Who Do You Say? Reading With the People of God #19Sample

“Our God is an awesome God. He reigns, in heaven above, with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God.” (Rich Mullens, 1988. Album: Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth)

These familiar lyrics remind us of a powerful truth: God is beyond anything we can fully grasp. Today, we step into two differing passages that teach us this truth—one from the ancient book of Job, and another from the glorious vision given to John.

Job demanded answers, but received, instead, a storm of questions from God that flipped everything on its head. God recounts His many wondrous acts; His all-powerful command over creation; and His all-knowing presence within creation. God didn’t answer why Job suffered; He answered who He is. And that was enough to silence Job. It was awe that overcame Job—not because he understood everything, but because he encountered the great I AM who is beyond understanding.

Fast forward to the end of time, where John is caught up in the Spirit and is shown the New Jerusalem. What once had been unable to be seen and was unknowable, is now the place where God will dwell with His people forever in glory. What John sees is almost beyond words: radiant, brilliant, and beautiful. Once again, awe is the only response.

Both Job and John are confronted with the incomprehensibility of God—a key truth in our faith.

But here’s the most startling twist: the incomprehensible God chooses to become comprehensible. The God who laid the foundations of the earth and prepares the Holy City of Heaven is the same God who came to us as a baby in a manger, in a way we can touch, cradle, and follow. God revealed Himself—not in thunder and whirlwind (as with Job), not in crystal and gold (as with John), but in swaddling clothes, in a feeding trough, among shepherds. The babe in the manger bridges the gap between God's infinite majesty and our limited understanding. He is Emmanuel—God with us. It is the most tender and unfathomable expression that draws us into worship. It causes us to sing, to bow, to wonder. Like Job. Like John. Like the shepherds at the manger.

So as you read today, slow down. Let yourself be awed. Listen as Job did. Gaze as John did. And worship the One who is beyond our full understanding, yet draws near in love.

Primer contributed by Jen Hooker, "Anna's Circle" program director.