God Is GREATER!

God Is GREATER!
John R. Petrilli

Human history seems, in large part, to be a story of competition. Year after year, decade after decade, century after century we see peoples and nations vying for the right to possess lands, the right to secure valuable and needed natural resources, the right to rule the masses, and the right to brag that they are the greatest country or kingdom on earth.

In our day it seems to be all about who has the greatest number of championship trophies, the greatest personal net worth, the greatest artistic talent, the greatest annual income, or the greatest climate to live in. There’s something in the human psyche that wants to achieve top ranking, to set itself above all the rest. Something that drives so many of us to do whatever it takes for friends as well as foes to acknowledge that we are, indeed, the best. It may be an overpowering sense of insecurity. It may be sinful pride. Or perhaps it’s an overrated opinion of who we are or what we’ve accomplished.

While personal achievements and national attainments can lay claim to temporal greatness in a limited sphere, there is one entity that is truly the greatest of all time, and their greatness stands unchallenged. They’ve met challenge after challenge from everything from megalo-maniacal tyrants to world-dominating empires, to the very powers of hell and have emerged victorious each and every time. No armies or navies have ever defeated them. Governments have tried in vain to topple them. The greatest minds in the world have tried to deny them. The cleverest strategists have been unable to outsmart them. And proud cultures have attempted to live and prosper apart from them.

I speak, of course, of none other than God. He is the greatest! His actions in the past, present and future all prove this to be true with resounding accuracy that’s completely indisputable and beyond question. Here are only five examples of the greatness of God to ponder that will lift our hearts, restore our confidence and fuel our
Spirits.

GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCE LIFE CAN THROW AT US! Romans 8:35-36

According to national network news reports, we are living in times of record-breaking economic stress. As never before, Americans as well as people all over the globe are experiencing a level of uncertainty and insecurity that’s unprecedented. Even industrially booming giants like China are being forced to impose production cut backs, employee layoffs and factory closings. Times are hard, and if the experts are right, they may get even tougher. These conditions have left many folks jobless, homeless, penniless, hopeless and clueless with regard to what they should do and how they should do it. The apostle Paul administers an injection of blazing hope to the believer in crisis. He states that there is absolutely no circumstance we can find ourselves in that catches God by surprise. Whether it’s situational predicaments (“trouble or hardships”), economic crisis (“famine or nakedness”), or social distress (“persecution or sword”), Paul’s God was greater than all of the above. His God had bound Himself to His people with a love stronger than any thing that life could throw at them. And that love, like a type of spiritual superglue, wouldn’t allow anything to sever its bond. The good news? Paul’s God is still on the throne, and He still takes care of His people. Times may be as tough as you’ve ever experienced, but believing friend, God is tougher. Your losses may be great, but our God (and your God) is greater!

GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY FORCE OF DARKNESS ARRAYED AGAINST US! 1 John 4:4
Rom. 8:38 ; Eph. 6:10-18

Sometimes when things go terribly wrong in our lives we find ourselves wondering, “Hey, what’s going on here?” For the believer, the answer to that puzzling question can often be found in things that are going on “behind the scenes”. Players that, though invisible to the naked eye and inaudible to the human ear, are at work to discourage, defeat and destroy us. God unveils what’s behind the scenes and shows us that there is a spiritual antagonist in this drama we call the Christian life, and that he has a cast of cohorts who are assisting him in carrying out his version of the Greek tragedy. This “nightmare team” ( as opposed to “dreamteam”) is comprised of three-time spiritual losers who’ve sold themselves out to Satan, and are committed to his doomed agenda. Fallen from their heavenly place of favor with God, these demons are at the devil’s disposal to do his bidding, and that bidding includes tripping up the children of God. But not to fear. The beloved apostle John assures us that we’re not only on the winning side, but that we follow and serve a God Whose power trumps the devil and all his minions (1 John 4:4). As Steve Amerson sings, “So when you march into battle and the enemy attacks, when it seems the power of Satan is at you hurled, just remember that the One you serve is mighty, and He’s greater than he that is in the world! God is greater, He is greater, our God is greater than the might of men or powers of this earth!” As we follow our battlefield manual and suit up with spiritual gear, the powers of darkness don’t stand a chance against us or our God. Satan’s battle plans and tactics are exposed (2 Cor. 2:11), his attacks become neutralized (Ephesians 6:16), and his walls of defense come crashing down (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY SIN WE COULD EVER OR WILL EVER COMMIT! Romans 5:20

I recently had the blessing of hearing Ergun Caner speak at a church service. Dr. Caner is a leading authority on Islam, and has successfully debated some of its most noted proponents on college campuses across America. Himself of Turkish descent and born the son of an Islamic imam (teacher/preacher), Caner pointed out Islam’s basic tenet that heaven depends on having your good works outweigh your bad ones. Allah doesn’t grade on a curve, and there’s no room for grace of any kind. If the balance tips in favor of the good things you’ve done, you’re in; if otherwise, you’re doomed to eternal hellfire. If you come up one sin too many, tipping that scale toward the bad, you’re finished! Unfortunately many people view the God of Christianity the same way. They mistakenly believe that something they’ve done is so horrendous that even God can’t forgive it or them. It’s almost like putting God’s mercy and grace inside a tiny little box that prevents Him from extending His forgiveness to them. What a different God we find in the Bible. His mercy is described as extending higher than the heavens, and His grace is said to be overflowing with abundance! Then there’s the issue, not of the seriousness of the sin, but the frequency and quantity of its commission. Some think that, because they’ve done thus and so so many times, they’ve worn out God’s grace. But Paul tells us that, to the contrary, wherever sin ABOUNDS, there it is that God meets that giant debt with His inexhaustible grace! There is no sin that can keep anyone out of heaven except that of attributing God’s work to the devil, and if you or anyone else even is concerned about having committed that sin, that is a sure sign that you haven’t committed it because those who have can no longer sense such a concern. So be transparent with God, knowing that He stands ready, willing and able to forgive you. Come clean, and experience an inner renewal the likes of which you’ve never known before!

GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY PROBLEM OR OBSTACLE WHOSE SOLUTION IS BEYOND HUMAN CAPABILITY! Genesis 18:14 ; Jeremiah 32:17, 27, 36-37, 42-44

They were in their nineties, and all hopes of having children had been buried a long time ago. Then one typical day in the life of a couple named Abraham and Sara, that all changed. God sent two of His emissaries with a special news flash for the aged lovers. Sara, who was totally barren and childless, would conceive and bare a son. Her health, her age and even her unbelieving attitude would not prevent this miracle from transpiring. After literally reading Sara’s unspoken doubts and faithless laughter, the Lord stated that nothing was beyond His capability. In fact, her pregnancy and delivery of Israel’s son of promise in Isaac would be a piece of cake! Before we point the finger of blame at these two ancient brethren, we best take a good, long look at ourselves. How many times have we discounted the possibility of God’s intervention in our lives? How often do we make the costly error of leaving God out of the equation because we think that the solution to our predicament is beyond His “job description” or “above His pay grade”? Think again. “Nothing” means “Nothing”! There isn’t a single thing that God can’t deal with … repeat after me … NOTHING! Jeremiah also found the Lord most capable of pulling-off the humanly impossible feat of bringing the globally dispersed nation of Israel back into their homeland to enjoy untold prosperity and peace. In 1948 we saw just that! The reoccupation is under way, and that peace is on its way, to be permanently fulfilled when the Messiah shows up and establishes His reign there.

GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY UNFORESEEN CHALLENGES THE FUTURE MAY HOLD! Romans 8:38 ; Revelation 19:6 ; 21:3-5

Someone has coined a phrase that rings so true to my ears. “We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future”. None of us possesses a proverbial crystal ball that unfolds the hidden secrets of the road ahead. Yes, we can derive the basic scenario of end times from Scripture, but No, we cannot decipher what will take place in our individual lives. Not for the next second (which, by the way, just passed), much less than for decades to come. Yet, while we admittedly face life in this sort of a blind, we have an x-factor working on our behalf that those who don’t know Christ sadly lack. God promises us that He’s going to see to it that everything will turn out right in the end. He also promises to be with us and to take care of us in and through whatever it is that tomorrow holds. Nothing I’ve heard expresses this kind of confidence better than the lyrics of the song , “God Knows All About Tomorrow”.

God has measured time’s duration night and day are His creation,
And the changing seasons of the year,
He’s the One who watches over me and prepares the way before me.
There is nothing now I need to fear.

Life’s uncertainties may haunt me, foolish fears may try to taunt me,
‘Till my heart is filled with doubt and dread,
He who set the planets spinning sees the end from the beginning,
He will keep me trough the days ahead.

All the world is in confusion, peace on earth is but illusion,
And the phrase seems only a cliché,
But in trying times so fearful we can be calm and cheerful,
And with glad assurance we can say,

God knows all about tomorrow, He can see beyond today,
Even if filled with joy or sorrow He has planned it that way,
So I do not fear the future, on His promises I stand,
God knows all about tomorrow for He holds it in His hand.

While we may not know every line of every verse of every chapter in God ‘s redemptive story, we certainly know how it ends. John the revelator pulls back the curtain on the future. He reveals a climax to human history that is nothing short of completely victorious and full of promise, health, prosperity and ultimate, eternal perfection. While that may not alter our present circumstances, it does provide us with the kind of perspective we need to weather the storms of today and face the challenges of tomorrow with utmost confidence!