Nougat 13

Have you ever truly considered God’s size? I know that we see God as larger than life – as we ought – but have we tried quantifying God’s dimensions in our minds’ eyes? if we haven’t, believers of old did, and what they proposed is staggering! Don’t take my word for it, read it for yourselves as we consider Today’s Holy Nougat

1 Kings 8:27 CEVDCI

[27] There’s not enough room in all of heaven for you, Lord God. How could you possibly live on earth in this temple I have built?

Our Very Big God

A visit to the pyramids of Giza also includes a tour of the Great Sphinx. Its dimensions are 73.5m x 20m x 19.3m and it is constructed from a single limestone block. The average human stands at 1.65m, making the sphinx about 11 times higher than any of us. Although the Great Sphinx has the face of a pharaoh, it depicts a divine guardian watching over the sacred burial site. Gods in Greek spirituality appeared as human-sized beings, but were shape shifters, whose size could adjust to reach the clouds. The seated statue of Zeus in Olympia was 12.4m.

These dimensions – of the Great Sphinx, of Zeus, and the other gods – served to underscore their divine majesty, grandeur, and superiority over the humans who worshipped them. We recall that this wasn’t restricted to physical size, as Moses’ encounter with the Egyptian magicians was also intended to prove YHWH’s might over the Egyptian gods.

Point to Ponder

To what extent is the human desire to be more powerful, an expression of wanting to be like gods?

Application

In a world of grandiose gods who shape-shifted; YHWH, the God of the universe was equally or even more grand. We recall Moses’ first encounter with YHWH in Exodus 3. God did more than shape-shift, God appeared as fire that blazed, but was self-contained so as not to consume the bush in which God’s presence rested. Yet, Elohim (God) appeared to Abram in human form accompanied by angels in Genesis 18; and as a smoking fire-pot with a blazing torch. Solomon’s vision of God could be considered contextually relevant to the gods of his day, and appropriate for his understanding of God.

As I reread our Nougat, I couldn’t help but think about the Nigerian song, A Very Big God-O. The song describes God as very big, and always present, which is exactly true. Yet, when I think of God as ‘ God with us’, I’m more inclined to think of a regular human with human dimensions. This wasn’t about diminishing God, although in one sense that’s what it amounted to. I aimed to comprehend God based on my reading of Scripture. But by making God human, there is a sense in which God and God’s capacity to manifest miracles are diminished.

Should we attempt to quantify God’s dimensions – whether as Three in One or individual YHWH, Y’shua and God’s Spirit – we may find ourselves agreeing with King Solomon that Heaven can’t fully contain YHWH or YHWH’s glory. Hence, we understand Y’shua Jesus as fully human, but fully divine – larger than life, more vast than the heavens can contain. We then distinguish Jesus Who lived on earth as a human from Jesus Who’s ascended and sits at God’s right hand.

What remains astounding for me at that moment of distinguishing is the fact that the temple in which God now lives isn’t one single building. God lives in temples (churches) often smaller than Solomon’s temple (with dimensions of 27m x 9m x 13.5m).

But there’s more.

Our God made a temple space in each of our hearts. That’s where God’s Spirit lives when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. Now THAT is some serious shape-shifting!

How powerful is that?!

Our God, Who’s too large for Heaven, became small enough to live within us every day. In that regard, our very big God-o is not just by our side, but God, by our choice, lives inside to guide, sustain and deliver us from evil and sin. More on that on Friday, as tomorrow we’ll explore Y’shua’s Ascension.

Self-Check

Are we prepared for our bodies to be the temple of the Lord?

—

May all we seek be found in Christ