God With Us
When we look at Jesus in the New Testament, we see a man of extremes. He heals Peter’s mother-in-law by taking her hand (Mark 1:30-31), and he also commands the storm and it obeys (Matthew 8:23-27). He draws close enough to whisper to, but is also the king of creation. He’s my friend and my brother, but also my God and my king. This idea of Jesus being both close to us and beyond us is what theologians call his divine immanence (he is close, present, personal) and his divine transcendence (he is big, holy, supreme, beyond the universe). These qualities can be summed up in three short words: God with us. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
God—the infinite, perfect, all powerful creator of the universe, beyond our comprehension, transcendent
With—close enough to talk to, always present, hearing our thoughts, seeing our tears, immanent
Us—unworthy sinners who have rebelled against God by nature and by choice, completely undeserving of his love
We see this all throughout the Bible. The Old Testament describes God as both immanent and transcendent, and interestingly they often go hand in hand. Consider Isaiah 41:8-10:
But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Do you hear the language of both closeness and bigness? He calls Abraham his friend, but is also sovereign over the earth’s “farthest corners.” He is close enough to hold Israel in his hand, but also strong enough to uphold them with it. He tells them not to be afraid because he is with them, and that promise only gives them comfort because he is the almighty God. He says, “I–the infinite, perfect, holy, all-powerful God–have come close. I, even I, am with you. What could you possibly be afraid of?” The God whose voice thunders and shakes the foundations of the earth also whispers to our hearts (1 Kings 19:9-14). Isn’t that amazing? (Other examples of God’s immanence and transcendence from the Old Testament include Genesis 28:10-22; Exodus 3; Psalms 23, 68, 145.)
Even more amazingly, this very God put on flesh and walked among us, close enough to literally, physically touch. And it was promised ahead of time! Through the prophet Isaiah, the Holy Spirit made this promise: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14. What does Immanuel mean? Fast forward to the angel’s message to Mary, who quotes Isaiah but adds a helpful clarification: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). – Matthew 1:23.
God with us. That’s the theme of the whole Bible, and we see it mostly clearly in the person and work of Jesus. We can’t let our familiarity with Jesus lessen our view of his grandeur. He is both immanent and transcendent. We can worship him as our immanent brother and friend, but also as our transcendent king and creator. We can lean up against him in friendship like John (John 13:23-25), and fall down before him in awe like Thomas (John 20:24-28). Both responses are totally appropriate.
Crucially, his nearness wouldn’t be helpful if he wasn’t big, and his bigness wouldn’t be comforting if he wasn’t close. He needs to be near so we can approach him, and he needs to be big so he can help us when we approach him. Think of a candle and a distant star (not the Sun). The star is millions of times brighter than the candle, but you can’t read by the light of the star. It’s big, but far. The candle is able to help you read a book, but it can’t support life on a planet. It’s close, but small. Jesus is bigger than any star and closer than any candle.
This week, try to hold in your mind both the immanence and transcendence of Jesus. He is with you. He hears the fragile cry of your heart. He calls you by name. He also upholds the cosmos. Stars ignite at his command. Mountains tremble at his voice. He is not one or the other, he is both. He is Immanuel, God with us.
John 10:27–28 – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.