THE SOFT HANDS OF OUR GOD GOD IS

THE SOFT HANDS OF OUR GOD!

GOD IS TRANSCENDENT – He Is Unique Transcendence means literally, “to climb across. ” It is defined as “exceeding the usual limits. ” When we speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. He is an infinite cut above everything else. [The Holiness of God p. 55]

Jesus tells us that God is Spirit (John 4: 24). We see God’s Transcendence in the fact that He is Self-Existent. “God’s self-existence means that he is not answerable to us or to anybody. Although He sometimes explains things to us, he does not have to and often he does not. God does not have to explain himself to anybody. ”

Next, we see God’s transcendence in the fact that He is self-sufficient. God’s transcendence is seen in the fact that He is eternal! Let me give you two reasons that this matters to us: God transcendence reminds us that we must describe God carefully.

You are ever active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no need. . You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and yet serene. Your works are varied, but your purpose is one and the same. . . You welcome those who come to you, though you never lost them. You are never in need yet are glad to gain, never covetous yet you exact a return for your gifts. . . You release us from our debts, but you lose nothing thereby. You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight, but is this enough to say of you? Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? Yet woe betide those who are silent about you. [Confessions p. 21]

Since God is Transcendent we should worship Him with all our heart! GOD IS IMMANENT. . . He is Close to Us Because God is Immanent We can Know Him. That he did not think that a person could know God any more than Hamlet could know Shakespeare. Later Lewis came to realize that Hamlet could have known Shakespeare, but it would depend not on Hamlet but on Shakespeare. As the author, he could write himself into the play and make his presence known. Through this analogy, Lewis describes what actually took place when God became man. [C. S. Lewis: Christian History, Issue 7]

Because God is Immanent we can have a relationship with Him. We are told that Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, The Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, And to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, And young men shall fall exhausted; But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles; They shall run and not be weary; They shall walk and not faint

THE SOFT HANDS OF OUR GOD!