God the Father
GOD’S LIMITLESSNESS
God the Father
GOD’S LIMITLESSNESS
Caution is required in discussing the nature of God. First, the word nature may be inappropriate when applied to a Being who is above all nature. The transcendence of God is expressed on every hand, especially in the Scriptures (Joshua 2:11). Therefore, it can be said that God is not “natural” at all; He is above nature. He is super-natural.
Second, caution is needed in attempting to explain how a God who is transcendent (above the world) is also immanent (in the world). Even the thought of a Being who is both “here” and “there” is difficult to sustain, yet this truth is expressed in Acts 17:27. Perhaps such a thought as this is what motivated J.B. Philips years ago to write an insightful little book titled, Your God Is Too Small. Without help it is impossible for us to think big enough to comprehend God. Humans need humility to contemplate seriously the nature of God. Our highest perceptions can hardly discern the stature of God in the fullness of His glory (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12).
Third, trying to understand God is the greatest challenge of our lives. Every person who thinks of God at all thinks of Him in a limited way. We innately realize that we are struggling with the insurmountable if we are struggling alone. Every Bible reader knows that this is the affirmation of the Scriptures (Isaiah 55:8-9).
What, then, are we to do? We reach for humility as we confess our personal limitations and inadequacies. We utilize resources other than our own and eagerly accept God’s invitation to reason with Him (Isaiah 1:18). In the study of this series, we will be studying the nature of God, how He relates to us, and how we relate to Him. This should be a thrilling adventure worthy of our combined efforts.
Someone has said, “Our faith in God comes from what God says about Himself, not from what men say about Him.” When we think, we think in pictures or words. It really does not matter which comes to mind, since both pictures and words are merely symbols of what we are trying to convey or perceive. This works well during the course of everyday living. We often have difficulty, however, when we try to explain what is not commonplace. How often have we said, “I know it, but I just can’t ‘tell’ it”? The situation becomes more acute when we are dealing with something that is both uncommon and so expansive that it threatens to elude us completely. This is why it is difficult to talk about God. We cannot go far before we are out of ordinary conversation – everyday experiences and familiar words. As our thoughts expand, we find it necessary to use larger and more comprehensive words. This tends to make discussion about God become more exalted and “theological.” We find ourselves on strange terrain. This may produce a bittersweet dilemma: there may be more and more talk and less and less understanding.
The biblical conviction that God is unlimited with reference to His presence, knowledge, and power is what concerns us at the moment. This, of course, assumes the existence of God. The Genesis account of creation spends no time arguing the existence or reality of God: “In the beginning [God] . . .” (Genesis 1:1). This stance means that the Bible is basically an affirmation of God, not a plea or apologetic for Him. With the fact of God’s existence as a beginning point, the biblical writers were free to discuss His nature.
Fundamental to His nature is His existence. Moses found this out at the burning bush when God instructed him to say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). This identification had not been known previously (Exodus 6:2-3). This continuously self-existing God was revealed to the biblical writers as unlimited in His presence, knowledge, and power (Psalms 139:1-12; Jeremiah 32:17; Mark 10:27). Therefore, we will now consider these three attributes. That is His presence, knowledge, and power.
God’s omnipresence means our God is not “there” in essence. God is said to be “ubiquitous.” This means that He exists, or has being, everywhere at the same time. This is also the testimony of the Scriptures (Jeremiah 23:23-24). How can this be? What is involved? When we say God is everywhere that means we could travel anywhere in the universe and never find a “vacancy” sign so far as God is concerned. Ramifications of this are far-reaching.
Let us consider the fact of it. The universe is vast. We cannot possibly stretch our minds far enough to reach its limits. Our little solar system seems extensive enough. Remember how we – and about a half-billion other people – watched from the earth with delight and wonder as astronauts Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin cavorted on the moon? Man’s footprints are now on the moon. While the moon is approximately 250,000 miles from the earth, it is still on our back porch, astronomically speaking.
Now, step off the back porch into the yard and look around. We see the sun above. It is about 93 million miles away. Eight other planets are circling it. Mercury, the nearest, is only 36 million miles from the sun; Pluto, the farthest, is 3.7 billion miles away. Pluto takes about 247 earth years to circle the sun one time. At the time of this study, astronomers are convinced that another planet is beyond Pluto – So much for our backyard.
Let us go to the fence and look out and up. On a clear night, we can see the Milky Way, the galaxy to which our sun and all our planets belong. Research in astronomy by Milton Humason and Edwin Hubble has confirmed that our galaxy is 100,000 light years across. In addition, these galaxies or spirals are actually “island” galaxies that extend through the universe as far as present observation can determine.
Perhaps we have gone far enough. The picture of cosmic reality is mind-boggling. It is fantastically expansive. One indication of the immensity of the universe is how it is measured. Measuring distance in miles becomes a woefully inadequate exercise. Light-year calibrations become the standard, with light traveling at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.
All of this has great significance for our study about the nature of God. The term “light-year” is an expression of time. Therefore, thoughts about time are crucial for our grasp of God. By its nature, time has a beginning and an end. If it did not, it would not be time at all; it would be eternity. “Ubiquity” and its synonym, “omnipresence,” signify the presence of God “in all places at all times.” This is possible for God because in essence “God is spirit” (John 4:24). Therefore, God, in essence (basic entity), is in every place at all times. He does not “decide” to go where He is not - because He is already there! This is repeatedly expressed in both testaments of the Bible (Psalms 2:4, 3:4; Acts 7:49, 17:28).
Let us consider some implications of this limitlessness of God. The concept of God’s omnipresence has tremendous implications. Omni means universal, without restriction: omnipresence is defined as “being present in all places at all times.” Since God is omnipresent – in all places at all times – we take this to mean that neither time nor place escapes His presence. In other words, God is not bound, or restricted, to time or place (2 Peter 3:8; Psalms 139:7-10). Perhaps the greatest example of time is what we call history – “Time marches on” in history. We often say, “It’s just one thing after another.” Sequence of events does mean much to us, because on this earth we are time-bound creatures.
Place is also significant for us, because we are not infinite but finite. While we live here, we are bound by both time and place. Each one of us is a dot on the page of geography. We are always “here” – never “there.” At any precise instant, we are in a specific place. At that second, that place is our “here” – never our “there.” We may think of having been “there.” However, our “here” is where we are at any given time in any particular place.
This discussion is an attempt to describe and contrast the omnipresence of God with our finitude. He is not inhibited by time or place; we live here bound by both time and place. God is not limited by time and place because He is eternal (Isaiah 57:15). He encompasses both time and place because He is eternal and He is omnipresent. However, He transcends both time and place in His eternal nature. This is the significance of His disclosure of Himself as the great I AM. Yahweh is actually a form of the verb “to be” – to exist.
As an eternal God, He has neither “past” nor “future.” Both “past” and “future” are concepts draped with the garb of time. But time and eternity are not the same thing. Eternity is not a “long time.” Eternity is forever. It has no beginning and no end. God is “the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8). That is, He ushered in time and history and gave us a sense of temporal reality. He will eventually usher out time and history and give us the full and true sense of eternity. It must be stressed that He has brought time and history into being and is the very One who transcends both time and history.
The essence of God is spirit. We have seen that God is not only ever-present in time (temporally), but He is also ever-present in the universe (spatially). The Bible affirms that He exists eternally; that is, He exists beyond any boundaries whatsoever, including time (history) and space (creation).
With our finite concepts of time and space, we often speak of God as “here” or “there.” So do the Bible writers, as we have seen. It is necessary for time-bound and space-bound creatures to speak of God in this way. However, we also speak of Him as eternal. We do so because God, in essence, is the God who is in time and space as well as beyond time and space. From His perspective, He is always “here” now. To our inquiry “Is He ‘there’?” His answer is “Yes, I AM ‘here.’” This is truth whether we are thinking of space beyond the universe (if any), the universe itself, our own world, or our very lives. This is the God in whom “we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28). Is our God too small? No, but our ability to see Him fully falls short, at least for now.
The psalmist realized the limitations of man and recognized the limitlessness of God. He expressed these concepts in Psalms 139:7-12: “Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there, If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there, If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,’ Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee.”
