Who Is Like God? A Profound Truth To The World

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Who is like God? God is teh Almight. God is the Creator. There is a profound truth that we must accept if we are to truly flourish and prosper.

Introduction

Who is like God?  Does the Lord have an equal, or is there one that is greater than Him?  I hope you will take a moment to join me for this week’s lesson as God gives an answer that everyone must hear.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover Isaiah 40:12-17.

God’s Proclamation to the World

Our lesson this week opens with the Lord speaking through the prophet Isaiah to Jerusalem (Is. 40:1-2).  The words of this prophecy would be for those like Daniel and his friends, Ezra, and Nehemiah, who endured the days following Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonians.  Isaiah’s prophecy is estimated to have been 150 years before Jerusalem’s fall.

What this means is that the words of this prophecy would be received by a people who had turned from God and worshiped idols.  The words of this prophecy would be received by a people who would have rejected the words of prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah.  Therefore, the words of this prophecy would serve as a proclamation (an announcement) to a people to turn back to God and away from the wickedness of their way.  

Now, of course, we aren’t ancient Israel today, yet the words of this prophecy still ring very true as the Lord spoke of Himself.  Like ancient Israel, mankind still turns away from God for its own lusts.  Yes, many believe in God and do their best to walk in righteousness, but as a whole, believers are in the minority.  

So, the Lord proclaimed a great truth to Jerusalem, a truth that must be taught, preached, and heard today. 

Nobody is greater than God

God’s proclamation began with Him asking:  “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?  Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance (Is. 40:12)?”

This is a question that takes us back to the beginning of time.  You can read this commentary – The Astonishing Truth About God and the Creation – if you wish to take a deeper look into the beginning.  

When God made this physical creation that you and I dwell in, it is made clear that nobody was there to help Him.  Only God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were present in the beginning.  Scripture does tell us that the morning stars, holy angels, sang and rejoiced when He laid the foundation (Job 38:7).  However, God did not consult anyone about His creation, especially not us, mankind.

When God commanded that there be light, He made the light appear, not anybody else.  When God commanded the heavenly bodies to move into their positions, He made it so, not anybody else.  When God commanded the grass to cover the earth and the trees to yield fruit, He made it so, not anybody else.  

In the day that Job wondered why God permitted his tribulation, as he felt God was against him, God asked him, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:4)?”  God also asked Job, “Who determined its measurements?”  Then the Lord followed up, saying to Job, “Surely you know!”

Mankind, in our finite wisdom, often takes a position where we know more than we really do.  Don’t get me wrong, we truly are intelligent beings as the Lord made us to be intelligent.  However, there is a limit to our intelligence where all we are left with are are theories and our speculations, and there is nothing wrong with that.  

For example, we can speculate about the size of the universe, but the truth is that we don’t know with certainty the height and width of the universe.  We have given a number for how old we think the universe is, but we don’t know with certainty its age.  We even speculate that the creation began in an instant of rapid expansion, yet even that theory is questioned by those who study it.

In comparison, God speaks of the Creation with certainty and authority.  The Creation shows God’s omnipotence–His power to make it so.  The Creation shows the Lord’s omniscience and omnipresence as He is both knowledgeable and aware of all things taking place in His creation (Job 38:31-32).  

In other words, the Creation sets God as the one who is Almighty.  The Lord has no equal.  Many try to put the devil as God’s equal, but scripture repeatedly makes it clear that Satan is not God’s equal.  In the story of Job, the devil bemoaned the fact that God had Job shielded and protected.  The devil tempted Jesus with everything he had, and was shooed away like a stray cat or dog.

Job couldn’t even form the words in his mouth to answer God’s questions.  Job responded to God, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You (Job 42:2).”

The Pharaoh of Moses’ day thought of himself as a god until he and all of Egypt were plagued.  Nebuchadnezzar thought as Pharaoh did, that he was the greatest, until the Lord struck him and made him like a beast in the field.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t think they needed Christ, yet in His rebuke, they were condemned for the wickedness of their way.

Our power does not compare to the Lord’s power.  There is no other god whose power compares to that of the Lord.  

Nobody is wiser than God

With the Creation event in mind, we will see that God would ask those receiving this prophecy, “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor, taught Him (Is 40:13)?”

Think of the absurdity of what is being asked by God with these questions.  This reminds me of another question that God asked through the prophet Isaiah.  In Isaiah 29:16, the Lord posed the thought, saying, “Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay?”  There is no way that clay would be thought to be of equal level to a potter!

Again, in Isaiah 29:16, the Lord asked, “For shall the thing made say of Him who made it, ‘He did not make me?’”  For the thing made to say such a thing, it would have to be completely blind and arrogant in the face of its maker.

Who are we to think that we, in our limited wisdom, can direct, counsel, and teach the one who is all-knowing?  In Isaiah 29:15, the Lord spoke of how those of Jerusalem thought they could hide their counsel and ways from Him.  They dared to say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”

That was a moment when Israel needed to remember that God sits high and looks low.  Now is a time when we ought to remember that Heaven is God’s throne and the earth is His footstool.  Yes, the Lord sits high, and looks low; His ways are higher than ours!  We are still too busy hating one another because of the color of our skin, to be thinking that we can direct the Lord.

God followed that question with three more similar questions in Isaiah 40:14.  The Lord asked whom He took counsel from, received instruction from, and taught Him in the path of justice, knowledge, and understanding?  The answer:  nobody.

God Is Everything

For many, it is beyond our thought that God is.  God told Moses to tell the people, “I AM” (Ex. 3:14).  God has no beginning, and He has no end–He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:13).  God was not born, and He cannot die–He is eternal. 

Let us understand that God is everything that you can imagine and that you cannot imagine.  The only thing that God is not is fallible–He never fails.  You and I are fallible, which is why we sin and why we ought to seek His mercy as often as we possibly can.

Everything that the Lord thinks is both righteous and just.  Everything the Lord does is both righteous and just.  God moves with grace and compassion.

In comparison, everything the devil thinks is wicked and unjust.  Everything the devil does is wicked and unjust.  Satan knows the day of his judgment will come and that he will be cast into outer darkness, and he desires to drag as many as he can with him.  This speaks of Satan’s pride and arrogance.

An Age-Old Question

I would say that since the beginning of time, man has wondered if there is or is not a God, but saying that would be a lie.  The truth is that man has known that there is a God since the very beginning.  

You see, Adam knew God personally.  When he dwelt in the garden, Adam spoke with God and was instructed by God (Gen. 2:15-17).  Even more, Adam knew that it was God who had not only made him but also made Eve as well (Gen. 2:21-23).

The children of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, also knew God personally.  Genesis 4:3-7 tells us that a time came when both men presented offerings before the Lord.  Because of his offering, Abel enjoy the favor of God, whereas Cain did not enjoy the same kind of relationship.  The Lord even spoke to Cain, offering him a chance to improve and do better the next time.

So, when did man stop recognizing God?  We can’t say exactly when, as the only answer scripture shows us is that it happened in the process of time.  By the time of Noah, God saw that the wickedness of mankind was great and that every intent of mankind’s heart was evil (Gen. 6:5).

After the great flood, in the process of time, man’s heart was once again of great wickedness.  Scripture covers the building of the Tower of Babel to reach the heavens, showing man’s defiance.  Furthermore, kings rose, and pharaohs also rose to rule the land, seeing themselves as gods.  

Let’s be clear, mankind knows that there is a God.  However, mankind’s arrogance is what blinds us from recognizing that God is.  Mankind’s arrogance is what has and will destroy many.  As Proverb 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

We must not be so arrogant that we fall to the same condemnation that Satan is condemned to because of his pride.  If we humble ourselves and seek God’s mercy, the Lord has promised to lift us unto righteousness, where we will take on His glory and be just like Him.