“…for God is greater than man.”

Job had it all: material prosperity, a wife and 10 kids (1:2), fame (1:3) and living on easy street.  Even God himself was talking about him (1:8)!  But after a discussion between Satan and the Lord, Job’s life was about to take a drastic turn.  In one day he lost all of his children, all of his wealth and all of his servants except four who escaped to bring him all this bad news.  Job’s response?  “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.  Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’ ” (1:20-21).  Can you imagine that?  Losing 10 kids all at once would be an indescribable loss.  I have 7 of my own; I can’t image losing one, let alone all 7.  But he also lost all of his earthly possessions and servants, too…at the same time!  And this was his response?  No wonder God spoke highly of him!  In the stock market crash in 1929 men jumped to their deaths from tall buildings over losing just their fortunes.  They look like wimps compared to Job!  Who among us would compare ourselves to him?

All of this takes on even greater significance when we read later that “God is greater than man” (Job 33:12), even a man like Job.  At the end of this book we find Job needing to “repent in dust and ashes” (42:6).  He could not answer any of the many questions God raised.  Indeed, God is greater — much greater — than man.  This may be the greatest understatement in all the Bible!

In the Eighth Psalm David asks the Lord, “what is man that you are mindful of him…? (v. 4).  We might simplify that for just a moment and just ask, “What is man?”  Man is exactly what God made him to be:  “lower than the heavenly beings and crowned with glory and honor…ruler over the works of your hands [with] everything under his feet…” (vs. 5-6).  The phrase, “crowned with glory and honor” suggests the image of God built into Adam and Eve.  But the point is that that man is nothing in or by himself outside of God.  He is only what God made him and her to be, a very limited reflection of the Creator.  As David also said, “Everything comes from you” (1 Chronicles 29:14).  Nothing is inherently ours.

But in stark contrast, God has his “glory above the heavens” (Ps. 8:1)!  We find the same thing in Isaiah 55:9, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Now the question is, “Why don’t we act like this is true?  How many times do we go off on our own, making our own plans, pursuing our own will?  A poor analogy would be a 3-year-old trying to pour lemonade from a full pitcher into her small cup.  She pours it all right, but very little of it gets into the cup.  The parent who can easily fill her cup without spilling a drop is in the next room.  But she doesn’t ask.  “I can do it my-self!” she asserts confidently.  Now she has no lemonade to drink and a mess to clean up!  Too often don’t we act like this?

Because God is greater than man, he has … no bones that can break, no eyes that go dim, no muscles that can ache, and no ears that go deaf.  He has no mind that forgets, no resource that runs out, no hand that can be stayed, and no love that ever fails.  He has no kindness that is conditional, no anger that isn’t justified, no presence that isn’t everywhere, and no joy that deflates.  He has no holiness that is stained, no people that are rejected, no Word that returns void, and no peace that evaporates.  He has no heavens that don’t declare him, no plan that won’t get done, no goodness that turns bad, and no judgment that isn’t true.  He has no patience that is exhausted, no work that goes undone, no statutes that dishonor him, and no glory that isn’t awesome.  He has no faithfulness that isn’t proven, no Bride that isn’t radiant, no righteousness that can change, and no mercy that isn’t full.  He has no power that is weak, no grace that is ineffective, no will that is defeated, and no life that ever ends.  He has no name that isn’t praised, no children he disowns, no enemy who is stronger, and no victory that’s incomplete.

God greater than man?  Well…duh!  Of course he is.  Where would we be without him?  Where are you today?