God's Transcendence and Immanence
Isaiah 40:25-31:
“WHO IS LIKE THE LORD OUR GOD?” (On God’s transcendence and immanence)
25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for 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.
Introduction: “The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate
her concept of God” (A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 6).
Every day we need to be aware and acknowledge the incomparable greatness and goodness of God. In a society where God has been brought down to our level, where the word “God” has be- come just another fancy word for shock, nothing is more important than the recovery of a sense of the transcendence and immanence of God. A chapter such as Isaiah 40 will help to expand our thoughts about God and deepen our trust in Him.
Background: The scene has shifted from Judah facing the Assyrians in the 8th century BC to the ex- iles in Babylon in the 6th century BC. The first half (1-39) of Isaiah talks mainly about judgment and exile and the second half (40-66) focuses on deliverance. Isaiah 40 is part of that vision about the end of God’s discipline and the restoration of God’s covenant people.
I. God over us (Transcendence)
John Frame explains that “divine transcendence and immanence are the related Christian doctrines that while God is exalted in his royal dignity and exercises both control and authority in his creation (transcendence), He is, by virtue of his control and authority, very present to his crea- tion, especially his people, in a personal and intimate way (immanence).” Both speak of how God relates to the world.
To say that God is transcendent is to say that God is exalted, above and beyond us. By this we mean that God is “separate from” and “independent from” his creation (It means that he is su- perior to it; See the Westminster Confession of Faith 7.1). Isaiah speaks of God’s absolute transcendence.
(Illustration: Grand Canyon)
We need more than seeing God through our own eyes. Isaiah shows us God
through God’s eyes. In Isaiah 40, the author shows us the whole created order through God’s eyes.
God is the Creator – (Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth – Isaiah 40:28). Isaiah 40 is a majestic creation poem comparable to Job 28 and Psalm 104. Isaiah takes on the whole creation at a glance and asks in essence, “Who else but God can [make it], weigh it, measure it, and determine it with perfect precision and ease?” (Kent Hughes). The total nature of God’s greatness is expressed by way of opposites: (1) Consider the finiteness of the creation in general; (2) Consider the frailty of man- kind (“all flesh is like grass...like the flower of the field,” Isaiah 40:6); (3) Consider the futility of idolatry. “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? And
Idol!” (Isaiah 40:18-19)
God is the Controller – Isaiah points us to a God who is purposively directing the whole of reality and the course of history to their appointed end. Isaiah shows us that God’s control or governing activity is all-inclusive.
Did you see how God used the Assyrians and the Babylonians to accomplish his purpose with Israel, and then in turn brings destruction on these two powerful nations. “Behold your God” (2x, Isa. 40:9-10). He is the God who controls the entire universe and the great movements of history. “[He] brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness” (Isaiah 40:23).
God governs all nations and the circumstances of our lives. God’s governing activity also in- cludes the “free actions of humans.”
God prevents - (e.g., Abraham and Abimelech; Gen. 20)
God permits - God at times simply wills things to happen. In Romans 1 Paul said that “God gave
people up to impurity, dishonorable passions, a base mind, improper conduct” (vv. 24, 26, 28).
God limits – (e.g., Job; David)
Job 2:6 – “And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
Psalm 124:1-3 – “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swal- lowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us.”
4. God directs - (i.e., Joseph)
Genesis 45:8 - “So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh,
and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
Genesis 50:20 – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[a] should be kept alive, as they are today.”
5. God works all things for our good and his glory (Rom. 8:28) 2
• God is the Conqueror/Coming King – “Prepare the way of the LORD” (Isa.
40:3). You may be facing something overwhelming now and you ask, can God
really do this? When God destroyed the Assyrians army (Isiah 37), was that just
a “lucky shot,” or can God handle the Babylonians too? Can God overcome the
obstacles in our world today? Can God deal with all the pressing concerns that
we have in our church today? “He comes with might and his arm rules for him” (Isaiah 40:10). God will accomplish his purpose and he will make all things new. He will do what is necessary to the kingdom of Christ – he will do it until the glory of Christ is revealed to the whole world. Transformation will take place “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isa. 40:5).
II.God with us (Immanence)
To say that God is immanent is to say that he is present, and he is actively at work in nature, human nature, and history. Jeremiah 23:24 emphasizes God’s presence throughout the whole uni- verse:
“Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”
Our God doesn’t work from a distance or work only through church programs or by just call- ing the shot from afar. He comes. He brings his presence. In Christ, he has come down to us in over- whelming glory to make all things new. And his presence is our joy, our comfort, our peace, our sal- vation, our sufficiency, our security.
A. God is the Savior of His People – He will come to give “comfort” to his people. The affectionate tone of the passage is evident in the way God admonishes the prophets to speak words of com- fort to Jerusalem. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem or speak to the heart” is the language of cove- nant love from the covenant Lord who has graciously forgiven and restored his people.
God is the Shepherd of His People – “[God] will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isa. 40:11). The language echoes Jacob’s words in Genesis 48:15, “God...has been my shepherd all my life.” The emphasis is on the care of the flock, particularly the vulnerable. The arm of the Lord, which has destroyed his enemies is now employed to protect and cherish. The “arm of the Lord” (40:10) is a metaphor not only for his power but also for his close personal in- volvement.
God is the Sustainer of His People - “He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God cares for the small nation of Israel and he won’t get tired (“He does not faint or grow weary” – Isa. 40:28) in reaching out, rescuing and restoring his cove- nant people. God KNOWS and KEEPS his sheep.
Conclusion: The doctrines of transcendence and immanence describe the royal dignity and pres- ence of the God who came to be among his people in Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.
Do you remember when our God came? “He was made to faint and grow weary. Wasn’t He? His strength was spent and He did indeed fall into all the fragility and weaknesses to which our na- tures have exposed us. He wept. He was exhausted. He bled. He died. And because He did, and now lives and reigns at the right hand of the Majesty on High, flowing from Him to all who wait upon the
Lord comes an inexhaustible fountain of grace” – David Strain.
Isaiah 57:15 expresses both the transcendence and immanence of God:
“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Applications:
We cannot know all there is to know about him, but he chooses to reveal himself. What we need
is a clearer vision of God and a keener passion for his glory.
Creation itself wears out, but not the Creator. This creator God of power and wisdom is willing to share his strength. How are you today? How can we keep going if natural strength gives out? There is a way to persevere and it comes through waiting for the Lord. Do not trust your own schemes and remedies and quick fixes, instead trust in God. And remember that Christ is doing well and you are well-seated with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
God alone deserves praise so don’t be a credit thief – It is so easy for us to develop a theological amnesia. If you forget God’s transcendence and immanence, you will tend to take credit for things you never could have accomplished, produced, or controlled on your own. And when you take credit for what you couldn’t have done on your own, you fail to give praise to the one who deserves credit.
Turn to God! Trust God (What is massive to us is manageable to him)! Testify about God!
C.S. Lewis said, “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely ex-
presses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”
February 19, 2023/Dr. Jerome David