God of Wonders Introduction

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

Nature is not the object of our worship, but it is the inspiration for our worship of the true God.

Whatever beauty it is that captures us in the natural world — whether some majestic mountain or cavernous canyon, a magnificent waterfall or a breathtaking sunset, the expanse of the ocean, the calming and comforting blue sky, or the gentle green grass — when nature arrests our attention, it is telling us something. It is bidding us to be captured by the majesty and magnificence and grandeur and gentleness of the God who made it all.

“The heavens declare the glory of God,” says Psalm 19:1, “and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

The Universe Declares His Majesty

Nature is speaking to us. The wonder of God’s created world is not meant to be a diversion or a distraction from our worship, but a ceaseless call to worship. God means for us to be stunned by the splendor that surrounds us, even on our most normal and seemingly boring of days, and to gladly glorify the maker of such marvels.

The shaper of the stars is the very one who designed the human heart and made it to thrill at such majesty. The one who knit us together inside and out has wired us to delight in sunsets and lose ourselves in scenic overlooks, all to the end of inspiring our worship of God.

God made humanity and nature in such a way that all of us are made aware of God’s eternal power and divine nature. Our problem is not that God has hidden himself in creation. Our problem is that in our sin we suppress the truth we so plainly see in everything around us. The apostle Paul writes about sinful humanity,

what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:19–21)

Nature’s revelation of God is enough that all of us are without excuse for our unrighteousness and ingratitude. None of us have honored God and given him thanks like we should. For us as Christians, nature’s revelation may be enough to inspire our worship, but it is not enough, on its own, to save our souls, or to focus our worship to its highest point.

Precious Lord, Reveal Your Heart to Me

Not only has God revealed himself in nature, but also now, climactically, in the person and work of his Son. Most certainly does the universe declare his majesty, but the only reason we can call him “Precious Lord” and pray with any expectation, “Reveal your heart to me,” is because the Lord of Heaven and Earth has revealed himself as Jesus of Nazareth, has given his own life for us at Calvary, and has risen again in triumph over sin and death.

It is an amazing thing that the Lord of all creation — of water, earth, and sky —the God of wonders beyond our galaxy would have us call him Father and would reveal his very heart of hearts in his Son. And when he reveals his heart, according to Romans 5:8, it is love. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

For those of us who have Jesus as our precious Lord, the ears of our soul are being restored to hear God’s call to worship in his created world. And one day soon, when Jesus appears, “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Then we will be fully done with sin and covering our ears to nature’s song, and we will see the full glory of the God of wonders in his re-created world like never before.

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