Second Look: Is God Your Wonder?

photo by Laura Evans

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[A]nd his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 KJV

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Dear ICB family,

​Human beings were created for wonder. Just like we were designed to hunger for food, we were designed with an insatiable itch to behold greatness. It's what causes people to pack 100,000 strong into mega sports stadiums and watch elite athletes compete against one another. It's what drives others to concerts to hear fine orchestras or to see their favorite group in person. 

Our urge to behold wonder causes some to climb mountains, some to design faster race cars, and others to watch ice skating competitions. We pile into theaters to take in the latest, greatest, most expensive blockbusters with the most mind-bending CGI and the most well-known actors, and we take vacations to the Grand Canyon to simply stare at the beauty of it all.
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We were designed with an insatiable itch to behold greatness.

​In short, we love to stand in awe of amazing things outside ourselves. In fact, it seems we just can't get enough.

And in those moments in which we forget about ourselves completely, in which all our attention is off ourselves and riveted on the beauty and greatness that exists outside the confines of our own beings, we feel most alive. 

God is the biggest, greatest, most awesome being that exists. Imagine the power that can call matter and energy into being from nothing. Imagine the creativity that can think up every form of life on the planet. Imagine the mind that can organize and manage the collision of every atom in the universe so that his will is done on both the smallest and the most expansive scale.

There is no one like him. And this great God of ours—truly a God of wonder—has called us to behold him. In other words, he's called us to feel the most alive that a human being is capable of feeling. The question is, Are we looking?
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This great God of ours—truly a God of wonder—has called us to behold him.

​Imagine you were bedridden in a room with a single window overlooking the Alps. On three sides of the room there are solid walls, but on one side there's a window that allows you to look out and behold wonder. Wouldn't you be thankful for that window? Maybe you'd really like to be able to leave the room, go outside, and see the Alps for yourself. Maybe from the window there are views that lie outside your field of vision, and you long to see more. Nevertheless, would you change that window for anything?
 
We have just such a window. It's called the Bible. Through it we catch glimpses of the greatest wonder in existence. It's there in its pages that the God of the universe has revealed himself for to behold him. But are we looking?

Come, press your nose up against the glass, and let your heart take its fill of wonder.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Eric