‘Behold, the Lamb of God’s
ide o amnos tou
theou
College Study
33rd teaching
4.15.2013
“God’s Transcendence”
Tonight, we’ll be studying the other half of a coin. Last
week, our topic was God’s Immanence, which described His relation toward
Creation in that He pervades and permeates it. On the flip side of that stands
Transcendence.
Immanence and Transcendence are a pair, and while they
stand in contrast to each other, they do not contradict one another.
Now before we go on, I have a confession. Last week, I had
suggested that God’s Immanence (describing His relation of inhabiting the
universe) was a metaphysical attribute of the Lord. Remember, a metaphysical
attribute describes what God is “made up of”, what He inherently is. I had
mentioned that we were going to cover all of the metaphysical attributes first
before moving on to God’s moral and non-moral attributes.
But actually, I discovered that Immanence is not a
metaphysical attribute at all. It is a non-moral attribute. Immanence doesn’t
describe what God actually IS in His Being; rather it describes His relationship
with the universe.
For example, God was immaterial and omnipotent and infinite
before He made the universe because
these are what He is, metaphysically. But He was not immanent before He made the universe. He couldn’t be, because
there was no universe to be immanent in.
Therefore, Immanence is a non-moral or relational
attribute. And because Transcendence is saying the same thing in an opposite
way relationally about God, Transcendence too is a non-moral attribute. These
are not metaphysical attributes.
So, I was wrong. Take it or leave it, if you care.
Whatever. Moving on.
Turn to Genesis 14.
A little background. You remember Abram? He was a
guy that God called out of his own country to go to the land of Canaan, a land
which God promised would be possessed by the descendants of Abram, who would
later be named Abraham.
Abram had a nephew named Lot. Lot and Abram had parted
ways. Lot went to live near the city of Sodom. As it happens in Genesis 14, Lot gets caught up in the
warfare of the nearby nations, in a war of four kings against five. When some
of the kings fled, Lot and his household and his goods were taken up with the
armies. Suddenly Lot was in need of rescue.
And so it is apparent that Abram was not only a good
father, but also a good uncle. Father Abraham had many sons, true, but he also
had a nephew in trouble. And Abram came to Lot’s rescue.
Genesis 14:12-20.
After all was said and done, Abram has this encounter with
one of the most enigmatic characters in the Bible: this priest known as
Melchizedek.
Now we could spend the whole night talking about
Melchizedek, but it is sufficient to say that while we commonly think of God
sort of having His “in-crowd” in the Israelites, that’s not exactly true. God
had other contacts in the Old Testament other than the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. This king-priest Melchizedek is evidence of that. He comes out
of nowhere and we know next to nothing about him.
But specifically for the purposes of our study, we’re
introduced not only to Melchizedek but to this particular title of the God that
Melchizedek served.
It says that Melchizedek was the priest of El Elyon, God Most High. It is mentioned
several times in this short passage, the title “God Most High”.
In Hebrew, the words El
Elyon, signifying God Most High, literally mean God the Uppermost. It means
that God is Supreme and Above all Else. He is the Highest God. This is where we
get the term the “Supreme Being”. It means, as the Psalmist writes “…the LORD is the great God, and the great
King above all gods” (Psalm 95:3).
If you ask people what their beliefs are about God, people
will commonly say “well, I believe in a higher power”. That’s just short of the
truth. The only higher power is in the Highest Being, God Most High. The higher
power is in the Highest One.
And it is precisely this title of God, El Elyon, which brings us to our topic of God’s Transcendence. He
is the Supreme Being, the Highest of All.
To aid our study, we shall cover 5 points tonight.
1. The
definition of Transcendence
2. Two
sides of the same Coin
3. The
Biblical Basis for Transcendence
4. Concerning
Metaphilosophy
5. The
Wondrous Cross
1.
The Definition of Transcendence
Transcendence is a word which we get from the Latin word transcendere, which literally means “to
climb over or beyond”; from the words trans-
which means beyond and scandere which means to climb.
So the original word picture you get for the word transcendent is that of getting up and
over a mountain. Obviously, this is no longer the common meaning for our
English equivalent.
The word transcendent
now means to surpass. Something which is transcendent surpasses or is beyond
something else. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines transcendent as “exceeding usual limits; extending or lying beyond
the limits of ordinary experience”.
Right away that reminds us that transcendent is a
relational term. Transcendence, theologically, is not a metaphysical but a
relational and non-moral attribute of God.
And when applied to God, Transcendence describes God
relationship to the universe.
The Christian apologist, Norman Geisler, summarizes by
saying: “The transcendence of God entails the assertions that He is above, beyond,
other than, and more than the world… Literally, transcendence means ‘to be above’ or ‘beyond’. Theologically, it
refers to the fact that God is above and beyond all creation.”
Of all the attributes of God, this is one which really
makes Him God. If He were not transcendent, He might be you or me. And what
good would that be? How un-amazing God would be if He was just some guy, or a
rock or a tree or a puddle or a star, or anything other object in the universe,
rather than the Supreme Subject beyond the universe?
2.
Two sides of the same Coin
As I mentioned earlier, Immanence and Transcendence are a
pair. They’re partners. They may be contrasting but they are not contradictory.
Rather, they are complementary.
Also, they are not mutually exclusive. God is not only immanent. Neither is He only transcendent. He both pervades and
permeates the universe with His Presence and at the same time extends beyond
and is not limited by the universe.
Truly, Immanence and Transcendence are two sides of the
same coin: two qualities of the same God. As we discussed last week, to deny
one of these attributes is to fall into heresy.
Deism is a false teaching about which states that God is
transcendent over the universe but not immanent, not active in it. Deism is
like Christianity without the miracles. Deism, then, affirms transcendence but
denies immanence. Now you may not meet many self-proclaimed “deists” today, but
there are many people who believe that God set things in motion, created the
universe, and then simply lets it run, but that He takes no active part in it
and doesn’t do any miracles. Some even believe that God began evolution and
that He simply lets it run like a machine functioning. Some Christians even
believe this error.
The truth is God is both transcendent and immanent. And God
works miracles, sent His Son into the world and is intensely interested in
human lives. The universe is not a machine which God simply set running and
then stepped back from. Rather, the Bible states that everything is upheld by,
maintained by and supported by God, presently. Colossians 1:17, “…He is
before all things, and in Him all things consist”.
So when you meet deism in whatever form, whether some calls
it creative evolution, shut it down as heresy.
But while deism affirms transcendence and denies immanence,
pantheism affirms immanence and denies transcendence. As we discussed last
week, pantheism states that everything composes God, or that the universe is
identical to immanent divinity, that there’s nothing beyond the universe.
It is sufficient to say once more that God is both immanent
and transcendent, two sides of the same coin. These are not mutually exclusive
qualities but rather complementary attributes which describe two ways in which
God relates to the universe. In short, He is in the world but not of it. He is
Not Of This World.
The greatest proof of this, that God is both immanent and
transcendent, comes in the form of the Incarnation. The Incarnantion carefully
and clearly explains both sides of the coin. The transcendent God Most High
became immanent flesh and dwelt among us. Plainly, if God is only transcendent
or only immanent, then either there is no one beyond the universe to send His Son
or He never came into the universe at all. And if there is no incarnation, then
there is no sacrifice for your sins.
So you see that this whole issue of transcendence and
immanence has a direct impact upon your eternal destiny. In order for us to
have a gospel, God must be transcendent and He must be immanent.
3.
The Biblical Basis for
Transcendence
Fun fact: alongside the teaching of God as Creator, God’s
Transcendence is the very first teaching of the Bible.
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth.” That very act exemplifies transcendence: God was around before the universe to make the universe
and He is thus greater than and beyond the universe.
With that in mind, let us now have our Project Scriptura
verses.
4.
Concerning Metaphilosophy
Dude, so I ran across this new word today: Metaphilosophy.
What?
Meta- is a prefix
which means after or beyond, so we can think of
Metaphilosophy as being beyond philosophy, just as metaphysical means beyond
the physical.
Now why bring this up? Well, I think this hinges upon an
important question tied into the idea of transcendence. And because this is a
popular idea, I think we should address it, though we’ve covered it before.
The question is this: is God so transcendent that He cannot
be known?
What we’re asking, rather what many seekers out there are
asking, is how can you know God? Or can you know God at all?
While, we have addressed this before, it is clear that this
is not a question to be lightly brushed aside.
A.W. Tozer aptly said in what I think has become my
favorite quote by him, he said: “What comes into our minds when we think about
God is the most important thing about us.” And what’s more, Jesus Christ said
that eternal life involves knowing God (John
17:3). It is an immensely important question, therefore, whether God is so
transcendent is He can be known at all.
This question was explored by the philosopher Immanuel
Kant, a German philosopher who died in 1804. In Kant’s philosophy, the
transcendent is that which is beyond what we can know. It is metaphilosophical,
beyond knowing and beyond understanding, beyond our wisdom to grasp.
This harkens back to our study we had some weeks ago on
God’s Incomprehensibility. The notes from that study are on the Facebook page.
If you or someone you know struggles with agnosticism, the question of whether
God can be known or not, I encourage you to look up those notes and study these
things more intensely. Again, this is an important question and it touches on
whether that agnostic soul shall experience heaven or hell after death. It
doesn’t get much more important than that.
So the queston, then: is God metaphilosophical in Kant’s
terms? Does God’s Transcendence make God unknowable?
The answer is no. And that answer reminds us again that God
is not exclusively transcendent. He is also immanent. God is not only beyond
the universe but also within the universe as an active, indwelling, present
Being.
When you were a child, do you remember asking your mom or
your dad about something that just baffled you about the universe? I remember
asking my dad about the pyramids. How the heck did they build the pyramids?
That kind of ancient architectural was Metaphilosophy to my little-kid brain.
The knowledge of the building of the pyramids was transcendent over my
understanding of the world… until my dear old dad explained it to me.
In a similar way, the transcendent God of the universe is
indeed beyond us, but He has made Himself known to us and explained Himself to
us, just like my own dad explained the pyramids to the little-kid version of
Moses.
The Bible, God’s self-revelation, is God’s remedy for His
transcendence, and His answer to the question “can God be known”. Yes. Yes, He
can, because He explains Himself. The transcendent God explains Himself through
analogy through His Word. Therefore, God is Partially Incomprehensible: there
are many things about Him that we simply do not understand and cannot know now,
but there are on the other hand a good many things which He has already explained
to us about Himself.
So in answer then to Immanuel Kant’s question of
Metaphilosophy: can God be known? Yes, He certainly can. In answer to the
deep-seated questions of our agnostic friends: God can be known because He is
not only transcendent but also immanent, active and present in the universe,
AND He has written His own autobiography, everything we need to know about God
for salvation and relation with Him.
5. The
Wondrous Cross
So now we know what Transcendence means and how to respond
to questions about Transcendence and knowing God, but here comes the real kick
in the pants.
The really amazing thing about Transcendence is not that
you can know God. The really crazy thing about Transcendence is the God knows
you.
How wild would it be if I told you in all truthfulness that
President Obama knows who I am? Or that a celebrity like Will Smith knows who I
am, by name, me! Moses Norton! That’d be pretty big news. But there’s bigger
news than that.
The bizarre thing about God in all of His Highest-ness, His
Transcendence, is that He even notices you and I. How insane is it that the
Supreme Being, the Highest and Holiest of All, knows who you are and knows your
name and even knows you exist. How should He?
You and I hardly take notice of creatures far smaller than
us, like ants. But how much more of a gap is there between God and us than
between humans and ants? And yet, wildest of thoughts, the transcendent God
knows who you are. You, little old you, are on God’s mind and on God’s heart.
What!?
You mean, the God who made Betelgeuse, one of the largest
known stars, knows who you are? Betelgeuse is the tenth brightest star in the
sky. It is 1000 times our own Sun’s diameter, which means approximately 1
billion of our Sun’s could fit inside of Betelgeuse. And since you could fit
16.3 octillion people in our Sun guess how much bigger Betelgeuse, just one of
the biggest stars… guess how much bigger Betelgeuse is that you or I?
It is 1 billion multiplied by 16 octillion times bigger
than you. You could fit 16 octillion times 1 billion people inside of
Betelgeuse. I don’t even know what that is in numbers, but that’s how much
Betelgeuse transcends you and I. And God Most High transcends Betelgeuse. No
numbers can express that! And nothing can express the fact, then, that this
transcendent God is even aware of your tiny, infinitely less than microscopic
existence!
Feel insignificant yet?
So did David. When that shepherd boy turned king looked up
at the stars, he may have even seen the tenth brightest star in the sky,
Betelgeuse. Listen to his words in Psalm
8:3-4, “When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what
is man that You are mindful of him…?”
In contrast to the grand scheme of the whole big, big
universe, above which God is transcendent, stands our own tiny, dust speck
lives. How is it that God is even mindful of us?
And what’s more! We aren’t merely creatures that should
have escaped God’s notice, no, we were much lower than that. We each broke the
laws of the Holy God and were before God incredibly small creatures which had
offended Him and spit in His face. We were insignificant beyond measure but we
were criminals before God.
With all this in mind, we have the Crucifixion.
I don’t think we fully grasp the depth and the magnitude of
the statement which the cross makes, that the Transcendent Being above all
others died in the place of insignificant criminals that should be so far
beneath His very notice. When was the last time that the Cross shocked you?
When did it last hold you in awe? Let it shock you now.
Let’s put this into perspective. Guy Fawkes was an English
member of a group which planned and failed to assassinate King James I . Guy
Fawkes and his group were found guilty of high treason and condemned to be
death. Specifically, the court decided that each of the condemned should be
drawn backwards to his death, by a horse, his head near the ground. They were
to be "put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of
both". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and
their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the
dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become
"prey for the fowls of the air”.
That’s graphic. But this puts it in perspective. See, Transcendence
lends gravity to the cross. Jesus was not merely a moral teacher and not merely
a human being. No, He was this Transcendent God made flesh! And the God that is
bigger than the brightest and the biggest of stars loved your insignificant
soul so much that He died in your place. That is more bizarre than if King
James I came and died in the place of his own assassin, Guy Fawkes. Jesus
Christ, the King, took the punishment of those who committed high treason
against Him, you and I. You and I, as criminals, were as deserving of as
graphic of a death as imaginable, but the Son of God took that graphic,
torturous crucifixion in our stead.
Transcendence should mean that God is cold, distant and
unconcerned with your life. Yet in actuality, transcendence means that God’s
concern for your life is unspeakably awesome.
What then? How privileged beyond all measure you are to
have the mind and heart of God! To know that the eternal and infinite Mind of
wisdom and knowledge, which designed the universe and set it in motion, is
infatuated and passionate about you. To know that the fathomless Heart of
hearts which held everlasting life from eternity past, beat its last in the
flesh when it was pierced upon a garish, wooden frame.
You have not earned the concern of His Mind or the
affection of His heart. Does this not speak volumes of how great beyond all
words the love of God is? Truly, the love of God is transcendent, beyond
anything we know. His absorption and enthusiasm for you cannot be measured.
You have only to accept it. No amount of duty or deed can
repay it. No gift can recompense it. How small of a gift would even your very
life be should you devote the rest of every waking moment to God Most High
alone! You have only to live for Him in infinite wonder over the gravity of His
love. You have only to throw yourself upon His mercies. You have only to trust
in the tenderness of His Heart and rely on the attentions of His Mind.
“When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of
Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my
pride.” The words of that hymn were written by none other than Isaac Watts. I
think they carry much deeper significance in light of God’s Transcendence.
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