otherness

The Transcendence of God

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Studying the attributes of God is a noble and worthy task but it must be acknowledged that man’s capacity to understand the greatness of God is limited by his inherent finiteness. The apostle Paul eloquently stated humanity’s dilemma.

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
    Who knows enough to give him advice?
And who has given him so much
    that he needs to pay it back?

For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. – Romans 11:33-36 NLT

Paul makes it clear that the human mind is incapable of fully comprehending the greatness of God. This all-powerful and incomparable Being is Invisible to the human eye and incomprehensible to the human mind and must choose to make Himself known if He is to be recognized at all. As Paul stated in the opening chapter of Romans, God displayed certain aspects of His divine nature through creation.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. – Romans 1:20 NLT

The universe reveals His power, majesty, creativity, and sovereign control over all things. While we can’t physically see God, we can witness the work of His hands and begin to grasp the awesome nature of His power and transcendence. David was blown away by the indisputable evidence of God found in the natural world. He could see the proof of God’s existence everywhere he looked.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world. – Psalm 19:1-14 NLT

Creation declares the glory of God but it will never fully mirror the majesty of its Maker, and David seemed to understand that fact. When he became king of Israel, David voiced his growing awareness of God’s unlimited power and sovereignty over all things. God didn’t just make the universe, He ruled over it with unrivaled authority that made David’s royal power pale in comparison.

“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.” – 1 Chronicles 29:10-12 NLT

To say that God is transcendent is to confess His otherness. In other words, it is an admission that God is not like us. He is not a slightly improved version of man; a human being on steroids. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, transcendent means “being beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge” (“Transcendent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcendent. Accessed 15 Aug. 2024). God is beyond our comprehension. He exists outside our scope of understanding. He is not only invisible but unknowable and, yet, He has chosen to make Himself known.

God desires for us to know Him, not just cognitively but personally and intimately. The Bible is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It all began in the garden where God developed an ongoing relationship with the first man and woman. In that pristine and perfect environment, Adam and Eve enjoyed the presence of the transcendent God. He spoke to them and made His presence known to them. They couldn’t see Him but they knew He was there. When they eventually disobeyed His command concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they attempted to hide from Him.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. – Genesis 3:8 NLT

Their sin resulted in their banishment from the garden and the loss of their intimacy with God. From that point forward, mankind began its unrelenting trajectory away from God. It was not that God was somehow relegated to the garden and their travels took them further from His presence. Distance didn’t determine their separation from God, it was the spiritual state of their hearts. But the further they went, the weaker their awareness of God became. In time, they forgot about Him altogether, and the Book of Genesis records the sad result of their faithlessness and forgetfulness.

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. – Genesis 6:5 NLT

Humanity had been allowed to know and experience the transcendent God of the universe but had chosen to walk away from Him. So God started over, revealing Himself to a man named Noah. Once again, the invisible, all-powerful God made Himself known and knowable. He spoke with Noah and provided him with a plan to repopulate the world and reboot the system. The flood destroyed the rest of humanity but Noah and his family were preserved by God. They were given the privilege of salvation and the responsibility to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 

This royal reboot allowed Noah and his family to experience the personal presence of the transcendent God. He sealed them in the ark and protected them during the days of the flood. He graciously preserved them and mercifully released them to begin the process of filling the world with more of their kind. But the rest of the Book of Genesis records the less-than-stellar results of their post-flood experience. It didn’t take long for Humanity 2.0 to succumb to the same internal bugs that doomed the previous model.

But all along the way, God continued to make Himself known. He revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He displayed His glory to Moses. He showed up in a light show on the peak of Mount Sinai, displaying His majestic power to the people of Israel cowering in the valley. He gave them His Law, designed to be a further revelation of His holiness and righteousness. He provided them with the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system to accentuate His set-apartness and to ensure their own holiness. The invisible, unknowable, inaccessible God continued to make Himself known. He had made them His own people, His chosen possession. He gave them a land as their inheritance. He provided them with kings. He blessed them and prospered them. But in return, they turned their back on Him

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and I called my son out of Egypt.
But the more I called to him,
    the farther he moved from me,
offering sacrifices to the images of Baal
    and burning incense to idols.
I myself taught Israel how to walk,
    leading him along by the hand.
But he doesn’t know or even care
    that it was I who took care of him.
I led Israel along
    with my ropes of kindness and love.
I lifted the yoke from his neck,
    and I myself stooped to feed him.” – Hosea 11:1-4 NLT

The more the transcendent God made Himself known, the more comfortable and complacent the people of God became. They lost their awareness of His greatness. Their awe and wonder diminished over time. His blessings became rote and expected. They took His power for granted. Eventually, God chose to remove His hand of blessing and allow His people to experience the loss of His presence. They had lost their wonder and appreciation for God. Their undeserved access to and intimacy with Him lost its value. His persistent presence robbed them of their appreciation for His transcendence.

And so the Lord says,
    “These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
    is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
    with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
    and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.” – Isaiah 29:13-14 NLT

For centuries, the people of Israel would lose their privileged position as God’s chosen people. Their Temple would be destroyed. The sacrificial system would be eliminated. Tens of thousands of Israelites would spend their lives living in exile in foreign lands, far from their homeland and separated from their God. They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, but that was not the case for the Israelites. Even after their return to the land of Israel, they failed to reestablish their wonder and awe for God. Their hearts remained far from Him. But the transcendent God was not done revealing Himself to His people.

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. – Galatians 4:4-5 NLT

God sent His Son, and this staggering event would prove to be the greatest revelation of God that man has ever experienced. The apostle John reminds us of the staggering nature of Jesus’ incarnation.

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. – John 1:18 NLT

Jesus, the Son of God, made the invisible God visible, a fact the apostle Paul makes abundantly clear.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation… – Colossians 15 NLT

The unknowable, unapproachable, invisible God of the universe wants to be known. He desires to have a relationship with fallen humanity. As Paul makes clear, no one is seeking a relationship with God. The reality of indwelling sin makes the pursuit of God impossible for all men.

“No one is righteous—
    not even one.
No one is truly wise;
    no one is seeking God.
All have turned away;
    all have become useless.
No one does good,
    not a single one.” – Romans 3:10-12 NLT

But God sought us out. He sent His Son to make Himself known and knowable. The transcendent God condescended to take on human flesh and make the fulness of the Godhead visible to fallen mankind. This fact should not only astound us but cause us to rejoice in the greatness and goodness of our gracious God.

“He is far away, in one sense, but in another He is as near as your heartbeat, for the cross has bridged the gulf. Let the blood of Jesus cleanse us from all sin. He who is God the Transcendent One says, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’” – A. W. Tozer, The Attributes of God

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

God’s Greatness and Goodness

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1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “Dominion and fear are with God;
    he makes peace in his high heaven.
3 Is there any number to his armies?
    Upon whom does his light not arise?
4 How then can man be in the right before God?
    How can he who is born of woman be pure?
5 Behold, even the moon is not bright,
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
6 how much less man, who is a maggot,
    and the son of man, who is a worm!” 

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “How you have helped him who has no power!
    How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
    and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
4 With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?” – Job 25:1-26:4 ESV

It almost appears as if Bildad is growing weary. In what will be the last of his three speeches, he seems to run out of energy and words in his ongoing attempt to convince Job of his guilt. Since Job has continued to express his belief that God will ultimately vindicate him, Bildad reminds his friend that God is not to be trifled with. He describes God as a “powerful and dreadful” (Job 25:1 NLT) ruler who reigns over the armies of heaven. His power is so vast that He controls the sun and “is more glorious than the moon” and “shines brighter than the stars” (Job25:5 NLT).

This all-powerful deity is a force to be reckoned with and not to be taken lightly. Bildad is appalled by Job’s arrogant display of faux intimacy with God. From his perspective, Bildad sees Job as far too flippant in his attitude toward the God of the universe. His beleaguered friend displays a schockingly and unwise disregard for God’s holiness and transcendence. Job speaks of God as if they were best friends and Bildad goes out of his way to paint God as anything but Job’s bosom buddy in the sky. This great and glorious God is so vast and holy that no mere mortal can dare to stand in His presence, let alone hope to be called His friend. Bildad drives home this point like a dagger.

“How can a mortal be innocent before God?
    Can anyone born of a woman be pure?” – Job 25:4 NLT

And in an apparent attempt to build a bridge of reconcliation to Job, Bildad includes himself in the category of all those who fail to measure up to God’s glorious standard.

“In comparison, people are maggots;
    we mortals are mere worms.” – Job 25:6 NLT

While there is truth in what Bildad has to say, he is applying that truth like a sledgehammer while neglecting to factor in such things as God’s love, mercy, compassion, and desire to have a relationship with mankind. God is indeed transcendent but He makes a habit of reaching out making Himself available and approachable to humanity. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the greatest example of God’s desire to make Himself known to man.

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. – John 1:18 NLT

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. – Colossians 1:15 NLT

God made Himself known to Adam and Eve in the garden. Before the fall, they had daily fellowship with their Creator-God. Noah and Enoch are said to have walked with God. They both enjoyed an intimate relationship with the Almighty that He initiated. Abraham was called “the friend of God” (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:24) and that relationship was marked by regular interactions with his divine counterpart. They talked repeatedly and Abraham knew what it was like to be discipled and disciplined by his Heavenly Father and friend.

Bildad mistakenly portrays God as a one-dimensional being who is so dissimilar and distant from humanity that the gulf between the two cannot be bridged. What right does the lowly worm have to expect the God who created the universe to take notice of it. And, according to Bildad’s logic, a sinful human being has not hope of standing before the wholly righteous and sinless God of the universe. Job was out of his league and out of his mind to think that God would give him the time of day. Bildad believed ob was living in a fantasy land of illusion and false hope, and the sooner he woke up to the reality of his sinfulness and God’s holiness, the better.

But Job isn’t swayed by Bildad’s pessimistic logic. Rather than bow the knee to Bildad’s demand for abject submission to God’s trancendence, Job levels a series of stinging and sarcastic one-liners against his friend.

“How you have helped the powerless!
    How you have saved the weak!
How you have enlightened my stupidity!
    What wise advice you have offered!
Where have you gotten all these wise sayings?
    Whose spirit speaks through you?” – Job 26:2-4 NLT

These literally statements drip with sarcasm. Job wants Bildad and his two companions to know that their lengthy monologues have been utterly useless and of no benefit whatsoever. He is not impressed with their wisdom. He has received no life-altering insights from all their pontificating and posturing. He has not been swayed by their rhetorical skills or pithy-sounding platitudes masquerading as truth. There is nothing they have said that he didn’t already know. They have brought nothing new to the table but have simply regurgitated the same old worn-out arguments about God’s greatness and man’s lowliness. But that doesn’t help to explain Job’s predicament. Job fully understood that God is God and he is not. He knew that God was holy and righteous. In fact, he was counting on it. He was so convinced of God’s “otherness” that He was willing to take his questions and concerns straight to the sole source of wisdom, truth, and justice.

Job knew God was holy, and he wasn’t taking Him lightly or treating Him with contempt. Despite the picture his friends painted, Job wasn’t stupid. But he was desperate. He needed answers. He longed for relief. And so he called out to that powerful and dreadful God who rules over the host of heaven and controls the sun, moon, and stars. He went straight to the top, not out of some misguided sense of self-worthiness or equality with God, but based on his understanding of God’s greatness and goodness.

God invites His children to call upon Him. He desires even lowly worms to reach out to Him in faith and hope.

“…call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” – Psalm 50:15 ESV

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” – Jeremiah 33:3 ESV

…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. – Romans 10:13 ESV

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Acts 2:21 ESV

Job had not called his friends, but they had shown up anyway, and their arrival had brought him nothing but grief. Their answers and advice had proven unhelpul and nothing but hurtful. They were even advising Job to curtail his pitiful and pointless cries to God. It would do him no good, they reasoned. He was wasting his time. But Job knew better. Despite all that had happened, Job knew that God was his only hope. Yes, his hope was wavering and his faith was being severely tested, but he kept returning to the one piece of solid ground in the landscape of his shattered life: The greatness and goodness of God.

If Job had only had access to the Psalms, he might have shared the following insights with his friend, Bildad. These amazing words from the pen of Ethan the Ezrahite provide a powerful counterpoint to the short-sighted logic of Bildad.

O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
    Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?
    You are entirely faithful.

You rule the oceans.
    You subdue their storm-tossed waves.
You crushed the great sea monster.
    You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
    everything in the world is yours—you created it all.
You created north and south.
    Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.
Powerful is your arm!
    Strong is your hand!
    Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
    Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.
Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,
    for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.
    They exult in your righteousness. – Psalm 89:8-16 NLT

It is God’s greatness that makes possible His goodness. Only He is all-powerful and fully capable of using His righteousness and justice to right the wrongs and bring about vindication and restoration to the hurting and hopeless of this world.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.