I have too low of a view of God.
That said, I don't think I will ever lift my view of God as high as I should. I will always fall short of the infinite heights of His glory, but I often have a lower view of God than I had a week prior. Meaning, I exalt God in my mind's eye and then days or minutes later shrink God again.
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."
-A.W. Tozer The Knowledge of the Holy
If you're like me, you also need to have more appropriate thoughts about God. If you're like me, you would live entirely more holy if you more rightly thought of God. If you're like me, you would have a deeper appreciation of your salvation and adoption if you had a more accurate understanding of our Father who art in Heaven.
There isn't a sin or an anxiety that can't be traced back to a low view of God.
So, how can we lift our view of God? How can we magnify Him like a telescope that take gargantuan figures and makes them look a little more like the size they are?
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
This opening verse of the Bible is what has helped me lift my view of God recently. Let me show you three ways that my view of God has been exalted in through this one verse.
1) The entire Bible is about God.
The Bible is, primarily, the means God has used to specially reveal Himself to us. The Bible certainly helps us live better lives, but it is first and foremost about God. "In the beginning God..." This verse sets up the main character of Scripture. This opening verse reminded me that I need to look for who God says He is in His Word. I often read the Bible utilitarianly. I read it to get something of use out of it; but it's first about who my God is. Will the knowledge of God prove useful? Yes, the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight (Proverbs 9:10). But my eyes must be looking outward and upward rather than simply inward when I read the whole Bible.
2) God is without beginning.
"In the beginning God..." At the beginning of what? All things. Meaning that before ALL things began God was there. God is eternal in both directions. After we have lived for an eternity (if that were possible) God would still be an eternity older than we are. If you just breezed by that sentence, turn back and slowly read it again and give it a thought. God is eternally older than all. God has always been and will always be. My little brain can sort of begin to grasp an eternal thing one way, but my brain starts to hurt when I try to make eternity a two way street. If this fails to lift your view of God, I'm at a loss for what will.
3) God created the heavens and the earth.
Look at your children and think about how they started as one cell. Think about how one cell became all you see in them. That once one cell can now ask you a ton of questions. Isn't that wild? Or think about the complexity of the human eye. God designed it and holds it together.
It's Fall. So, take a look at the beauty of this season. Walk out in nature and let its beauty guide your mind to wonder at the One who created it all. Isn't it amazing that the first thing God wanted us to know about Him is that He created the universe? The first thing He wants us to do is look at all that we're surrounded by, heck, all that. we are, and wonder at how marvelous His creation is. Let the orange, yellow and reds of the trees make you smile. Let the videos of Hurricane Ian's destructive power fill you with fear. Let the flying bird make you wonder.
We all need our view of God lifted. We need to be enraptured by the scope and majesty and wisdom of our infinitely glorious God. Take time now to spend five minutes thinking about one or two things that will take your view of God up the mental escalator. Magnify God like a telescope to see Him a little more like He truly is today.
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