|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3, ESV).
One of my favorite phrases during morning devotions is, “God is Great!”
When considering God, the word “great” must be used. One of my favorite songs, written by Chris Tomlin, is “How Great is our God!” For inspiration, watch this Passion video (viewed over 44 million times) of Tomlin singing the song!
But do we understand what ultimate “greatness” means?
In apologetics (philosophically defending the faith), scholars debate the “Contingency Argument for God”. It means that all things are contingent upon something else (we are contingent upon our parents) and since all things are contingent, where does it all begin?
Is the universe one contingent act upon another contingent act for infinity? That seems a ridiculous assertion since inherently we all know contingent things or beings have a beginning.
Enter God. He is non-contingent. He is self-existent. This is greatness! If God is contingent upon anything then His greatness diminishes. This is why the Bible proclaims about God the Father. . .
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2).
And about Jesus the Son. . .
To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 25).
Greatness means without origin (non-contingent) or as He named Himself to Moses “I AM!”
Let me say this boldly, “We are contingent; we are not God!” That’s the ultimate meaning of proclaiming God is great or without contingency and should be understood when we sing Chris Tomlin’s song “How Great is Our God!”
With the “Contingency Argument,” this question quickly arises, “If God exists then He must have an explanation. How can God make us contingent without being contingent Himself?”
Those who know more about the “Contingency Argument” answer by saying, “Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence, either by its own nature or in an external cause.” God, in His own nature, exists, while we in our nature were created by God.
This topic isn’t that confusing — we believe in a self-existent God, or we don’t. Yes, it takes faith, but believing everything that exists somehow spoofed itself into existence takes even more faith. While the “Contingency Argument” takes faith, the “spoof argument” seems ridiculous.
Contingent or spoofed — our only two choices for existence. I’ve decided to sing, “How Great is our God!”
I know the greatness of God.