A Great and Humble God

Have you ever met someone famous? If you have, chances are, you were impressed with one of two things. Maybe you got a favorable impression of the famous person because he was, as they say, 'down to earth.' He did not appear to be so full of himself for one so famous. Or on the other hand, you may have had an unfavorable impression of him because he was aloof, and struck you as a bit arrogant. Isn't that why politicians kiss babies and shake hands is if they are your best friend? They want you to get a favorable impression of them—whether it is deserved or not.

This fascination and expectation that we have of famous people illustrates something of the nature of God. The God of the Christian faith is One who is both exceedingly great, and exceedingly humble. To say it another way, He is both famous and down to earth.

Transcendence and Immanence

Theologians have terms that describe these two conditions: transcendence and immanence (not to be confused with imminent, or eminent). These are two rich terms. Transcendence refers to God's existence above and independent of the material universe. In other words, God is greater than, and different from creation. The contrasting term, Immanence, from the Latin in manere meaning, "to remain within," refers to God's presence within the created order.

The two are wonderfully married within the Christian God. The first few words of the Bible describe God's transcendence: "In the beginning God." The fundamental truth of the universe is that "God is." And out of God comes the existence of the created order.

But the Bible does not stop with God's transcendence. Indeed, the entire Bible is full of examples, from Genesis to Revelation, of God's immanence within the created order, with its fullest expression found in the Incarnation—"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The Second Person of the God-head took on flesh to dwell among us and to die for us, that the Spirit of God might dwell within us. This is an immanent God.

The marriage of the principles of God's greatness (or transcendence), and humility (or immanence) is important. Consider one without the other.

Transcendence without Immanence

If God were transcendent, but not immanent, He would be a God who was aloof, uncaring and quite distant. This form of God can be found in what is called 'Deism.' Deism is a system of thought which was popular in the 18th century, captivating even some of America's founders, like Thomas Jefferson. Deism suggests that God is something like a clock-maker who created a clock, wound it up, and left it alone. God, according to this view, created the world, is letting it run its course and has little or no interest in it. This God is an arrogant God. Without immanence, a merely transendent God is disgusting.

We see this in famous people we come into contact with. As we watch people on tv, or read their books, we think that we really know them. But when we meet them on the street, we find that they have no interest in us at all, and find some of them are quite arrogant. Greatness without the humility of presence is off-putting.

Immanence without Transcendence

If, on the other hand, God were immanent, but not transcendent, His presence would be meaningless because He was merely part of the created order. He would be on an equal with us.

To take it one step further, even Christ's humility as demonstrated on His death on the Cross would be more than meaningless. It would be pathetic. One who claims to be God who lives among us and dies is no God any of us should trust in—unless that God can defeat death as well, which is what Christ did in the Resurrection.

Immanence without transcendence can be found in the system of thought known as 'pantheism.' Pantheism is the belief that God is in, and is in fact, everything. This is an initially appealing view for many. But the problem is that God becomes, not just you and me, but also the dung and bacteria. It lowers God to dung, and raises dung to humanity and to God Himself.

Transcendence with Immanence

The Christian God rejects both notions. He is a God who claims to be both transcendent and immanent. He is both great, and He is humble. His greatness is awesome and intimate and His humility in His presence is dumbfounding. Brought together in the God of the Christian faith, both His transcendence and His immanence lead us to worship.

You see, God's transcendence cannot be seen as distant, aloof and haughty, because He has chosen to be among us in the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity in Jesus Christ, as well as in the pouring out of His Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

But His immanence cannot be seen as weak or pathetic because the great Creator of the Universe need not have done it. He humbled Himself out of His great love for us and has chosen to be intimate with us.

God is like the famous person that we have seen on tv and read about in books and magazines who has been found to be true to our expectations of humilty and care. He is indeed both a great and a willingly humble God.