I want to start my post today sharing an illustration I have heard many times before. It goes something like this: a little boy asked his father: “Daddy, how big is God?” His father looked around and scratched his head and when he spotted an airplane in the sky he said: “son, can you see that airplane?” “yes” the boy replied. “How big is it?” “the boy tried to use his fingers to measure it and said “about his big”. “So it is quite small would you say?”, his dad said. “The airplane is far up in the sky and it appears small. Let’s go see the plane up close”. The father took the son to the airport and asked if he could see the plane up close. When they were almost under the plane the father said: “how big is the plane now?” The little boy spread his arms across as wide as they would go and said “this big”. The father said to the boy, “the closer you are to God the bigger He is”.

The story above has such a deep truth for all of us. The more we know our God the bigger he becomes. But just how big is our God? At this point, you might be singing the children’s song that says: “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there is nothing that He cannot do”… The words of this song are true but they do not do justice to how big God is. Our God is infinite. What do we understand by infinite? If you are a Mathematician you may think of this symbol ∞. Some of us might imagine the “Cosmos” (Universe) as something that goes on and on and has no end. The dictionary says infinite is an adjective and it means limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate.

It is important that we know our God is an infinite God. That means He is not subject to limitation; he is beyond measure, not bound or restricted by space or time. We find it difficult to comprehend this attribute of God because our human minds need to quantify, contain, measure in order to understand and control.

When I step on my scales the first thing I do is: I scream. I then proceed to convince myself I need to take control of the situation and start a diet, join a gym, stop buying biscuits and so on. Does it sound familiar? When I was younger at school when I received my grades for a test I immediately compared it to my peers and if my grade was lower, I felt I needed to do more, or thought that someone else who did better was a know it all kind of person, always getting it right all the time.  If I wanted to go on holiday, I would plan how long the journey would take and how many times we would need to stop to have a break. We also measure people’s characters, they are good or bad depending on how they live. We measure their choices, that was a wise choice if it is something we deem worthy or that was unwise if we don’t.

We cannot contain God or measure Him. The Bible gives us just glimpses of this truth. In the book of Job, Zophar (Job’s companion) asks:

‘Can you fathom the mysteries of God?  Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than the heavens above – what can you do?  They are deeper than the depths below – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. Job 11:7-9

In Isaiah 40:12 we read:

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?”

Notice how God is portrayed here. Can you see His Majesty? He is holding all the oceans in the hollow of His hand and measuring the heavens (Universe) with the span of his hand. He is holding all the deserts and sand and dust that there is over the Earth in a basket (like a Sainsbury’s basket) on His arm and all the majestic mountains (The Everest, the Himalayas, The Andes, The Rockies) are in His scale. As we can see the measuring tools here are very small and the things being measured are really big! Yet God is much bigger, infinitely bigger than that. He is beyond measuring. He cannot be contained.  The God who cannot be contained sets the limits to his creation. He tells the seas what their boundaries are and the mountains where to stand and each desert where it should be and dry up.

Another thing we notice in Isaiah 40 is that God’s knowledge is limitless. No one has taught Him anything. He was never a member of a subcommittee somewhere where He had to ask for help in how to create clouds or had to have planning permission to put the stars in place. My knowledge of growing things is non-existent.  I can’t even grow tomatoes in my garden without calling a friend for advice. You might be someone who knows a lot of things because you spent a long time learning and acquiring knowledge of a particular subject and you are now considered an expert in your field. God has never set foot in a classroom or been stuck, not knowing what to do, or how to solve a problem. He never had to learn anything. Ever. God’s knowledge is infinite.  

“Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counsellor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,  and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,  or showed him the path of understanding?” Isaiah 40:13-14

Our God is so much greater than his creation and he is even beyond all the worship we could ever offer Him.

“Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” Isaiah 40:15-17

Even if we could offer God our best worship and all of the worship in the world at once, Isaiah says it wouldn’t be enough for his majesty.  

Then Isaiah poses a question on verse 18:

“With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?”

In other words: Who is like our God? The answer is an emphatic NO ONE! Isaiah didn’t stop there. Verses 21-26 highlight to us God’s stature compared to ours. His majesty and power are so evident it is almost overwhelming.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted,  no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. ‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

God is not like us. We are measured, we have limits and we are contained. When we are born, we are given a name, our parents receive a piece of paper with the date and time we entered this world and when we die, our loved ones receive another piece of paper stating when we left it.

How big is our God? Infinitely big. That should be a comfort to us. How wonderful to know we can turn away from out limitations to our God who has none. To whom time and space are no barriers. God’s holiness, his power, his mercy, his justice, his faithfulness, his righteousness, his truth, his knowledge, his kindness, his wisdom, his goodness, his love, are all infinite. Even more amazing than that is the fact that He loves us and through His Son has brought us to His family. WOW!

It seems fitting to finish this post with a song that reminds us to “Behold our God“.

God bless.

_{Photo by Jackson Hendry on Unsplash}