MacArthur - Our Awesome God

OUR AWESOME GOD

Our Awesome God

Copyright 1993 by John F. MacArthur Jr.

Originally titled God: Coming Face to Face with His Majesty, and published by Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois

Crossway Books edition first published 2001

Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.

Other quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Also used: the King James Version (KJV); The Amplified New Testament (AMP), copyright 1954, 1958 by the Lockman Foundation.

Cover design: David LaPlaca

First Crossway printing, 2001

Printed in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacArthur, John, 1939
[God]
Our awesome God / John Mac Arthur.
p. cm.
Originaly published: Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, c1993, in series:
MacArthur study series.
ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-289-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 10: 1-58134-289-6
1. God. 2. GodBiblical teaching. I. Title.
BT103 .M23 2001
231dc21 2001003417

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CONTENTS

There is an old fable about six men blind from birth who lived in India. One day they decided to visit a nearby palace. When they arrived, an elephant was standing in the courtyard. The first blind man touched the side of the elephant and said, An elephant is like a wall. The second blind man touched the trunk and said, An elephant is like a snake. The third blind man touched the tusk and said, An elephant is like a spear. The fourth blind man touched the leg and said, An elephant is like a tree. The fifth blind man touched the ear and said, An elephant is like a fan. The sixth blind man touched the tail and said, An elephant is like a rope. Because each blind man touched only one part of the elephant, none of them could agree on what an elephant is really like.

Bringing that analogy into the spiritual realm, many people have misconceptions about what God is really like. Believing the wrong thing about God is a serious matter because it is idolatry. Does that surprise you? Contrary to popular belief, idolatry is more than bowing down to a small figure or worshiping in a pagan temple. According to the Bible, it is thinking anything about God that isnt true or attempting to transform Him into something He isnt.

God Himself pointed out the fallacy of idolatry, saying of man, You thought that I was just like you (Ps. 50:21). We must be careful not to think of God in our terms or entertain thoughts that are unworthy of Him. It is perilously easy to do both.

Voltaire, the French agnostic, once quipped that God created man in His own image, and man returned the favor. Not only is that true of ungodly men, writes one author, but Christians are often guilty of the error as well. Because we are finite beings, we tend to perceive the infinite in light of our own limitations. Even Scripture itself presents truth in language and thoughts that accommodate our human understanding. But even though it speaks down to us, the Bible also encourages us to reach beyond our limitations and think exalted thoughts about God. It is essential that our ideas of God correspond as nearly as possible to what He really is like. Instead we often put God in a box and our box is incredibly small! We tend to let our culture instead of our Creator determine what we value. Those values influence our thoughts about God and shape the way we relate to Him in our daily experience (Gregg Cantelmo, Criminal Concepts of God, Masterpiece magazine [September/October 1989], p. 5).

The only way to know what God is like is to discover what He has revealed about Himself in Scripture. The revelation of Gods nature falls into different categories of attributes, which in their totality define His character.

What does Scripture say about God? To begin with, in the fullest sense He is incomprehensible. Zophar got that one fact right in his misdirected rebuke against Job: Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? They are as high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. If He passes by or shuts up, or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him? (Job 11:7-10). David said it this way: Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable (Ps. 145:3). God is infinitethere is no end to Him.

To define the infinite God in ways we can understand, we often have to state what He is not for a basis of comparison. For example, when we say that God is holy, we mean He has no sin. We cannot conceive of absolute holiness since were all too familiar with sin. As we study about God in the following chapters, we will often take that comparative approach so we can gain a fuller understanding of His key attributes.

Knowing what God is like is foundational to knowing God Himself. And knowing God is the essence of being a Christian. The apostle John wrote, This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John l7:3, emphasis added). When most people hear the term eternal life, they think of life that goes on forever. But Scripture affirms that, more than that, eternal life is a quality of life for the person who knows God.

Tragically, many Christians today have set their affections on the temporal things of this world, exchanging their great privilege of knowing God better for that which is mundane. God Himself rebukes that kind of thinking, for He declared, Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me (Jer. 9:23-24).

What does the Lord delight in? Not our boasting of worldly wisdom, human prowess, or material gain. He delights that we know Him. In his book A Heart for God, Sinclair Ferguson probes further:

What do you and I boast about? What subject of conversation most arouses us and fills our hearts? Do we consider knowing God to be the greatest treasure in the world, and by far our greatest privilege? If not, we are but pygmies in the world of the Spirit. We have sold our Christian birthright for a mess of pottage, and our true Christian experience will be superficial, inadequate, and tragically out of focus. ([Carlisle, Penn.: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1987], p. 4)

Rather than sell our spiritual birthright, we must learn to say with David, O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You... to see Your power and Your glory (Ps. 63:1-2).

Although this book is not an exhaustive study on the character of God, I trust it will help you to know what God is like and will serve as an incentive to know Him better. Read the following pages prayerfully. Scripture promises that you will find God if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul (Deut. 4:29). Learn to say with the apostle Paul, My determined purpose is that I may know Himthat I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly (Phil. 3:10, AMP).