Living with Tozer's God

Blogpost #28

Chapter 13: God is Transcendent 

 

When is an attribute not an attribute?

Transcendence is not an attribute of God. It's also never used in the Bible to describe God. So why do we use it and why did Tozer include it? Being human, we tend to look at things from a human perspective. This can easily leave us with a false concept in our thoughts about God. And, as Tozer encouraged us starting back in chapter 1, we must think rightly about God, if we are to have any chance of knowing Him.

To "transcend" means to rise above. It could apply to a circumstance where, because of an emergency, one situation rises above all the others and demands immediate attention. But, it's probably easier to illustrate in the human realm...especially among the sports and entertainment realms.

Most parents have had to think through the practical side of their children's dreams.  What do I mean?

It means the precarious balancing of wanting to encourage our kids to feel free to dream, even "shoot for the stars," but also realizing the price that has to be paid to fulfill those dreams, both personal and financial and often by both parents and child. It also means recognizing that some dreams require having natural skills that not everyone has.

In other words, it means guiding them so that their dreams align with who they really are, yet realizing that they might be capable of much more than it appears. If you look at pictures of Tiger Woods as a skinny young boy with those huge glasses, you might not see the potential his father did. Being a parent requires serious wisdom.

Tens of millions of young people have dreamed of being the next Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. But what are the odds of that happening? They are not good! Here's why. Think about the filtering process.

Let's start with high school. You might have, literally, millions and millions of young people who aspire to the greatness of a Tiger or MJ. The really good athletes (in any sport) will get to college, probably on a scholarship. (With typical college expenses running $50-100k, that's an attractive possibility!) But, at least 90% of those who started out playing in college will be filtered out. Of the ones who finish college and turn "professional," another 90% (or more) will be filtered out. In case your math is a little weak, this works out to 1 out of 100. But then there's the elite in the professional ranks; this eliminates another 90% in whatever field you look at. So now we're looking at 1 out of 1000, at least.

But, then there is what is often called the generational athlete, the one who only comes along once in a generation, the one who transcends the game, whose persona is bigger than life. Both Jordan and Woods fill the bill here. When Woods was at this peak a few years ago, one of his playing competitors (Ernie Els - who is a Hall of Fame caliber player himself) made this revealing comment, "Right now, Tiger is playing a different game from the rest of us." His greatness was so compelling that those who played with him, even at the highest level, had to admit that he was in a league all his own. His ability to perform was (and often still is) transcendent, it rises above all the other players.

That's a good illustration of the meaning of transcendence, but it has a fatal deficiency. It's a human picture. God is not human. He is not even super-human, He is another of a different kind. He is divine. When we say He is transcendent, we don't mean that He's one-in-a-million or even one-in-a-billion among men. It doesn't apply. His transcendence is wholly and completely beyond humanity, even the best of humanity. Humanity was His idea. He is the Creator of all humanity...and without Him we would cease to exist.

God is not merely the highest being, He is the source of all being. He is not merely Almighty, He is the Source of all might, all power. The truth is that all our efforts to comprehend Him, to describe Him, to understand Him fall short. They just do. You just can't get your mind around who He really is. It just doesn't compute. The best we can do is conjure up an ultra Super-Hero...and that just falls pathetically short. When we think we're beginning to grasp one attribute another comes in and we find there's a whole new dimension we never saw before...and in a sense, we just have to start over.

God is never outdated. He is never obsolete. The more we know of Him, the higher He rises. He is simply beyond our grasp. He knew that. He designed us with a capacity to know Him, even enjoy Him, but the capacity is limited. It's limited by His design, but it's also distorted by our sinful natures.

He knew that also. That is why He revealed Himself...first in Creation, then in Scripture and, finally in His Son. There probably are no more spellbinding words in all of world literature than those opening words in the first chapter of the book of Hebrews. Surely, they qualify as majestic:

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,

 through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory 

and the exact representation of His nature,

 and upholds all things by the word of His power."

 Heb 1:1-3 NASU

The Transcendent Man

Knowing that we could never reason our way into understanding who God really is, especially who He is as a person, He gave us one final revelation: His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As Hebrews 1:3 says so clearly, "He is the exact representation of His Nature." What does this mean? It means that He is God in human form.

How can that be? Isn't He supposed to be infinite, almighty, omniscient? How can a man (with all his inherent limitations) be God? Isn't that a logical impossibility? Can He be both infinite and finite?

The theologians describe Him as "the unique Being in the universe." He is both God and man. That is how He was able to become the mediator between God and man; the One (and only one) who could be the link that made a reconciliation and restoration of a relationship with a holy God possible once more. It also means going from glory to the dung heap! How was it possible? The answer of the Bible is simply that "He humbled Himself." If we knew and understood more of who God really is, we would probably label that as the understatement of all time!

While the Lord was both God and man on earth, His deity is described in the Bible as being "veiled." In other words, He purposely kept hidden the more dramatic attributes of His being so that we would not be distracted and mesmerized by them and miss what is probably more important: His character.

Of course, in events like the Transfiguration we see momentary glimpses of His true power and glory, just as we do in the feeding of the 5000. But the primary revelation was focused on the work of redemption which had to be accomplished by a man, a perfect but fully human man, a man who perfectly displayed the righteous character of God in His life.

When Hebrews 1:4 says that the Son is the "exact representation of His nature," it literally means "the representation of the reality of Him." What does that mean? It means that this man, in all his humanity, is the very image of God. And, filled with the Spirit of God, His life and character reflect that image. We see in His life and the things He did what a perfect man does, a man made in the image of God and unpolluted by sin, and how he glorifies God with His life. We see in living reality what transcendence really looks like. That's why the Apostle John could says "in Him was life. And the life was the light of men."

His selfless sacrifice of Himself transcends human love.

His obedience to His Father transcends and overcomes our disobedience.
His kindness and compassion transcends human kindness and compassion.
His humility and meekness transcends our pride and arrogance.
His judgment transcends and satisfies the wrath of God on our behalf.
His Resurrection transcends our death and makes a new birth and a new life possible.
His Desire for us to be with Him in Heaven transcends every obstacle.

"With God all things are possible." Why? Because He is Transcendent. If we would live in the light of His Transcendence, in the light of His "unsearchable wisdom," then it should lead to an awesome reverence for all that He has said and revealed.

When He encourages, our faith should be strengthened.

When He rebukes, we should learn from the instruction.
When He commands, we dare not disobey.

He has commanded us to "follow Him". Since we know His path leads to glory, why would we travel any other path, especially when He has promised not to ever leave us or forsake us?

 "I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that men may know 

from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me.  

I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness,

 causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these." Isa 45:5-7 NASU