Consider This...
Theological Thoughts to Encourage the Heart & Stir the Mind
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Volume I July 2011 Issue 31
The Immensity of God
A favorite children’s chorus of mine is:
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do...1
This little chorus truly describes the definition of the theological term the Immensity of God!
This attribute, the Immensity of God, means that God is so magnificent and of such magnitude that he fills everyplace with his presence and his being. He is above and over all things that exist and have been created. He is not partially in one place and partially in another place. His full presence is in every place in the same measure.
God is Immense in his Presence
David declares in Psalm 139:7-8,"Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven you are there: If I make my bed in hell, behold you are there.”
The Lord speaks to Israel through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 57:15 where the Lord declares, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."
In Jeremiah 23:24, God says, “‘Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?’ saith the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ saith the Lord.”
God is present with the one who sleeps soundly and believes in him, as well as the one who is being persecuted and about to die...in the same full measure. He is that great of a God.
Omniscience; hand in hand with Immensity
The attribute of immensity is closely paralleled to the omniscience of God. He is all-knowing. This is because he is everywhere at the same time.
In 1 Kings 8:27, King Solomon prayed unto the Lord at the dedication of the temple he built for God, “But will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”
God knows the thoughts of all men. Once again, in 1 Kings 8:39, Solomon says, "...For thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men." This shows how God's immensity goes hand in hand with his omniscience.
Solomon knew the grandeur of God. He knew God to be the self-existing one. He is independent of anything and independent of anyone. With the knowledge of God and his unity, God's immensity was something that Solomon and the people of Israel knew and never questioned.
This falls in line with the transcendence of our Lord. He is not contained only in the universe he created. He is everywhere outside of the universe! He is free from any limitation that we as humans could try to overcome.
This incommunicable attribute shows itself as supreme when it comes to being at a certain place at a certain time. We, as created beings, are only in one place at one time. Consider Satan; he is a created being so he can only be at one place at one time. He does not know what any one person is thinking. He cannot read your mind. He cannot personally be attacking you and another believer at the same time, at the same moment. He is limited and he does not possess the same incommunicable attributes as God.
In this knowledge, we can take comfort. Only God can truly know our hearts and the motives within them. Only he knows what we are thinking in relation to him and those around us. Jeremiah 12:3 reads, "... You know my hearts attitude towards you" (NASB). Because God is the only one who is immense and transcendent, he is the only one we should be seeking to live for and please while here on this earth.
We can take refuge in our God because of his incommunicable attributes. He is the Infinite, Almighty God, One in Unity, and Immutable.
Once again, this causes me to sing:
“My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do!”
-----Ed Delgado
1.Ruth Harms Calkin. 1959-2002 Nuggets of Truth Publishing.
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