Part 4 (1/2)

It is spirit that gives significance to matter and apart from spirit nothing has any value at last. A little child strays from a party of sightseers and becomes lost on a mountain, and immediately the whole mental perspective of the members of the party is changed. Rapt admiration for the grandeur of nature gives way to acute distress for the lost child. The group spreads out over the mountainside anxiously calling the child's name and searching eagerly into every secluded spot where the little one might chance to be hidden.

What brought about this sudden change? The tree-clad mountain is still there towering into the clouds in breath-taking beauty, but no one notices it now. All attention is focused upon the search for a curly-haired little girl not yet two years old and weighing less than thirty pounds. Though so new and so small, she is more precious to parents and friends than all the huge bulk of the vast and ancient mountain they had been admiring a few minutes before. And in their judgment the whole civilized world concurs, for the little girl can love and laugh and speak and pray, and the mountain cannot. It is the child's quality of being that gives it worth.

Yet we must not compare the being of G.o.d with any other as we just now compared the mountain with the child. We must not think of G.o.d as highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to G.o.d. This would be to grant G.o.d eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough; we must grant Him transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word.

Forever G.o.d stands apart, in light unapproachable. He is as high above an archangel as above a caterpillar, for the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between G.o.d and the archangel is infinite. The caterpillar and the archangel, though far removed from each other in the scale of created things, are nevertheless one in that they are alike created. They both belong in the category of that-which-is-not-G.o.d and are separated from G.o.d by infinitude itself.

Reticence and compulsion forever contend within the heart that would speak of G.o.d.

How shall polluted mortals dare To sing Thy glory or Thy grace?

Beneath Thy feet we lie afar, And see but shadows of Thy face.

Isaac Watts Yet we console ourselves with the knowledge that it is G.o.d Himself who puts it in our hearts to seek Him and makes it possible in some measure to know Him, and He is pleased with even the feeblest effort to make Him known.

If some watcher or holy one who has spent his glad centuries by the sea of fire were to come to earth, how meaningless to him would be the ceaseless chatter of the busy tribes of men. How strange to him and how empty would sound the, flat, stale and profitless words heard in the average pulpit from week to week.

And were such a one to speak on earth would he not speak of G.o.d? Would he not charm and fascinate his hearers with rapturous descriptions of the G.o.dhead? And after hearing him could we ever again consent to listen to anything less than theology, the doctrine of G.o.d? Would we not thereafter demand of those who would presume to teach us that they speak to us from the mount of divine vision or remain silent altogether?

When the psalmist saw the transgression of the wicked his heart told him how it could be. 'There is no fear of G.o.d before his eyes,' he explained, and in so saying revealed to us the psychology of sin. When men no longer fear G.o.d, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is not deterrent when the fear of G.o.d is gone.

In olden days men of faith were said to 'walk in the fear of G.o.d' and to 'serve the Lord with fear.' However intimate their communion with G.o.d, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of G.o.d as awesome and dreadful. This idea of G.o.d transcendent rims through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of G.o.d was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of G.o.d the Almighty.

Wherever G.o.d appeared to men in Bible times the results were the same - an overwhelming sense of terror and dismay, a wrenching sensation of sinfulness and guilt. When G.o.d spoke, Abram stretched himself upon the ground to listen. When Moses saw the Lord in the burning bush, he hid his face in fear to look upon G.o.d. Isaiah's vision of G.o.d wrung from him the cry, 'Woe is me!' and the confession, 'I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.'

Daniel's encounter with G.o.d was probably the most dreadful and wonderful of them all. The prophet lifted up his eyes and saw One whose 'body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished bra.s.s, and the voice of his words like the voice of a mult.i.tude.' 'I Daniel alone saw the vision' he afterwards wrote, 'for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.'

These experiences show that a vision of the divine transcendence soon ends all controversy between the man and his G.o.d. The fight goes out of the man and he is ready with the conquered Saul to ask meekly, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?'

Conversely, the self-a.s.surance of modern Christians, the basic levity present in so many of our religious gatherings, the shocking disrespect shown for the Person of G.o.d, are evidence enough of deep blindness of heart.

Many call themselves by the name of Christ, talk much about G.o.d, and pray to Him sometimes, but evidently do not know who He is. 'The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,' but this healing fear is today hardly found among Christian men.

Once in conversation with his friend Eckermann, the poet Goethe turned to thoughts of religion and spoke of the abuse of the divine name. 'People treat it,' he said, 'as if that incomprehensible and most high Being, who is even beyond the reach of thought, were only their equal. Otherwise they would not say the Lord G.o.d, the dear G.o.d, the good G.o.d.' This expression becomes to them, especially to the clergy, who have it daily in their mouths, a mere phrase, a barren name, to which no thought whatever is attached. If they were impressed by His greatness they would be dumb, and through veneration unwilling to name Him.

Lord of all being, throned afar, They glory flames from sun and star; Center and soul of every sphere, Yet to each loving heart how near!

Lord of all life, below, above, Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love, Before Thy ever-blazing throne We ask no l.u.s.ter of our own.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Chapter 14.

G.o.d's Omnipresence Our Father, we know that Thou art present with us, but our knowledge is but a figure and shadow of truth and has little of the spiritual savor and inward sweetness such knowledge should afford. This is for us a great loss and the cause of much weakness of heart. Help us to make at once such amendment of life as is necessary before we can experience the true meaning of the words 'In thy presence is fulness of joy.' Amen.

The word present, of course, means here, close to, next to, and the prefix omni gives it universality. G.o.d is everywhere here, close to everything, next to everyone.

Few other truths are taught in the Scriptures with as great clarity as the doctrine of the divine omnipresence. Those pa.s.sages supporting this truth are so plain that it would take considerable effort to misunderstand them. They declare that G.o.d is immanent in His creation, that there is no place in heaven or earth or h.e.l.l where men may hide from His presence. They teach that G.o.d is at once far off and near, and that in Him men move and live and have their being. And what is equally convincing is that they everywhere compel us to a.s.sume that G.o.d is omnipresent to account for other facts they tell us about Him.

For instance, the Scriptures teach that G.o.d is infinite. This means that His being knows no limits. Therefore there can be no limit to His presence; He is omnipresent. In His infinitude He surrounds the finite creation and contains it. There is no place beyond Him for anything to be. G.o.d is our environment as the sea is to the fish and the air to the bird. 'G.o.d is over all things,' wrote Hildebert of Lavardin, 'under all things; outside all; within but not enclosed; without but not excluded; above but not raised up; below but not depressed; wholly above, presiding; wholly beneath, sustaining; wholly within, filling.'

The belief that G.o.d is present within His universe cannot be held in isolation. It has practical implications in many areas of theological thought and bears directly upon certain religions problems, such, for instance, as the nature of the world. Thinking men of almost every age and culture have been concerned with the question of what kind of world this is. Is it a material world running by itself, or is it spiritual and run by unseen powers? Does this interlocking system explain itself or does its secret lie in mystery? Does the stream of existence begin and end in itself? Or is its source higher up and farther back in the hills?

Christian theology claims to have the answer to these questions. It does not speculate nor offer an opinion but presents its 'Thus saith the Lord' as its authority. It declares positively that the world is spiritual: it originated in spirit, flows out of spirit, is spiritual in essence, and is meaningless apart from the Spirit that inhabits it.

The doctrine of the divine omnipresence personalizes man's relation to the universe in which he finds himself. This great central truth gives meaning to all truths and imparts supreme value to all his little life. G.o.d is present, near him, next to him, and this G.o.d sees him and knows him through and thorough.

At this point faith begins, and while it may go on to include a thousand other wonderful truths, these all refer back to the truth that G.o.d is and G.o.d is here. 'He that cometh to G.o.d', says the Book of Hebrews, 'must believe that he is' And Christ Himself said, 'Ye believe in G.o.d, Believe also...' What ever 'also' may be added to the elementary belief in G.o.d is superstructure, and regardless of the heights to which it may rise, it continues to rest solidly upon the original foundation.

The teachings of the New Testament is that G.o.d created the world by the Logos, the Word, and the Word is identified with the second person of the G.o.dhead who was present in the world even before He became incarnate in human nature. The Word made all things and remained in His creation to uphold and sustain it and be at the same time a moral light enabling every man to distinguish good from evil. The universe operates as an orderly system, not by impersonal laws but by the creative voice of the immanent and universal Presence, the Logos.

Canon W. G. Holmes of India told of seeing Hindu wors.h.i.+pers tapping on trees and stones and whispering 'Are you there? Are you there?' to the G.o.d they hoped might reside within. In complete humility the instructed Christian brings the answer to that question. G.o.d is indeed there. He is there as He is here and everywhere, not confined to tree or stone, but free in the universe, near to everything, next to everyone, and through Jesus Christ immediately accessible to every loving heart. The doctrine of the divine omnipresence decides this forever.

This truth is to the convinced Christian a source of deep comfort in sorrow and of steadfast a.s.surance in all the varied experiences of his life. To him 'the practice of the presence of G.o.d' consists not of protecting an imaginary object from within his own mind and then seeking to realize its presence; it is rather to recognize the real presence of the One whom all sound theology declares to be already there, an objective ent.i.ty, existing apart from any apprehension of Him on the part of His creatures. The resultant experience is not visionary but real.

The certainty that G.o.d is always near us, present in all parts of His world, closer to us than our thoughts, should maintain us in a state of high moral happiness most of the time. But not all the time. It would be less than honest to promise every believer continual jubilee and less than realistic to expect it. As a child may cry out in pain even when sheltered in its mother's arms, so a Christian may sometimes know what it is to suffer even in the conscious presence of G.o.d. Though 'alway rejoicing,' Paul admitted that he was sometimes sorrowful, and for our sakes Christ experienced strong crying and tears though He never left the bosom of the Father (John 1:18).

But all will be well. In a world like this tears have their therapeutic effects. The healing balm distilled from the garments of the enfolding Presence cures our ills before they become fatal. The knowledge that we are never alone calms the troubled sea of our lives and speaks peace to our souls.

That G.o.d is here both Scripture and reason declare. It remains only for us to learn to realize this in conscious experience. A sentence from a letter by Dr. Allen Fleece sums up the testimony of many others: 'The knowledge that G.o.d is present is blessed, but to feel His presence is nothing less than sheer happiness.'

G.o.d reveals His presence: Let us now adore Him, And with awe appear before Him.

Him alone, G.o.d we own; He's our Lord and Savour, Praise His name forever.

G.o.d Himself is with us: Whom the angelic legions Serve with awe in heavenly regions.

Gerhard Tersteegen

Chapter 15.

The Faithfulness of G.o.d It is a good thing to give thanks unto Thee and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High, to show forth Thy loving-kindness in the morning and Thy faithfulness every night. As Thy Son while on earth was loyal to Thee, His Heavenly Father, so now in heaven He is faithful to us, His earthly brethren; and in this knowledge we press on with every confident hope for all the years and centuries yet to come. Amen.

As emphasized earlier, G.o.d's attributes are not isolated traits of His character but facets of His unitary being. They are not things-in-themselves; they are, rather, thoughts by which we think of G.o.d aspects of a perfect whole, names given to whatever we know to be true of the G.o.dhead.

To have a correct understanding of the attributes it is necessary that we see them all as one. We can think of them separately but they cannot be separated. 'All attributes a.s.signed to G.o.d cannot differ in reality, by reason of the perfect simplicity of G.o.d, although we in divers ways use of G.o.d divers words,' says Nicholas of Cusa. 'Whence, although we attribute to G.o.d sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, sense, reason and intellect, and so forth, according to the divers significations of each word, yet in Him sight is not other than hearing, or tasting, or smelling, or touching, or feeling, or understanding. And so all theology is said to be stablished in a circle, because any one of His attributes is affirmed of another.'

In studying any attribute, the essential oneness of all the attributes soon becomes apparent. We see, for instance, that if G.o.d is self-existent He must be also self-sufficient; and if He has power He, being infinite, must have all power. If He possesses knowledge, His infinitude a.s.sures us that He possesses all knowledge. Similarly, His immutability presuppose His faithfulness. If He is unchanging, it follows that He could not be unfaithful, since that would require Him to change.