Scary Teddy Bears – Part 2
For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is His name [Amos 4:13].
We paused our last study by noting I am a human and my name is Randy. The “human” part is impersonal, the “Randy” part is quite otherwise. Let’s now see how this applies to the Divine Being.
The words “God” and “LORD” when used to identify the Deity, the Supreme Being, accomplishes the same function as the words “Randy the human” in identifying me. In the Bible when the Divine Being is referred to as “God”, the emphasis is upon His being the Creator, the high and mighty One Who is far above His creation, including mankind. It is impersonal, evoking dread in man and prompting us to draw back and move away from Him.
On the other hand when His name “LORD” is used, the emphasis is personal. It denotes man as having a personal relationship with the Supreme Being, as knowing Him personally and being involved with Him. It is a pleasant blessing, not an atmosphere of awkward and uneasy formality.
Such is the intimation presented by Amos’ usage of the phrase “the Lord God of hosts is His name”. The high and mighty Creator, the all-powerful and intimidating Supreme Being is inseparably bound together with the loving and personable Deity Who wants to have a relationship with man.
So how does this express itself in the remainder of the quoted text? Let’s assay Amos’ words and see for ourselves. First let’s hear the words which express personal relationship: He who…declares to man what are His thoughts.
Those words don’t leave the impression of the almighty Supreme Being calling into existence the heavens and the earth. They express the concept of the Divine One speaking to man and explaining Himself and His plans. It is personal. It is relationship. It is personal relationship. In theology textbooks this personal aspect of God’s character wears the appellation “immanence”.
Now for Amos’ words which express God as way up there in the sky and impersonal, far removed from man and unapproachable. Since there are considerable more words used to express this concept, we will employ a bulleted list:
• He who forms mountains and creates the wind
• He who makes dawn into darkness
• He who…treads on the high places of the earth
It should be readily evident to you how suchlike depictions of God differ drastically from the words “He who…declares to man what are His thoughts”. In the case of the bulleted list the Supreme Being is behaving as, well, a supreme being! He isn’t talking with man and explaining His purposes. He is creating mountains and wind and darkness, and He is walking around on the high places, far above man’s habitations. In theology textbooks this aspect of God’s character goes by the jargon “transcendence”.
The two aspects of God, the personal and impersonal, are true simultaneously. However, they only display themselves simultaneously to those humans who accept Him as their God, as their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With such folks He is indeed personal. At the blink of an eye He also marches into battle on their behalf as the mighty and invincible God.
Alas, but for those humans who reject Him as their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He only appears to them as the impersonal and not so friendly Judge of all the earth. They don’t win His favor or garner His blessings. They are under a curse for sin and, after the Millennium will stand before His tribunal, the great white throne, to be condemned eternally (cf., Revelation 20:5, 11-15).
This is not a topic which wins friends and influences people, dear souls. It is the Word of God nonetheless. We determine by our response to the Lord Jesus whether or not we know Him personally. My heart’s desire is that all men will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We paused our last study by noting I am a human and my name is Randy. The “human” part is impersonal, the “Randy” part is quite otherwise. Let’s now see how this applies to the Divine Being.
The words “God” and “LORD” when used to identify the Deity, the Supreme Being, accomplishes the same function as the words “Randy the human” in identifying me. In the Bible when the Divine Being is referred to as “God”, the emphasis is upon His being the Creator, the high and mighty One Who is far above His creation, including mankind. It is impersonal, evoking dread in man and prompting us to draw back and move away from Him.
On the other hand when His name “LORD” is used, the emphasis is personal. It denotes man as having a personal relationship with the Supreme Being, as knowing Him personally and being involved with Him. It is a pleasant blessing, not an atmosphere of awkward and uneasy formality.
Such is the intimation presented by Amos’ usage of the phrase “the Lord God of hosts is His name”. The high and mighty Creator, the all-powerful and intimidating Supreme Being is inseparably bound together with the loving and personable Deity Who wants to have a relationship with man.
So how does this express itself in the remainder of the quoted text? Let’s assay Amos’ words and see for ourselves. First let’s hear the words which express personal relationship: He who…declares to man what are His thoughts.
Those words don’t leave the impression of the almighty Supreme Being calling into existence the heavens and the earth. They express the concept of the Divine One speaking to man and explaining Himself and His plans. It is personal. It is relationship. It is personal relationship. In theology textbooks this personal aspect of God’s character wears the appellation “immanence”.
Now for Amos’ words which express God as way up there in the sky and impersonal, far removed from man and unapproachable. Since there are considerable more words used to express this concept, we will employ a bulleted list:
• He who forms mountains and creates the wind
• He who makes dawn into darkness
• He who…treads on the high places of the earth
It should be readily evident to you how suchlike depictions of God differ drastically from the words “He who…declares to man what are His thoughts”. In the case of the bulleted list the Supreme Being is behaving as, well, a supreme being! He isn’t talking with man and explaining His purposes. He is creating mountains and wind and darkness, and He is walking around on the high places, far above man’s habitations. In theology textbooks this aspect of God’s character goes by the jargon “transcendence”.
The two aspects of God, the personal and impersonal, are true simultaneously. However, they only display themselves simultaneously to those humans who accept Him as their God, as their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With such folks He is indeed personal. At the blink of an eye He also marches into battle on their behalf as the mighty and invincible God.
Alas, but for those humans who reject Him as their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He only appears to them as the impersonal and not so friendly Judge of all the earth. They don’t win His favor or garner His blessings. They are under a curse for sin and, after the Millennium will stand before His tribunal, the great white throne, to be condemned eternally (cf., Revelation 20:5, 11-15).
This is not a topic which wins friends and influences people, dear souls. It is the Word of God nonetheless. We determine by our response to the Lord Jesus whether or not we know Him personally. My heart’s desire is that all men will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
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