Attributes of God = immanence
Notes
Transcript
There’s a children’s song that goes, ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands.’ When children sing this, they picture God holding them close. This simple yet profound truth shows that God’s immanence means He is actively involved in every detail of our lives, like a good parent ensuring their child is safe and happy, no matter where they go.
There’s a humorous truth about life: we can forget our loved ones are nearby while scrolling endlessly on our phones. Much like how we can overlook God's presence, who sits with us through all the noise and distraction, urging us to pause and enjoy our real-life connections without losing sight of Him in the mundane.
Proposition - This day we are going to embark on a two week study of God’s immanence. We will focus in on five aspects of God’s immanence: 1) What God’s immanence is not, 2) What God’s immanence is, 3) God’s immanence in creation, 4) God’s immanence in action, and 5) God's Immanence and Pre-eminence = Master Piece.
Interrogative question - How can recognizing God’s immanence change the way we interact with our daily lives?
1. What God’s Immanence is not -
1. What God’s Immanence is not -
Is not Pantheism -
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Pantheism)
PANTHEISM The belief that all things are part of a single divine reality. There is no distinction between deity and reality. The term derives from Greek meaning “all is God.” In pantheism, God does not have an existence distinct from that of the universe. They are the same. This essential unity of ultimate reality is a key part of many types of mysticism where the goal is achieving communion with the divine.
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (What Is the Immanence of God?)
Pantheism and deism twist many people’s view of how God relates to His creation. Pantheists believe that everything is God or is a part of God, making Him equal with His creation and unable to act upon it. Deists hold that God is distinct from His creation but deny that He plays an active role in it. Contrary to these and other false views of God, the Bible says that God is both different from His creation and actively upholding it.
Is not Deism -
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Deism)
deism. Belief in a God who created but has no continuing involvement with the world and events within it.
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (What Is Deism? What Do Deists Believe?)
Deism is essentially the view that God exists, but that He is not directly involved in the world. Deism pictures God as the great “clockmaker” who created the clock, wound it up, and let it go. A deist believes that God exists and created the world, but does not interfere with His creation. Deists deny the Trinity, the inspiration of the Bible, the deity of Christ, miracles, and any supernatural act of redemption or salvation. Deism pictures God as ambivalent, uncaring, and uninvolved. Thomas Jefferson was a famous deist, referring often in his writings to “Providence.”
Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Deism)
deism. The belief that understands God as distant, in that God created the universe but then left it to run its course on its own, following certain “laws of nature” that God had built into the universe. An analogy often used to illustrate the deist view is that of an artisan who creates a mechanical clock, winds it up and then leaves the clock alone to “run out.” Deism became popular in the early modern era and was prevalent among several of the founding fathers of the United States of America, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics: Surveying the Evidence for the Truth of Christianity (Deism)
These principles reflect elements of Christian thought but remove personalized and supernaturalized elements while attempting to support the moralistic framework of biblical belief. Emerson (“Deism”) has defined Deism using the following 11 principles:
1. One and only one God exists.
2. God has moral and intellectual virtues in perfection.
3. God’s active powers are displayed in the world, created, sustained, and ordered by means of divinely sanctioned natural laws both moral and physical.
4. The orient of events constitutes the general providence.
5. There is no special providence; no miracles or other divine interventions violate the lawful natural order.
6. Men have been endowed with a rational nature which alone allows them to know truth and their duty when they think and choose in conformity with this nature.
7. The natural law requires the leading of a moral life, rendering to God, one’s neighbor, and one’s self what is due to each.
8. The purest form of worship in the chief religious obligation to lead a moral life.
9. God endowed men with immortal souls.
10. After death, retributive justice is meted out to each man according to his acts. Those who fulfill the moral law and live according to nature are “saved” to enjoy rewards. Others are punished.
11. All other religious beliefs or practices conflicting with these tenets are to be regarded critically, as at best indifferent political institutions and beliefs, or as errors to be condemned and eradicated if it should be prudent to do so.
2. What God’s Immanence is -
2. What God’s Immanence is -
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Immanence of God)
Then there is God. God has the attribute of immanence and immensity. God is immanent, which means you don’t have to go distances to find God. He is in everything. He is right here.
God is above all things, beneath all things, outside of all things and inside of all things. God is above, but He’s not pushed up. He’s beneath, but He’s not pressed down. He’s outside, but He’s not excluded. He’s inside, but He’s not confined. God is above all things presiding, beneath all things sustaining, outside of all things embracing and inside of all things filling. That is the immanence of God.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 7: God’s Omnipresence)
But I like to explain things by going behind everything to God Himself and showing that the teachings of the Holy Scriptures have their origin in the nature of God. They are what they are because God is what He is. These teachings rest upon the character of God and are guaranteed by the changeless attributes of the Lord God Almighty, the Ancient of Days.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Yearning for God)
What are we praying for, then? We are praying for a manifestation of the presence of God. Not the presence, but the manifestation of the presence. Why don’t we have the manifestation? Because we allow unlikenesses. We allow moral dissimilarity. That “sense” of absence is the result of the remaining unlikeness within us.
This desire, this yearning to be near to God is, in fact, a yearning to be like Him. It’s the yearning of the ransomed heart to be like God so there can be perfect communion, so the heart and God can come together in a fellowship that is divine.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 8: God’s Immanence)
God is omnipresent, which means God is everywhere. God is also immanent, which means that God penetrates everything. This is standard Christian doctrine, believed even in the earliest days of Judaism. God is omnipresent and immanent, penetrating everything even while He contains all things. The bucket that is sunk into the depths of the ocean is full of the ocean. The ocean is in the bucket, but also the bucket is in the ocean—surrounded by it. This is the best illustration I can give of how God dwells in His universe and yet the universe dwells in God.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Restoration of Moral Comparability)
I believe that most Christians do suffer from a sense of divine remoteness. They know God is with them and they’re sure they’re God’s children. They can take you to their marked New Testament and prove to you seriously and soberly that they’re justified and regenerated, that they belong to God, that heaven is going to be their home and that Christ is their Advocate above. They’ve got the theology; they know all this in their head, but they’re suffering from a sense of remoteness.
To know something in your head is one thing; to feel it in your heart is another. And I think most Christians are trying to be happy without having a sense of the Presence. It’s like trying to have a bright day without having the sun. You could say, “According to my watch, it is fifteen minutes past noon, and therefore the sun is up. Let us rejoice in the sun. Isn’t it beautiful and bright? Let us take it by faith and rejoice that the sun is up, that all is well and the sun is up.”
You can point upward and say, “The sun is up,” but you’re kidding yourself. As long as it’s dark, gloomy and rainy, and the wet soggy leaves keep dribbling down, you’re not having a bright day. But when the sun comes out, you can rejoice in the presence of the sun.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Yearning for God)
Why then do we feel Him in the distance? It’s the dissimilarity in our natures; it’s the unlikeness. We’ve got enough likeness that God can commune with us and call us His children and we can say, “Abba, Father.” But in the practical working out of it, we sense our dissimilarity, and that is why God seems remote.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Yearning for God)
And we Christians know God is here, but there is a sense of His absence. A man feels the sun is gone never to return; he knows better, yet he can’t be happy because he can’t see the sun. We feel that God is away even when we know that He is present, and He can’t manifest Himself as He wants to for certain reasons.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Likeness Is Not Justification)
You know He isn’t but you feel He is. He can’t show His face. You’ve allowed self-indulgence, harshness, a vengeful spirit, lukewarmness, pride and worldliness to put a cloud over the face of God.
I think that repentance is called for. We need to repent of unlikeness; of unholiness in the presence of the holy; of self-indulgence in the presence of the selfless Christ; of harshness in the presence of the kind Christ; of hardness in the presence of the forgiving Christ; of lukewarmness in the presence of the zealous Christ, burning like a fiery flame; of worldliness and earthliness in the presence of the heavenly Christ. I think we ought to repent.
What are you going to do about it? Has He opened your heart?
The Lexham Glossary of Theology (Immanence)
immanence — The idea that God is present and involved with his creation.
imminence — Meaning that something could happen at any time. Especially used with reference to the Second Coming of Christ.
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (God, Immanence Of)
God, immanence of. God’s presence and activity within the created world of nature.
Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (The Biblical Basis)
The more the concept of God’s immanence is developed and emphasized, the more the view moves toward pantheism, as contrasted with theism. God becomes less personal, less someone with whom we may have a personal relationship. Although immanence in an extreme form closely resembles pantheism, there is still a difference between the two views. In the view that God is immanent, nature has no independent status. As one theologian put it, nature is not transcendent to God. Thus, nature minus God equals nothing. God, however, does have status independent of nature. So, God minus nature does equal something. In pantheism, nature minus God equals nothing, but God minus nature also equals nothing. He has no independent status. Creation in the traditional sense has no place in the pantheistic scheme, since, according to pantheism, God could not have existed before the creation of the natural order.
Introducing Christian Doctrine (The Immanence and Transcendence of God)
The meaning of immanence is that God is present and active within his creation, and within the human race, even those members of it that do not believe in or obey him. His influence is everywhere. He is at work in and through natural processes. The meaning of transcendence is that God is not merely a quality of nature or of humanity; he is not simply the highest human being. He is not limited to our ability to understand him. His holiness and goodness go far beyond, infinitely beyond ours, and this is true of his knowledge and power as well.
Introducing Christian Doctrine (The Immanence and Transcendence of God)
We have noted the importance of maintaining both emphases. Immanence signifies that God does much of his work through natural means. He is not restricted to miracles. He even uses ordinary unbelieving humans such as Cyrus, whom he described as his “shepherd,” his “anointed” (Isa. 44:28; 45:1). He uses technology and human skill and learning. Yet it is important to bear in mind the truth that God is transcendent. He is infinitely more than any natural or human event. If we emphasize immanence too much, we may identify everything that happens as God’s will and working, as did the German Christians who in the 1930s regarded Adolf Hitler’s policies as God’s working in the world. We must bear in mind that there is a separation between God’s holiness and much of what happens in the world. If we emphasize transcendence too much, however, we may expect God to work miracles at all times, while he may purpose instead to work through our effort. We may tend to mistreat the creation, forgetting that he himself is present and active there. We may depreciate the value of what non-Christians do, or their possession of some degree of sensitivity to the message of the gospel, forgetting that God is at work in and in touch with them.
Introducing Christian Doctrine (Implications of Immanence)
Implications of Immanence
Divine immanence of the limited degree taught in Scripture carries several implications:
1. God is not limited to working directly to accomplish his purposes. While it is very obviously a work of God when his people pray and a miraculous healing occurs, it is also God’s work when through the application of medical knowledge and skill a physician is successful in bringing a patient back to health. Medicine is part of God’s general revelation, and the work of the doctor is a channel of God’s activity.
2. God may use persons and organizations that are not avowedly Christian. In biblical times, God did not limit himself to working through the covenant nation of Israel or through the church. He even used Assyria, a pagan nation, to bring chastening upon Israel. He is able to use secular or nominally Christian organizations. Even non-Christians do some genuinely good and commendable things.
3. We should have an appreciation for all that God has created. The world is God’s, and he is present and active within it. While it has been given to humankind to be used to satisfy their legitimate needs, they ought not to exploit it for their own pleasure or out of greed. The doctrine of divine immanence therefore has ecological application. It also has implications regarding our attitudes to other people. God is genuinely present within everyone (although not in the special sense in which he indwells Christians). Therefore, no one is to be despised or treated disrespectfully.
4. We can learn something about God from his creation. All that is has been brought into being by God and, further, is actively indwelt by him. We may therefore detect clues about what God is like by observing the behavior of the created universe. For example, a definite pattern of logic seems to apply within the creation. There is an orderliness, a regularity, about it. Those who believe that God is sporadic, arbitrary, or whimsical by nature and that his actions are characterized by paradox and even contradiction either have not taken a close look at the behavior of the world or have assumed that God is in no sense operating there.
5. God’s immanence means that there are points at which the gospel can make contact with the unbeliever. If God is to some extent present and active within the whole of the created world, he is present and active within humans who have not made a personal commitment of their lives to him. Thus, there are points at which they will be sensitive to the truth of the gospel message, places where they are already in touch with God’s working. Evangelism aims to find those points and direct the message to them.
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (What Is the Immanence of God?)
God’s immanence refers to His presence within His creation. (It is not to be confused with imminence, which refers to the timing of Jesus’ return to earth.) A belief in God’s immanence holds that God is present in all of creation, while remaining distinct from it. In other words, there is no place where God is not. His sovereign control extends everywhere simultaneously.
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (What Is the Immanence of God?)
Transcendence (God exists outside of space and time) and immanence (God is present within space and time) are both attributes of God. He is both “nearby” and “far away,” according to Jeremiah 23:23. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). That is God’s transcendence. “In him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). That is God’s immanence.
God’s omnipresence is closely related to His immanence, and Psalm 139:1–10 describes it in beautiful detail. In the New Testament, Paul declares that God “Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” and “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28). God guides, governs and provides for His creation, even though He is so far above it (Ephesians 1:11; 4:6).
The immanence of God is also supported in the story of the Bible as a whole. The very existence of God’s Word in written form testifies to God’s interest and action in His world. Israel’s survival throughout biblical history and Jesus’ incarnation bear powerful witness that God is present and involved. He is literally “sustaining all things by His powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). He is Immanuel, “God with us”; He is immanent.
3. God's Immanence in Creation -
3. God's Immanence in Creation -
The natural world is created by God, sustained by God and speaks of God.
God is active in creation -
In making the universe -
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.
6 “You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.
25 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The Lord God of hosts is His name.
24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
In bringing about changes in the weather -
10 “From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle? 24 “Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? 25 “Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, 26 To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, 27 To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout? 28 “Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 “From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? 30 “Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? 35 “Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
25 For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, Which lifted up the waves of the sea.
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
17 and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
In the stars and other heavenly bodies -
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? 32 “Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? 33 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?
19 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.
4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.
26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
In the animal creation -
1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? 2 “Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? 3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. 4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them. 5 “Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 6 To whom I gave the wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place? 7 “He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear. 8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing. 9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger? 10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, Or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11 “Will you trust him because his strength is great And leave your labor to him? 12 “Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain And gather it from your threshing floor? 13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love, 14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust, 15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them. 16 “She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned; 17 Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. 18 “When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider. 19 “Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20 “Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. 21 “He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons. 22 “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword. 23 “The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin. 24 “With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet. 25 “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the captains and the war cry. 26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south? 27 “Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high? 28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. 29 “From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar. 30 “His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.”
15 “Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox. 16 “Behold now, his strength in his loins And his power in the muscles of his belly. 17 “He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together. 18 “His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron. 19 “He is the first of the ways of God; Let his maker bring near his sword. 20 “Surely the mountains bring him food, And all the beasts of the field play there. 21 “Under the lotus plants he lies down, In the covert of the reeds and the marsh. 22 “The lotus plants cover him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him. 23 “If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth. 24 “Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?
1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? 2 “Can you put a rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a hook? 3 “Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words? 4 “Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever? 5 “Will you play with him as with a bird, Or will you bind him for your maidens? 6 “Will the traders bargain over him? Will they divide him among the merchants? 7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears? 8 “Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; you will not do it again! 9 “Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be laid low even at the sight of him? 10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before Me? 11 “Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. 21 The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. 22 When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. 23 Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening. 24 O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. 25 There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. 26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. 27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season.
9 He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens which cry.
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
God sustains the natural order -
33 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth? 34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? 35 “Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 “Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind? 37 “Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens,
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. 3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; 4 He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. 5 He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. 8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth. 10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. 14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, 15 And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. 16 The trees of the Lord drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, 17 Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim. 19 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. 20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. 21 The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. 22 When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. 23 Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening. 24 O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. 25 There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. 26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. 27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. 28 You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. 29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground. 31 Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; Let the Lord be glad in His works; 32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 34 Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord. 35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. 7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds.
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
God sustains humanity -
4 “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
34 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
Creation is sustained for the good of the human race -
22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”
12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
God’s sustaining power reserves the world for judgment -
7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
God has given the human race responsibility to preserve creation -
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. 3 “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
16 The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the sons of men.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
Creation is flawed because of sin -
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
Creation speaks of both God’s nature and character -
His revelation of Himself -
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. 8 “Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9 “Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, 10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
His eternal power and divine nature -
17 ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
His authority -
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; 9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’? 12 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, 13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? 14 “It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment. 15 “From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken. 16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? 18 “Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. 19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, 20 That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home? 21 “You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great! 22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle? 24 “Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? 25 “Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, 26 To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, 27 To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout? 28 “Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 “From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? 30 “Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned. 31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? 32 “Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? 33 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth? 34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? 35 “Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 “Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind? 37 “Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens, 38 When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together? 39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40 When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair? 41 “Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food? 1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? 2 “Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? 3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. 4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them. 5 “Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 6 To whom I gave the wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place? 7 “He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear. 8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing. 9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger? 10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, Or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11 “Will you trust him because his strength is great And leave your labor to him? 12 “Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain And gather it from your threshing floor? 13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love, 14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust, 15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them. 16 “She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned; 17 Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. 18 “When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider. 19 “Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20 “Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. 21 “He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons. 22 “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword. 23 “The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin. 24 “With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet. 25 “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the captains and the war cry. 26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south? 27 “Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high? 28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. 29 “From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar. 30 “His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.”
2 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name,
His glory and majesty -
1 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.
His love and faithfulness -
5 Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
His power -
25 “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
His wisdom -
5 To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
27 “When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, 28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, 29 When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
His unchangeableness and eternity -
1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
25 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
11 They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment,
His spiritual work in believers’ lives -
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15 For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’ 16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” 24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” 31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” 33 He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.” 36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
SO WHAT?
How does the concept of God's immanence encourage a deeper sense of trust in His presence during life's challenges?
In what ways can acknowledging God's presence in our daily lives lead to a more impactful prayer life?
How might our understanding of God's immanence affect our approach to evangelism and sharing our faith?
What steps can we take to cultivate a greater awareness of God's presence throughout our daily activities?
How can we reconcile feelings of God's absence with the biblical truth of His immanence?
What are some specific distractions in our lives that could be softened by an awareness of God's active involvement?
How can recognizing God's immanence help us improve our relationships with those around us?
In what practical ways can we demonstrate care for creation as a reflection of God's sustaining power?
How can understanding the principles of God's immanence influence our responses to social and environmental issues?
How can we apply the message of 'He’s got the whole world in His hands' to reduce stress and anxiety in our lives?
