Grace Institute: Systematic Theology: Theology Proper: God is Transcendent

Theology Proper Grace Institute for Biblical Leadership Winter 2006

[Previous: God is Holy]

III. God is Transcendent

A. Scripture

The same prophet Isaiah who sees a glimpse of God, goes on in his prophecies to condemn the arrogance of the nations. When we get to chapter 40, Isaiah lays out for us the folly of our pride in the light of a transcendent God.

(Isaiah 40:21-23) Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.

God is outside his creation. He sits above the earth, outside of the heavens. The arrogant nations, which threaten God's people, are nothing compared to a God who exists beyond the universe.

(Isaiah 40:25) "To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One.

There is no one like God. He is incomparable.

B. Definition

Isaiah is describing a God who is transcendent. To be transcendent means to exist beyond and outside the ordinary range of human experience or understanding. Transcendence can be amplified into several attributes:

1. To Be Independent of Creation ("Freedom")

God is independent of creation. He is free to choose anything He wants. He is only restricted by His perfection. Yet perfection is not a restriction, so He is truly free to do whatever He wants.

This often begs the question of the existence of evil. How can a free God co-exist with evil? God has allowed evil because without it there can be no recognition of God's perfect holiness and God's perfect love. He allows it to show more of His character.

2. To be Outside Space and Time ("Eternal, Omnipresent")

God is eternal. To say God is eternal is more than just God has always existed and will live forever. God is not just without beginning and end. To be eternal means that God exists outside of time itself. All of time is equally present to God. That means God, right now, is aware and living in the past just as much as he is aware and living in the present, just as much as he is aware and living in the future. He exists outside of time.

Likewise, God's omnipresent nature means more than just that he exists everywhere. God exists outside of space itself. He is equally present in all aspects of space because he transcends space and time.

In the classic book, Flatland , Edwin Abbott describes a world of 2 dimensions and how an entity in that world might see a three dimensional object. To such a two dimensional creature, a sphere walking through his universe would look like it exists in more than one place at a time. God has the same appearance to us. He exists in all time and space because he is at least one-dimension above the known universe. He is eternal and omnipresent.

3. To have all Knowledge ("Omniscient")

God knows everything. He is omniscient. Everything He knows is important to Him. God did not learn anything. His omniscience is a state of His being. What He knows He has always known. Therefore, God cannot be surprised, let down, or disappointed.

4. To Have All Power ("Omnipotent")

There is nothing God cannot do. He has the capacity to do absolutely anything except something outside of his perfect character. But to accomplish something beyond perfection is not truly a limitation, so he is absolutely powerful.

C. The Relationship of Transcendence and Immanence

When we consider the transcendence of God, we often get the picture of a God who is distant and removed from His creation. This is the God of the Deist, who sees God as transcendent, but uninvolved in the day-to-day affairs of humanity. But when we speak of God's infinite nature, we must remember that God is both infinitely large and infinitely small.

In mathematics, infinity divided by any number other than infinity itself, is infinity. Therefore, if you sub-divide God, each component division remains infinite. That means God has the capacity to give His attention to each individual member of the human race and retain all of His infinite characteristics while giving attention to that individual.

It is God's infinite, transcendent character that gives God the ability to also be immanent. That is to say, because God is infinitely large, He has the capacity to be near each individual. For this reason, the Psalmist can say:

(Psalms 145:18 NASB) The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

Isaiah addresses the Immanence of God back in chapter 40:

(Isaiah 40:27-28) Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

God's transcendence and His Immanence go hand-in-hand. One begets the other. To think of these to aspects of God's infinite nature is to lead us to a wrong understanding of God.

An overemphasis on transcendence causes us to loose the idea of an active God. We look for God only in miracles and in the sacred, missing his activity in the mundane, natural and secular realms. Overemphasis on transcendence tends towards deism.

An overemphasis on immanence makes it difficult to distinguish between the work of God and any other natural or human activity. God becomes less and less personal, and no longer is an objective standard of morality. God merely becomes a label for the highest human values, ideals, and aspirations. Overemphasis on immanence tends towards pantheism.

Immanence can, in excess, lean towards pantheism. Pantheism equates the natural order with God, stating that God is nature, and nature is God. Immanence teaches not that God is the same as creation, but that God is independent of nature. Immanence teaches that without God, nature ceases to exist, but God can exist without nature. Pantheism teaches that not only would nature not exist without God, but that without nature, God would cease to exist.

D. Our Response

The transcendence of God can be a little disconcerting to us. If God can see everything I do, if he knows everything about me, and can do absolutely anything, then I cannot escape from Him. God's transcendence without his benevolence is a scary thing.

But Isaiah begins this whole passage with his intent in discussing God's transcendence.

(Isaiah 40:1) "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God.

To those who trust in his goodness as well as his transcendence there is comfort and strength for the week.

(Isaiah 40:29-31) He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on 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.

If we understand our place from God's perspective, God will comfort us and give us strength. It is the weak that shall have strength, and the humble that will be lifted up by God.

[Next: God is Absolute]