We’ve been flying through Isaiah. The title of this morning message is “God is Incomparably Great.” Now that is kind of the same thing as saying God is “Awesome.” Sometimes when you do a good deed (i.e. You filled a Christmas Shoebox) someone might say, “That is so awesome!” And it is! But what would it mean if someone were to say, “Wow, that’s incomparably awesome!”
Throughout Isaiah, God asks his people this profound question over and again. He asks, “Who is a God like me…?” Have you ever had a real great thing in life, but maybe you didn't recognize it? Think for a moment about your spouse. It's so sad how many people take their spouse for granted! When I think about Lara, it's not just that she is Awesome and does Awesome things. It's that she's an incomparably great woman, and incomparably great wife! She is of a category all her own. What makes her incomparably great is she loves me, faithfully. If you know anything about me, you know how impossible that is. I can barely stand myself most days.
The greater question though, is do you feel this way about God? Allow me to share some examples. In Isaiah 40:11-14 God asks, “12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure or weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on the scales? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who gave him counsel? 14 Who did he consult? Who gave him understanding and taught him the paths of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?” There is a simple but profound lyric I keep hearing on Christian radio. Sorry I can't find the name of the song! But the artist sings, “I'm okay with it.” It's echoes that old hymn, “It is Well, With My Soul.” When life happens, just who needs to consult with who? God with us (Why God!)… or we with God?
God is incomparable wise. Incomparably just. We're not more wise than God. We're not more just than God. We're not more knowledgeable. The proud person sits in judgement on God and sits in judgement on just about everyone else.
Sometime read the story of Job. Job's friends sat in judgement on him, because of all the terrible things that afflicted him. They think they’re helping him. They give one theological speech after another, until finally God speaks from heaven. Tell me if this sounds familiar! Job 38:1-7, “38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said: 2 Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words? 3 Get ready to answer me like a man; when I question you, you will inform me. 4 Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
In Philippians Paul speaks of a peace that transcends understanding. It's not that we don't want to understand. It's that maybe we cannot fully understand. I don't imagine to understand how AI works, or Quantum Physics, or many other things. Imagine knowing the mind of God who created all things. I trust that God. Who is a God like Him?
Isaiah 40:18-19, “18 With whom will you compare God? What likeness will you set up for comparison with him? 19 An idol?—something that a smelter casts and a metalworker plates with gold and makes silver chains for?” Nothing in all creation is comparable to our Creator. Isaiah 40:25-26, “25 “To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. 26 Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing.”
And here is another way God explains his incomparable Greatness. He repeatedly asks, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.” (Isaiah 40:28). In Isaiah 41, God invites his own people to put him on trial! Isaiah 41:1, “Be silent before me, coasts and islands! And let peoples renew their strength. Let them approach; let them testify; let’s come together for the trial.” The nations are like chaff before God. He overthrows nations and Kings. What was Egypt or the Pharaoh before God? Assyria or Sennacherib? Babylon or Nebuchadnezzar? Soon Persia and King Cyrus would rise! But King Cyrus will be God's anointed servant. After Cyrus would come “Alexander the Great”—but in time—Christ Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords would ascend to His throne.
Go ahead, God baits his people, put me on trial! Tell me I'm not sovereign, that I'm not just , nor powerful, nor wise, nor whatever! Isaiah 41:9, “I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said to you: You are my servant; I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.” Isaiah 41:13, “For I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.” Go on! Says the Lord. Isaiah 41:21, “Submit your case,” says the Lord. “Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.” The height of pride and arrogance—to imagine that we're fit, much less even capable to judge God!
Something that makes God incomparably great is his promise to put his Holy Spirit in us! Isaiah 42:5, “This is what God, the Lord, says—who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it…” Isaiah 43:11, “I—I am the Lord. Besides me, there is no Savior.” Isaiah 43:13, “Also, from today on I am he alone, and none can rescue from my power. I act, and who can reverse it?”
I'll tell you where a lot of men mess up. I'll pick on men, because I am a man myself. But pretty much the worst thing you can do in marriage is scorn your wife. The worst thing you can do it disrespect her, take her for granted, diminish her. There is a saying, “Hell has no fury greater than that of a scorned wife.” The bible says better to live in a desert, better to live on the corner of your roof. A scorned wife will read you the riot act and quickly bring you back to reality. To me this is how Isaiah 40-48 reads! All of Israel and Judah have scorned their God! And so, God in street vernacular, “God opens a can.”
Wade through the testimony of a scorned God, put on trial. Read it if you dare. God is incomparably great! Brace yourself like a man. Isaiah 43:16-19, “16 This is what the Lord says—who makes a way in the sea, and a path through raging water, 17 who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty one together (they lie down, they do not rise again; they are extinguished, put out like a wick)—18 “Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. 19 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. 20 Wild animals—jackals and ostriches—will honor me, because I provide water in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people. 21 The people I formed for myself will declare my praise.” Brace yourselves, I am about to do a New Thing! I’m going to create a people for myself, who honor me, and praise me! Isaiah 44:3, “. . .For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.”
Isaiah 44:6-8, “This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Armies, says: I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but me. 7 Who, like me, can announce the future? Let him say so and make a case before me, since I have established an ancient people. Let these gods declare the coming things, and what will take place. 8 Do not be startled or afraid. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other Rock; I do not know any.” I just love that, don’t you? What other rock is there to step on, to trust, to build your life upon than God? I don't know any. Those who scorn God are daily put to shame and disgrace.
There is a historical note of great importance that appears in Isaiah 44. Isaiah mentions Cyrus, King of Persia by name, even though Persia wouldn't rise to power for hundreds of years. If you know the story of Israel, first there is the Assyrian captivity, then the Babylonian captivity, but then there is the rise of Persia under King Cyrus. You may recall how Ezra and Nehemiah experienced the great benevolence of Cyrus. He allowed the Jews to return to their land, and rebuild their temple, and the great city of God. Cyrus, though a foreigner, was a respecter of God's people! Cyrus is a picture of how God can make even the greatest of Kings his servant, his instrument.
Everything that happens over the next centuries is all detailed in Isaiah! We can give credit to Ezra and Nehemiah for approaching King Cyrus to rebuild their temple and city… but God declared this would be his exact plan through Isaiah centuries earlier. How is that even possible?
Isaiah 45:21-22, “Speak up and present your case—yes, let them consult each other. Who predicted this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior; there is no one except me. 22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other…”
Listen. Remember. Listen. Remember. Who is a God like me? In Isaiah 48:5-6, God gives this invitation: “5 therefore I declared to you long ago. I announced it to you before it occurred, so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them; my carved image and cast idol control them.’ 6 You have heard it. Observe it all. Will you not acknowledge it? From now on I will announce new things to you, hidden things that you have not known.” God has been showing Himself to us from all creation, through all history. Are you listening? Do you hear? Are you observing? Do you see? God is incomparably great, incomparably awesome! Let every knee bow, and every tongue confess. And brace yourself… your God is about to come near in Christ.