There is on cable television a channel that shows the big things of man (i.e., manmade things). It is interesting to see some of the accomplishments of man. The host of the program travels all over the world to see and to operate, when possible, some of the great machines built by man. He showed viewers a giant drill that carves tunnels in mountains. Then, there is the big open pit copper mine somewhere in Scandinavia with all of its extremely large machines used to dig and haul out the ore. Space does not permit the listing of all such things that he has shown, but suffice it to say, it is a most interesting program, at least to me.
However, as I watch the program, I am made to think of just how small these things are compared to the works of Almighty God. For instance, what about Genesis 1:1, which reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”? Now that is big! How does this compare to the greatest accomplishment of man at any time in man’s history? Again, what about God’s great work of bringing a universal flood upon the earth? Would man ever be able to do such a thing? On one of the programs, the host went to Arizona to visit the world’s largest telescope. As I viewed it, the one thing I didn’t assume or think was that the telescope came into existence by evolution. It took a lot of brain power to even think of such a thing, much less to design and to build it. Yet, what can it do? It can look farther into the heavenly universe that Almighty God created as He spoke it into existence. I think we all could agree that one is small in comparison to the other.
To my mind, the greatest, most spectacular and beneficial thing that God has ever done is to provide His creature—man—with the means to have his sins forgiven, with the possibility of dwelling eternally with Him. How could a holy God reach down to sinful man to lift him out of the mire of that sin so that man could have fellowship with Him? Of course, this is the story of the Bible, and a wonderful and beautiful account it is.
The key verse that lets us know of the greatness of this feat is John 3:16. Here Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Look at the third word in this passage, the word “so.” Where is the human mind that can fathom the height, depth and sum total of that little word? Yet, there was absolutely no other way that God could accomplish man’s salvation. When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, the violent, physical death of the Christ was so determined that it was spoken of as a thing of the present. When God spoke to Satan, represented by the serpent, He told him, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” The bruising of “His heel” applied to Christ and was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross. When He arose from the dead, He forever bruised the head of Satan, taking away his power to hold man in the bondage of sin.
One last thing: man, with all of his rituals, opinions, feelings and doctrines, makes the salvation God has offered a difficult thing for man to accomplish. Which one of the creed books, rituals or encyclicals is man to follow? If he follows one and fails to follow another, will he be saved or lost? The great thing about God’s Gospel plan is its simplicity. The common man can read, study and learn the requirements given by Jesus and His apostles—then obey them and have the remission of sins. How great is God’s Gospel? “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”
Friends, shouldn’t we be following the great things of God, rather than wallowing in the puny and small things concocted in the minds of men?
