isaiah 46:8-10).

While all these attributes are vital to realize, let’s focus on the characteristics God shares with us (in the sense that He created us with the ability to express them – even though in a finite manner). Some of the attributes we share with God to a finite degree are love, mercy, justice, truthfulness, patience, etc. When we think of these characteristics, we understand that God possesses them to a boundless degree, while we express them in very limited ways. Since God is infinite, His love is perfect – or absolute. My love is imperfect and skewed.

We rest in the perfect justice of God when compared to the faulty justice of humans. We may make sincere attempts to serve proper justice in our lives and society, but our knowledge is partial and our motivations are tainted. When God serves justice, we are sure it is exactly what is deserved and fitting. (This is one reason we anxiously await the final judgment of God, where everything will be brought to light) [I Corinthians 4:5].

I would like to emphasize now the patience of God. Have you ever barked at someone, “I’ve reached my limit with you!”? Or “I’ve had it up to here” (with our hand at the top of our head)”? Why do we feel and say these things? Precisely because we DO have limits! We are humans – created beings. We are not infinite. Therefore, we reach a point where we become exasperated or even hateful.

Do you realize that God NEVER reaches His limit in terms of patience? He will never scream, “I’ve reached my limit with you!” When a sincere heart comes to him looking for mercy, God’s perfect patience says, “You can come again.” In fact, Psalm 71:3 (ESV) declares, “Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come” (emphasis added). Yes, continually. People may lose patience with my failures, annoyances, and requests. But God says I may come constantly. Our infinite Lord simply does not grow weary. It’s hard to imagine, but we are limited – even in understanding.

However, remember that while God is unlimited, we are not. He is endlessly patient, but our end will come. Whether by death or His return to earth, a day of final judgment is on the way. Therefore, our decisions matter every moment of every day. Do not take His endless patience for granted, because we have an end.

Go to the Rock of Refuge. Go to Him continually. And sincerely. And thankfully. And now … before your end … not His. (Isaiah 55:6, Hebrews 9:27)

God of the Means and the Extremes

Posted on by admin

Did you realize that the God who created the earth also created the ends of the earth? Isaiah 40:28 (NASB) says, “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.”

If you are just an “average” person in “average” circumstances of life, God’s presence and sovereignty at and over the extremes may not matter much to you. But if, like me, you find yourself at least at times needing God in the extreme and difficult places, His identification as the “Creator of the ends of the earth” bears comforting significance.

God understands the extremes of existence. He is not shocked by problems and sins of all depth and descriptions. No remote or hopeless case exists as far as God is concerned. He fashioned with His own hands not only the earth, but the ends of the earth. The Hebrew root for “ends” means extremity or end. It comes from another word which includes the notion of the border, the outskirts, or the margin. Do you ever feel you are on the margin of the page, instead of inside the story? No fears! God is present even there, for no location exists – physically or emotionally – where the Creator is not the moment-by-moment Sustainer. He is there at the margin.

When I think of the Ark of the Covenant*, that powerful image of the work of Jesus Christ to blot out the power of sin in our lives, I have to think of our God of the extremes. The same Hebrew word used in the aforementioned Isaiah phrase is the term used in Exodus 25:18 (NASB, emphasis mine), “You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.” God intended the image of these magnificent, angelic creatures to loom over the mercy seat from the very edges. God does not tell us the reason, but I wonder if He is beautifully picturing for our simple minds the fact of His merciful covering from one end or extreme of existence to the other. There is no place His mercy cannot go, and even the angels are privy to this compassion and long to see all God does for pitiful humans.

Psalm 139:7-8 (NASB) affirms that God is with us at the highest height (Heaven) and the lowest depth (Sheol or the nether world). Surely, these positions are the extremes. As if to solidify the miracle of His inexhaustible, merciful presence, the Psalmist adds in verse nine, “If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me.” I have never plunged the depths of the sea, but I know it can be very dark, cold, and strange in that world, with odd creatures all about. Have you ever been in a dark and cold place, spiritually and emotionally speaking? God is not only in average situations with average people (if any truly exist!); He is in the depths.

Mathematically speaking, a mean is an average. When I take a list of numbers, add them together, and divide by the total number of numbers, I derive an average (or a mean). So, for example, the average of 0, 5, 10, 50, and 10,000 is 2,013. This seems strange, because 2,013 does not reflect well the extreme numbers of zero and ten thousand. Averages – or means – are funny things. Often, in mathematics, they give us little information. Therefore, statisticians prefer more complicated calculations such as variances and standard deviations. The point, however, is simple; average is sometimes an elusive concept and does not always represent the extremes. Do not think it strange if you do not feel average; rather thank the God of the extremes! He is with you at “0” and at “10,000”!

God accounted for the extremities in His plan for the world. I Peter 1:20 (NIV) says of Jesus, “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” Jesus agreed to come to this world and die for our sins before He ever laid the foundation of this universe (see also Revelation 13:8). The Creator of the ends of the earth knew He was coming because He “so loved the world” (John 3:16, NIV). Our God saw all the world’s best and worst. He looked down through the annals of time and recognized all the extremes of sin and difficulty, and He still came! Why? Peter boldly declares, “for your sake.”

All of us who have feared that the extremities of our life are too “out of bounds” for God’s help need to pray today and call on the Creator of the ends of the earth.

* For more understanding of the Ark of the Covenant, please visit: www.hopeandpassion.org/?p=759/