No.24 - O Great God
- Joshua Menon
- Mar 2
- 8 min read
Marvelling at God's greatness, sharing the hope of the resurrection and rejoicing in God.
Verse of the Week
'“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.'
Isaiah 40:25-26
There are billions and billions and billions of stars, and God knows them by name! How glorious is the Lord our God. The stars are his creation, what an incredible reminder of God's great power, might and strength. I have found wondering at God's greatness to be a wonderful way to stir up my heart to desire to praise him. When I am tempted to worry, complain or despair this is what I want to set my mind on. Think about just how small our worries, annoyances and sadnesses are compared to God. Yes, we should mourn and share our feelings with God in prayer, but I don't want to let anything stop me from praising God. No matter what we are going through, God is worthy of our praise and so I can rejoice in his glory.
Encouragements
It has been such a joy this week to get to spend time seeing God's greatness more clearly. I attended my Cambridge Bible course's open day where a guest speaker came and gave four lectures on '12 things God can't do'. There were so many encouragements! One would be that God cannot change. This is wonderful for hundreds of reasons but the one that first came into my mind is that he will stay perfect forever! Forever perfectly patient, kind, loving, just, good and gracious.
This week, I got to lead my life group's bible study for the first time. It was such a privilege to help people see more of the hope of the resurrection. There is something wonderful about God's people gathering together to help each other understand more of God's word and be changed by it.
Praise the Lord; I seem to have been more joyful over the last few days. There are lots of things this could be linked to, but one that comes to mind is that I have been listening to more sermons in my free time. These have been greatly encouraging as the preachers I have been listening to, mainly John Piper, are so often seeking to help us enjoy God more.
A Little Update
Here are a few of the things we've been up to and some of what we've got coming up.
The Last Week
Prepared for - TEAM Talk, Bible studies, Easter event
Wednesday - TEAM open teaching day on - 'Things God can't do'
Thursday - Led our Life group bible study
Friday - Ran a mid-day bible study group
Friday - Met with some church members to study the Westminster Confession of Faith
Friday - Attended a Church music band leaders meeting
Saturday - Met to study a Christian book
The Next Few Weeks
Life group, Mid-day bible study, TEAM bible course
26th March - Giving a Talk at my Cambridge bible course
3rd-5th April - Attending a Bible study Training Conference
6th April - Helping lead sung worship at church
6th April - Giving a talk on Mark at our Church's Children's group
6th April - Giving a talk at an evangelistic church youth event
12th April - Meeting up to study a Christian book with church family
19th April - Helping to run our Church Easter event
14th May - Attending a Church Trustees meeting
18th May - Giving a talk on studying the bible at our teaching session before church (Joining The Dots Adults)
29th May-1st June - Attending the St Helen's 10am weekend away
10th-12th June - Attending a Presbyterian Christian Conference (Catalyst)
Prayer Requests
These next two weeks I will be a bit busier with preparing talks for my Cambridge course, the children on Sunday and a youth evangelistic evening, as well as helping plan our Church Easter Event.
So we would love prayer that:
God would help us to trust and rejoice in His strength and good plans.
Hopefully, this will look like not worrying over the amount of preparation I am able to do but rather enjoying the time I am able to spend working to share God's life-giving word.
We really are so grateful for your love, prayers and support. You are such an encouragement! God bless :)
Joshua & Luci.
P.S. - If you want to hear more about how I've been delighted by Christ over the last week, including the content from my Bible course open day on '12 things God can't do' feel free to listen to the video below. I found it really encouraging to think back over the week and delight in all the different things I've learned about God. I hope you may find it encouraging to :)
ere was so much amazing information from my Bible course this week I decided to create different length summaries, so you can have as much or as little content as you have time for :)
TEAM Bible Course Notes - Shortest
Understanding what God’s can’t do
can help us understand more of who God is
God can’t learn
God can’t be surprised
God can’t change his mind
God can’t been seen
God can’t bare to look at evil
God can’t change
God can’t suffer
God can’t be lonely
God can’t die
God can’t deny the good
God can’t deny the truth
God can’t deny himself
TEAM Bible Course Notes - Shorter
Understanding what God’s can’t do
can help us understand more of who God is
God Can’t Learn
Psalm 139
Nothing is hidden - God has complete knowledge
God already has all the knowledge that has ever or will ever exist
Therefore he can’t learn
God Can’t be Surprised
He already perfectly knows the future
God’s controlling everything
The future is the story God has wanted to tell all along
God Can’t Change his mind
1 Samuel 15:29,Numbers 23, Psalm 124
God doesn’t change his mind
No one has the power to force God to change
No new information for God to receive
God can’t been seen
1 Timothy - 1:17, 6:14 - God is invisible
John 1:18 - no one ever seen God
He’s spirit - no body
Doesn’t fill up an amount of space - without edges
Perfectly present everywhere - Psalm 139
Invisible by nature and by holiness
There are things God can’t bare to look at
Holy God cannot stand our unholy presence 1 John 1:5-6
In Jesus God found a way to do things God can’t do because his loved us
God Can’t change
God is fully fulfilled in every good thing all the time
Changing would be getting worse
Change belongs to time - God is outside time
Malachi 3:6-7 - “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
God Can’t suffer
God is supremely fulfilled emotionally (including happiness)
God cannot suffer - be in a less than ideal state
Wrath and grace are just difference consequences of God’s Love coming into contact with different things
God Can’t be lonely
Relationship is at the heart of who God is
Father, Son, Spirit - God is fully satisfied relationally
his creation flows out of his love and abundance glory
God Can’t die
Rev ch1:17 - Living one - definition of God
The God who cannot die died because he loves you
God can do loads of the things he ‘can’t do’
Because he took on a human nature in christ
E.g Christ’s human nature suffered and died
The lengths God went to to die for us are incredible
God Can’t deny the good
James ch1 - God cannot be tempted
Evil has no attraction to him
We can trust him
We can rejoice in him
God Can’t deny the truth
Hebrews 6:18 - it is impossible for God to lie,
A lie - speaking something that isn’t true
When God speaks reality is bent to his will and his words come into being
God Can’t deny himself
2 Tim 2:13 - he cannot disown himself.
God can’t act outside his nature
TEAM Bible Course Notes - Longer
Intro
The doctrine of God
Understanding what God’s can’t do
can help us understand more of who God is
God can do everything he wants to do
but God can’t want to do everything
He is constrained by his character
This makes him much better
E.g. It is better that God can’t do evil
There are two kinds of things that exist
God
Things God has made
God knows everything - because he made everything
Things are because God knows them
God is self defining - IAM who IAM - Incomparable
He comes from himself - had no beginning
He is complete (in all good things)
He can’t be improved
He cannot be more happy
Learn/Surprised/Change
God Can’t Learn
Psalm 139
Nothing is hidden - God has complete knowledge
God knows our thoughts before we have them
God knows us better than we are capable of knowing ourselves
God has already written the future
every page of our lives already written
it’s a gift from God
God already has all the knowledge that has ever or will ever exist
Therefore he can’t learn
God Can’t be Surprised
He already perfectly knows the future
God’s controlling everything
The future is the story God has wanted to tell all along
God Can’t Change his mind
1 Samuel 15:29,Numbers 23, Pslam 124
God doesn’t change his mind
No one has the power to force God to change
No new information for God to receive
Why pray?
God tells us to
It is a means of his grace
Teaches us to depend on him
God’s chosen means to God’s chosen ends
He chooses to show his greatness in answering our prayers - shows it’s a relationship
Seen/Look
God can’t been seen
1 Timothy - 1:17, 6:14 - God is invisible
John 1:18 - no one ever seen God
He’s spirit - no body
Doesn’t fill up an amount of space - without edges
Perfectly present everywhere - Psalm 139
invisible by nature and by holiness
There are things God can’t bare to look at
A holy God cannot stand our unholy presence
1 John 1:5-6
In Jesus God found a way to do things God can’t do
because his loved us
Change/suffer/be lonely/die
God Can’t change
God is fully fulfilled in every good thing all the time
Changing would be getting worse
Change belongs to time - God is outside time
Malachi 3:6-7 - “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
God Can’t suffer
God is supremely fulfilled emotionally (including happiness)
God cannot suffer - be in a less than ideal state
Wrath and grace are just difference consequences of God’s Love coming into contact with different things
God Can’t be lonely
Relationship is at the heart of who God is
Father, Son, Spirit - God is fully satisfied relationally
his creation flows out of his love and abundance glory
God Can’t die
Rev ch1:17 - Living one - definition of God
The God who cannot die died because he loves you
God can do loads of the things he ‘can’t do’
Because he took on a human nature in christ
E.g Christ’s human nature suffered and died
The lengths God went to to die for us are incredible
Tempted/Lie/Change
God Can’t deny the good
Be tempted
James ch1 - God cannot be tempted
Evil has no attraction to him
God acts in perfect others centred giving love
We can trust him
We can rejoice in him
God Can’t deny the truth
Hebrews 6:18 - it is impossible for God to lie,
A lie - speaking something that isn’t true
When God speaks reality is bent to his will and his words come into being
God only speaks truth - He and his word are utterly trustworthy
Sin is not a good - its promises are lies
Idolatry is a relationship with a lie
A lie
inviting someone into a world that isn’t real
robbing others of reality
undoing the truth
violent act - being to non being
God Can’t deny himself
2 Tim 2:13 - he cannot disown himself.
God can’t act outside his nature
Love and prayers
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