some thoughts

Today all our theology truly became doxology.

As we began the sesion on The Doctrine of God (Part I: The Being and Nature), we opened with Psalm 24. Asking the question, “Who is this King of Glory?” we knew that we were not about to take up some superficial topic; but the deepest subject the human mind and heart can attempt to comprehend. “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear falsely.” We examined our hearts, thanking Christ Jesus that his blood has made our hands clean and our hearts pure. When we hit about verse 3, my voice broke, and I began trembling at the weight of what we were about to enter into. The silence was…full. I honestly removed my shoes.

I’m not even sure how to write about today’s class. But, here goes. We started with a brief review of The Existence of God: i.e., how can we know God exists? We reviewed Romans 1 and Psalm 19 (from Creation), Acts 14:16-17 (by Providence) and Romans 2:14-15 (from Conscience). I quickly mentioned the 3-4 traditional “proofs” for God’s existence (the cosmological, teleological, ontological, and moral arguments), so that we could move right into main course. (The heart [structure] of today’s message came from John Frame’s The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God.)

We turned back to Psalm 24 and read, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof…” and I asked “why?” Why is it his? What claim does he have over it? The students correctly replied, “because he created it.” (This is also the reason given in the following verses). That started us off with the foundation for the class discusion: the Creator vs. creature distinction. What is implied in God’s Creator-ness? (Frame’s) Control, Authority, and Presence. All of these deal with both his Transcendence and his Immanence. (Frame, DKG) What is implied in our creatureliness? Subjection, dependance, and response.

We mentioned an aspect of his transcendence: The Incomprehensibility of God, meaning that we can never fully comprehend the totality of what/who God is), and an aspect of his immanence: The Knowability of God, meaning that we can, however, know something of him and know it/him truly. And finally, The Self-Attestation of God, meaning that whatever the case, because he is high above, Creator, and Transcendent Lord, if we are to know anything of God, He must take the initiative in revealing himself to us: He must enable us to be persuaded to embrace his existence and Lordship. (Grudem, Systematic Theology).

Then we began to explore all the implications of his transcendence and his immanence (remembering that He of whom we were speaking was both of these even at that very moment), and indicated where so many other systems of thought or world-views or divergent Christian-spinoffs fail to accept one or both of God’s full Transcendence or his full Immanence. (Such as process theology, open theism, deism, agnosticism, atheism, buddhism, relativism, rationalism, irrationalism, secular humanis, anarchism, etc.) This was the ‘theory’ part; we then turned to the results of (and the motive for) these views, either human moral autonomy, or actual divine authority. If God is transcendent, but not immanent (capable of really communicating with us), we cannot know his moral laws and thus we resort to human moral autonomy. On the other hand, if God is immanent (near and knowable) but not transcendent (distinct from his creation), he has no authority or otherness and thus, we cannot know his laws and end up again at human moral autonomy. If (in the atheistic, or insane, view) God is neither transcendent nor immanent (since they belive he just plain isn’t), then again we cannot know any higher law and we resort to human moral autonomy. Human moral autonomy means, basically, “everyone doing what is right in his own eyes.” (Frame, DKG)

Only the biblical Christian view of God’s full transcendence and full immanence provides us with an Absolute and Personal God, who communicates his laws to us; only in this view is the result an actual divine authority. Without ultimate control, absolute authority, and real presence, he cannot truly be our Lord. We then opened the wonder that this transcendent God, this “King of Glory” would accomadate himself, stoop down and speak to us in our language with the very purpose that we might know him and be with him. Though absolute and eternal and immense and infinite, He does not withold his presence (his ‘person’) from us; instead he beckons us first remove the sandals from off of our feet, and then draw near unto him. What kind of God is this! It buckles the knees, and waters the eyes!

Finally, we recalled the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make for yourself a carved image…” and the historical struggle both Jews and Gentiles have had with idols. We have clamored for a material something to look at, to touch, feel, bow before and worship as God. Yet God commanded that nothing of the sort be dreamed of; nothing of our making could ever do his glory justice. Nothing could ever match his glory and goodness and wisdom and power in material form–nothing except for Jesus Christ.

We were amazed that the Transcendent God became utterly Immanent when he “took on flesh” and “dwelt among us;” that “in the face of Christ Jesus is the glory of the invisible God;” that Jesus is the “express imprint of his nature, and the radiance of his Glory;” to “see Him, is to see the Father;” that the Transcendent God became one of us, to be with us and to bring us to him, that he was truly, fully, Immanent; that he was, is, and shall forever be “Emmanuel, God with us!”

The full expression of God’s transcendence and immanence is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God and material son of man, very God of very God–ultimate power, wisdom, moral excellence and majesty–with us forever!

It was no mere academic head-stuffing session this morning; we bent our minds in studious worship of the King of Glory, the Lord mighty in battle, and our hearts were mightily enflamed. I cannot possibly communicate the weight of it (at least in my mind and heart). Words cannot express…suffice it to say that truly, this morning all our theology provoked a deep and full mind-awed and heart-warmed doxology.

…and I remembered why I am.