How Big is God?

Is God big enough to be everywhere at the same time? Is he big enough to take care of us? Is he big enough to govern the world? Is he big enough to know the future? Is he big enough to understand everything we don’t? I’ve gathered a few illustrations from the Bible to help answer these questions.

Space

Adam and Eve’s concept of their world would have been a lot smaller than our understanding of the world today. God placed his first human creations in the Garden of Eden to tend it. We are not told the size of the garden, but it was probably of considerable acreage. God had planted trees of all kinds there (Genesis 2:9). He had also told Adam and Eve to rule over all the creatures of the sea, of the air, and on the ground (Genesis 1:28), so it is likely their garden home was large enough to accommodate a multitude of critters.

At some point, they disobeyed the one “do not” God had given them. Because of their sin, God drove them out of their paradise home, expanding their world. All the earth’s land and seas had existed from day three of creation (Genesis 1:9-10), but how much of the earth did they experience? Again, we don’t know.  We know Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5), so even if he didn’t travel far himself, he probably was aware of some relatively distant lands. But his concept of the world that God inhabited still must have been greatly smaller than ours is today.

A few thousand years later, David stared into the night sky and sang, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1). His known world that God filled would have been larger than Adam’s, including a deep awareness of God’s presence in the heavens. But did he know that beyond the galaxy he observed, billions of other galaxies existed?

God was bigger than Adam’s world. God was bigger that David’s world. And God is bigger than the world we know. He fills it—and beyond. “The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you” (1 Kings 8:27).

Ability

During one of the Israelites’ disciplinary seasons for their idol worship, God turned them over to the Midianites (Judges 6:1-8:12). For seven years, their enemies invaded their country and ravaged the land, sparing no crops or livestock. The Israelites finally cried out to the Lord for help. Then God called Gideon to rescue his people from the Midianites.

At first, Gideon made excuses because he could see only his limitations and weaknesses, but God told him he would be with him. And he was. Gideon’s army of 300 defeated 135,000 Midianites. Like Gideon, we have weaknesses, but God does not. “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).

God is bigger than all of our inabilities. Jesus told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

Power

God has given people incredible talent for creating—whether painting, writing, designing, building, problem-solving—but they aren’t able to speak their creations into existence. God, however, created the heavens and the earth and filled the earth with vegetation and creatures of all kinds by the power of his word (Genesis 1:3-24). Jesus spoke to the furious winds and the waves sweeping over a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and the storm obeyed him and calmed completely (Matthew 8:23-27). When Lazarus had lain dead four days, Jesus spoke to him, and he walked out of the tomb back into life (John 11:38-44).

It was the power of God that divided the waters of the Red Sea, driving them back so the Israelites could cross on dry ground between two walls of water (Exodus 14:21-22). The power of God overshadowed Mary to conceive the Son of God (Luke 1:35). By the power of Christ on the cross, he disarmed the power of evil over believers (Colossians 2:15). And the power of God raised Jesus from the dead (1 Corinthians 6:14).

God is bigger than any other power that exists now or that ever will. When God raised Jesus from the dead he ²⁰”seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21).

Time

During the conquest of the Promised Land, Joshua, at the leading of the Lord, fought against five Amorite kings at once (Joshua 10:1-15). His army had marched all night to get to the location. Though weary the next day, they were defeating the enemy. However, for complete victory they needed to finish before nightfall so the enemy would not have an opportunity to escape.

Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still, and it “stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day” (v.13). God has no time restrictions. “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by” (Psalm 90:4).

God is bigger than our time limitations. He is eternal. “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2).

Possessions

During a three-year drought, a widow was down to the last of her food supply when God brought the prophet Elijah to her (1 Kings 17:7-16). She had only enough flour and oil to make one more meal for her and her son before they died. However, she first prepared food for Elijah. After that, the Lord continually filled her flour and oil containers until he ended the drought.

God is bigger than the necessities we lack. Our deficits may loom large before us, but God has endless resources. “Everything under heaven belongs to me” (Job 41:11). “The world is mine, and all that is in it” (Psalm 50:12).

Understanding

It is possible for us to know God. Peter instructed believers to, “Grow in the . . . knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Paul considered “everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

God wants us to know and understand him. Jesus came to earth to die so that we can know him and his Father. He prayed, “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Through Jeremiah, the Lord said, “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight” (Jeremiah 9:24).

But even though God wants us to know him, completely understanding him is beyond our ability. The prophet Isaiah said no one has understood the mind of the Lord or counseled him, no one has taught him knowledge or what is right, no one has ever shed any light on his understanding, and no one can even fathom his understanding (Isaiah 40:13-14, 28). God spoke through Isaiah saying, ⁸“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. ⁹As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God is bigger than we can ever totally comprehend. A tremendous gap exists between who God is and our limited human understanding. “Great is the Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit” (Psalm 147:5).

How big is God?

Let a drop of water represent your concept of the world or your abilities or your material possessions or your understanding of time or God. Just one drop. Now try to imagine all the water in the world. The totality of drops of water contained in all the oceans, lakes, rivers, creeks—and don’t forget every bit stored in clouds—represent God. You will just begin to get the picture of how big God is.

If you want to stretch your mind further, imagine that only a single molecule in that drop of water represents you. There are over 1.5 sextillion molecules in that one drop. (That’s 1 followed by 21 zeros.) Compare that to all the molecules of water in the world. You still won’t be close to how much bigger God is than your needs, weaknesses, problems, limitations, sorrows, or questions.

God will always be bigger.

Scripture quotations are from NIV.

Feature photo by Pelintra on FreeImages