The Exalted God

How great is God? How exalted is the Most High? My previous post highlighted God’s humility. This post will focus on God’s greatness.

This topic takes us far beyond the limits of human understanding. David writes, “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (Ps 145:3 NIV). Other translations say, “his greatness is unsearchable.”

Can an ant comprehend human writing, artistry, or ingenuity? Surely, the distance between humans and God is much greater than the distance between an ant and a human. How then can we understand the immensity of the infinite God? While we can’t fully understand God’s greatness, we can appreciate it by pondering biblical images.

When you walk into a room, how do you know who is important? Usually, we identify the big shots by observing where they are sitting, what they are wearing, and how much attention they are getting. The Bible provides all three means to help us grasp God’s greatness.

Isaiah

Isaiah writes, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (6:1). John says that Isaiah was beholding Jesus’ glory, and this vision occurred about seven hundred years before Jesus was born (Jn 12:41)! This image highlights the Lord’s splendor: high and exalted with a majestic and grand robe. But there’s more.

When Isaiah sees seraphim flying around God’s throne and saying to each other: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (v. 3), he responds: “Woe to me!” . . . “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (v. 5). So this vision also reveals God’s holiness or purity. 

Ezekiel

About a century later, Ezekiel has a similar vision:

high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. ²⁷ I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. ²⁸ Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (1:26-28)

Ezekiel struggles to find the words for what he sees: “a figure like that of a man,” “what appeared to be,” “as if,” “looked like,” “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” Ezekiel’s vision is more radiant than Isaiah’s and therefore less approachable: “glowing metal,” “full of fire,” and “brilliant light.” As Paul says, God “lives in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16). Ezekiel responds by falling “facedown.”

Overall, Ezekiel’s experience highlights divine transcendence or otherworldliness. Where is God seated? High above on a throne. What does God wear? Fire, light. The Psalmist writes, “The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment” (104:2). And yet the “brilliant light” was “like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds.” That sounds delightful not terrifying.

Daniel

Around the same time as Ezekiel, and also while in exile in Babylon, Daniel has a vision:

⁹ “As I looked,

“thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened. . . .

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (7:9-14)

Again, we have a reference to a throne, someone sitting on the throne, and fire, but Daniel adds unique features: the color of his clothing and hair, “a river of fire,” “ten thousand times ten thousand” standing before him, and “one like a son of man” approaching the throne. So, the “Ancient of Days” is approachable. That is to say, at least one can approach him and that one is given all power, dominion, and worship.

Paul and Peter

Daniel’s vision of “one like a son of man” connects with Paul’s statement that God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand “in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:20-21). Picture Christ sitting on the highest seat in the universe, “far above all rule and authority.” God has exalted Christ to “the highest place” (Phil 2:9).

Later, Paul says, “He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe” (Eph 4:10). The Descended One is the Exalted One, filling the highest and lowest realms and everything in between. Likewise, Peter says, Jesus Christ “has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Pet 3:22).

John

In addition to seeing the Lord on his throne, we can appreciate God’s greatness by peering in on scenes of worship. Here’s John’s vision in Revelation 5:

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

 ¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!” (vv. 11-13)

Where did the Lamb come from? In verse 6, John says, “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne.” It seems that John failed to notice the Lamb until an elder pointed to him. What does the Lamb show us? In the most exalted place in the universe, at the center of God’s throne, stands complete humility.

Envision thousands and thousands of glorious angels encircling God’s throne and proclaiming praise. Listen to the roar of their voices. Imagine “every creature” giving praise “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” Since “every creature” is mentioned, we are included in this scene. John is seeing a vision of the future.

In the end we won’t be able to help ourselves. Praise to God will pour out of us—all of us. “Everything that has breath” will praise the Lord (Ps 150:6). How great is God? Great enough to be praised by “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” Great enough to receive all the attention by all of creation.

Two chapters later, John says,

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!” (7:9-12)

In both chapters worship is given to God and the Lamb, which is important for our view of Christ—the Lamb is worthy of worship so he must be divine. Note also who is around God’s throne. In chapter 5 thousands of angels encircle the throne; in chapter 7 a countless multitude of people stand before the throne. So the throne is approachable; the highest place in the universe is reachable and it is a place of boundless joy.

Conclusion

The Bible helps us to see God’s greatness—a vastness that encompasses the visible and invisible universe. He is seated on a throne of light or fire wearing a majestic robe and surrounded by a multitude of joyful angels and people. And in the center of the throne stands a Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain.”

God is intensely personal—he is your God and my God. But he is also the God of all creation. God descends to us individually and he sits high above all of us on his glorious throne. God is the most personal and the most universal, the most humble and the most exalted.