Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Today we begin a new series titled, Behold Our God. It's a study on the character of God from Isaiah 40-55. In this first message, we see the beautiful picture of our Creator from the vantage point of Isaiah 40. Seeing the Lord as He is will equip us against the temptation to seek our satisfaction from things other than our Creator, things that will leave us empty and unsatisfied.
Let's listen in. This is part three of a message that was first preached on March 17, 2013 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To hear the entire sermon, you can visit www.delightingrace.com. Point number two, He is an omnipotent God. He is all powerful, and if we could somehow contrast that, you take all the might, all the power that the created earth, the people, the creations of earth can muster, you take it all and put it together, and what is that to God?
He would go like this, and it's gone. He is an omnipotent God. Verses 18-20, He is an incomparable God. Verse 18, To whom then will you liken Me, or what likeness will you compare to Him? He is an incomparable God, meaning He is unique.
He is the only one. So many people talk about other gods, and even the Bible talks about false gods, but when the Bible talks about false gods, and Paul says this to the Corinthians, they are non-gods. A false god is a non-god. It is a non-existent god.
Why? Because there is one God. And if you are worshipping a god that is not revealed in the Scriptures, then you are worshipping a non-god. God is alone. He is incomparable. There is none like Him. No other god can exist or be formed.
That brings us to point number four, He is the uncaused cause. Verse 20, Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution, choose a tree that will not rot. He seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter.
What is He saying there? We have such a propensity to worship. We need something to worship. We need something to look to, and yet what will we do? If God is small to us, then we will take something that is already created, and we will chop it down. We will use half of it for firewood, the other half we will carve into an image, we will paint it, we will put silver chains around it, and we'll fall down and worship it.
What is He saying? You and I, listen, don't mock those who bow down to idols. We all have idols. If you are trusting something that is created and that you can manipulate for your satisfaction and your security, you are worshiping an idol.
Who's laughing now? You see, God is the uncaused cause. Why would we worship anything or anyone other than Him? Verses 21 to 24, Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
The implication there is it's been revealed, it's been clear as day, you ought to know this. Verse 22, It is He who sits above the circle of the earth. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and then He talks about princes and judges, and then He uses the metaphor of a plant. He is the one who planted them, and all He has to do is breathe on them. And what do they do?
They wilt. Our God is a sovereign God. He is a sovereign God. He established the created order. He establishes kingdoms and their rulers. And the sovereignty of God simply means this, the freedom of God. God is free to do His will anyway, anytime.
You and I can't say that because we face consequences. God alone is sovereign. Point number six, verse 25, To whom then will you liken me?
Or to whom shall I be equal? says the Holy One. Some of these have some similarities to them, and when it comes to holy, God is a holy God. We understand holiness in two different ways.
The way that we normally think of holy is the idea of purity, but that's really not what He's speaking of here. The Holy One is the God who is set apart. He is holy other. We are not like Him. He is not like us. There are ways, because we're created in His image, there are ways that we can be like Him and are expected to.
But He is not like us, and we should not think that He is one like us. He is a holy God. And verse 26, Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, who brings out their number by host. He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one is missing. Have you ever seen a documentary of the vastness of the universe? If you ever have an opportunity to go to the Creation Museum and go into the planetarium and try to wrap your brain around the vastness, the immensity of the universe, what does it say about our God? Our God is an immense God. He orchestrates the universe. He orchestrates the universe and He measures it from here to here. The Voyager was sent out by NASA in the 70s, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and just within, this is in the 70s, I don't know.
I'm going to guess, 77. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Never mind. The Voyager was sent out 35 years ago. Just in the last couple of years, it reached the outer edges of the solar system. And if you look at the Milky Way galaxy, the solar system is but a speck. And the Milky Way galaxy is one of billions in the universe. Your God in mine orchestrates all that and He measures it from here to here.
Our God is immense. So what? What does this have to do with me?
What is the relevance of this information? Beginning at verse 27, we're kind of taken almost to a dialogue. And you hear the people complaining. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord and my just claim is passed over by my God?
What are they saying? They're making God small. They think God is like we are. God doesn't care. He doesn't know. He really can't do anything.
Because obviously, look at the circumstances that we're in. God either doesn't care about it or there's nothing He can do about it. God is small. Have you not known? Have you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth?
Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak. Here's the relevance.
Here's the relevance of this. All this that we must know about God in the way that He's revealed Himself is this. Knowing God for who He is arms us against the seductive power of idolatry. Knowing God for who He is arms us against the seductive power of idolatry. What is idolatry? It is desiring something more than God for my security, for my strength, for my satisfaction.
If you find yourself loving God's stuff but not loving God, then you're engaged in idolatry. And knowing God for who He is rescues us and arms us against that seductive power. And here's what I ask you to do this morning in the wake of this. I know we've just really plowed through the 40th chapter and from here on we're going to look at specific attributes of God.
But He's presented so much to us in the 40th chapter here. Ask God, you, I'm asking you to ask God to manifest Himself to you in His Word by His Spirit. Because I can make you this promise. And I make you this promise on this ground. One, it is a promise of God.
Number two, I know it by experience. If you delight in God's Word, you will end up delighting in God. That's what His Word is for. Too many of us today read the Bible daily like it's our horoscope.
What's in there for me today? I challenge you, as you live bravely, read huge chunks of God's Word. Delight in God's Word and I promise you it will lead you to delight in God. That's what it's there for.
That's why we have this. Because the message of Isaiah's prophecy is the Lord's restoration of His creation. We feel, day in and day out, we feel the frustrating characteristics of a fallen creation. So we need to know God. We need to see the big picture. We need to know the great God who is orchestrating that big picture. So that we are armed against the seductive power of idolatry.
The Lord is the one who brings restoration to His creation. And when you keep that big picture in view, that gives you the perspective that you need. The big picture perspective. And when you have that big picture's perspective, it will grant you peace. And that peace will grant you the perseverance necessary to continue and to move towards the objective. That is my prayer for this study through the prophecy of Isaiah.
Instrumentalists are coming forward now. We're going to close the service today with that song that the great singer sang earlier. Behold our God. And if God has manifested Himself to you in His word this morning, seek God to know Him in the way that He's revealed Himself. And let's stand and let's adore the Lord our God for who He is and what He has done. Let's stand and sing. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in Him. The one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on Weekdays at 10 a.m.
