Names | Almighty - Colossians 1:15-20 | June 14

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So, during this series time, where we've been talking about the names of God,

I've also had the QR code and the little message I've sent that has not been utilized very much.

But, Elliot, thankfully, has utilized it.

And so he is impressed and impacted, hopefully as we all are,

by the name of God Almighty, which doesn't have to be necessarily El Shaddai.

We'll talk about El Shaddai a little bit, but I actually want to invite Elliot

to come and share part of that testimony of his in the name of God this morning.

And then I'll come and read and share a little bit soon. Thanks, man. Of course.

I just need to stand in front of this. Yep. sweet hello everyone my name is

ellie i know i've not been here for quite a few weeks now but track season is

officially done so i will be significantly more consistent then,

with that being said i was traveling yesterday and i wrote this all out on my

phone so i apologize but i'll be reading off my phone for majority of this but

hopefully you guys can give me some grace,

but god almighty elshadai is really important to me i love this just idea of

this great and awesome and powerful God.

And I really think that helps kind of shape and view how I worship,

how I read the Bible, how I pray.

So I'll just share a little bit of my experience with that with y'all.

I grew up in a Christian home in a Christian church. And for all of middle school,

high school, and even beginning of college, I definitely was very lukewarm in my faith.

It was not, I was not taking my faith seriously. It was not a very personal faith.

I just would go to church, learn some fun facts about God. And that's kind of all I thought it was.

And so So my perspective of Jesus, my perspective of God was like,

he was, you know, a good pal for you in a time of need.

And he was gentle and kind. And it was just this really small perspective of

God. He was just kind of there as you needed him. He was kind of a background

character, but if you needed him, you could call him up pretty easily.

And this is just, I think, like I said earlier, how a big view of God shapes my prayer.

But back then, a small view of God shaped my prayer also, and the fact that

my prayer life really didn't exist. But in college, I fortunately met this really

great group of guys, and we started a Bible study, and we started to take our faith more seriously.

I mean, we started to read through the entire Bible. And, you know,

I'd previously understood the first coming of Jesus very well.

I thought I did. I knew of it. But then I started to learn about the second

time that Jesus comes earth and how crazy that was and that's in the book of revelation and

specifically revelation 19 it talks about how jesus it describes jesus when

he's coming back to this earth i'm going to read that passage for us this is,

revelation 19 verses 11 through 16.

Revelation 19:11–16

It says, I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse whose

rider is called Faithful and True.

With justice he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like blazing fire and his head and on his head are many crowns.

He has his name written on him that no one knows but he himself.

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the word of God.

The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed

in fine linen, white and clean.

Out of his mouth came a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.

He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury

of the wrath of God Almighty.

On his robe and on his thigh, he has the name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And that just gets me so fired up. That is, I think, the most truest form of

just like the word awesome.

Like Jesus coming back on this earth, leading these armies on this white horse,

the sword coming out of his mouth. That is just awesome.

And this perspective of Jesus really, I don't think it's talked about too much

because we know Jesus as the good shepherd and he is the good shepherd,

thank the Lord. But he's also this awesome, powerful and mighty, mighty God.

Another place in the Bible that I really like to see the absolute power and

the supreme power of God is the ending of the book of Job.

The book of Job is a really unique book in the Bible. It's one of the wisdom books.

And Job is this character who is upright and righteous and blameless.

And he, due to this weird circumstance, ends up losing everything.

He loses his house. He loses his family. He loses all of his property and possessions.

And then him and his buddies spend like 35 chapters just talking about why this

happened. They talk about how God works and operates. They talk about,

you know, is God just? Is God true? Is God righteous?

And then finally, in chapter 38 in Job, God speaks and God comes down in this

just cloud of thunder and speaks to Job and says like, get ready,

Job, because I'm about to like question you.

I'm about to just like, not belittle, but like berate you with these questions

and I need you to answer them.

And these questions are awesome. And so I'm going to read a few of my favorites,

but God just says, where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?

Tell me if you understand who has marked off its dimensions.

Surely, you know, and who has stretched a measuring line across this earth?

In verses 16 and 18, it says, have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or

walked in the recesses of the deep?

Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have the gates of the shadows of death?

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?

And then verses 34 and 35, it says, can you raise your voice to the clouds and

cover yourself with a flood of water?

Do you send lightning bolts on their way? Do the lightning bolts report to you and say, here we are?

And there's so many more, but there's two or three chapters of just God asking

these questions and God explaining the intricacies of life and these animals in the world.

And it's just how all of creation is under God's hand and all of creation.

Lightning bolts come before God and report to him and ask him,

and say, here we are, what do you want us to do? That is incredible to think of.

And through all this, God never answers Job, and he never answers his friends.

God just basically says, I am God, and you are not.

I created this universe, and I can operate it however I want to.

Everything reports to me. You have no idea how vast and complicated this world is.

And Job has a beautiful response. Job says, I know that you can do all things.

No plan of viewers can be thwarted.

You asked, who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

You said, listen now, and I will speak. I will question you, and you shall answer me.

My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore,

I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.

And that's just a great response job humbles himself before god and god blesses

job and ends up like doubling all that he has like as far as possessions go,

but it's just this beautiful perspective and it wasn't until i put myself in

this first person point of view of job and try to answer these questions of

my own of like where was i where was i personally when god created and measured

out the foundations of the earth,

i have no clue i don't know if i didn't exist i didn't know if i was heaven but i don't know god like,

and so it was like a change in this perspective, is me humbling myself that

kind of really allowed me to get this bigger view of God.

And I think my favorite part about,

I think, having this greater view of God, having this almighty,

all-powerful, King of Kings, Lord of Lords perspective of God,

is that it enhances His other attributes so much more. It enhances the other name so much more.

Let me see where i'm at okay how much deeper is god's love for me knowing that

he has supreme authority over everything how much sweeter is his compassion

for me knowing that he knows the number of hairs on my head,

how much more true is his judgment knowing that every knee on heaven and on

earth will bow before him how much greater is jesus's humility,

to for me or jesus's humility in general that he would lay down his life for

me knowing that he leads the armies of heavens

And how incomprehensible is God's grace, knowing that He created every Adam

in the universe, and yet He chooses to show me grace and mercy.

And so it's just this, I humbled myself, I got a greater view of God,

and it made the rest of God just this elevator as well.

And so early on when I had that small view of God, I viewed God as gentle and

lowly and as this good shepherd, and He is absolutely those things.

But He is also God Almighty. He's also El Shaddai.

And so, I don't know, like I said a second ago, like the fact that these attributes

work off of each other, that how much greater is God's just compassion when

we know that everything in the earth obeys Him?

I don't know, it's just this beautiful connection of one thing works off of

the other. And even now, even still now, I try, I'm a very prideful person,

so I need to keep trying to humble myself day after day.

But consistently, one of the consistent prayers I'll pray for myself or my friends

or for Anna is that I would just be able to get a greater view of God.

Because the bigger and the bigger and the bigger perspective I get of God and

how powerful He is, the more it just enhances everything about him and all of

his qualities. And conversely, it also makes myself seem smaller and smaller

and more humble and more humble. So that's a really good trade-off.

But yeah, that's my, I guess, experience with God Almighty with El Shaddai and,

how that works and changes my perspective.

I guess one other thing to add, I said earlier, like my smaller view of God

would create a small type of prayer. But whenever you have this big view of

God and I'm on my knees humbly before this big God in prayer or in worship, it's just...

I don't know. It just makes it all more beautiful. I feel like I can keep repeating myself now.

But worship just used to be, you know, standing and singing the words on the

screen. But if I actually imagine that I am singing before God Almighty,

my little voice, that doesn't sound very great when I sing.

But the fact that He hears me and He wants to hear me is just incredible.

And so I had a really great time worshiping today. I know I've not been here

a lot, but it's really great to worship with everybody. That really warmed my

heart. So thank you guys for singing. and thank you guys for listening to me

now. That's all I got to say. Awesome.

Yes, thank you, Elliot, for sharing. And actually, I'm going to change some

order of what I'm going to say.

I've also been reading, I'm out of it now, but I was reading in the book of Job fairly recently.

And when I was thinking about this name, couldn't escape the book of Job either.

And we'll just say, share a name of God and we'd love to hear your testimony as well.

But as far as that thought of Job goes, because Job is not a book that I would

normally recommend people start with at least.

As Elliot mentioned, it's 35 chapters of more or less untruth. Yeah.

And it's only like a 41 book chapter. So you're talking about,

I'm not going to do the math. Katie, you have to do it for me.

But 75, 80% of the book is just like stuff you probably shouldn't listen to.

You get to the last chapter and I'm having trouble finding it.

You get to the last chapter and finally God addresses the friends.

And he then gives the key away in the very end where he says,

you've not spoken the truth about me.

And so basically you get the realization and most people don't read 42 chapters at a time.

So over the course of however long that takes you, you finally get to the end

and you're like, oh, none of the stuff I just read is truth. What is the truth?

So it's really weird book unless you're prepared for it. But I just had enjoyed

it so much, this last read-through.

I got to chapter eight, and there's this phrase, I will say,

sprinkled in the untruth are these really powerful statements of truth,

even from his friends who are just...

So basically what's happening, to give you an overview of Job really quick.

Is Satan comes and approaches God. God says, have you seen my friend, my, my servant, Job?

So Satan's given permission to basically completely destroy Job's life without killing him.

And so as a result of this, Job, who doesn't know what's happened in heaven,

and he doesn't know the things in conversations that have happened,

Job makes the assumption that God, that,

or Job rather seeks to justify himself before God, knowing that it wasn't his

sin that caused it, right?

Which is kind of true about, but as a result, he then is, is complaining about God's justice, right?

His friends who come and sit with him and they don't speak for seven days,

which is a, is actually a really awesome way to mourn with somebody.

Just go and be, and you don't have to worry about what you say.

But then they start talking and that's where they get in trouble because they

don't know the conversation that's happened in heaven either.

Basically what they assume is Job, you've sinned and it's your fault.

And so we just have this 80%, 90% of the book that is them making assumptions

and then therefore declaring.

So they have a lot of assumptions that are here, but also powerful truth.

His friend Bildad, who again was rebuked, makes this powerful statement in chapter

eight, where he says, we were born only yesterday and know nothing and our days

on earth are but a shadow.

And just this huge perspective of we are small and God is big.

So there are these really powerful truths. And you get to just before Elliot

was starting to read there, one of the youngest of his friends,

so there's four friends, three of them just kind to speak nonsense.

And then the one youngest one who let the older out of respect speak,

he speaks up and he actually does lay out the truth.

And he just starts laying it in. God is mighty, but despises no one.

He's mighty and firm in his purpose. He speaks to people in there and meets

them in their affliction.

God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? How great is God be

ardent in our understanding.

The number of his years is past finding out.

Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds, how He thunders from His pavilion?

See how He scatters His lightning about Him. This is chapter 36 and 37.

Isaiah 36 · chapter mention

Listen, listen to the roar of His voice, to the rumbling that comes from His mouth.

He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the earth.

He thunders with majestic voice.

When His voice resounds, He holds nothing back, so that everyone He has made

may know his works, that they may do whatever he commands them.

This is the wonders of him who has perfect knowledge. God comes in awesome majesty.

The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power.

So this one friend who finally speaks up begins before then God speaks and makes

himself known, begins that.

To these powerful statements of truth of who the Almighty is and what it means

even that God is almighty.

And the beautiful thing we do see, even in Job's sort of self-righteousness

is ultimately above and beyond his friends, Job trusted in God.

He trusted in the God who was great and mighty. He trusted in the God who was enough.

He trusted in the God who he sought alone to vindicate him and in his justice.

And this is that mighty name of God, El Shaddai, the God who demands complete

trust in his sufficiency, total trust in his sufficiency.

And this is the God that Job knew and then is revealed through Eliad and then

also the Lord himself when he speaks.

And so that was something that met me this week,

as I was contemplating this idea of God Almighty, El Shaddai,

which is a name that emphasizes God's overwhelming power, his nurturing provision, his all-sufficiency.

It is more than just God Almighty.

It is something that communicates the vast nature of this God that we serve.

But the passage that I kept coming back to, or I thought of most,

is in Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And this is a passage that you're probably familiar with.

But let me read, starting in verse 15, just a few verses.

This is about Jesus. This is in the New Testament, so we're not going to see

the word El Shaddai in here. But just listen for what it's communicating.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, right? The exact representation.

The firstborn over all creation.

For in him, all things were created, things in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities,

all things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things and in him, all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that everything he might have supremacy,

for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to

reconcile by himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. So this is...

I think a passage that communicates and wraps up the entirety of what it means

that God is El Shaddai, God Almighty.

And it communicates the vast or the varied aspects of what that name holds,

because it holds quite a few different things.

It is actually the, as Brie was saying, so we have two words,

El Shaddai, El is short for Elohim, which is the general Hebrew word for God.

So it means God. And then Shaddai, we get translated as Almighty.

There is, as you imagine in the world always, debate on where it comes from

and what it actually means.

Almighty is a great translation, but based on what the origin of the word is,

there's arguments about what it actually means. We're going to talk about sort

of through the three aspects, and all of them are covered in this part of Colossians.

But it is the primary name used for God before God reveals himself as Yahweh to Moses.

So the primary name used among the patriarchs, among Abraham,

Isaac, among Jacob, appears first with Abraham in Genesis 17.

It appears in Isaac's blessing of Jacob, Jacob's blessings over his sons.

It emphasizes God's power to fulfill his covenant and therefore impossible things.

And we'll get to that in a second.

But there's these sort of three aspects. His overwhelming power,

we're not going to address it in this order. So those of you who are like anal

retentive like me, I'm going to disappoint you.

It's not in this order, but his overwhelming power, his nourishing provision,

and his all sufficiency.

So these are kind of the three aspects of what this word Shaddai means.

The first definition I want to start with is this idea of his nourishing provision.

And some of this particular aspect is taken a little far in what you would call

the Gnostic traditions, which Paul writes against a lot.

These people who incorporated God and Jesus into their Greek philosophy, right?

And so this idea of knowledge seekers and all that kind of stuff.

And so they perhaps ran with this idea of the word more than anyone else.

But the thinking here is that Shaddai could have originated from a word which means.

I guess you have to explain to kids what this word means but I'm going to lay

on any adults it's the word teat right so goats and things like that,

and then you combine it with the word mighty and you get this idea of mighty

teat so you guys you can have fun explaining that to kids But it's this idea

that God nourishes his children like a goat would nourish its kids,

that it would provide all the necessities of life.

And that's why of all the three definitions, this one kind of gets wrapped up

into the idea of God Almighty rather than sticking out by itself because the

others speak more to that idea of great and overpowering.

But if we look at passages like Exodus 3, when God meets Moses,

God's revealing himself in the burning bush as Yahweh for the first time to

a person. Yahweh is used before this.

It's God's first sort of introduction because, why? Because Moses asked who

it was. So God introduces himself.

Some reason before that, nobody seemed to ask God who he was.

And so the Lord reveals himself.

And I'm going to start a little bit earlier, but just because there's some beautiful

things in here. So Moses, all the books, he goes over.

God says, don't come any closer. Take off your sandals for the place where you're

standing is holy ground.

And then he says, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

And we just heard that El Shaddai was the primary way that these three guys,

these patriarchs interacted with God.

So in some ways, I feel like God is telling Moses in that moment,

I am El Shaddai, I am God Almighty.

Now this, we see it in his reaction. Moses hid his face because he was afraid

to look at God. He understood God Almighty just through that reference about his forefathers.

The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers.

I am concerned about their suffering.

So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians.

And here's a phrase that you'll know, and to bring them up out of the land into

a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And we just think, oh, milk and honey, that's great. Lots of abundance, produce, provision.

And that's exactly what it is. But it ties into this idea of God Almighty,

El Shaddai, the one who provides nourishment, the God with whom there is not

scarcity, but there's abundance.

The God who sees and takes care of and is concerned with the suffering of his people.

And so this is wrapped into this idea of the God who provides all the necessary

nourishment for his children.

The nourishment that without which we would die.

The Bible talks about, you know, in the creation story, the spirit of God was

hovering over the So there's all this idea of breath and spirit and ruach,

which is the word for spirit, but it's also the word for breath.

And we see all these other passages come from that, that talk about when God

removes his breath or takes the breath out of things, they cease to exist.

And so all of us communicating this idea that we see in Colossians of Jesus

being the one who holds it all together.

The sustainer of all things that his very breath animates life and without it,

we don't have life at all. So there's nourishing father.

There's this passage in Isaiah 66.

This is, I think it's the last chapter in Isaiah.

And it talks about God's restoration of Israel.

And it calls actually refers to Israel as a mother nursing its child.

And we get down to verse 12 is what the Lord says. I will extend peace to her like a river.

All of this language of nourishment, the wealth of nations, like a flooding

stream, you will nurse and be carried on her arm. That is Jerusalem and dandled

on her name. I don't know what dandled means. I just realized that I've never

seen that word before. dandled on her knee.

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort. I read this this morning.

And, you know, however many months ago, it's dandled. I think I probably read it as dangled.

That's not what it says. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you

and you will be comforted.

When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish.

And the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants.

And this idea of comfort comes into this definition of El Shaddai,

God Almighty, the one who sustains,

the one who nourishes, the one who provides, the one who comforts.

One last passage for this one, the book of Hebrews, which I'm currently reading.

So you think it'd be easy or fun.

We have this powerful introduction. The book of Hebrews is all about how Jesus

is better than the old covenant and the covenant he comes to initiate is better

than the old. El Shaddai is all about the God who fulfills covenants, right?

So we start off in chapter one where it talks about a very similar passage to

what we read in Colossians.

In the last days, he's spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all

things, through whom also he made the universe.

And the Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his

being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

This is the sustaining God of El Shaddai.

And later we can flip over to chapter 7.

And it talks about how Jesus is the great high priest.

So it says, Such a great high priest truly meets our need.

One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the

heavens, unlike the other high priests.

So unlike the old covenant, unlike the law, which was never meant to lead us

into righteousness, Jesus comes along and is a much better high priest who actually

meets the depths of our needs of our soul.

And that is the El Shaddai in that aspect of the word, nourishing provision.

The obvious translation of it, which we all know well, is that idea of almighty.

And it first appears in Genesis chapter 17. We're jumping all around today.

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

But you know what? I'm going there with you. So.

Dandled means to bounce a baby on your knee We learn things in church,

Genesis chapter 17 is where we first meet this, the name El Shaddai.

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

And it's when God calls Abraham.

And essentially the definition we're encountering, I don't know if you have

young kids or have been around young kids in the past 10 years,

because of video games, they use this term OP, which stands for overpowered.

And this is like the God we meet in Genesis 17, this overpowered God, which...

So, in video games and with the youths of the day, there's a positive and negative

meaning. Positively, it means something amazing or unbeatable.

And the negative meaning, which also applies to God, but in his case,

it's not negative, something too strong and unfair.

So, just think about that. God is amazing and unbeatable, and he's so strong

that it's not even fair, which is a great thing for us.

This is the, I wrote this down, so this is my idea. but he's the O-G-O-P.

You can take that as a word. This is the traditional way we understand El Shaddai

as almighty, as capturing his

overwhelming power, as the God who is enough in every sense of the word.

It is the name of the covenant God who...

The name of the covenant of God who fulfills impossible promises.

And that's the God we meet in Genesis 17. This is when Abraham was 99 years old.

The Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty. I am El Shaddai.

Walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between

me and you and will greatly increase your number.

And Abraham encounters God Almighty and he falls face down.

And then we have this narrative where God says, I'm going to bless you.

I'm going to make you into a nation. Your children are going to outnumber the

stars and the heavens and the sand on the shore.

And we read at the beginning of Genesis 17 that Abraham is 99 years old.

So God encounters the God who is promised, who has made his covenant.

And he, knowing himself to be beyond the years of having kids, laughs.

And now Abraham laughs and Sarah laughs, but they both laugh in different ways.

We know that. Sarah laughs almost as if it were a scornful statement for her

to receive because she has been childless. And like...

Like Rachel, right? She felt that shame of being childless.

So she is not only childless, but she is beyond childbearing years.

So she laughs in derision.

Whereas Abraham, when he laughs, it's sort of accepted by God because it's almost

as if, and Isaac, his name means laughter, right? It becomes his name.

It's almost because Abraham is saying, how can something so amazing actually happen?

That's too incredible to believe. It's not the rejection of,

yeah, right, that's not going to happen. It is the embracing of.

God Almighty waking us up. It is the embracing of the God who does impossible

things and it meets us in impossible circumstance.

So this is the traditional way we interpret God Almighty.

Abraham laughs because it's just too wonderful to comprehend.

And we see God fulfills. So God is El Shaddai, all powerful, the OGOP.

He does amazing things. And this other idea, the last idea, as we kind of wrap up today,

is there's this idea of Shaddai, which could be coming from an Akkadian word,

all these Semitic words, which has this idea of mountain.

Which has this idea of unshakable permanence. So that's wrapped up into this word as well.

And for me, when I think about all of these,

when I think about unshakable permanence, when I think about God Almighty,

impossibly powerful, I go back to that passage that we read at the beginning in Colossians.

And what we read is that in everything, He, Jesus, God, might have supremacy.

We read that word supremacy, that He would hold the first place in all that

we are and all that we would do, that we would abide and dwell in His Word and in His love.

I love how Elliot was sharing that if you have a small view of God,

how that affects every aspect of your life, how it affects your prayer life,

which is probably going to be non-existent,

how it affects how you meet circumstances, how you're able to deal with setbacks,

how you approach opportunities with the God who is almighty versus a small view of God.

God tells us to abide in him, to dwell in him.

And always when Jesus says this, or when we are revealed this in the Bible in

some place, there's sort of two ways that are accompanying it,

two things that accompany it. How do we abide?

And usually it's, if you abide in my word, you will abide in my love.

You are truly my disciples if you obey my word, if you abide in my word.

So there's this importance of the word of God. And just as Elliot was sharing,

if we have a shallow or a low view of God's word, then our view and our experience

of God's love will also be shallow.

So there's this supremacy, this first place that he must take in our lives and

our relationships so much so that...

I've, you know, the Bible says to pray continually, right?

So one way that that can happen in our lives, it happens in my life is I have

this constant conversation that happens.

So often though, that becomes just my inner thoughts rather than a conversation

to God. It's so, it blurs the line so much.

And God's supremacy almost invites us into not just having an internal conversation,

but to blocking out times of our life or our day to meet him in extended conversation and prayer.

It invites us to block out times of our day, to be in his word and to show that

we have, that he has primacy, that he has supremacy, that he has the first place to prioritize it.

We always think about it in terms of relationship and a marriage or something

like that, that we would prioritize him, that we would value that relationship

so that we build our schedules and our lives around it.

I think this is a quote I didn't write down, so I'm probably going to get it

wrong, but it just came to me.

And I think it was one of those guys that's old. So they say cool things and

we tell other people what they say. That was one of those guys.

But he talks about how social media our phones television these things are,

What they will demonstrate in the end is how much time we had and yet how little we prayed.

Something along those lines. Not exact quote. But what they will reveal when

tested in fire, as the Bible says, is that it was not for lack of time that we did not pray.

That was probably what the quote said. That sounds a lot better.

We're going to believe that's what it said.

But it wasn't for lack of time that we didn't pray.

And that's exactly what it means for Jesus to have supremacy in our lives,

to be first, that he would have the highest rank and authority,

that he would be of the highest degree and quality, that there is,

in essence, nothing better than him.

The supreme, the ultimate, that Jesus is the ultimate power,

the ultimate glory, the ultimate authority, the ultimate importance,

that El Shaddai is the God who is enough in every sense of the word.

And we encounter these passages in the Old Testament where it's just a question.

One of them is in Isaiah 59. And essentially the question is,

is the hand of God shortened?

It also asks in that particular passage, is his ear dulled? Can he not do? Can he not hear?

God's hand is not shortened. It is limitless.

So it's not for lack of time. and it's not for lack of power on his part.

When we encounter experiences that we meet by questioning whether or not it can happen,

that our logic kills our faith when we wonder whether something is too great, too fantastical.

We laugh like Sarah in Derision.

My hope is that we wouldn't let that affect what we know from the word of God to be true.

And as we encounter God through his glorious names, the God who can do ridiculous things,

things too great and wonderful for us to understand, doing things too crazy to believe,

that we would have a big view of God.

There's a book called When People Are Big and God Is Small. I think that's what it's called.

I've read a few chapters, but like all books, I haven't read it.

So I can't recommend it. Actually, I can't recommend it. It's a good book.

When people are big and God is small, then we stare at the giants.

We stare at the shadows. We stare at the walls.

But when God is big and people are small, we walk in life with the God who does

crazy, ridiculous things.

The God who is the ultimate power and authority.

So what are we living for? What are we believing God for?

Are we believing in a God whose hand is too short and a God who doesn't hear.

One of the greatest reasons or accusations that people who do not believe have,

when they talk about God is, well, I should say it this way.

When people who don't believe talk about God, the God that they describe that

they don't believe in is also a God that I don't believe in, if that makes sense.

A God who is created. How could God be created? Well, he can't be created.

You're already starting off on the wrong foot, right?

Do we believe in a God whose hand is too short, a God that the Bible doesn't describe?

Are we trusting in the God who is all sufficient in power and authority?

El Shaddai, God Almighty.

What God are we believing in?

As Brie comes up to respond in

song, and then we'll respond as we take communion and remember who God is.

That's been something I've been doing this week, asking.

I have this bracelet, right? What would Jesus do? I've been thinking about it

this way, though. What has God done already?

What is the spirit doing in you right now?

And also, what would Jesus do? How would he handle it, right?

It's a bigger question than the first one.

But as we get prepared to respond, I want to read the beginning of this passage

in Colossians chapter one, before we get to this incredible declaration of who Jesus is.

It says, for this reason, and it talks about pointing back to what has happened, right?

Faithful minister of Christ on our behalf when they first believe and truly

understood. For this reason, since the day we heard about you,

we have not stopped praying for you.

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all

the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,

so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord, of God Almighty,

that you might please him in every way,

that you might bear fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God

and being strengthened with all the power that he has according to his glorious might,

so that you may have great endurance and patience and give joyful thankful thanks

to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

Every moment of spiritual growth in our lives is a direct result of growing

in knowledge and understanding of who God is.

It is the positional reality of understanding more and more what it means to be in Christ.

What it means that we are in Christ. Every ounce of our spiritual growth comes from that.

And so I pray that same blessing over us, that we would grow in the knowledge

of understanding of who God is, that we would live lives that please our great

and powerful, mighty God,

bearing fruit in every good work he has called us to as he enables us to do it.