Knowing God through His Attributes
Week 2: The Majesty of God
Uptown SS May 10, 2014
“The LORD is the great God, the great King…. Come, let us bow down in worship.”
Psalm 95:3, 6
Review
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Last week we talked about the study of God generally
o Of God and His Attributes:
 Some Translate to us (communicable) and some do not
translate (non-communicable)
 He is Transcendent and Immanent
o WHY?
 Knowing God is our purpose (Jn 17:3)
 Knowing God produces Fulfillment/Satisfaction (Jer. 9:23-24)
 Knowing God Honors God (He desires it for us; Hos. 6:6)
o The Benefit:
 Studying God is the greatest thing we can engage with our
minds (Spurgeon Quote)
 Rightly Understood, brings us life, peace, fulfillment, and
reward.
Our Goal: Where this study should lead us
o Knowing God should bring us to a greater degree of humility as we see
Him as He is and see ourselves as we are…and it should drive us to a
greater relationship with Jesus!
o Knowing God should lead us to worship Him more deeply!
Today: The Majesty of God
Q: Have you ever met someone famous?
--What were your reactions?
Q: What do you think of when you hear “Majestic”?
ILL: Channing Tatum
- The Majesty of the famous
SO….
Where do we start? We start with a word…
What we are saying when we say “Majesty”:
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Similar to our understanding of the royal family
Defining the Term
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o Latin term: Maiestas, “Greatness”
 We get “Majestic” from this word: Something possessing or
exhibiting Majesty, greatness…
 Originates in Roman republic: a legal term for the supreme
status and dignity of the state, to be respected above
everything else.
 First used by Charles V, after being elected Holy Roman
Emperor 1519—Decided he needed a title that was more
esteemed the “Royal Highness”
 Specific Crimes were termed laesa Maiestas, literally, “Violated
Majesty”—Crimes against the empire and specifically against
“the dignity of the Emperor.”
o Greek term: doxa (
) glory, honor, praise.
 This is where we get doxology from
 Literally a “glory word” or a song esteeming glory/honor to
God.
o Hebrew term: Hod, (
)meaning majesty, splendor, glory, vigor,
honor.
 Used 24x in OT
 4 proper names include this verb
 8 uses describe man (Moses and Joshua; Num. 27:20)
animals (the horse; Job 39:20), or plants (olive; Hos
14:7)
 12 uses to describe God, his garments, his creation, his
person, his character
Meaning from these
o Some aspects of Glory, some of Power, some of Holiness
o Some describe character, some describe physical power and presence
Summary—the greatest great, the highest high, the mightiest might…
Q: How have you heard “Majestic” used?
The Bible’s Use: Describes Greatness and Invites Worship
Some Descriptive Passages
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Of God’s glory
o Psalm 8:1-2
 Oh LORD our Lord, how majestic (mighty) is your name in all the
earth! You have set your glory (majesty) above the heavens.
o Psalm 113:4
 The LORD is high above all nations; His glory (majesty) is above
the heavens.
o Psalm 148:13
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Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is
exalted; His glory (majesty) is above earth and heaven.
o Hab 3:3
 …His splendor (majesty) covers the heavens, and the earth is full
of his praise.
Of God’s Work
o Psalm 145:4-5
 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall
declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor (majesty) of
your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
God’s garments
o Psalm 104:1
 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor (majesty) and majesty, covering
yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens
like a tent.
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Some Examples for our observance: What are the reactions in these passages?
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Isaiah 6:1-8—The Majesty of God in the Throne Room
o What are the reactions of those in the passage?
o What are your reactions?
Matthew 17:1-6—The Majesty of Jesus partially revealed
o What are the reactions of those in the passage?
o What are your reactions?
Revelation 19:11-16—The Majesty of our Returning King (Ps. 24—“The King
of Glory”)
o What are the reactions of those in the passage?
o What are your reactions?
“The Christian’s instincts of trust and worship are stimulated very powerfully by
knowledge of the greatness of God. But this is knowledge which Christians today
largely lack…”
God in His Majesty: Limitless and Incomparable
Today the cry of man concerning God is that He is “Personal!” This is true, but
this causes us to wrongly think that “God is a person of the same sort as we
are…” We then conclude that, like us, God is limited in strength, direction, space,
time, knowledge, power, and that God can be equated with things we know and
see… This is NOT true…
 God’s majesty reflects His transcendence
2 Things we must understand about God’s Majesty: He is Limitless
and Incomparable
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Our Limitless God
Psalm 139—God is Unlimited in His…
- God is unlimited in His Presence (vv5-10)
o There is no place we can go that God is not there
o We can cut ourselves off from men, but we cannot cut ourselves
from God
- God is unlimited in His Sight (vv11-12)
o Darkness can hide us from men, but it cannot hide us from
God
- God is unlimited in His Knowledge (vv1-4)
o When I sit and rise (all my actions and movements)
o Perceive my thoughts (all that goes on in my mind; good or
bad)
o You are familiar with all my ways (my habits, plans, aims,
desires, all my life to the present date)
o Before a word is on my tongue (spoken or meditated) you
know it completely!
Our first step is to remove all the limits we place on God…
Other limitless aspects of God:
- All wise (omniscient)
- All powerful (omnipotent)
- All present (omnipresent)
Our Incomparable God
Isaiah 40—God is incomparable in His…
- God is incomparable in His Tasks (v12)
- God is incomparable in His Strength (v15, 17)
- God is incomparable in His Greatness (v22)
- God is incomparable in His Authority/Reign (v23)
- God is incomparable in His Power and Majesty (v26)
o The stars have been numbered to 300 Billion (and this only
in the Milky Way Galaxy!!) and 100-200 Billion Galaxies
have been discovered!!
o They each have a name known by God!
 I can’t remember everyone name in the church!
- A small comparison: Drops of water in the Atlantic
o Take a gallon of water…
 264.2 Billion gallons of water in 1 cubic Kilometer of
the Atlantic Ocean
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 There are over 310 Million cubic Kilometers in the
Atlantic!
o 90,840 drops in 1 gallon of water…
 90,840 drops to get one gallon…and then do that
264.2 billion times…and then you will need to do that
set 310 million more times
- It would be like God knowing each drop of water by name and
setting it in place in the ocean…
o Which He did too…
Does your mind hurt?
It should…and now what?
Our Response: Reverence, Awe, Fear, and Worship!
Think back on Isaiah and the disciples…and their reactions can be a good
starting point for us:
- Isaiah feared—saw His sin
- Disciples responded in fear!
- Isaiah responded in faithful worship and service
- Disciples responded (later) in faithful worship and service
Behold Your God!
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We, like Isaiah, should see our sin more clearly when we are in His holy
presence…when we think on Him
We, like the disciples, should be in holy fear and reverence of God’s
greatness!
BUT—like I said last week…and like we must remember every week:
God is NOT ONLY Far above us…He is near to us. He sent His Son, Jesus,
to die for us. Behold your Savior…
NOW—we can worship God…
o Allow your prayer life to change:
 Praise God…name the things He has done in your time of
thanksgiving and declaring Who He is
o Allow your praises to change:
 Ask God for a greater fervency in your praise of Him
And GO—
o Seek to introduce others to This God…who is greater than we
can imagine or try to describe…and who is closer than we can
understand.
o Seek others that you can bring to the throne room of God…that
they, like Isaiah, would be made clean and their sins atoned for.