Bob Hamp

The most difficult part about beginning “The Story” is accurately setting the stage.  In describing the Kingdom of God, I talk about the “Place” where it all started.  To set the stage adequately,we must begin with the Person, more than the place.  Having said that, let me first say I have set out to do the impossible; to describe God.

For The Story to really make any sense we must begin with the Author. 

Paul gives us a warning in the book of Romans that we must not assume that God is “such a one as ourselves…”  Sometimes, because it is so difficult to describe the Infinite, it helps to at least acknowledge the limitations we face in trying to describe the The Eternal One, with words and syllables.

Whenever someone tries to describe something you have not seen or experienced, it is our natural tendency to pull up files of our experience and try to find a comparison.  “I’ve never been to Montana, but it must be like…(Colorado…Idaho…Switzerland…our file search begins, so we an categorize the thing we are hearing about…)”  Our mind instinctively compares what we DO NOT know to what WE DO KNOW.

So Paul says, do not let God be compared to man as you try to comprehend Him.  We begin to think of HIm as like a man, but…really really strong…really really smart…really really…well, you fill in the blank.  We have never encountered an Eternal Creator face to face, so we bring up comparisons and turn up the volume on them. 

If you saw the movie “Independence Day” you may remember the scene where the spaceships moved in.  Over multiple major metropolitan areas, the sky suddenly went dark, and everyone stopped and looked up.  The movie succeeded at showing what happens when the human scale of size is suddenly exceeded.  These were not big spaceships, they were horizon dominating, sky darkening, perspective changing ships.  And along with this game changing visual came the implications. What must this mean?  Are they good, or evil?  If the ships are this big, what about the creatures inside?  Is this the end of the world as we know it? 

So if our eyes could see…

And if our ears could hear…

We might begin to have that perspective changing view of THE ONE Who Was and Is and Is To Come.  THE ONE who with a word brings solar systems into existence.   THE ONE who never began and never will cease.  The Beginning and The End.  THE ONE who if our eyes could see, would more than dominate the horizon, He would fill every corner of anywhere you could turn.  Why do I feel like quoting Veggie Tales at this moment?

God is bigger than the boogie man.
He’s bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV.
Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man,
And he’s watching out for you and me.

Perhaps the urge to quote Tomatoes named Bob is because they now turn our attention to the implications.  We must first comprehend His incomprehensability.  After we settle this, we at least try to understand Him. 

We have at least tried to say He is BIG. But if  He is that BIG what is He like?

Since we are on the front end of trying to tell His Story, it is important to try to say something about why the story unfolds, and this is directly tied to the answer to the question, “What is God like?”

In God’s ultimate moment of declaring His most favorite (glorious) attribute, He shows Moses His GOODNESS. (Exodus 33:19) Once again we must be careful because all of us know good people.  This is not the same.

Everything good that exists issued forth from the Internal Nature of God, and because of HIS VERY GOODNESS, this Internal Goodness, must also be expressed as External Creation.  One as GOOD as He, could not withhold outwardly the Goodness that is true Inwardly.  If HE did, It would be selfish, and that is NOT GOOD.  God’s very goodness lead Him to take every next step, and led Him to every aspect of the story.  Every chapter, every paragraph in the unfolding story is both and explanation and an expression of His Goodness. 

Sky’s are vast and blue because it is an expression of some attribute of God.  Oceans are endless and filled with life because it is some expression of the goodness of God.  DNA functions to replicate complex human characteristics generation after generation because it is an expression of some attribute of God.  And the Giant Story of Redemption exists because it is an expression of an attribute of God and His Goodness.

Do you see why it is so important to begin here?  The Whole Story exists and is expressed because of the Unending Goodness of the Author and Finisher of the story.  Your personal story and the global, universal story, every aspect of it is a demonstration of the Fundamental, Raw, Explosive Goodness of God. 

For many of us, and in many circumstances this does not make sense.  But as the readers, listeners and participants in the STORY, we must begin and end with this assurance. 

God is simply being His Ultimate Good Self.  And out of that flows the rest of the story.