God is GOD

 Part  2

Revelation 15:3-4

Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before Thee,

For Thy righteous acts have been revealed.” NASB

1 Chronicles 29:12 – 12 Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. NASB

A. 12 Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone.  – God in His Sovereignty, dispenses as He pleases to all the peoples of the earth. Here the Scriptures says that God is the one who gives riches to the rich, honor to the honorable, and it is because He is the Ruler of all. Here the Scripture explicitly states that God has the power and the might to raise up or exalt someone, or give them strength. Obviously the inverse is true, if God decides to abase someone and make them weak, that is His prerogative. This is in fact resounded in the Scriptures in many places. God rules His creation, including the earth and men and angels by a mighty Providence. God is Sovereign over the prosperity and the poverty of everyone!

1 Samuel 2:7-9 – 7 “The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. 8 “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them. 9 “He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. NASB

Exodus 4:11 – 11 And the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? NASB

Isaiah 45:7 – 7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these. NASB

In fact, God is Sovereign over the life and death of every creature. Man’s days are determined by God, He has set the limit and they cannot be exceeded. No one lives unless God decrees it and no one dies unless God decrees it. He is the Author, Giver, and the Sustainer of every living thing. He holds in His hand the lives of His beloved ones and that of His enemies also! Even Satan the father of lies, the destroyer, owes his next breathe to the Almighty!

Job 14:5 – 5 “Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with Thee, And his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass. NASB

Deuteronomy 32:39 – 39’See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. NASB

1 Samuel 2:6 – 6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. NASB

Job 12:9-10 – 9 “Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, 10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? NASB

Matthew 10:29-30 – 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. NASB

The Scripture plainly declares that God Sustains and maintains all things which He has created.

Hebrews 1:3 – 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. NASB

Job 34:14-15 – 14 “If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, 15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust. NASB

Consider how gracious and benevolent God really is. Here He has a planet full of rebels and wicked sinners who profane His name and reject His authority everyday that goes by. Mankind takes His name in vain…..imagine this….they have made the name of God into a curse word! They worship all kinds of vain things and defame the name of God at every turn….they kill and murder their fellow man who have been created in his image and they mistreat and hurt and perform all kinds of immoral and indecent acts against one another to the point of unbridled passion…they steal and rob and covet and curse and maim, and hate, and profane every good thing that He gives so graciously……they spurn His wisdom and His teaching, which He has so patiently given…..they destroy the earth and the sky and trees and the seas……they drug their own children because they are too lazy to discipline them, and they even kill their own little babies because it is an inconvenience to love them and raise them because they cant abstain from their unbridled passion and lust for sex…..they heap abuse upon God’s people who love Him and stone and kill the prophets He sends to them…..and they kill the people of God even though God’s people have come to rescue them from all the folly of their great sins…by telling them how to be saved and reconciled to God…..this is a great irony indeed….!

Consider then, the kindness and patience of God in letting this globe turn even one more time! Indeed God is patient and kind…..beyond our comprehension…..

Therefore dear friends, knowing all these great things about Almighty God, what then should be our response to Him? How now shall we live, seeing that we have a great God who is in Heaven who is Sovereign and Providential over our lives…..look with me again at the text, verse 13…..

1 Chronicles 29:13 – 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. NASB

A. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. – Now here is a proper response to the knowledge of God’s Sovereignty, and of His great Providence and benevolence to us……. It is to acknowledge His greatness and power, and to humbly thank Him for WHO He is and that whatever we have has been given to us by Him. This why we are continually encouraged in the Scripture to be thankful….to honor God and His benevolence by being thankful in hearts….genuinely and gladly thankful for His goodness and His mercy to us…..

In closing let us consider Psalm 100 and its encouragement to us on how we should respond to our great God for all He is and all he has done for us!

Psalm 100:1-5 – 1 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing. 3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations. NASB