The Eternal God

Text: Romans 11:25-36

 

I.         Imagine going back to the early days of this country and trying to explain the marvels of our time to someone living then.

            A.        Explain how we get around by automobiles: “Well, they are kind-of like carriages, but there are no horses. They have a motor in them to make them go. Oh, what a minute, you don’t know what a motor is ...”

            B.        Worse, try explaining an airplane: “Well they are big metal contraptions with wings like a bird, but they don’t flap. ...”

            C.        How about the now common cell phone: “We can talk over large distances using electricity. What is electricity? Ah, ..”

            D.        We grew up with these things or saw them being developed. We might not fully understand everything about them, but we accept that they are there.

            E.        But trying to explain it to someone without some similar experience is hard.

II.        God is Eternal - Genesis 21:33; Deuteronomy 33:27

            A.        How do you explain eternity to people stuck in the passage of time? - Proverbs 8:22-26

                        1.         God has been around for an eternity - Psalm 93:1-2

                        2.         God will be around for eternity as well - Psalm 90:2

                        3.         God inhabits eternity - Isaiah 57:15

            B.        God gave us a grasp of eternity, but it doesn’t mean we fully understand - Ecclesiastes 3:11

            C.        When people face the incomprehensible, we try to redefine it into terms that we can understand

                        1.         In dealing with God, this has often gotten man into trouble - Romans 1:20-23

                        2.         God’s eternal power is clearly seen, but we have a hard time putting our arms around eternity

                        3.         So man redefines his concept of God into things he understands and sees.

            D.        We tend to oversimplify

                        1.         Definition: “to simplify to the point of causing misrepresentation, misconception, or error. To cause distortion or error by extreme simplification of a subject.”

                        2.         When a person says a plane is like a bird, does that give an accurate description of a plane? Why not? Because it is too simple.

III.       The vastness of God

            A.        God has eternal power. There is no limit on what He can do - Romans 1:20

                        1.         His greatness is unsearchable - Psalm 145:3

                        2.         He doesn’t wear out or gets tired - Isaiah 40:28

            B.        All of God’s works cannot be recorded in order or even counted - Psalm 40:5

                        1.         God’s works are great and His thoughts are deep - Psalm 92:5

                        2.         Though Job’s friends misunderstood many things, they perceived the greatness of God - Job 5:8-9; 11:7-9

                        3.         Job understood as well - Job 9:10-12

                        4.         Job’s description is perhaps best. We only see a minute portion of God’s ways and His power - Job 26:14

                        5.         So who can speak of His deeds? - Psalm 106:2

            C.        God’s knowledge is vast - Psalm 139:1-6

                        1.         His understanding is infinite - Psalm 147:5

                        2.         They are past finding out - Romans 11:33-36

                        3.         So who can teach God? - Job 36:22

                        4.         Who could even think about giving God advice - Isaiah 40:13

            D.        God’s faithfulness reaches to the clouds - Psalms 36:5-6

            E.        God’s mercy is beyond our comprehension - Psalm 103:11

            F.        We cannot comprehend the dimensions of God’s love - Ephesians 3:17-21

            G.        God is far above us - Isaiah 55:8-9

            H.        God is unstoppable - Daniel 4:35

IV.      The limitation of man

            A.        I Samuel 15:29 - God is not a man, but we tend to think and deal with him as if He were a man

            B.        We live our lives bounded by time. We do not live all that long - Psalm 90:12

            C.        Our plans can be interrupt by our short life - James 4:13-14

            D.        We cannot see the spiritual realm, so we don’t know everything that is going on - Colossians 1:20

            E.        We have limited capacity to understand or even remember, that is why we need constant reminders - Deuteronomy 4:9

            F.        We don’t have time enough to even learn a fraction of what God has done - Ecclesiastes 12:12

V.        The “I Am”

            A.        God calls Himself “I Am that I Am” - Exodus 3:14

                        1.         God always exists

                        2.         God is self-sustaining

            B.        We need to appreciate the vastness of God without trying to pigeonhole Him

            C.        This is one reason so many false doctrines exist. People latching on one aspect of God and thereby thinking they fulling understand God - I Corinthians 2:11