The Immutability of God

We continue in our 6th sermon in the series of the attributes of God. We took a brief pause to look at a couple of sermons on the book of James before other ministers took over the series and so we continue on with what I feel is a VERY important series but also a very difficult one. This is a time of lent as I write this. Lent to Christians, not just Catholics is about penance, sacrifice, abstinence, fasting, alms giving, purification, and deep spiritual devotion and reflection demonstrated by increased prayer, focus on God, increased church attendance, and association with Christ through self-imposed restrictions. Today we are looking at the immutability of God. In other words, the changeless and immovable nature God. In effect this is God’s PRIME attribute because of all of His others stems from this one. God is essentially according to one of the Anglican cardinals of faith “a spirit, whose being, wisdom power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.” When I was a child I loved and still do, learning about sharks. One I’m particularly interested-the great white shark. I remember watching “Jaws” as a child with my father, truly I remember doing many things with my father and in that time it was not only as father and son but also a chance for a father to teach his son about the world around him, and this was no different. I remember sitting on the couch and we were watching Jaws, and I was not frightened in the traditional sense; it was more so a fear in the same way I fear the sun or God; it is a fear of something that is greater than me, something that I should respect. As I watched in awe,
I asked about what ancient sharks looked like and was surprised to find out that the great white is in fact perfect. It has had no need to evolve. It has had no need to evolve. I stand in awe as well but in a VERY different way when it comes to an immutable God. God is infinite, and as an infinite God cannot be ever changing. I don’t struggle personally with the concept of God never ending but I do struggle with the concept of a being that never began and has not changed. It is not because I don’t believe that He is immutable but it is the fact that my pathetic human brain cannot handle it. There are dozens of Bible verses that support this attribute of God, some of them are listed: Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 102:26; Mal. 3:6; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:17–18; Jam. 1:17. There is one text that stands out to me as evidence of God’s immutability, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” 1 SAM 15:29. But the traditional view of God’s immutability is characterised with the following precepts:
1) God is unchanging; He is not affected by anything or is swayed in any way, shape, form, or prayers.
2) God is without emotion and is not reliant upon an outside force to change His mood.
3) He needs nothings, desires nothing, and His immutable nature is connected to all other parts of His nature.
4) Nothing we could do could ever sways Him or makes Him take notice of us because that would imply that He was not aware of us before.
But there is another side of the coin, which is called the more open view of God’s immutability; or for lack of a better term a “mutable” God. This is a God who is swayed by our emotions, a God who feels anger and compassion and can be swayed by our prayers and our offerings can gain His favour. But wait this does not sound right either? This is a view that God sent Christ down as a permanent solution to a problem God did not see coming (the fall of man). I’m confused because I know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not an unfeeling entity who does not even know or care about me. Even more in the Bible than God’s immutability is mentioned about God’s love. At the same time though I do not worship a God who can be swayed and overwhelmed by the needs of the world that He did not see. So which body of thought actually represents the true nature of God? It is the first, God IS an immutable God! The issue lies in how we view Him, understand scriptures, and ponder on His nature. So we will be looking at how these two conflicting views focus to one. God is unchanging, in Malachi He tells Israel that because God is unchanging and remembers His covenant promises they have not been destroyed.
See brothers and sisters we have been defining God as an immutable God by our philosophical definitions. In fact the very concept of an immutable deity was first presented by Plato and Pliny. We need to understand God’s immutability in the terms of the Holy Bible. And so according to the Bible what are God’s immutable characteristics:

1. God cannot change His actions. Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.” God does not break His promises; but it does not mean God is inflexible. God has never once been this inflexible rule breaker but at the same time He was never been a reactive God always trying to think up different behaviour strategies to correct our sin like some cosmic head master.
2. God does not change in His nature. Psalms 102:26 – “They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.” He was and is and is to come. God does not age, or grow, or evolve in knowledge or physical nature. He does not exist in our time but does not exist of it; he occupies all things in all ways and as such all things have come from Him He does not need to change because if He did it would not make Him God and then our faith would not matter anyways.
3. God’s third immutable characteristic is that He does change in His reaction to sin. Christ was always meant to come down. Adam and Eve were always going to sin. It seems to us that God reacts to us and puts plans into place. This is not the case, when God comes to Noah and says oh I am going to wipe out the world and start clean; this wasn’t a recent thing but rather a plan set out that when it came time in human standards to execute this plan He did. In Genesis 18 Abraham pleads with God for the lives of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah begging to begin with 50 people will save the city then it eventually whittles down to 10. This is not Abraham convincing or moving God to change His plans but it is in fact a chance for God to demonstrate that He has mercy on the wicked city on earth; and this is carried over to a wicked generation and Christ’s salvations, that generation is us.

How is Christ a demonstration of God’s immutability? People would say that Christ is proof that either God is either mutable or Christ is not the essence of God in flesh. However like with all of God’s attributes and His nature at times it seems contradictory to us but with all His attributes what we may view as contradictory they are in perfect harmony. It is called a hypostatic union; “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God… 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1, 14). Both natures co-exist separately but temporarily in perfect harmony, adding flesh to a divine nature does not change the already divine nature. Jesus was not a god-man; like a demi god from Greek mythology; these two natures are in communication with one another and both natures are connected to the single person; this is called “communication idiomatum” which means that both natures are in perfect communion in the being of Christ. In John it says; “and now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” Paul says that in Him all the deity dwells in bodily form.
Theology is good and it is important but what good is knowledge if we do not do something with it. What applications can we take to live in fullness in Christ for all time?

1. We can live knowing that the expectations of God for us have been the same, are the same, and will be the same. As a teacher I can tell you that students respond the best when a teacher is consistent in their behaviour and learning expectations for them.
2. God’s emotions do not change; God loves us now; He always did, and always will. When a person is lost to hell God does not stop loving them, and He will love and lament their choice for all time.
3. The promises we have in Christ written in the Bible are complete! There is no hidden book or secret code that will throw us for a loop.

These topics are very deep and difficult and as you read this I pray you feel almost like it’s a pilgrimage; particularly since it is the time of lent and coming of Easter. God bless.

The Trials We Endure

Last week we looked at the author of this book- James the Just. We looked at his life, his ministry, the hope we gain from this book in the few short words of the first verse and also the topics you will be examining with me and the other preachers. Today we are looking at a topic that is at the front of most people’s minds; trials and tribulations. Why is this at the forefront of our minds? Because we are a species that does endure hardships. We talked about the straightforwardness of James last week and how simple his statements and instructions were and not that they were lacking or a “strawy epistle.” James is not a figurative speaker in this text; he does not offer a lot of metaphors, anecdotes, or reflections. For the first part of the text there is no real flowery edification or opening prayer. He dives into the deep end-consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds. How many people do that? I personally will endure a trial but I will moan and winge about it. But we’re not called to just to endure it, or tolerate it well, or even be happy about it-we are told to consider it pure joy. What do you think of when you think of pure joy? I think of relaxing on the dock of a lake by a cabin early in the morning with a cup of coffee; I think of reading a good book about some Christian missionary in a far off land, people making fun of my religious beliefs where I work is not my idea of pure joy. But that is the theme for this message why we should not only expect but also welcome trials-and we look at this in three parts. The first being we know that our trials build up endurance in us, the second part is that trials bring completeness and maturity, and the third reason is that we should welcome trials because the value of the growth is worth more than benefits of being spared pain.
We have all encountered trials in our lives. I have not heard of anyone in history who had a perfect life. Even Christ Himself had trials that would test anyone’s resolve. However, our trials are never an example of God neglecting us or rejecting us. Often times we go through trials and when something in the future happens we are thankful for our trials because they prepared and refined us in the fire for that moment. The Lord never once promised us that our lives would be easy but He did say He would be there with us. Warren Wiersbe said “Life's trials are not easy. But in God's will, each has a purpose. Often He uses them to enlarge you.” I once knew a man who was very successful actually; he owned a business, engineering, drove a very nice car, and had a beautiful wife and kids. One day the market took a slight turn for the worse-we refer to this event as the global economic crisis. When I asked “Ed” (not his real name) how he fared in the market, he informed me that he had to file for bankruptcy. Just utterly shocked-I apologised, offered what I could do and was remorseful. Ed brushed it off; evidently businesses declared bankruptcy all the time-truly Donald Trump has stated he has declared bankruptcy 9 times in his career. When I asked Ed why he was so nonchalant about it. He responded that financially it would all work out; he would be fine, his family would be ok and in the grand spectrum of eternity this really didn’t make a difference. See Ed had grown up homeless on the streets; he lived with foster parents and was frequently abused. He was beaten so much his eyes are permanently crossed now. He lived on the streets until he was 24; then got into a half way house, got work, got a college education, and the rest is history. Ed said to me that after eating out of a dumpster, cutting back on the frills wasn’t a big deal. Even my experiences that have been horrible have prepared me to be a preacher, teacher, husband, and maybe one day a father.
This brings me to my next point-that trials bring maturity and completeness thus we should be grateful for this. The Holy Bible says that iron sharpens iron; something hard, sharp, and tough creates something strong, sharp, and tough. In the Bible there are multiple verses that clearly link trials with Christian growth; In Romans it says “In His gracious, sovereign oversight, God uses all aspects in believers’ lives—including great difficulties—to help them become more like Jesus.” Isn’t that the whole point to become more like Christ? We cannot get through life without trials-Christ never did but all these trials guided Him towards an event; the resurrection. Christ told us to expect troubles; no servant is above their master but we should rejoice. Rather than trying to fight the trials let us embrace them, the pain may be less when we don’t fight and we may actually be able to see the changes in us and the growth. Christmas Evans once said that completeness in Christ will never be complete until we are with Christ. We need to understand that this life is a fleeting moment, a blink of the eye and 17 000 years from now our trials will seem like a faded memory of a pinprick we felt running for the phone. But trials seem more real to us because we want that maturity and that wholeness in Christ right away. We feel that when we become Christians we should achieve this immediately but as I have been once; we will always have a little darkness in our souls but if it becomes less through Christ each and every day we are on the right track. The same is true in how we respond to our trials. This leads me to my third point, that the benefit we achieve from the trials outweigh the benefits of avoiding the trial all together.
Charles Finley once said that “A state of mind that sees God in everything is evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart.” See, knowing that the pain on earth will one day turn into the joys of heaven doesn’t take away the tears but it does give us hope. There was once a young man I attended university with, his name was “Adam B”. He was a nice guy-he was in third year; I was in first year. Adam was one of our dorm advisors but he was also a heavy drinker, drug user, and womaniser. One of my first memories was of Adam in a compromising position; truly he reminded me of the prodigal son. One night, Adam got really drunk, he was smart enough not to drive home but not smart enough to follow the crosswalks. Adam was hit by a car and spent several months in the hospital. Afterwards he got his life back together and eventually even became a Christian. Adam once spoke at our Christian fellowship group and emphasised how he was thankful for the accident. He told me in a later conversation that when we get in our own way; God will use other methods to get our attention. Adam thought about the way he had acted in the past and the joys that he got from that carnal life. He equated it to a photo copy of a photo copy- a faint copy of joy. In the Bible God promises that if we are faithful, if we keep the faith what we have waiting for us is greater than anything, truly greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world. Since that is true, clearly the benefits of those trials we endure for Christ either directly, or indirectly are of a greater benefit to us than avoiding hardships. The Bible says “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” The Bible promises that it will just be for a little while. So why is James writing this at the start of his epistle? Well clearly the messianic Christians were experiencing trials but James does not sugar coat it, suck it up, and be happy because we are experiencing these trials for a reason. Bad things are going to happen whether you are a Christian or not-at least our trials will yield fruit and that is the promise of God. We keep the faith, we bear the fruit, and we win the race. Let’s pray.
Benediction: And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen."
(1 Peter 5:10-11 NRSV)

An Introduction to the Book of James the Just

The verse I have today may seem short to some but for me it is perfect!  James 1:1-James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:  Greetings.  Today we will be looking at this verse in three parts, first being who the author is, and what can we expect from this book, the second part is that very cryptic verse of the twelve tribes scattered among the nations, and the last part-probably the hardest one, greetings! 

 

Martin Luther once called this epistle “a right strawy epistle.”  Some say it is a Jewish letter edited by inept Christian monks.  E.C.Blackman a former London University lecturer in an SCM commentary published 40 years ago, sums the letter of James up as "simple things for the ordinary church member who is not interested in theology, has no deep religious experience, and yet feels called to be faithful in that which is least; who ask for no spiritual banquet, but is content with a diet of straw." I’m sorry but are we reading the same thing?

 

Before we get in any deeper let’s look at the author.  Who was James?  James is often believed to be James the Just; he calls himself a servant, or slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we know he was a bit more than that.  James the Just was above all else the brother of Jesus Christ.  Whether this was through Joseph and Mary later or another circumstance is not important it is clearly shown he is a brother; those who believe in the perpetual virginity believe he was a cousin since Jesus was an only child but in the original Greek James is put into the tense of a possessive noun, the same type of grammatical structure we would use for a mother or uncle.  He was also the bishop of the Jerusalem church.  Several men in the New Testament are called James, and some of them have no more information other than their names. Due to time limits the chances of it being the apostle James, the brother of John, since he was martyred around 40 A.D. There was another man called James, the son of Alpheus, another one of the apostles, who was literally one of the minor apostles.

 

Most likely the man who authored this epistle is the man whom we know to have been the half-brother of our Lord Jesus. James was most likely the oldest out of all Jesus’ brothers and sisters.  As Jesus’ closest brother James would have known our Lord intimately.  James initially had a Jewish view of the Messiah as a deliverer and conqueror, similar to Moses.  At times James even thinks Jesus goes too far and should dial it back; this stands out particularly to me when Jesus is teaching and James with the other siblings and Mary come to see Him and Jesus elevate those who are His followers above His own flesh and blood.  But in the end the resurrected Christ appears to James in Acts-a very special, holy, and ineffable experience.  But what was James like as a man?  James had always been highly intelligent. This second son of a carpenter, raised in the village of Nazareth, had an ear for language and picked up and spoke Greek with a flow.  James of Nazareth is a gifted writer. He grows in wisdom through his life. The apostle Paul calls James a pillar of the church (Gals.2:9). And James is one of the first brothers that Paul visits when he is first converted from Saul and in his last visit to Jerusalem visits him again. When Peter was rescued from prison he told his friends to tell James (Acts 12:17).  And above all this he was humble, he is a slave, a servant, he does not even let a whisper of his bloodline slip from his lips; for he was not only the brother of the Son of God but also a direct descended of the House of David.  James is eventually martyred in 62 A.D. by the Roman official Porcius Fetus.  The epistle that carries his name reflects his love for his brother and his God.  It was written by 49 A.D. before the Jerusalem Council and the destruction of the temple.  This book was written for first century Christians focussed at the Jewish Christians but also surpassed the cultural barriers of the gentile Christians.  It was meant to give practical advice to Christians in a world that put pressures on them to live in a way contradictory to God’s law.  Some of the themes we will examine in this book are faith through trials, avoidance of temptation, be cautious of how we act, and to give as Christ did.  It gives a very unique portrait of Christ’s message from a point of view we would have never seen before, from the point of view of a family member.  The Book focusses on exhortations to Christians on genuine faith, true faith is demonstrated in our actions, and true wisdom comes from God not from human beings.  In this series we will focus on the trials Christians will face in this life, followed by the wisdom of God.  Like James we will look at what is really riches and poverty in the grand spectrum of eternity, why it is important to hold our tongue, and why favouritism no longer exists under an equal God, we will look at the problems of faith when they do not have works to go along with them, and of course the importance of anointing prayer.  This book offers all of this and more.

 

The next verse speaks to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.  I love this verse!  Right off the bat we see James’ deep faith Judaic roots showing themselves.  This is an allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel, 10 of which went out into the world.  This verse is twofold; it not only references Jewish history but also shows that Jews and Christians are connected.  James’ line here tells us that the faith was on the move; Jewish Christians were spread far and wide preaching unto gentiles and pagans.  But James also does not limit his greeting to messianic Jews-to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations-he is speaking of God’s chosen people but not of those of the old law.  He puts the supremacy of Christ above the Old Law; but with the twelve tribes scattered among the nations he is telling these Messianic Christians that even though they are few and far between in strange lands they are still God’s Chosen people.  We are ambassadors of Christ, and no matter where we are in the world we have that connection still.  We can always find fellow pilgrims in this world.  James does not reference the names of the twelve tribes like they reference the names of the churches.  This is done intentionally because it shows that there are no real tribal names we are all under the banner of the tribe of Christ.  See even though we may not be messianic Jews we are descendent of Abraham. 

 

Now for the last part of this verse; one word-Greetings!  Right away we see the tone is one of welcome.  James the leader of the Jewish church is reaching out to his brothers; when they are feeling isolated, alone.  They may be the only be one Christian in an entire nation, without linguistic, cultural, or familial connection this letter would bring tears to their eyes; when I put my feet in these early Christians shoes it brings tears to my eyes.  I am probably more excited by this one word than the rest of the verse.  I feel anticipation, I am excited-because in this word I sense that God’s Word will be unveiled and it was convict us, give us hope, and bring us closer to Christ.  So not to disagree with Martin Luther but I can think of many  books that may be considered a “righty strawy epistle” but to me the book of James gives us a glimpse into a very important world.  We see some of the instructions the messianic Christians were given; we are encouraged with messages of hope, fellowship, the importance of prayer and acting on our faith.    The topics we will follow will give us tools to be effective brothers and sisters in Christ ministering in very practical and real ways to a world in which we are all pilgrims and foreigners.  Let’s pray

 

BENEDICTION:  MAY THE GOD OF HOPE FILL YOU WITH ALL JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING THAT YE MAY ABOUND IN HOPE, THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

The Immanence of God

We are continuing on with our sermon series on the “Attributes of God” focussing on His immanence; last year before holidays we looked at His grace, holy nature, aseity and other avenues of His nature.  Immanence by definition is the opposite of transcendence.  It is the concept that God is very much involved in the material world and is ever present in His creation; this is the exact opposite view point of most Jews and Muslims which emphasises God’s transcendence and the inability of man to approach the Lord.  This is an accurate belief for Christians because of course our own faith has its seeds in Judaism but the difference is that we can achieve immanence because of Christ and this is evidence of God extending the olive branch.

 

God’s superiority above man is often mistaken as a detachment bordering on emotional coldness.  Some sects in the Abrahamic religions believe that it would be a sin for God to so be involved in this world and since the spiritual world came before the material that is His natural realm.  Many believe that transcendence and immanence cannot co-exist that they are in fact contradictory but there are many instances in the Holy Bible that they in fact can co-exist and we will be examining both in two separate sermons.  In Jeremiah 23:23-24 The Lord declares “Am I only a God nearby,' declares the LORD, 'and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?' declares the LORD. 'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' declares the LORD."  It is this verse which will be our home base.  Paul writes of Christ that “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

                A common belief in orthodoxy is that the finite cannot understand the infinite.  His immanence is demonstrated in every rock, molecule, leaf, human breath, lion’s roar, and hymn.  God’s control can extend to all places and does extend to all places, and like His other attributes His immanence is inter-twined with the rest of them, able to analyse separately but never separate, distinct personality traits.  Often times we have a twisted view of God’s immanence, we believe that everything in nature is a part of God or is God Himself and thus He is His own creation.  Other theological perspectives include the ones that God created all this and then withdrew because of His disgust over it.  These views often muddy the waters of clarity and truth when it comes to the identity of God.  Some people say the fact that we say God is transcendent means he cannot be imminent.  But I disagree if God is everywhere He must be both near and far.  In the Bible it says we are all in Him, and we are all of the body of Christ; that is an example of his immanence.  I believe that God’s love for us is an example of His immanence.  While the Lord is distant, far, and transcendent He is also close.  In the Old Testament He came in forms of fire, cloud, and objects which reflected His glory and power and yet did those who witness it not feel the heat of the pillar of fire on their face? Or feel the gust of wind when God’s Spirit came to the tent of the tabernacle?   As I write this I am in the 3^rd day of Lent.  And something that has been on my mind is how at times the concept of and being of God and Christ seems so far above me and yet there is always something that reminds me of how close He is. The entire Bible is proof of His immanence while it celebrates His transcendence.  Our entire being of our faith is to show the lost that there is a God who is here and who loves them and who is so involved with us that we are beloved among all creation.  The Bible is many things and it is a record of His close walk with us from the beginning of our planet to just under 2000 years ago. 

 

                Many other religions may ask where the proof that God is this close is.  Unlike other mysteries of the Bible where we may never know in this life the question of God’s immanence is answered, directly from God Himself.  In the New Testament when the Son of God is being announced one of His many names is Immanuel (meaning God is with us). 

What are some of the examples from the Bible of God’s immanence?  One that stands out to me is Isaiah 57:15-when people argue that the Lord cannot be both transcendent and immanent I like to reference this; “For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite."  I find the book of Isaiah a go to reference for the complexity and completeness of the Bible since it was found in several locations complete. 

 

                God’s immanence is not always in your face pillar of fire, as God tells the prophet Elijah "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12 the discussions on God’s touch upon our lives are also meant to be deep in our souls, “God’s law penetrates our hearts with the light of His Word.”

 

                This brings me to the next biggest example of God’s immanent presence; His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as said before His name meant God with us.  Jesus reaches out as the flesh and blood immanent example of God’s love to the sick, sinners, and outcasts that the religious aristocracy prevented from reaching out to touch God’s fingertips.  In the Old Testament you could fall dead looking upon God’s face but the fact that Christ stripped Himself and came as man bridges a gap that was once transcendent.  But what are the benefits of this immanence through Christ?  First of all, we cut out the need for priests and temples even though Christ still honoured them.   Secondly we get a clearer picture of God.  Over hundreds of years, messages from prophets and priests are second hand information but when the Source comes down, it allows clearing up a lot of mix ups and mistaken theories.  And third Christ is able to physically show the love, tenderness, and all the personality traits that God exhibits in a way that man can understand. 

 

                The third example of third portion of God’s immanence I would like to analyse is His Holy Spirit.  See the evidence of God’s immanent nature is that of an inverted pyramid to us.  It begins with a God whom we cannot look upon by our own doing.  It was our sin that ripped us away from him and created this rift between us.  God’s transcendence still existed but because we were different beings we were still able to look upon Him.  Because of that His immanent nature was not fully revealed when we were in the Garden of Eden.  However after the fall we were very much separated from Him and we could not conceive His immanence.  Occasionally throughout the centuries and millennia He would gently tap on prophets and priests to speak to the people but to have a true encounter with God His immanence needed to be more self evident to poor humans.  Through the third portion of this inverted pyramid which is the Holy Spirit we have an indwelling of God in us and it is through the Spirit being inside of us, us being its temple that we have full completion of the Lord’s immanence and transcendence but I believe that we cannot fully understand nor appreciate it until we come before God. 

 

                Often people who only have a superficial understanding of God feel that His nature is often contradictory but when you strive to study and know God’s true nature is when you see that he is always in complete harmony, balance, and peace.  I thank God that even though I may not understand His nature His nature and His attributes are endless and unchanging.