God is eternal, infinite, and beyond human comprehension. However, the Bible provides some clues about God’s nature and abilities that can help us grasp how immense and powerful He is, even if we cannot fully understand His true size and scope.
One of the most fundamental teachings about God in the Bible is that He is the eternal, self-existent Creator of the universe. Genesis 1:1 states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This affirms that God existed before the universe and time itself, and He created everything out of nothing simply by speaking it into existence (Hebrews 11:3). As the source of all space, matter and energy, God must be infinitely powerful and transcend the natural world He created.
The Bible describes God as omnipotent, meaning all-powerful (Revelation 19:6). He has complete authority over the universe He made and sustains by His divine power (Hebrews 1:3). Nothing is too difficult for the Lord (Jeremiah 32:17). His understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:5), and His wisdom is beyond human grasp (Romans 11:33-34). God can do anything He desires, except that which contradicts His holy nature.
God is also infinitely present everywhere. The Bible says God is omnipresent, meaning He is fully present in all places at all times (Psalm 139:7-12). God fills the heavens and the earth (Jeremiah 23:24) and continually upholds everything in the universe by His power (Hebrews 1:3). He is transcendent, far above His creation, while also being immanent, actively involved in His creation.
In addition, God is eternal. He has no beginning or end, existing beyond the constraints of time (Psalm 90:2). God inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15) and does not change (Malachi 3:6). From everlasting to everlasting, He is God (Psalm 90:2). The eternal nature of God is hard for temporal beings like us to grasp, but it means God has no limitations of time.
Although God is infinite, all-powerful, everywhere present and eternal, the Bible also describes Him as a personal being. God exhibits emotions like love (1 John 4:8), anger (Exodus 32:10), and compassion (Psalm 103:13). He thinks, acts, communicates and relates intimately with people. God is not a force or abstract principle but a living, personal being of unlimited power.
Jesus Christ, as God in human flesh (John 1:1, 14), provides a visible representation of the invisible God. Jesus embodied and displayed God’s glorious attributes in a tangible way that people could witness and understand (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). Through His life and ministry, Jesus demonstrated God’s immeasurable love, wisdom, power, and desire for relationship.
While God is infinitely greater than humans can fully comprehend, Scripture does contain descriptions of magnificent visions of God’s glory that give a glimpse of His grandeur. The prophet Ezekiel saw visions of God’s fiery glory filling the temple and lighting up the heavens (Ezekiel 1; Ezekiel 10). The apostle John witnessed the glorified Christ with eyes like blazing fire, shining brilliance, a booming voice and a face like the sun (Revelation 1:12-16). These visions overwhelm the prophets, underscoring God’s holy awesomeness.
Isaiah 40:12 states, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” This rhetorical question emphasizes the immensity of God compared to humans. He effortlessly holds the seas and skies, precisely charts the universe, and weighs mountains and hills.
The Bible says the entirety of God’s being is so vast that no one can fully fathom it. God’s power, wisdom and presence pervade all of creation, yet He remains far greater than the universe He spoke into being. King David prayed, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (Psalm 139:6). As eternal, almighty Creator of the cosmos, God’s size and scope are simply beyond human comprehension.
Paul proclaimed in a sermon, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth… he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:24-28). This succinctly captures how God is both transcendent over His creation and intimately involved with it.
A couple key conclusions can be drawn about the size and scope of God based on biblical revelation:
1. God is infinite – He possesses limitless attributes and cannot be fully measured or quantified by humans. There are no constraints on His presence, wisdom, power, or life.
2. God is personal – Scripture depicts Him as a divine being who thinks, acts, feels compassion, and desires relationship with people. He is not remote or impersonal.
3. God is transcendent – As the Creator, He exists outside of and independent from the material order. He is wholly other and far above His creation.
4. God is immanent – While transcendent, God is also continuously active upholding the universe. He is omnipresent spirit, intimately involved with His creation.
5. God is triune – Scripture reveals God is one divine Being eternally existing in three coequal Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Trinity possesses the full attributes of deity.
6. God is knowable yet incomprehensible – Through divine revelation, people can know God truly. However, as finite creatures, we can never fully grasp the infinite nature of God. He will always remain beyond human understanding.
In summary, the sheer greatness of God is unfathomable. The Bible provides glimpses of His limitless capacities and supernatural attributes that stretch our imaginations to the breaking point. While we cannot comprehend the full scope of God’s size and power, we can know Him personally and experience His immense love and grace. The transcendent, Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos cares intimately and compassionately for each person He has made. As Isaiah 40:28 declares, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”
One of the most well-known verses in the Bible emphasizing God’s infinite nature and unfathomable ways is Isaiah 55:8-9: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'” Here, God makes it clear His perfect plans and flawless understanding are far beyond anything humans can conceive. Just as no one can measure the heavens, no mind can fully grasp the eternal, almighty God. Yet He reaches down in love to make Himself known through Christ.
Several psalms also extol God’s infinite being that dwarfs all creation. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” (Psalm 103:11). These verses emphasize that just as the highest heavens cannot be reached, so God’s attributes have no limit. His love, mercy, power and wisdom are higher than the farthest galaxies.
When God allowed Moses to see just a glimpse of His glory passing by, He declared, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord’…But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:19-20). The overwhelming glory of God’s presence and majestic holiness are too much for sinful humans to behold and survive. We are given just brief glimpses of His greatness.
One day when Christ returns, however, believers will be able to behold God’s glory fully and live. As 1 John 3:2 promises, “When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” In our resurrected, glorified state, we will be able to gaze upon the beauty, splendor and magnitude of our infinite God and worship Him face-to-face for eternity. What an awesome hope that will be!
In conclusion, the Bible provides deep truths about God’s limitless nature and astounding attributes that stretch our earthly perspective to the max. We cannot comprehend the full scope of God’s size and power – the immensity of His presence, wisdom, authority and life. But we can know Him truly through Christ, rely on His unlimited power to work in our lives, and look forward to the day we will see our infinite God face-to-face in all His glory.