Transcendent
God is above and beyond all things; He exists totally apart from the material universe; He is transcendent. God is not a slave to the laws of the universe and laws of nature of which He is author; rather He is independent of them_above them. He can override them at will, though normally He does not interfere with them. A number of instances of God’s overriding of His natural laws are given in Scripture. For example, resurrection from the dead (John 11:44; Luke 24:6), virgin birth (Matt. 1:23), water turned into wine (John 2:9), the sun standing still (Josh. 10:13).
God is not simply the highest in an ascending order of beings, but infinitely above the highest created beings. And this transcendence is not an exclusive attribute of God the Father. Concerning His Son we read, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name:that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (Phil. 2:9,10). Also, "He raised [Christ] from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet" (Eph. 1:20-22).
In connection with this attribute of God’s transcendence, let us notice from Scripture the response of man in the presence of God the Father and God the Son:
"And Moses hid his face:for he was afraid to look upon God" (Exod. 3:6).
"Then said [Isaiah], Woe is me! for 1 am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isa. 6:5).
"Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed hi linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; His body also was like the beryl, and His face as the appearance of lightning, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of His words like the voice of a multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision:for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me:for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength" (Dan. 10:5-8).
"When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken" (Luke 5:8,9).
"And as [Saul] journeyed, he came near Damascus; and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven; and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And He trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:3-6).
What is our attitude in the presence of God during times of prayer, worship, and learning of Him through the Word? May we, like Isaiah and Peter, experience a deeper sense of our own sinfulness and failure to do His will. May the fight and willfulness go out of us so that we ask meekly_as did Saul of Tarsus, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" And may we be properly filled with awe and deep respect for Him as we consider how He, the Son of God, the creator, has come down_infinitely down_to bring us into relationship with God the Father.
Infinite
God has no limitations. He cannot be imprisoned either in space or time. His attributes cannot be measured; His holiness, power, grace, wisdom, love have no limit_are infinite. By way of contrast, I may think I love all men, until one comes along so mean to me that I find myself hating him, or certainly not loving him or desiring good for him. But God’s attributes are not affected by what He finds in His creatures. I may have a measure of physical strength or spiritual power. But it constantly needs replenishing through rest and nourishment. And what is our power compared to God’s? He is infinitely more powerful:He has moved mountains, set the planets and stars on their courses, created the universe. And there is no indication that His power was ever diminished or that He ever became weary from doing such mighty works.
Surely we can exclaim with the apostle Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33).
Immutable
God never differs from Himself. He is not a growing or developing God. He cannot change for the better or the worse. All His attributes are unchanging, always in perfect balance with one another. He does not change from being primarily a God of righteousness at one time or during one era to being primarily a God of love in another era. His love and His righteousness, His grace and holiness, are always present in unvarying proportions. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).
When we come to Him we don’t have to worry about what kind of mood He is in today. His love is steadfast and constant, unlike the ups and downs of human love. His holy wrath toward sin is uniform and unchanging, unlike our tendency to be angry toward any sin that harms or hurts us but tolerant of sinful activities that give us pleasure. "I am the Lord. I change not" (Mal. 3:6). "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8). "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end" (Psa. 102:25-27).
Since God is perfect in all His ways, it is most comforting to know that He will always be the same, that He does not change. As for ourselves, considering what we were by nature_born in sin and shapen in iniquity_the ability to change is a treasure. A. W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy expresses it well:"For human beings the whole possibility of redemption lies in their ability to change. To move across from one sort of person to another is the essence of repentance:the liar becomes truthful, the thief honest, the lewd pure, the proud humble. The whole moral texture of the life is altered. The thoughts, the desires, the affections are transformed, and the man is no longer what he had been before. So radical is this change that the apostle calls the man that used to be ‘the old man’ and the man that now is ‘the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.’ "
There is a bit of a difficulty attached to the truth of the immutability of God. On the one hand it is said of God that He "is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent" (Num. 23:19; see also 1 Sam. 15:29). On the other hand, we read,’ ‘And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart (Gen. 6:6). Also, we hear the Lord saying unto Samuel, "It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king; for He is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments" (1 Sam. 15:11). And in Jonah 3:10 we read that "God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.” How is it that the unchangeable God seems to repent or change His mind about things?
The fact is that we never find Him changing in His basic attitudes and attributes. It is man that does the changing, and God may have to change His response to man_either for the better or for the worse_according to man’s behavior. When God created man He beheld that "it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). But after man fell into sin, and "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth," we find a marked change in God’s thoughts toward man and the necessity for Him to manifest to man His holy anger toward sin. His love and grace are no less evident in that He spares righteous Noah and his family from the judgment and gives mankind another chance.
The opposite occurred in Jonah’s day. Because of the great wickedness of the people of Nineveh, God announced to them by His servant Jonah that the city would be destroyed in 40 days (Jonah 1:2; 3:4). But when the Ninevites responded to the pronouncement by repenting and turning away from their evil ways, they brought themselves under God’s mercy and forgiveness instead of His wrath. God Himself had not changed.
Let us worship and adore, and have deep respect and reverence for our transcendent, infinite, unchangeable God. (To be continued).