Searching Issues: "Where Is God?"

Searching Issues: "Where Is God?" Acts 17:22-31 Romans 11:33-34 With grateful acknowledgement of sources used generously: G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy; C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, and Miracles; Stanley Grenz, What Christians Really Believe & Why Aug 4, 2002 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Thoughts Mary Farwell of Greencastle, MO. Wrote in to The Christian Reader with this story. I was listening to my 5-year-old son, Matthew, as he worked on his Speak and Spell (TM) computer. He was concentrating intensely, typing words for the computer to say back to him. Matthew punched in the word "God." To his surprise, the computer said, "Word not found." He tried again with the same reply. With great disgust, he stared at the computer and told it in no uncertain terms, "Jesus is not going to like this!" A few years ago on local Christian radio there were two different women who ministered the Word. One of the things I remember about them is the different way in which they would pray. One would address God in prayer with the address, "Sir". I thought that was strange, although it is probably an okay expression, given the meaning of "Lord" in the Bible and the respect one should have toward God in prayer. The other would call God "Daddy", and that bothered me at first because I thought it was too familiar a term. That is, until I realized that it was exactly the term Paul used in Galatians and Romans to describe the believer's relationship with God-Abba, daddy.     There really are two ways of thinking about God: First, He is Transcendent: God as self-sufficient, separate from the world; above the universe; "beyond"; Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, esp vs 2         He is also Immanent: God as present in His creation, active within His universe, involved with the processes of the world and human history (Acts 17:27-28)     Transcendent-Immanent - Which is the better way of thinking about God? Of course, both are valid and correct. But, when we take the two together, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. A couple of things happen. 1. We frustrate those who insist on choosing one over the other. Deists, who think of God only as a "watchmaker God" who created the world, wound it up and let it run, but is not involved. The other extreme includes those in a variety of camps who never think of God as transcendent and "out there"-this group includes everything from animists to pantheists to feel-good religionists, etc. 2. We get confused, and don't know how to think about or approach God-fall down and worship Him or snuggle up to Him in intimate meditation. He is both beyond the world and present to the world. 3. Thirdly, we get a very biblical picture of God, who has revealed Himself in both ways. The Bible projects God as unmistakably exalted, righteous, "wholly other" and, yes, unapproachable. Yet we are also told that He is "very near" to us. 4. Fourthly, when we correctly balance both teachings, we see the wonder of His grace-that the perfect and ineffable God has chosen to reveal Himself to us and to draw near and redeem us, though we have sinned ourselves out of Eden. God as Transcendent The concluding command in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 is "Stand in awe of God". It was the most dramatic time in the life of Isaiah the prophet-his defining moment-when he saw a vision of the Lord, "seated on the throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying., And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'" (Isaiah 6:1-3     God is transcendent; He is not fully immersed in creation. He is self-existent-He doesn't need us or any of His creation in order for Him to exist. In his ancient work, Metaphysics, Aristotle spoke of God-the true God-as the "Unmoved Mover," the static, unchanging final cause of all motion in the universe. As the final cause, God draws all things, but He remains untouched, unmoved and undrawn toward the universe. This picture over-states the biblical picture of the transcendent God. When Job went through all his sufferings and endured patiently, there came a point when he talked to God somewhat boldly out of his frustration at all that had befallen him. He begins to ask God "why?" in increasingly forceful terms. Then he starts to challenge God's justice and His ways. The almighty God is listening in, patiently, but there comes a point at which Job goes a little too far, gets just a little to familiar with God, a little too heady. See Job 40:1-14. As we consider the transcendence of God, and we ask the question, "Where is God?" or "What is God like", the only answer is, He is high above you, exalted, supreme, infinitely powerful and beyond reason and reach. He is all-wise, all- holy, all-powerful; He is all in all. He is transcendent. God as Immanent But, equally true in scripture is the teaching that God is ALSO near us, close by, within reach, involved in our lives, caring for His world and us in particular. Jesus makes it clear that the Father sends sunshine and rain (Matthew 5:45); He personally makes sure even the birds are fed (Matthew 6:26); He clothes the flowers (Matthew 6:30). This majestic, awesome God who thunders from mountains and speaks through storms also knows when every sparrow falls, and has numbered every hair on your head (Matthew 10:29-30). The mighty Creator of all things who holds all things together by the Word of His power also says to you and me, "Come to me and I will give you rest…" (Matthew 11:28). The Master of the Universe assures human beings that if they will draw near to Him, He will draw nearer to them. The apostle Paul was in the middle of one of his missionary journeys when he stopped in at Athens. He took the opportunity to visit the Aereopagus which at the time was where all the philosophers and intelligentsia gathered to discuss great teachings. Read Acts 17:22-31. What Paul was able to tell these brilliant Greeks, who had gods for everything that there is one Supreme God who made it all, who is Lord of heaven and earth, who does not live in man-made temples because they can't hold Him, who made every nation from one man-this God who demanded holiness and obedience from free-willed men-this God who raised Jesus from the dead, through whom He will judge the world with justice-this God cares about them and will come to them personally if they repent and trust in Jesus. He told them that God wanted them to seek Him and find Him, "though He is not far from each one of us." (webmasters note: Acts 17:27) The Transcendent has chosen to be Immanent 1. Through Creation. The universe does not exist on its own, but finds its source and continuance in God, the Creator. God created the universe by an act of His divine will. So, the entire universe exists by God's gracious choice. He was under no compulsion to create anything, and His free creation shows He does not need the world to be who God is. He is completely the loving god apart from the universe. And the universe exists solely because of God's loving choice to create it. 2. Through Natural Revelation. God chose to reveal Himself to us. This is big. How would we know anything at all about a transcendent God? Sinful people can't just "figure him out", though some are sure they have. Certainly the creation itself is a means of God's revelation of Himself to us (Romans 1:20). But God has gone farther than just the creation. He has also created us in such a way that we know something of Him in the way we are made. We are aware of what God is like through our minds (Romans 2:15). There is an innate sense in each person that instructs us about God-and that should come as no surprise. After all, we were made in His image and likeness. 3. Through History and the Word. But, there is more. God also enters time and space periodically by taking on the form of men and angels, the Bible tells us. He sovereignly works miracles at strategic times and places to further tell us what He is like. Hebrews 1:1 says it like this: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways…" Not only did God reveal Himself through these methods, but He even gave us the spoken and written Word about Himself in the form of the Bible. Written over 1,600 years with 40 different authors and 1 common theme, the Bible is our 2nd clearest form of the self-revelation of God. 4. Through Jesus. Immanent and Immanuel are derived from the same root word. Many times and in various ways: creation, special appearances and events (miracles, dreams, visions), the writing of the scriptures. Then there is the ultimate revelation of all. The second verse of Hebrews 1 reads, "…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." What makes God's self-revelation in Christ so special? Verse 3 - "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…" He is, as one author put it, "the God who speaks, and acts, and shows up". We do not have to rely on our opinions about who God is, or any one else's opinion. To rely on human wisdom is folly, says the Bible. We have His self-revelation. Imagine a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. To their little piano-world came the music of the instrument, filling all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who made the music-though invisible to them-above, yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which trembled and vibrated. They must revise all their old beliefs; none but the most conservative could any longer believe in the Unseen Player. Later, another explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, numbers of hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a myth . . . . . but the pianist continued to play. Conclusion The God who is transcendent has chosen to be immanent to His creation. No other man-made religion in the world believes like that. The reason they don't is a man-made religion wouldn't dare to presume that the almighty God would condescend to such levels. Moreover, it is the nature of men, in their pride, to want to figure God out-and they don't want a god who says he cannot be figured out. Human pride cannot believe that God is so far above us that we can't get to Him, but He must come, self-revealing, to us. God has made the necessary first move in the direction of each one of us. He has determined, of His own free will, to lovingly pursue us. So He reveals to us what He is really like-transcendent, yes, but also immanent. He goes to great lengths to prove He loves us, sending His Son to die in our behalf. This is our picture of an immanent God, caring for His rebellious children. His desire is that you and I will respond to His divine overtures, trusting in Him, repenting of our sin, and returning to fellowship with Him. 2 Peter 3:9 - "…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Patrick Morley says it succinctly in The Seasons of a Man's Life - "The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is." Eugene Peterson (in his Run With the Horses), said it this way - "Our lives are not puzzles to be figured out. Rather, we come to God, who knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God. God is the center from which all life develops. If we use our ego as the center from which to plot the geometry of our lives, we will live eccentrically." Ingrid Trobisch wrote these words: "Immanuel, a name for Christ, means "God with us." Human life was meant to be dramatic. We are meant to be God-inhabited. Our religion is not organized around keeping God at a distance. It allows us to go see him when we want. If I really want God to be with me, then my life will be extremely different from ordinary human life. The outcome will be far greater than the efforts." The transcendence and the immanence of God come together in the incarnation of Christ. This is the fundamental truth of the Christian faith. And it is the fundamental issue with which each human being needs to deal. How should we respond? 1. Repent of our sin. This is what Isaiah did when he first fully realized who God is. Each man and woman must come to the place where we acknowledge the truth that God is transcendent in His holiness and righteousness. That He is God and we are His creation. That He desires to have restored fellowship with us and has offered to forgive the sin that separates us. He calls us to come to Him in awed gratitude for His dying love. But we must repent, exercising creaturely humility before God. A.    W. Tozer -"God will take nine steps toward us, but he will not take the tenth. He will incline us to repent, but he cannot do our repenting for us." 2. Worship Him. You know, if the almighty, transcendent God had never stooped to save us, He would be worthy of our praise. But He has-the transcendent is also immanent. How much more do we owe Him our thankful praise! Let's worship Him. He is God the Father - God over me He is God the Son - God for me He is God the Holy Spirit - God in me.   [Back to Top]