Jesus shows you how to swing a bat. Jesus passes you the soccer ball. Jesus gets the rebound.
A series of statuettes went on sale a number of years ago under the theme, “Jesus is my coach.” In that series, Jesus is shown helping children in various sports. The images are warm, personal, and supportive, as if Jesus stands beside us encouraging us in whatever sport we choose. (See below.) Although Jesus’ true presence is not specifically about helping us swing a bat more effectively, such images are not thematically wrong, just vey incomplete.
Biblically, it is the Holy Spirit of God who offers guidance and encouragement, not about our specific rebounding skills, but assisting us in living a full and Godly life:
However, it remains difficult for physical, material human beings to envision and relate to a purely immaterial Holy Spirit or an "out there somewhere" God. As such, Jesus, God in flesh, becomes the identifiable, physical manifestation of God. Despite their playful presentation, these statuettes display the larger truth that God remains near to and involved with His creation. In theological terms, this care and nearness is called God’s IMMANENCE: the intimate and active connection between God and His followers:
Still, there is much more to God than His immanence:
God exists as both immanent AND transcendent, near and far. He knew us before we were born, stitched each of us together, initiated our beating heart, and died for us because of His great love for us. The Bible calls Jesus, Immanuel, which literally means “God WITH us.” He also transcends human beings in every conceivable way and to a limitless degree. He set the stars and planets in motion, and Revelation 19:16 calls him “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
For each of us, the challenge remains to hold God’s immanence and transcendence in proper balance. Too much of the immanence of Christ, and we risk reducing God to our buddy, our pal, our amigo who understands that we want to sleep instead of going to church, or to “worship” on the lake while fishing. Over emphasis of God’s immanence risks our trying to mold God into what we want, our standards, and our desires. Our will, not God's will.
The transcendence of God should cause us to fall to our knees before the awesomeness of God. We become aware of God’s omnipotence, the ultimate source of morality and wisdom, the Creator and Sustainer of all. However, if we overemphasize God’s supreme greatness, we risk feeling small, insignificant, invisible, and separated from God.
God exists both near and far, loving and personally encouraging, as well as immeasurably powerful and grand. God’s immanence reminds us of His deep and abiding care for each of us while His transcendence reminds us that He alone is worthy of our worship and reverence. To hold both in proper balance is to experience the fullness of God.
The great Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, summed up God’s immanence and transcendence:
A series of statuettes went on sale a number of years ago under the theme, “Jesus is my coach.” In that series, Jesus is shown helping children in various sports. The images are warm, personal, and supportive, as if Jesus stands beside us encouraging us in whatever sport we choose. (See below.) Although Jesus’ true presence is not specifically about helping us swing a bat more effectively, such images are not thematically wrong, just vey incomplete.
Biblically, it is the Holy Spirit of God who offers guidance and encouragement, not about our specific rebounding skills, but assisting us in living a full and Godly life:
- “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
However, it remains difficult for physical, material human beings to envision and relate to a purely immaterial Holy Spirit or an "out there somewhere" God. As such, Jesus, God in flesh, becomes the identifiable, physical manifestation of God. Despite their playful presentation, these statuettes display the larger truth that God remains near to and involved with His creation. In theological terms, this care and nearness is called God’s IMMANENCE: the intimate and active connection between God and His followers:
- “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:30-31).
- "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
- "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me...where can I go from your Spirit...you created my inmost being" (Psalm 139).
Still, there is much more to God than His immanence:
- “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
- “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8).
- “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?” (Romans 11:34).
- “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7).
- “Christ is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, and He upholds all things by the Word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).
God exists as both immanent AND transcendent, near and far. He knew us before we were born, stitched each of us together, initiated our beating heart, and died for us because of His great love for us. The Bible calls Jesus, Immanuel, which literally means “God WITH us.” He also transcends human beings in every conceivable way and to a limitless degree. He set the stars and planets in motion, and Revelation 19:16 calls him “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
For each of us, the challenge remains to hold God’s immanence and transcendence in proper balance. Too much of the immanence of Christ, and we risk reducing God to our buddy, our pal, our amigo who understands that we want to sleep instead of going to church, or to “worship” on the lake while fishing. Over emphasis of God’s immanence risks our trying to mold God into what we want, our standards, and our desires. Our will, not God's will.
The transcendence of God should cause us to fall to our knees before the awesomeness of God. We become aware of God’s omnipotence, the ultimate source of morality and wisdom, the Creator and Sustainer of all. However, if we overemphasize God’s supreme greatness, we risk feeling small, insignificant, invisible, and separated from God.
God exists both near and far, loving and personally encouraging, as well as immeasurably powerful and grand. God’s immanence reminds us of His deep and abiding care for each of us while His transcendence reminds us that He alone is worthy of our worship and reverence. To hold both in proper balance is to experience the fullness of God.
The great Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, summed up God’s immanence and transcendence:
- “Though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not…He died not for one person, but for each person. If there had been only one person made, He would have done no less.”
- “God is ‘absolute being’—or rather the Absolute Being—in the sense that He alone exists in His own right…a man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a prisoner can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”
Helix Nebula ("Eye of God") via James Webb space telescope.
RSS Feed