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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, August 20, 1867

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXX, No. 10

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THE GREATNESS OF GOD'S WORKS.

By Adolphus Smith

“Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty.” Rev. xv, 3.
WHEN the sun is set, and darkness covers the earth beneath, not only the lover of the marvelous and sublime, but especially the true child of God, can find in the starry vault above him a boundless sea of contemplation, an exhaustless mine of wealth.
Man with the aid of the telescope has laid hold upon distant worlds and subjected them to his scrutinizing gaze; has determined their density, and weight in tons; has measured their circumferences and diameters, and even the hight of mountains upon their surfaces; has ascertained the exact time of their diurnal and yearly revolutions; and determined all the general laws that govern their existence as planets in the canopy of heaven.
Our earth, the third planet in order from the sun, is found to be nearly eight thousand miles in diameter. Saturn is nine hundred, and Jupiter fourteen hundred times larger than the earth. And yet all these revolve round, and derive their light and heat from the same sun, which is ascertained to be thirteen hundred thousand times larger than our earth. Notwithstanding the vast size of the sun, it is believed to be much smaller than some of the fixed stars, the nearest of which is distant about thirty-eight thousand millions of miles.
Our sun is believed to be one of the stars of the milky way, situated in the south and inner side of the ring; which ring is termed an astral system; numbers of which systems like our own appear in the depths of space, as we raise the power of our telescopic instrument. Stars so remote that their light, traveling at the rate of two hundred thousand miles a second, would occupy thirty-five hundred thousand years in reaching our earth. Amazing thought! And yet if we could stand upon one of those distant worlds and stretch our vision to the heavens beyond we should doubtless discover them filled with the works of God.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” Is it possible that the Almighty can for a moment regard our mundane sphere, which is as it were, impalpable dust as compared with the whole creation of God? And more: can man, vile, rebellious man, who has insulted that God, and defied the wrath of Heaven, be made the object of his favor, or partaker of his glory?
“And can it be, thou heavenly King, That thou shouldst us to glory bring? Make slaves the partners of thy throne, Decked with a never-fading crown?”
Yes, it is possible. With God all things are possible.
Man has broken the law of God, and must needs incur its penalty. But Jesus has redeemed man. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Rom. viii, 3.
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, might be rich.” 2 Cor. viii, 9. Yes, Jesus, the Son of God, commander of the hosts of Heaven, took our flesh, and dwelt among us; was tempted, afflicted, despised; wept over human woes; stooped to wash the feet of his servants; was condemned to a cruel, shameful death; and all for us. Yes, reader, for you and me.
“Amazing love, and can it be, That thou, my Lord, shouldst die for me?”
“No,” says the objector. “The infinity of God's creation forbids the possibility of so great a sacrifice being made for so worthless an object; almost the lowest order of created things.” Before pronouncing too hastily let us take that magnifying glass and examine the eye of this butterfly. We find it contains seventeen thousand lenses, each as perfect as the human eye. Amazement! And yet this is only one of the wonders of the world beneath, unfolded to our astonished gaze by microscopic power.
Again: we divide a particle of matter into halves, and each of these parts into halves again; and so on. Now I ask, is it possible so to reduce these particles in size, as that they shall no longer possess the properties of one half, one fourth, &c.? I think not, even though our finite minds and imperfect vision cannot trace its intricacies below a certain point. As there are hights above us that we cannot measure, so also there are depths below us that we cannot fathom: but “All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” As therefore God has created the glories of the world above us, so also has he created the wonders of the world beneath us. Nothing is beneath his notice. “If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there; if I make my bed in hell; behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
As God is infinite in power, honor, and glory, so also is he infinite in love. The gift of his only Son is proof of that love.
“If the seas with ink were filled, And were the skies of parchment made, And every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry, Nor could the scroll contain the whole, If stretched from sky to sky.”
ADOLPHUS SMITH.
*Ottawa Co., Mich.