The messenger in Isaiah is exhorted to exclaim to the people: “Behold your God!” This is a call to see the majesty, splendour, and power of God, who is transcendent from all his creation, but also a call to behold the knowable, ever-present and intimately personal God. In many ways, the series on the attributes of God has served that purpose, to cause us to look at, marvel, and worship God in light of both his transcendence and immanence.
God is seated on his throne. But he reaches out to the needy.
The Lord is the mighty and infinite one, who calls himself Father, husband, and redeemer. He is seated on his throne, but he reaches out to the needy in the ashes. He dwells eternally, but comes down to comfort the lowly. These twin truths, God’s transcendence and immanence, must be held in tension for the believer’s comfort, encouragement, and soberness.
Though He Needs Nothing, God Draws Near
As Stephen R. Holmes writes: “God is both transcendent over and immanent in his world. These 19th century words express the thought that, on the one hand, God is distinct from his world and does not need it. While on the other hand, he permeates the world in sustaining creative power, shaping and steering it in a way that keeps it on its planned course.”
God dwells eternally, but comes down to comfort the lowly.
The Bible speaks of God as both transcendent and immanent. For example, we read that God is holy and in his holiness he will consume sinners in wrath. Yet he is so tender that he covers us in his unending and overflowing delight (Psalm 21:8–9; 16:11). God is powerful and mighty enough to hold the myriads stars, yet he knows each one of them and names them, like he knows the number of hairs on our heads (Jeremiah 31:35; Psalm 147:4; Luke 12:7).
Herman Bavinck, noting this presentation of God, remarked: “There is no book in the world which to the same extent and in the same way as the holy scripture supports the absolute transcendence of God above each and every creature and at the same time supports the intimate relationship between the creature and his Creator.”
God Is With Us, At All Times
Psalm 113 perfectly depicts this truth. Psalm 113:4-6 highlight the God who is above all nations, full of absolute authority and independent of his creation. Then, Psalm 113:7-9 wonderfully tell us of the grace and mercy of God in reaching out and caring for the weak, frail, and vulnerable.
The child of God finds assurance in the fact that the transcendent God is a relational and intimate God.
Further, Psalm 139 reminds us of the nearness and ever-present nature of God, who is everywhere at all times. God is there in every place. There is nothing where God is not there. God is both near and far at the same time. He fills up the whole universe such that, he is present everywhere, sees, controls and sustains everything. As C. S. Lewis once said, “God is both further from us, and nearer to us, than any other being.”
The child of God can find confidence and assurance in the fact that the transcendent God is a relational and intimate God. He desires to lovingly dwell with his people. The storyline of the Scripture is one of God working and planning to dwell in sweet fellowship with his people (Deuteronomy 4:7, 20; 7:6; 14:7; 26:18; 2 Samuel 7:24; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 21:7). He wants to be their God, and they his people. He is Immanuel! Which is translated as ‘God with us.’
Christmas, Incarnation, and Immanence
The immanence of the transcendent God is perfectly and fully demonstrated in the incarnated Christ. In Christ, God became flesh, to dwell with his people and to lovingly, graciously die as a substitute for sinful man, so that he might reconcile those alienated from God. The good news of Christmas is not just about a baby being born, but the eternal Son of God becoming man to save us from our sins and to bring us into union with the transcendent God. It is because of this that we can sing, “God and man at table are sat down.” That is definitely good news of great joy!
