How Great Thou Art
HOW GREAT THOU ART
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
While I was fine tuning yesterday’s message for the wedding between my granddaughter Katie and her husband Luis’, I had also been thinking and praying about what the Lord wanted me to bring to you folks this morning. Since I was going to quote from the sixth chapter of Genesis concerning the creation of man, it occurred to me to expand on it today, and also examine some of what was happing before creation. To set the stage for today’s message I’m going to quote a little from yesterday’s ceremony.
Katie and Luis’ believe the Bible is our Creator’s written revelation of Himself to His human creatures. It tells us that on the sixth day of creation God brought man, the apex of His creation into existence. Now I realize the Bible’s six day contention must seem ridiculous to anyone convinced of the scientific evidence that the earth is billions of years old as opposed to the five or six thousand years the Bible would seem to indicate. Who can fault such people from concluding the Bible is in error on this point, and probably wrong on others? That poses a dilemma. Unless a person chooses to believe that “incomprehensible Intelligence” did not design our world and this vast universe, and that “supernatural Omnipotence” did not cause it to come into existence, but rather that everyone and everything simply evolved out of nothing, a Christian wedding ceremony such as this one is just another among many traditions in our religiously pluralistic society.
Katie and Luis’ believe this wedding ceremony is very, very special and they also believe the Biblical account of creation; and so do I. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not dismissing current scientific evidence. Then how can I reconcile these apparent contradictions? I can’t! Not any more than modern physics can reconcile the compelling evidence indicating that light consists of waves, and equally compelling evidence which shows that light consists of particles. They are both facts and must be treated as being equally valid. I’m reminded that if the water the Bible says Jesus turned into fine wine at a wedding He attended a couple of thousand years ago could have been instantly subjected to a modern scientific analysis back then, it would have proven to have been without a doubt considerably older than the millisecond it was. Two valid facts!
Once upon a time there was no time. It didn’t exist. Before the moment of what scientists refer to as the “big-bang” and what Scripture calls “the beginning;” there was eternity, an uncreated infinite present which has no beginning and which will never end. Eternity is like God in the sense that it always was, always is and always will be.
Encouraging news which I couldn’t share yesterday is the fact that scientists are coming around to acknowledging the existence of some kind of unknown cosmic intelligence which is responsible for the design and orderliness of our vast universe. However, science cannot go beyond the “big-bang.” It’s impossible. That particular area is beyond the realm of science, because to do so would involve entering into the supernatural, an area which scientists tend to dismiss. They only interested in scientifically verifiable facts, such as what Satan has convinced them evolution is.
It saddens me whenever I think that men and women whom God has blessed with what are often brilliant and inquisitive mind’s, have absolutely no interest in learning about what was going on before what they refer to as being the “big-bang.” But I am more saddened that the average Christian, a child of the living God, not only doesn’t have a clue as to what was occurring before creation any more than our atheists friends do; but, what’s more, I believe all too many Christian also really don’t care. They know that God was there and that He created the world. That’s good enough for them, and as far as they are interested in going. I find that sad because I believe that not only are they showing disrespect for our Creator God’s self revelation in the Bible, but they also deprive themselves of the spiritual truth the Lord wants to teach them “so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures they might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
While I was working on this morning’s message, the words from Stuart Hine’s wonderful hymn came flowing into my mind. I couldn’t help but silently sing parts of it to myself off and on for the past couple of days. “O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed, Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
What triggered such reverential awe within my heart were certain truths God has revealed to His children in His Word as to what was happening before “in the beginning.” I believe these truths ought to be proclaimed from every Christian pulpit several times a year and that every Christian ought to be lifting up continual heartfelt praise and thankfulness to his or her Creator. O Lord my God, how great Thou art!
Before the beginning of time the Triune God chose to glorify Himself through the creation of an untold number of specific human beings, each of which He would, as part of His creation process, slowly and methodically and lovingly mold into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. As a means to that end, God planned on speaking the world and everyone and everything into existence, including a single male and female human being, endowing them with the freedom to choose to learn the difference between good and evil and experience either happiness or sorrow upon acquiring that knowledge.
The Bible tells us that God who is a spirit being, planned that, at a precise moment in human history, He would clothe Himself with human flesh much like the invisible man does when he puts on clothes. With infinite and incomprehensible love, the sovereign Creator, Sustainer and King of the universe would freely choose to lay aside His majesty and glory and suffer the humiliation of assuming human nature in the form of a Suffering Servant. The supreme lawgiver would humbly submit Himself to the perfectly just demands of His holy law on behalf of every single Christ-like creature He chose and planned on creating in the course of time. And He would freely and humbly allow Himself to suffer and die an agonizing death, and be buried and descend into Hades on behalf of those special creatures He had predestined to become the apex of His creation.
As an additional means to that end, the Sovereign Lord decided that, at a precise moment in time which He alone determined, He would supernaturally make these precious “lumps of clay”, so to speak, to become reborn and alive in His Son, guaranteeing that each of them would never perish. Instead they would experience an eternity of unimaginable happiness with Him.
On the other side of eternity, infinite wisdom planned to allow His special creatures to experience in the course of their earthly lives everything which He, in infinite wisdom, would use as instruments to conform them into Christ-like beings, and that includes allowing each of them to experience much suffering as they pass through this dark sin infested world on their way to their real home. Now, let’s consider some of that Supreme Being’s attributes.
Psalm 136:1-5
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. To him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. Who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. Who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. Who made the great lights– His love endures forever. The sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.”
The main emphasis here is that back before the beginning of time, back in eternity past, we find perfect eternal unchanging love and its components including mercy; compassion; gentleness; kindness; patience; humility and the like. Love was there before the beginning and for that, every Christian will be eternally grateful. Eternal love was there but so was infinite wisdom and power. They were each eternally present.
Proverbs 3:19-31
“By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.”The Lord brought me forth (possessed Me and) as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.”
“When there were no oceans, I was given birth (brought forth), when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth (brought forth), before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
Concerning wisdom there’s more here than meets the eye. For instance, it has been written,
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;” (Psalm 111:10). In other words, wisdom is something humans can acquire. All we have to do is ask God to give it to us. James 1: 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. In Proverbs 8 however, wisdom is not described as something but rather as a Someone. Is wisdom is a Person?
Returning to Proverbs 8:22-23 concerning wisdom we read, “The Lord brought me forth (possessed me and) as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.” Don’t anyone allow themselves to be deceived by Satin at this point and come to the erroneous conclusion that God the Father created Jesus because nothing could be further from the truth.” “I and the Father are one (John 10:30). And don’t forget that Jesus is referred to as both wisdom and the Word and it is Jesus who did all of the creating.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3). Jesus the Son went forth in wisdom and power and created everything including the angels (Psalm 148:2, 5; Colossians 1:16).
Before the beginning, before what scientists refer to as the “big-bang” was the Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and they all took part in creation. “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,” (Genesis 1:26). God didn’t do a needs assessment or a feasibility study. Nor did He appoint a special task force. And He certainly didn’t conduct a poll or apply for a building permit. He formulated His perfect plan with infinite love and wisdom. And He also made these plans knowing He possessed the infinite power that was necessary to carry His plan out in exact conformity with the purpose of His will (Ephesians 1:11).
We need to remember that back before the beginning of time nothing and no one existed besides God. He didn’t model His creation after anything that existed such as we do in building a house or bridge. Nothing and no one was there except God. Things like galaxies; black holes; planets and stars; solar systems; mountains; oceans and lakes; birds and fish; wind and clouds; humans and angels; sand; dirt; bacteria and viruses and everything else in all creation, including things we haven’t even discovered yet were spoken into existence by the eternal uncreated Creator.
When this happened, the world and time began which I would define as a very brief interval between the infinite eternity past and the infinite eternity future. In other words, God split eternity when He created time. Time had a beginning and at a specific moment known only to the Lord, He will bring it to an end. Time will be compressed and what will be left is an infinite eternity.
But it won’t be the same eternity as it was before the so called “big-bang” or before the “in the beginning” as the first chapter of Genesis states. Instead, this time the Triune God won’t be alone. He will be accompanied by and spend eternity delighting in all those beautiful Christ-like creatures He set out to create before the beginning; true human beings overflowing with love.
“Now they dwell with God and He will with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] He will already have wiped every tear from their eyes. Death and mourning and crying and pain will be distant memories for the old order of things will have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).
At long last, they will be able to experience that which was so elusive during their earthly existence; unimaginable and uninterrupted happiness, peace, joy, and contentment in worshiping and enjoying their Creator God forever.
I could end my message on that note but if I did, I would not be a faithful pastor and the Lord would hold me accountable. I must call your attention to what also accompanied love; wisdom and power in eternity before the beginning of time.
Proverbs 1:20-33
Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you– when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.”
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Read your bible and you can’t help but come to the unmistakable conclusion that God hates sin, all sin. God’s perfect hatred and righteousness and justice were also present before the beginning. To be consistent with His divine nature, the Lord must punish those who, of their own free will, reject His love as exemplified in the cross of His Son, Jesus Christ who said, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me “John 6:45.”I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-26). “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).
The wonderful news is that there’s absolutely nothing to stop anyone from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting His free gift of an eternal life of happiness and joy except their own sinful pride and their self induced rebellious hardened heart. And don’t anyone imagine for a moment that when one those beautiful Christ-like real human beings who have now been transformed into the image of Jesus, look down from Heaven upon folks suffering self inflicted torment because they wanted nothing to do with Him in this world, that it will put a damper on their happiness, because it won’t. Instead, every child of the Living God will rejoice because of His perfect righteousness and justice, and each of them will turn their eyes upon Jesus and in humble adoration joyfully proclaim, “O LORD MY GOD, HOW GREAT THOU ART!
Hi Mike,
Here’s some additional food for thought.
For any scientist to claim that they cannot accept creationism because of their professional background—ie. the years of training to learn the scientific method which uses observable and measurable events as the ultimate test of an hypothesis—is to ignore the historical context within which “science” actually originated. Multiple times in the past the scientific community was forced to accept scientific “truths” that were in apparent contradiction to one another or at the very least could not both be explained by a single principle. The physics of Isaac Newton that explained the behavior of the physical world that we can see with our eyes failed miserably when applied to the subatomic world of electrons and quarks, although the former is made up of the latter.
Even when an eventual explanation of the subatomic world was discovered it was based on probability; not an observable certainty—something that “science” on the macro level abhors and denounces. Even one of the breakthrough principles that gave rise to the physics of quantum mechanics is called “the Uncertainty Principle”—first postulated by Weiner Heisenberg. So profound was the impact of these “nonsensical” truths derived in whole from mathematical and scientific certainties that many early quantum physicists ended their historic careers in philosophy and/or theology.
So when a man of science or math says that belief in creation cannot be squared with his lifelong education in that profession he is clearly choosing to ignore not only how science as a discipline of higher education came to exist itself, but also how, in reality, the scientific community makes the “giant” leaps forward in human understanding of a God created world, and universe.
Scott