Thursday, August 11, 2005

Balancing immanence and transcendence

Jollyblogger David Wayne, quoting J. I. Packer, offers these helpful thoughts on the transcendence and immanence of God:
What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it - the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.
That image balances to me immanence and transcendence. Yes, God loves us dearly and personally, but he is the one who initiates the relationship. The idea of God knowing me is a beautiful, comforting thought. Isn't personal attention one of the greatest gifts we can give or receive? And we have God's attention all the time.

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

An unconditional love, that is. :) I have linked your blog to mine. I have 3 blogs and feel free to link any of these. God Bless :)

11:46 PM, August 14, 2005  
Blogger Milton Stanley said...

Will do. I'm still working on borrowed Internet time, though, and it may be a few days before I have enough time and bandwidth to update my template. In the mean time, thanks for linking to my blog. Peace.

2:20 PM, August 15, 2005  

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