關於這一點，我們必須堅信神是無所不在的這個真理，也就是說祂居住在已經悔改認罪的人的生命中，這是我們今天的經文所清楚帶出的信息。然而神居住在我們心裡的這個事實，不能遮蓋了祂在我們之上、無限地超越了所有被造物的這個真理。認識神的超越能促使我們產生對神的愛慕和崇拜。如果我們心裡沒有這種意識的話，那麼崇拜便只是徒具形式的儀式了。過去有許多明白敬畏神的生活是怎麼一回事的人，以神「高高」在上這個觀念作為生活的基礎；無論他們與神的關係是多麼的親密，他們都牢牢的相信一個事實，那就是：神是高高在上的神。為甚麼在當今的教會我們很少遇到這樣的人呢？

「獨特的神，與眾不同」

進深研究
創十四17-20；來七1；詩二十一7；可五7

1. 麥基洗德怎樣描述神？
2. 邪靈怎樣稱呼耶穌？

祈禱
神啊，如果我在渴望親近您的時候，看不見您的威嚴、您的偉大和超越，求您赦免。求您幫助我明白，尊崇您、高舉您，不是損失而是獲益。奉主耶穌的聖名祈求。阿們。

The Vision of God

Day 16

Immanent - yet transcendent

"I live in a high and holy place...with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit..." (v.15)

Bible reading:
Isaiah 57:11-21

11 "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?

12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.

13 When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain."

14 And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."

15 For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

16 I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.

17 I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways.

18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel's mourners,

19 creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the Lord. "And I will heal them."

20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

21 "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

Message

The thought occupying our attention at the moment is what theologians call the transcendence of God. The idea behind transcendence is that of distinctiveness, separateness - that God is uniquely other than everything in creation.

We said yesterday that the words "high and exalted" show us that God's throne is situated far above the boundaries of space and time. Too much must not be made of this, however, for although the transcendence of God is frequently expressed biblically in terms of time and space (see Psalm 90:2 and 1 Kings 20:28, for example), we must not think that God lives in a time and space like ours, only beyond that of creation.

Over against that thought we must hold the truth of God's immanence, and by that we mean that He dwells in the lives of those who have repented of their sin - a truth our text for today brings out so clearly. Yet the fact God indwells us must not be allowed to cloud the truth that He is above us, infinitely exalted above all creation. To think of God as transcendent inspires adoration and worship. Without this idea in our minds then worship is a mere ritual and a formality. In days past, men and women who knew what it was to walk in the fear of the Lord had, as a basis for their lives, the concept of God as "high and exalted". However intimate their communion with God, they were gripped by the fact that God was high and lifted up. Why is it that in the modern-day Church we do not meet many of this ilk?

"God is uniquely other than everything in creation"

Prayer
O God, forgive me if, in my desire to have You close to me, I have lost sight of Your majesty, Your greatness and transcendence. Help me understand that to see You as high and exalted is not a loss but a gain. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

Further study
Genesis 14:17-20
Hebrews 7:1
Psalm 21:7
Mark 5:7

1. How was God described by Melchizedek?
2. How did the evil spirit address Jesus?

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