“Our God Is Awesome”
(Genesis 1:1-3 – Trinity – May 31, 2026)
Genesis 1:1-2:3 – 1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Dear Redeemed of God, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit:
There are certain accomplishments of man that may be considered awesome. We may think of technological advancements, like powerful computers that can perform with such high speed and efficiency that it has been dubbed “artificial intelligence.” Or we may think of the great power and technology that goes into being able to send a rocket to the moon and back with such precision, or even to go much further into deep space to explore and send back pictures of what many dream to be the new frontier.
However awe-inspiring the abilities of man or the power of his machines may be, it is nothing compared to the infinite ability and power of God. When we consider what He is like, we must say, “Our God Is Awesome” – as revealed in 1) In His wonderful creation, 2) In His Triune nature, and 3) In His gracious salvation.
1) As revealed in His wonderful creation
Our text says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (vs. 1). We see something of the awesome nature of God when we consider His wonderful creation. Before anything else existed, from eternity there was God. Then He created all that is in the universe in six days (Genesis 1; Exodus 20:11).
Consider the enormous scale of God’s creation. Due to vast distances in the universe, astronomers speak in terms of light years. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. It takes a beam of light from the sun over 8 minutes to travel 93 million miles to us. From the next closest star, it takes a beam of light over 4 years to travel 25 trillion miles to us. The next closest galaxy is so far away that astronomers estimate it would take 2.5 million years for a beam of light to reach us! They say that just in the part of the universe that can be observed with the strongest telescopes, there are billions of galaxies – with countless more beyond. God’s creation cannot be measured by man. How could it be? If you can imagine ever coming to the edge of the universe, what is beyond that? Only God knows. As Solomon prayed in 1 Kings 8:27: “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.”
Then there are the infinitely small aspects of God’s creation. Scientists use electron microscopes that can magnify objects millions of times. Yet who knows what is unseen, for example, in the tiniest parts and processes of the human body still beyond observation? Only God knows. Therefore, David praised God in Psalm 139:13-14: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (vs. 1, 3). That is where it all started. The account in Genesis goes on to describe God creating everything, from the farthest heavenly light to the tiniest creature on the earth. He did it all just by saying: “Let there be…” and it was so.
Our God is awesome! He is eternal and uncreated. He is infinite and everywhere present. His wisdom and power have no bounds. Every detail of the universe is known to Him and in His control. Are we not inspired to join the apostle Paul, praising God and saying: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ‘For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?’ ‘Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?’ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
2) As revealed in His Triune nature
Our God is an awesome! And out of the vast universe and invisible realms, He has revealed Himself to us as a personal God. Here again, we must be filled with awe. For He has revealed Himself in a very unique way, as the Triune God – three divine Persons in just one God!
As our text relates the account of creation, it gives a first glimpse at His Triune nature. In the beginning, there was God – God the Father. There was the Spirit of God, hovering over the face of the waters – God the Holy Spirit. And there was the Word of God speaking, bringing all things into being. John 1:1-3 tells us this Word is the Person of God the Son.
God wanted to make Himself known personally to us. So the Father sent His Son into the world. Scripture teaches that the Son is not created, but begotten of His Father from eternity. In the beginning, He was with God at creation; and He Himself was God. He is that Word of God who spoke, through whom all things were made (John 1:1-3). Scripture also teaches that from both the Father and the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit, who hovered over the waters in the beginning at creation (John 15:26).
There are three divine Persons, yet just one God. Deuteronomy 6:4 says: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” There is simply no one else like the Triune God!
Here is where sinful man runs into a problem with God. God is totally set apart in His unique nature, holy and infinitely above man. In the beginning, God created man in His holy image – perfect, knowing God rightly, living for God alone. But man fell into sin when he wanted more. Satan seduced Adam and Eve by a new kind of wisdom and knowledge, promised by eating the forbidden fruit. Satan said: “God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Adam and Eve coveted equality with God. So they ate.
Since then, sinful man desires to put his mind around God, to make God smaller, to make himself larger. Rather than worshiping the awesome God who created all things in the universe in six days, sinful man says: “I don’t see how that could be possible. If I can’t put my mind around the teaching of creation, I won’t believe it.”
For others, Scripture’s teaching about the Triune nature of God proves to be a stumbling block. Rather than worshiping the awesome God who is above all else and like no other, they say: “I don’t understand how there could be three divine Persons, yet one undivided God. If I can’t put my mind around the Trinity, I won’t believe it.”
So fallen man makes himself the center of the universe and the judge of truth. Instead of worshiping God alone, sinful man sings self-centered praise for his wisdom, strength, and accomplishments. Sin leads people to live for themselves rather than the God who made them.
Yet we all fall under this charge. We little beings, living on this speck of earth in the midst of infinite realms, have often enlarged ourselves in our own sinful minds. We have lived as if we are the center of the universe, forgetting Him who keeps every planet in its course and every star in its place. We have lived as if what we want is most important, as if God and His plan must fit conveniently into our life. We have returned little thanks for His daily gifts of food, health, wealth, family, friends, and every gift of love He lavishes on us. We have sought glory in our achievements instead of glorifying Him alone who gives us every strength and ability. We have lived for ourselves instead of Him who gives us life and every breath.
When the creatures try to make themselves the center of the universe, it touches the Creator personally. It offends the Holy God – Father, Son, and Spirit. How can we stand before the Triune God, who is “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:3), of infinite power and wisdom; when we are so unholy, guilty of living for ourselves rather than for Him alone?
3) As revealed in His gracious salvation
It is because our God is awesome, as revealed in His gracious salvation for sinners! The almighty Creator, the holy Trinity, shows us something else about Himself that must leave us in awe. In contrast to our self-centered and selfish nature, He is by nature a loving and all-giving God. He gave us the greatest gift of all in His own Son as our Savior.
The God who is infinitely greater than us did not think it below Himself to come and live humbly among us in His creation as a Man. God’s Spirit overshadowed the Virgin Mary, and the Son of God was conceived in her as the Son of Man (Luke 1:35). “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The inconceivable happened: infinite God and finite man are now united in the God-Man, Jesus Christ!
Why did the Father send His Son to become our Brother? He loves us. He wanted to save us from our sin and the death and separation it brought between us and Him. He wanted to restore us to His holy image that we might live with Him forever. 1 John 4:9-10 says: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The God of the universe loved us enough to sacrifice His Son to save us! On the cross, Jesus paid with His divine, precious blood, for all our sins. He paid for all our sinful pride and self-centered living, for all our lack of giving glory and praise to God. For Jesus’ sake, we are perfectly forgiven and reconciled to God in peace. The holy God is no longer counting our sins against us, but counting His Son’s holiness to us!
Now, “It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). God sent His Spirit to enlighten our hearts by His Gospel, to give us saving faith in Jesus. We were given spiritual rebirth by our baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). By faith in God’s Son as our Savior, we were made children of God. For “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).
What an awesome God we have! The unfathomably great Creator of the universe comes to us personally, giving us a close relationship with Him as His dear children! He makes us heirs of eternal life with His Son, Jesus Christ! We get to live with Him forever in heavenly realms of glory beyond expression, which He is preparing for us! As we see how our Triune God loves us and cares for us, ruling all things for our good, may it fill us with holy awe and thankfulness; and may our whole life say:
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.