Bible Basics: Knowing GodSample

The Eternal and Transcendent God

By Christopher Hyslop

The Bible teaches us that God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (He is present everywhere), and He is transcendent (above and beyond anything created or material). God is almighty, and He’s unconfined by time and space!

It’s important for us to understand God’s attributes so we can know Him better – although, because He is over and above our finite existence, we will never fully comprehend Him. God’s immense, incomprehensible vastness can feel intimidating – even terrifying – but thankfully He’s not only all-powerful and transcendent, but also wholly good and perfectly loving.

When we’re overwhelmed by the confusion, chaos, and suffering all around us, we can also take tremendous comfort from the fact that there exists a God who is not too weak to do anything about it. Things don’t ‘happen’ to God; He speaks, and things happen. He is never paralyzed or immobilized; He is powerful and in control, free to choose what He wills. In submitting to God’s great transcendence, we find peace for our souls that there is a King over everything who knows what He is doing.

The book of Job gives us amazing insight into God’s omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and transcendence. Job is a righteous man of faith who is severely tested. He’s plagued with pain, loss, and disease, and then wrestles with his wife, his friends, and God over what it all means. For the first 37 chapters of the book, Job and his friends pour out their accusations and assumptions. When their arguments are reaching a climax, God speaks to Job out of the storm. For four chapters, He asks Job various questions, like, ‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.’ And, ‘Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place…?’ We might think it’s crazy that Job and his friends assume they know better than God, and yet at times we’ve admittedly been convinced that we know what God should or shouldn’t do in a particular situation.

At one point in their conversation, God says to Job, ‘Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer Him!’ Of course, Job realises he’s losing the debate! We all need to get to that place of humbly acknowledging, ‘You are God; I am not.’ Job is finally able to admit to God, ‘I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.’

We can live with incredible peace and authority when we realise that our mighty, transcendent, sovereign, truly awesome God is good, loving, and kind, and He wants to be in a relationship with us. He is for us! Take some time to be quiet in the presence of God. Open your heart to His greatness. He is much closer to you than you think. If you’re weighed down by anxiety or a particular burden, give it to God. He loves you more than you can imagine.