God’s awesome power overtly displays itself in his creations. The mountains, the rivers, the oceans, the heights, the depths, and all the creatures which inhabit them, loudly proclaim his dominance over everything. The sheer force of stars, galaxies, black holes, atomic energy, molecular bondings, gravity, light, and all of the unseen physics that govern the whole of the material universe attest to his strength and ability. As humans, we can’t even call ourselves small in comparison to such power, because the disparity between our powers and his is so great that it cannot be measured. No comparative metric exists that can articulate the difference. No words do justice to our insignificance.
While these powers are so obviously great, they are not the most glorious. The most glorious of his powers is found in his ability to take our insignificance and use it to make us significant. His power may be most glorious in his ability to create peace out of hostility, and goodness out of trouble. At the time that Paul wrote his letter to the church at Ephesus, the world of men was divided into two categories (Epehsians 2:11-22). First, there were the chosen people of God — the Jews. Then, there was everyone else. Those who did not belong to the people of God were called the gentiles. The Jews marked themselves outwardly through a ritual called circumcision. By this ritual they could be visibly identified as belonging to the people of God. But they had not circumcised themselves on the inside. Their hearts were just like everyone else’s. This made their ritual one of show, and not of substance. Often, their morality was just as decorative and meaningless as their ritual circumcision. The gentiles often lived without knowledge of God, and this was often evidenced in their morality. Hostility existed between these two groups. One took its status for granted, and the other had no status.
But with the willing sacrifice of Jesus, God redeemed both the Jews and the Gentiles. He made them into one family by uniting them in the Spirit of Christ. He killed their mutual hostility, and made these two peoples into a single body that houses the spirit of Jesus. And that is just as glorious as the stars, the galaxies, and all of the physical forces that govern what we’re able to see.
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