Early on in Piper’s lecture it became clear that he wanted to make certain we understood the importance of giving people an accurate picture of the greatness, majesty, splendor and magnificence of God. Piper quoted a scientist – a specialist in general relativity theory who was also a student of Albert Einstein – a guy by the name of Charles Misner.
In the quote, Misner was talking about Einstein’s attitude towards organized religion. (Evidently he wasn’t very fond of it.) Here’s what Misner said:
“The design of the universe…is very magnificent and shouldn’t be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, all though he strikes me as a basically very religious man.”
Here’s the part that’s stuck with me for more than two decades…
“He [Einstein] must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the REAL THING. My guess is that he simply felt that religions he’d run across did not have proper respect…for the author of the universe.”[1]
What a stinging indictment. Think about that statement…
“[Albert Einstein] must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more MAJESTY than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the REAL THING.”[2]
When you talk about God, are you talking about the REAL THING?”
A.W. Tozer, in his classic, The Knowledge of the Holy wrote:
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and…that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.” —A.W. Tozer
When you think about God, what comes to mind?
As we continue our message series, CREED: What You Believe + Why It Matters, I want us to focus on the doctrine of GOD.
This is called “theology proper” because that’s what the word “theology” means. It actually means, “the study of GOD.”
There’s nothing more important than correctly understanding WHO GOD is and WHAT HE’s like. There’s nothing more important than KNOWING GOD, LOVING GOD and worshipping Him.
Unfortunately, some of us have unintentionally opted for a “dumbed down version” of God.
Augustine, the ancient scholar and theologian, wrote about being puzzled over the greatness, infinity, immensity and sovereignty of God. Then one day he was walking along the beach and saw a little boy with a bucket running back and forth pouring water into a little hole.
Augustine asked the kid, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m trying to put the ocean into this hole.” Augustine said it was then that he suddenly realized that he had been trying to do the same thing with GOD. He had been trying to put an INFINITE God into his FINITE mind.
In one of his letters to his friend Erasmus, Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation wrote, “Your thoughts of God are too human.”
“Your thoughts of God are too human.”
The French agnostic, Voltaire said it like this: “God created man in His own image, and man has returned the favor…”
That sums up the reality for a lot of us.
So, I ask again… “When you talk about God are you talking about the REAL THING?”
I believe there are eight life-changing truths about God and we’re going to walk those out this week, in a series of blog posts.
I’ll go ahead and give you all eight but I encourage you to come back tomorrow as we unpack the first two points.
8 Life-Changing Truths About God
- God is CREATOR.
- God is ETERNAL.
- God is SELF-SUFFICIENT and INDEPENDENT.
- God is PRESENT.
- God is ALL-KNOWING. God is OMNISCIENT.
- God is ALMIGHTY.
- God is HOLY.
- God is SOVEREIGN. He is LARGE and IN CHARGE.
[1] John Piper, Lecture – How Not To Blaspheme God, Beeson Divinity School; Also included in Piper’s book, Let The Nations Be Glad, page 18.
[2] John Piper