God Alone!

Exodus 15 is Israel’s song of praise to the Lord after He delivered them from the Egyptian army. It is a remarkable event to say the least; the culmination of a series of plagues and miracles designed to expose Pharaoh as an evil tyrant, demonstrate his impotence, and liberate Israel from his oppression.

More importantly, those events exalted God as the sovereign ruler of the universe.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

It is worth noting that Israel’s declaration concerning the wonder of God’s character began with a statement regarding His holiness. While it is fitting that they mentioned His praiseworthy miracles and wonders, God’s holiness anchors His character.

It is essential that our view of God begins with His holiness. If not, we will be incapable of understanding what God does, why He does it, and how His actions impact our lives. Loving Him with all of our “heart,” “soul,” and “mind” will be a challenge. Serving the Lord “with gladness” will be difficult. And gratitude will be hard to muster when we face unexpected circumstances which seem, by our reasoning, to be unjust.

To say that God is Holy confirms His exclusivity in all of creation. He is “God Alone!”

• He is God alone in sovereignty: God alone rules all of creation. His power is unsurpassed. “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Psalm 115:3).

• He is God alone in righteousness: Because God is righteous all of His judgments are just. There is no “respect of persons” with God, and it matters not who disagrees with His conclusions. No man is qualified to define God’s character and limit God’s choices according to his finite, mortal opinion. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works” (Psalm 145:17).

• He is God alone in compassion: God loves us, in spite of our fallen character. He demonstrated that love by sacrificing His own son to restore our fellowship with Him, and His desire is that all men, everywhere, would repent.  “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).

• He is God alone in mercy: Most people understand mercy to be God’s kindness in excusing us from justly deserved punishment. That was God’s spoken desire, but there were limitations. For mercy to become a reality, God’s justice had to be satisfied: His righteous character demanded payment for man’s sin. Christ atoned for man’s sin on the cross. Believers live today and enjoy the assurance of heaven because God’s abundant mercy was made available through the death and resurrection of God’s sinless Son. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

• He is God alone in forgiveness: Humans do not naturally possess the capacity for genuine forgiveness. Our understanding of forgiveness demands reciprocation. Without it, forgiveness feels incomplete. But God’s forgiveness is based on His character alone, and is freely available to every individual. It is God who said: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25).

There is “none like unto the Lord our God” (Exodus 8:10).

He is exclusive in all of creation.

He is indeed: God Alone!