The Wholly Other

“Therefore You are great, O LORD God. For there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”—2 Samuel 7:22

Out of all of the living beings in the universe, humans are amazing.  Especially when we are put up against all of God’s creatures.  Humans, unlike animals, are made in the image of God, which means that we can experience life in a way that other living beings can’t.  We can think, feel, love, hate, laugh, cry, and many other things that the rest of creation can’t do or experience.  It doesn’t take a genius to see that we’re different than the rest of creation.

But how much do we differ from one another?  Each of us, in our own special way is unique.  There is not another person with your fingerprint, your personality, background, giftedness, etc.  You are an original.  And so is everybody else.  We’re all originals, but we’re also just like everybody else.  Think about it, we all need air, food, water, shelter, and rest to survive.  We all experience emotions, we all know what love and hate are; we all know the joys of touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell.  These are the things that are not unique to any one of us, but are characteristics of all of us.   

God, on the other hand, gives a whole new definition to the word unique.  He alone is truly unique.  There is no other being like Him in the entire universe.  He doesn’t need food, rest, or shelter.  No one gave Him life or sustains it.  He has life in Himself that can’t be taken away.  Our limitations do not affect Him.  Scientists tell us, as far as they know, that the universe goes on infinitely.  And God goes beyond that.  The universe is contained within Him.  He is infinite.  He is older than time and time only exists in Him.

He is the Creator of all that is.  There is nothing that exists or has life apart from Him.  He is beyond our ability to fathom.  He is Spirit.  He is love and He is holy.  He is everywhere at one time and has no boundary.  He knows everything.  He is all-powerful.  Simply put, He is beyond definition and understanding.  And yet, this God who is wholly different from us, decided to create us, lavish His love upon us, and then make Himself known to us in the person of His Son.

This God is God.  There is no other.  He alone is worthy of our praise!  Take time today to praise Him for all that He’s done.  Thank Him for sending His Son to die for you!  Amen.