"Daddy, How big is God?"
It seems like an innocent enough question, but for a seminary "Preacher Boy" just learning theology, it was a bucket of cold water on a sweltering summer day, immediately snapping me into the reality of the moment. The theologian asking the question? My four year old son.
Have you ever noticed the relativity of size?
The captain of a cruise ship loves to tease his passengers as they pass beside one of the largest structures in the world, a huge vertical wall of ice protrudes hundreds of feet into the air. As the ship appears to pull dangerously close to this horrendous structure, the captain asks, "Who can hit that wall of ice with a baseball?" One man stands up and hurls the ball as hard as he can. The ball travels 20 or 30 feet, but then it seems to hang in the air without ever coming closer to the ice structure. When it finally loses momentum and drops into the ocean, it is obvious that the iceberg is so large, that while it feels like it is feet away, in all actuality it is miles away! There is absolutely no way to gain a perspective on its massiveness ~ you are just too small and the iceberg is just too large. Even if your mind could grasp the sheer magnitude, that is only about 1/9th of the total mass. 8/9ths still lie below the water line.
How Great is Our God?
This was my realization last night as I watched Louie Giglio describe the vastness of the universe. Our LifeGroup sat transfixed, hanging on the words, the graphic footage from the hubble telescope, every description stretching our minds like a rubber band, dangerously close to the point of breaking.
God opened his mouth and said, "Light!" and out of his mouth comes the sun ~ 27 million degrees Fahrenheit! A burning mass of energy 109 times larger than the earth.
What kind of God is this?
God measured the entire universe with merely the span of His hand. Imagine, God holds up his index finger and thumb, each on polar opposite ends of the universe. And the universe fits between his fingers.
How Big is this God?
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God celebrated by 3 billion Christians worldwide today. The God who humbled himself into the form of a man, setting aside His divinity to be brutalized for our transgressions. Beaten for my wrongs. Allowing himself to be killed in my place for my wickedness. Giving me life, hope, a future! What is man that this God is mindful of him?
Just a few weeks ago, my family drove to Washington, D.C. Driving into the city, we begin to catch a glimpse of the Washington Monument. It is huge! And as you get closer to it, it becomes even taller. When I finally stood at the base of the mammoth stone structure, I gazed upward. I felt like maybe if I stretched a little, I could reach up and touch the the tip of it with my finger. So I tried. I didn't come close. Standing at the base of that giant, I felt really small.
I can tell you how big the iceberg is, someone smarter than I came up with elaborate ways to measure it. They can send out a satelite and then look back to earth and figure out its size using complex calculations on complex machinery. There is actually a blueprint for the Washington Monument, so I can find that information for you as well.
But when it comes to God, our calculations aren't complex enough, there are no blueprints, he is the architect of the universe. All I can do is come closer to His feet, gaze up in amazement and stretch. And while I will never be tall enough to reach up to Him, he is willing to reach down and come closer to me.
Discover Jesus Christ!
How big is God? You will have to discover that for yourself.
I can only tell you that today, after 14 years as a pastor, I discovered that He is bigger than I had ever imagined before.
Take the Stand!
