Is Your God too Small?
Titus 2:11-14
by Cooper Abrams
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Is Your God too Small? Titus 2:11-14 by Cooper Abrams |
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Introduction: The title of the message comes from a book written by J. B. Phillips titled "YOUR GOD IS TOO SMALL." The title caught my eye, but I did not read the book. As I get older physically and spiritually in the Lord I have come to understand the significance of this statement. It has been much on my mind. We can understand that the false and non existent gods of the unbelieving world are too small, but even believers can lose sight of the greatness and immensity of our Almighty God and Creator.
I would like to concentrate on just one verse of our text. I normally preach verse by verse through God's word, but would like to focus on the greatness, power and glory of our God and Creator.
It is difficult for us to comprehend the greatest of God or even to call Him by name. When Moses ask Him who should he tell the children of Israel had sent him, God simply replied "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:14)
It means He is self existent, not subject to time. It is a emphatic statement that encompasses the scope of who is our Creator. He is ...I AM. There is no name by which He can truly be named: His name is wonderful. It is beyond the capacity of finite man to fathom or express fully the greatest of Almighty God.
READ Psalm 33:1-9 He simply speaks and it is done, He commands and it stands fast.
"To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?" (Isaiah 40:18)
"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." (Isaiah 40:26)
How vital is it that we who claim the name of Christ know who our Savior and God truly is. I recently was studying for a message based on Psalm 8 which addresses this very truth. You see the gods of the world, formed in the imagination of men are too small. In man's vain imagination he makes god to be like himself. It shows the gross failure of his foolish rebellion by refusing to submit Himself to His Creator and to degrade God and bring him down to the level of a man.
We know God only through His revelation of Himself. Innate in every man is the understanding that there is someone greater than he is. There is a void in a man's being that only God can fill. Yet, those who fail to believe, who reject God's revelation of Himself try to fill that void by making make-believe gods. God says that man is without excuse...man knows of God and yet most rebel against Him. God reveals the truth about this through Paul:
"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." (Romans 1:20-23) No god of man, no idol or the object of lost who rebels and invents his own god, comes even anywhere near to being compared with our Creator, who is our God and Savior. That man's faith is the result of his ugly pride.
God speaking through Israel mocks the foolishness of men who with their own hands make unto themselves idols and then bow down and worship a piece of wood.
"They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?" (Isaiah 44:9-10) God shows this foolishness by saying the carpenter takes the same wood that is left over from forming his god, and then burns it to cook his meal! (Isa. 44:9-20)
The greatness and magnificence of God is seen in Psalm 8.
The same truth is expressed in Job 7:17, "What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?" (Job 7:17)
It is expressed again in Psalm 144:3 "LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!" (Psalms 144:3)
Psalm 8:4 puts it in sharp contrast by making acknowledging the greatest of God in comparison to man. David said, "To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. . . .When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalms 8:1, 3-4)
God is so immense and awesome in His being and person that it is hard for us to grasp or appreciate who He is . I am not saying we cannot know a great deal about Him, but I am saying He is greater than our ability to comprehend.
Often people struggle with the truth of the Trinity. I once talked with a Lutheran who had converted to Mormonism. I asked him why he became a Mormon and he said it was because he could understand the Mormon teaching of the Trinity, but could not accept that the Bible teaches that God is One God and exists as three persons.
You see his understanding of God was too small. He had tried to put God into human terms and refused to accept what God has said about Himself. He refused to believe God's own word and using his finite intelligence denied God's own revelation about Himself.
I have often heard preachers and teaches use illustrations such as a egg or water in trying to explain the Trinity. Such attempts to describe the Trinity cause confusion and are worthless in explaining God. We cannot explain the Trinity in human terms. It is something that is above our ability to explain. We are a material people, living in a physical world in time and space. We have nothing in our material world to compare to God and the Trinity and therefore we cannot express in human terms the essence of God.
If you would like to read an article that biblically explains the Trinity you might like to go to my web site at https://bible-truth.org/Trinity.html.
Yet, we can know the truth and all we need to know about God. He knows what we need to know and has revealed it to us in His word these 66 books of the Bible.
John 4:24 proclaims that "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) The definite article "a" in not in the Greek text. God is Spirit and therefore we do not know what a spirit is beyond what God tells us. AT Robertson says, "In neither case can we read Spirit is God, Light is God, Love is God. The non-corporeality of God is clearly stated and the personality of God also." (Corporeality relates to the characteristics of the human body, or some materially tangible.)
The closest the Bible explains God as Spirit is found in John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) We cannot see the wind, but we can see its effect. That is the best we can understand about God's being as a Spirit.
In all of God's word there is a principle that we are to apply in our lives. As God reveals Himself to us...He reveals His plans for us. His instructions and revelation are to help us live the life He created for us.
What we think of God will effect everything in our daily lives and in our relationship with Him. A correct understanding of who God is, is the heart of our allowing God to bless us. It begins in salvation when we realize we are sinners and believing God we turn to Him to forgive our sins and give us eternal life. In simple terms think about this: We in child like faith, believe and then trust God that He is able and willing to forgive us and give us eternal life.
Often professing believers lose sight of the greatness of God and thereby we lose the blessing that come from fully appreciating Him. We think of Him in human terms and thereby degrade Him.
In Exodus 33:18 Moses asked God to show Him his glory. In verse 20 ". . .And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live." (Exodus 33:20) God put Moses in the cliff of a rock and put His hand over him to protect him. The glory of God is more than a man can be exposed to and live.
Man is a material being, God is Spirit. No man can comprehend or fathom the essence of God. He exists outside of this physical world and is not subject to time, space and matter. In fact He spoke time, space, the elements and energy into existence when He created the Universe. These things are of the world.
We all are guilty at some time of doubting God. What then is the basis of our doubts? We lose sight of the greatness and righteousness of God.
Note the Bible says, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)
Friends, God is not a man that he should lie. This shows us a great deal about Him. He will not or can lie and therefore all He has promised He will provide and fulfill. So when the problems of life come and the will come. When the doubts come we turn to God's word and believe what God has said. He will not or cannot lie.....we are not abandoned and if we are a child of God, no matter how dark the storm is....He is not changed. The believer is a child of God and has the full absolute assurance that God loves us and will go with us through the greatest peril.
ILLUS: Believers in India who are being murdered by the Hindus and Muslims because they are Christians. They have lost their homes, had their wives, husbands and children killed before their eyes. They are being forced to live in a refugee camp in tents with their enemies surrounding them and not allowing food in or them to leave. They could convert back to Hinduism or to Islam and go free, return to their homes and live in peace....yet they refuse.
To the Philippians Paul wrote of such harsh persecution:
"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake" (Philippians 1:29)
God is not a son of man that must repent as Numbers 23:19 states. He is God . What He decided before the foundations of the earth, He not only can perform, but it is perfect and God will never change his purposes as men do, but will perform it until the day of His reckoning. He is immutable which means unchangeable therefore man throughout all time and eternity can put their trust in Him. He will perform what He says and promises.
Numbers 23:29 also says, "Shall He not make it good? " I confess there have been times when I questioned God and His motives. It is sin to do such a thing, but when you lose sight of who God is you are a step away from questioning His motives and purposes. I looked not though the eyes of faith but through the blind eyes of human frailty.
Our faith is not existential which teaches faith is a leap in the dark. Existentialism is a philosophical term that refers to something that is disoriented, meaningless and confused. Existential faith is being something you can be comfortable with which will be truth for you.
Nothing could be further from the truth than the fact our faith is based on the person and character of God. He cannot lie and therefore what He says is true. It is a trust based on the fact that God is Omnipotent and can and will do what He has promised.
David in Psalm 77:13 in comparing the nonexistence and puny excuse of man's idols and God, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?" (Psalms 77:13)
Why is it that the unbelieving world cannot and will not accept the miracles of God? Why do they have such a problem with understanding spiritual things and the supernaturalness of Almighty God.
The very word "supernatural" should tell us something important about God. He is not natural...but is above and beyond anything natural. The gods of man's imagination is small like man. The world's gods are too small. They do not exist and therefore cannot save.
LET'S MAKE THE APPLICATION OF THE TRUTH OF GOD MAGNIFICENCE AND GLORY. WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS IN OUR LIVES.
B. However, the greatest strength I have found is in the knowledge who is our God and Savior. It is found in His very character as He has revealed Himself in Him word.
How often have I heard people rail on God for not stopping some murderer or criminal and preventing his crime. How often have we heard the unbeliever state he could not believe in a God who would send a soul to hell.
How often to Christians begin to doubt God because they are going through trying times. How many times to Christian begin to doubt their salvation that God says is everlasting and eternal?
What is the root cause of such thinking? The answer is ....we do not understand who God is. We do not understand His love, mercy, graciousness. The do not understand the character of God and that He will not violate a man's will nor force him to obey Him.
He did not make man a robot, but being a God of love He respects the will of all men to choose for themselves what they will believe and who they will serve. God desires our freely given love in the same way that He freely loves us.
Love and grace are at the very heart of God's being. Love is a concept, but there is no love apart from the action of love. That action means that love is given without regard as to merit on the one who receives it.
C. It is easy for us to understand this of the unsaved who refuse to believe God and His word. We can understand the lost man who will not bow his knee to his Creator and has not respect for God. He does not put his faith or trust in God because of his unbeliever and refusal to acknowledge the greatest and majesty of God.
Now we come to point of this message. Saved born again believers can we make a similar error and degrade God and thus miss the blessings of God presence and direction.
How? By not fully trusting Him. We do it when we lose sight of who is God and begin to see Him in human terms. We degrade God when we turn to our own devices and fail to apply His principles in our lives and in our work. We degrade God by not obeying Him.
I think most of us would agree it is frustrating to see so many churches, even Independent Baptist abandoning truth and going the contemporary worldly music and changing the worship of God into a preformed show, a source of entertainment. We who love God's word find it hard to understand. But the answer is clear....they have lost sight of who is God.
Their contemporary services are contemptible unto God. They do not meet the need of men. They who attend such churches get an emotional high, but no spiritual meat and they are starved for the truth that could save them.
I would hope that no preacher or pastor here would never for a second consider going that route. But we can commit the same sin in other ways.
Yet, often when we are in times of difficulty and trouble do we not sometimes lose sight of who God is and of His character and attributes? When we do our faith wanes and distress and depression can come in. We turn from the filling of the Holy Spirit and substitute human endeavors. How often we give up on God, because we fail to realize who He is? When that happens do we not degrade Him? Do we not deny His character, His love, His immutability, His great love for us.
Do we not elevate ourselves and fail to see who we are. We are simply His servants..... He is the Master, the Lord and Our God an Creator and who are we in comparison to Him!?
We can become discouraged like Elijah who after a great victory on Mt. Carmel when he called down fire from heaven. Then in just hours he was fleeing the wrath of Jezebel. Discouraged, downtrodden, dismayed and he cried to God saying only he in all Israel served the Lord. Many fail to understand that at that moment neither was Elijah serving the Lord. He had lost is vision of the Greatness of God and was squandering in self pity. Yet, God rebuked him saying He has 7000 in Israel who had not bowed their knee to Baal.
Can we see what had happened? Elijah by his actions showed he thought Jezebel to be greater than God. He did not think that God would protect Him. He took his eyes off God. He looked at circumstances and saw them as being too hard for the Lord to handled.
Can we be guilty of this great sin? Can we sit in the pew and hear the wonderful word of God proclaimed and the go on our way....doubting God and letting discouragement and circumstance come between us and God. Can we stand in a pulpit and address God's sheep He has entrusted to us and preach faith in God and at the same time.....in our lives put limits on God and His person. Can we degrade Him and instead of accepting who He is...our Omnipotent, Omnipresent, omniscient God, bring Him down to our human level and thereby tie His hands and miss His blessing and deny ourselves the great benefit of experiencing our lives and in our churches the greatness of His unlimited power?
We can live victoriously in any circumstance....if we believe God! If we believe IN God. Note the word IN.
A. I honestly believe my greatest failure has been that I have at times lost sight of the greatest of God's person. I have failed to appreciate who He is and let that truth guide my actions.
CONCLUSION:
3-16-2009
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