by Daniel Thomas
– “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?” (Ex. 15:11). In the beginning… we have all read it, we have all heard it. “In the beginning, God…” (Gen. 1:1). But how many of us have pondered upon the eloquent beauty of such words? The remembrance of a conversation between the fictional characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson comes to mind:
“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”
“Frequently.”
“How often?”
“Well, some hundreds of times.”
“Then how many are there?”
“How many? I don’t know.”
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point.”
We quite often find ourselves experiencing the same problem with Scripture. We read it and yet we miss the meaning. We see without truly observing. It takes hard work, prayerful observation, and illumination of the Spirit to unlock the riches of God’s Word.
In the beginning there was no heaven, there was no earth, there were no angels to sing God’s praises. There was nothing, no one, but God from everlasting. During eternity past God was alone, self-contained, self-sufficient, in need of nothing. Had anything been necessary to Him in any way, they also would have been called into existence from all eternity. Creation added nothing to God essentially, for He changes not (Mal. 3:6). Thus, His glory can neither be augmented nor diminished. God was under no constraint, no obligation, and no necessity to create.
God created us purely as a sovereign act on His part, caused by nothing outside Himself, determined by nothing but His own good pleasure (Eph. 1:11). This thought might be troublesome, as thinking men we desire to know why God created the universe. We cannot know why, aside from His sovereign act; however, we can know why He did not. God is supreme over all, and we were not created to meet an unfulfilled need in Him. If we were created to fill a need, then our God would cease to be God. The word necessary is wholly foreign to God. No one or thing can support God. He cannot be elevated. Nothing is above Him, nor beyond Him. The motion of elevation is also foreign to God. Inasmuch, as no one can elevate Him, no one can demote Him.
Were all men to suddenly become atheist, it would not affect God in anyway. He is what He is in Himself, apart from man. Believing in God adds nothing to His essence or perfections, to doubt Him takes nothing away.
God gains not from our worship, He was in no need of external glory which arises from the redeemed, as He was glorious in Himself without man. So why then was man redeemed? Simply put, it was according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:5).
Also, our Lord Jesus Christ added nothing to God in His essential being and glory, either by what He did or suffered. True, He manifested that glory of God to us, but He added nothing to God. He Himself expressly declares so, and there is no appeal from His words, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You” (Ps. 16:2). Christ’s righteousness reached unto His people in the earth (Ps. 16:3), but God was high above and beyond it all.
It is true that God is both honored and dishonored by men, not in His essential being, but in His character. It is equally true that God has been glorified by creation, by providence and by redemption. But all of this has to do with His manifestative glory and the recognition of it by us. Yet, had God so pleased, He might have continued alone for all eternity, without making known His glory unto creatures. Whether He should do so or not He determined solely by His own will. He was perfectly blessed in Himself before the first creature was called into being.
God needs no defenders. He needs no support. God is fully capable to control the world as He sees fit. In the Words of A.W. Tozer:
Almighty God, just because He is almighty, needs no support. The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one; yet if we look at the popular conception of God, that is precisely what we see. Twentieth century Christianity has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. But the truth is that God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination, not by our desert nor by divine necessity.
Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world… The God who worketh all things surely needs no help and no helpers.
Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his hearers, not only for the heathen but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support. I fear that thousands of young persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of. Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged, and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today.[1]
God is sovereign over it all. He is sovereign over all nature. The wind blows at the bidding of God. The sun’s heat radiates according to His commands. Every star in the sky comes out at night because He calls them each by name. There’s not a speck of dust on the planet that exists apart from the sovereignty of our God. He is sovereign over all nature, and He is sovereign over all nations. Our God charts the course of countries. And He holds the rulers of the earth in the palm of His hand. And this is good news to know that our God is sovereign over all His creation.
He creates all things, sustains all things, knows all things, He ordains all things and owns all things. The author of creation has authority over all creation. “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure” (Isa. 46:10). God is subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases and always as He pleases, and He needs no support.
Originally posted on dat.so.
[1] A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1961), 34.