Bruce Collins, Evangelist

Meditation for the week of October 25, 2009

Jeremiah 10:6  Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great in might).

Humans are a peculiar bunch. We would apparently rather make our own gods than believe in the God that made us. In this passage men make idols or gods that cannot see or hear or do anything, and then they bow down to them. Some of us are so filled with pride that we believe that we are God, and we don’t even need idols. That way we become the ones to whom everyone and everything is accountable, and yet we can’t even explain where that spark called life comes from. We can’t control the day of our birth or the day of our death (unless we are suicidal), and yet we would like to believe that we are the all powerful ones. However, there really isn’t any other god that can compare to the God who is worshiped as Jehovah in the old testament and as Jesus in the new.

Why is God so great? Well first of all He is great because He exists and the others do not. We have witnesses who have seen God. This would include Jacob (Genesis 32:30, Moses (Exodus 33:23), Manoah who was the father of Samson (Judges 13:22) and all who saw the Lord Jesus (John 1:18). I do not know of any witnesses who have seen the other gods because the other gods simply do not exist. All things that exist were made by the Lord Jesus (Colossians 1:16) so anything others think they see would have to be a created being who was made by the Lord. In addition, to being the ever existing one who created all things, why would the Living God of heaven be great?

1. He is great because He is love. He doesn’t just love, He is love (1 John 4:16).

2. He is great because He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). The flip side of this is that He is Truth (John 14:6). He doesn’t just tell the Truth, He is the Truth. We can depend on Him.

3. He is great because He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). The flip side of this is that He would have all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).

4. He is great because He died for us in order for us to be saved. We didn’t have to die for Him (1Corinthians 15:3). Many have died for Him as martyrs, but they didn’t do it to be saved. They did it out of devotion because they were saved, and they would not deny Him in order to live.

5. He is great because his promises and compassion were first and foremost to the downtrodden which included the poor, the oppressed, the discouraged, the lame, the diseased, and the imprisoned. Luke 4:18 says, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” The powerful have no more claim on the promises of God than the weak in society. 1Corinthians 1:26 says, “ For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” Paul doesn’t say “not any” but “not many.”

6. I think the Lord is great because He is my Savior. Others may ridicule and despise Him, but I find Him precious (1Peter 2:7). Others may think He is the cause of the world’s problems, but I find Him to be the solution. The old hymn says it so well:

And when I think that God His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die–I scarce can take it in.
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
how great thou art! how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
how great thou art! how great thou art!

Bruce Collins