God is glorified by revealing
Himself, and the Son of God glorified the Father by making Him known. So those
who are taught and led by the Spirit of God glorify Him by acknowledging His
attributes, and by adoring Him as He declares Himself in His works and His ways,
recorded in the Holy Scriptures, or seen by His people. The first of God's attributes
brought before us is His greatness, for both majesty and power are especially
displayed in creation. That the goodness and the mercy of God should mainly
occupy the thoughts and the praise of a redeemed people is natural and right.
But we must never forget that the desires of Him who is infinitely good could
not have resulted in the recovery of the lost and the blessing of the needy,
had not His greatness been such as to enable Him to turn thoughts of mercy into
purposes of grace which no power can ever frustrate.
It is the joy of His people
to know that He is both "great in counsel and mighty in work" (Jer. 32:19).
When Moses bade Israel, "Ascribe ye greatness unto our God" (Deut. 32:3), he
certainly had before him the mighty works of God on behalf of that people in
delivering them from Egypt, bearing with them in their perversity, leading them,
and supplying their need in the wilderness (vv. 7-14). But all this does not
affect the truth that the first manifestation of God's greatness was in creation,
when "He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (Ps. 33:9; Gen. 1).
God silenced the man who uttered things that he "understood not" by
bringing before him some of the works of His hands, so that Job, with
his mouth in the dust, acknowledged, "I know that Thou canst do all
things, and that no purpose of Thine can be restrained" (Job 42:2, rv).
The Psalms and the Prophets are full of the same theme. When we reach
the book of the Revelation, we find that while the first expression of
worship is found in the acknowledgment of what God is in Himself as the
Holy One (Rev. 4:8), the second is addressed to Him as Creator: "Worthy
art Thou, our Lord and our God...for Thou didst create all things, and
because of Thy will they were, and were created'' (v. 11, rv).
David had a true sense of
the greatness of God. When God had magnified His word of promise to him above
all previous revelations of His Name (Ps. 138:2), he acknowledged, "Thou art
great, O Lord God" (2 Sam. 7:22). And when he had been permitted and enabled
to prepare for the building of the temple, he confessed, "Thine, O Lord, is
the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom,
O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all" (1 Chron. 29:11). In connection
with this same building Solomon declared, "The house which I build is great:
for great is our God above all gods" (2 Chron. 2:5).
It may seem strange to us
that the greatness of Jehovah is so often set forth in contrast with the supposed
power of false gods, as if these gods really existed and had some power. The
whole subject of idolatry and its hold on nations is shrouded in mystery; but
we can only conclude that powers of darkness are behind all these systems of
idolatry, and not less behind the systems of apostate Christendom (see 1 Cor.
10:20; 2 Cor. 11:13-15).
Jehovah declared to Moses
that against all the gods of Egypt He would execute judgment, and Jethro confessed,
"Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherewith
they dealt proudly, He was above them" (Ex. 18:11). We can little estimate the
effect of this interposition of Jehovah in delivering Israel, both on unseen
powers and on surrounding nations. The Philistines referred to it more than
three centuries afterwards, and trembled (1 Sam. 4:7-8).
But, however false gods
were regarded, faith always grasped the truth of the absolute supremacy of Jehovah,
and could say, "I know that Jehovah is great, and that our Lord is above all
gods. Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that did He in heaven and earth in the seas
and all deep places" (Ps. 135:5-6).
David declared, "Thou art
great and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone" (Ps. 86:10), and Hezekiah
acknowledged, "Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the
earth: Thou hast made heaven and earth" (Isa. 37:16). It was this assurance
that gave him confidence in appealing to God for deliverance from the power
of Assyria.
A true sense of God's greatness
(which no unregenerate man has) leads to worship. If from our hearts we acknowledge,
"Great is Jehovah," we shall surely add, "and greatly to be praised." The more
we know of God, the more deeply shall we feel that "His greatness is unsearchable";
yet it will be our delight, even as it is our privilege, to search into that
greatness. What a stay to his soul did Jeremiah find in the conviction expressed
in the words, "There is none like unto Thee, O Lord; Thou art great, and Thy
name is great in might" (Jer. 10:6). The contemplation of God's power as the
Maker of all things strengthened his confidence in God's ability to perform
what He promised. "Ah, Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth
by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for
Thee" (32:17). That such reasoning was acceptable to God is shown by His taking
up the words of His servant (v. 27, see also Acts 4:24).
The declaration, by the
life and death of Christ, that "God is love," adds to all His revelation of
Himself in the Old Testament, but in no way supersedes it. We need both. "Believe
ye that I am able to do this?" was asked by Him who here on earth was acting
for God and by His power. If we were asked such a question we would doubtless
reply, as did the blind men, "Yea, Lord." Yet how often we are like those who,
instead of ascribing greatness to our God, "limited the Holy One of Israel."
How often the question arises in our hearts, Is God able to do this or that?
We may scarcely allow it to ourselves; we would shrink from putting it into
words; but down deep in the heart there it is.
"Can God furnish a table
in the wilderness?" Can He interpose in this difficulty? Can He act for us when
we walk in darkness and have no light? Let the record of His "wonders of old"
assure us that He is able. He, who in the beginning made the heaven and the
earth by His power, is able to interpose for His people as He pleases. He who
spoke and caused the light to shine out of darkness is still able to speak and
cause that "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness."
The chief evidence of the
"power of God" repeated in the New Testament is resurrection--first, the resurrection
of Christ, and then the resurrection of those who are Christ's at His coming.
What a manifestation of God's greatness will be found when the Firstborn from
the dead shall be surrounded by the many sons who are being brought to glory,
each one bearing His own likeness! And what an acknowledgement on their part
will there be of of the "power and might," as well as the grace, which they
have proved in being delivered from the world, led through it as through a wilderness,
and, finally set before His face forever. The new heaven and the new earth will
be the everlasting expression of the power and greatness of the Creator, as
well as of the wisdom and goodness of the God of all grace, and of the Lamb
by whom that grace reached its blessed recipients (Rom. 5:17).