Jonah Albrecht

Trinity Sunday

June 15^th, 2025

Romans 11:33-36

The Exceeding Greatness of God…

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, Amen.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” ³⁶ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

INJ Who became the love of God manifested that we might know and praise the one, true, Triune God, DFR:
Trinity Sunday is the time in the church year where we consider the majesty of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today, we will take a look with an awe-full wonder at the Exceeding Greatness of our God.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

I’m not sure how much you know about mantis shrimp, but they are pretty incredible creatures. Though they are typically only 4-7 inches long, there is a tremendous amount of design built into these tropically dwelling warriors. And I call them warriors for a good reason. Mantis shrimp are equipped with high-powered claws. These claws accelerate at the equivalent rate of a .22 caliber bullet and reach speeds of 51 miles per hour.

The claws aren’t even the most impressive feature on mantis shrimp – that title belongs to its eyes. They are thought to have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom and have the most complex front-end for any visual system ever discovered. Human beings have 3 photoreceptors that are responsible for seeing color. These are what allow us to pick up blue, green, and red light. Dogs only have two of these receptors – green and blue. The mantis shrimp? 16. Meaning, they can see ultra violet, far red light – which is just shy of infrared, and polarized light. Not only that, but the eyes of a mantis shrimp work independently of each other – so they can look two directions at the same time. The question that has left scientists baffled is why?

The Bible answers that question. Job says in Chapter 12:7-10, But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; ⁸ or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. ⁹ Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? ¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. The more we learn about the different kinds of animals and discover their intricacies, the more it shows forth the wisdom of our God

Let’s zoom out a bit and consider the vastness of the cosmos above us. Do you know how many stars are in the universe? As of now, it is impossible to accurately calculate since we haven’t reached much of the universe yet. It is estimated there are 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe. Scientists estimate 100 billion stars per galaxy. That means there is approximately 200 billion trillion stars in the universe, or 2 followed by 23 zeros. A truly unfathomable number.

Again, the perplexing question, Why? If we live on this small speck called earth, why such a vast network of the cosmos? Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. And Psalm 147:4: He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. It isn’t just the fact that the universe is so large, but also the fact that it functions in such a precise order that we adapt our calendars to it.

These are but two examples of the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God. And it is important to remember that this world we are learning so much about, that fills us with awe and amazement, is but a dull reflection of the original glory with which God had first created this world. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, God cursed the ground for their sake. God could have wiped them out, and started over.

But God had a plan that would reveal His ways to be past finding out.

God promised salvation to Adam and Eve. God would take on human flesh, be born of a human mother, live under the Law of God just as we are under the Law of God, but keep it perfectly. And He would die a violent death on the cross, where He would bear the full curse for sin that God had laid on all of creation. On that cross He would cry out with excruciating agony, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” God would die and be buried in the very ground that He created. But three days later, He would rise from the dead to hand the victory to us. The plan was truly unimaginable. God satisfied His justice over sin and provided mercy for His people.

The intricacies of the cosmos, or any other part of God’s creation really does not compare to the marvelous mystery of God’s grace and love. Why would God curse His own Son for the sake of us? Any parent would be willing to give up their own life for the sake of their child. But what about for your enemy? What about for the one who kicks your son or daughter on the playground, spits in their face, and mocks him or her at every turn? God would and God did. God sent His Son through the punishment of hell, so that you, who were once His enemy would receive His free grace and forgiveness.

“For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?”

It is tempting for us to question what God does at times. Why does God let one person suffer so much and another person skates through life without any major troubles. Why did God create man in His own image and then let man fall into sin. Why did God choose Abraham, or Jacob, or David, or me, or you…

³⁵ “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?”

God owes us nothing. And yet, God always has a plan to bless us. God allowed Job’s life to be turned upside down. He quite literally lost everything, and Job couldn’t see how God would bless him out of that tragedy. But God was faithful to Job and He did bless him, with more than he had before. When it was all said and done, Job confessed that God’s ways were simply too great for him to know.

Think about the plan God has had for your life. How His grace has called you to faith, His love keeps you from falling into unbelief, and His patience will keep you for heaven. God has already given us more than we possibly deserve, and His blessings only multiply. Truly His ways are past finding out.

In the same way, God’s judgments unsearchable. In Romans 11, Paul is speaking on the judgment that came upon the nation of Israel. Both the Jews and Gentiles were under God’s judgment, but it was different. The Gentiles didn’t have the Scriptures. The Jews had everything handed to them on a silver platter. They had the Bible, they had the prophets, they had the promises and sacrifices. God made a covenant with them and stood by it even when they broke it. Finally, God had sent His Son to them to call them out of their unbelief. But what happened? John tells us that Jesus came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. They rejected God’s Word and His call to repentance. They killed His messengers, and finally they killed His Son. The Jews had rejected God so God turned and showed the Gentiles, you and me, are to be the heirs of heaven.

Why did God reject Israel because of their unbelief and defiance, and sent the Gospel to us despite our unbelief and defiance? That is where God’s judgments become unsearchable. Why did God reject King Saul and choose David? Why did God choose Jacob and not Esau? Why does God allow nations to live in spiritual darkness while we have an abundance of the Gospel? We must exercise caution when answering those questions.

Calvinists say the difference is with God. God chooses some to be saved and others to be condemned. Others say the difference is with man. God gives man the opportunity to finish his own salvation if he wants to. Both of these answers are very logical, but they are not Biblical. All people are sinners and are spiritually dead. That means any person who is saved, is saved by the goodness and grace of God. If a person is lost, it is because he rejected what Jesus has done for him – it is his own fault.

Why doesn’t God bring everyone to faith in His grace? He doesn’t give us an answer to that question. He simply tells us that it is His will that all should know Him and come to the knowledge of the truth. We can know and trust that His ways are always good and His judgments are unsearchable.  Afterall, this is the God who gave up His life for the redemption of the whole world.

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

How can we truly quantify the exceeding greatness of God? What makes Him worthy of all glory and praise forever? The mantis shrimp and the vast cosmos do a pretty good job. They show His intelligent design and how everything in this universe is carefully crafted to support human life and to show the glory of God. But creation doesn’t quite do enough. Creation gets people to search for God, but it doesn’t show where or who He is.

What truly quantifies the greatness of our God is the Gospel and it is called a glorious mystery. It is called a mystery because it was an unfathomable plan that God revealed to the world in the Savior Jesus. This mystery is Jesus Christ becoming your substitute on the cross. It is God condemning Him with all of your sin and mine, but then raising Him from the dead in order to redeem you. It is the Holy Spirit coming to you with the words of God’s love to create faith in your heart and to keep you in that faith.

When is the last time you have been truly humbled? I’m not talking about embarrassing moments, but a time when you had to confess with the Psalmist, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” Maybe it was at the birth of your children, the big promotion you received at work, or a sickness that you overcame. Hopefully it is every time you hear the Gospel. How awesome He is. How worthy of our praise. Amen.