Where is God? (Essentials Blue Fall 08)

For The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue online Worship Theology course with Dan Wilt.

 

As I write this I am sitting in seat 11F about 37,000 feet above somewhere in central Europe looking at the fields and towns scrolling past below me. Being a diligent worship theology student I am reflecting deeply and profoundly (much to the annoyance of the travel weary occupant of seat 11E) upon how God’s space intersects with earth’s space, how the creator interacts with the created.

 

Many of the commonly held perceptions of God would conclude that seat 11F is somewhat analogous to God’s perspective on the world. He is over all, he sees all and even that he can come down and directly intervene when he chooses to.

 

N.T Wright (1), in his writing on the relationship between the creator and the created, uses the image of the two interlocking spheres of God’s dimension and the created dimension. These spheres are distinct from one another yet they overlap and intersect in a number of ways so that God is present in his creation but he is not contained by it. 

 

In this model God’s overall perspective on creation comes not from his removal from it, like seat 11F’s removal from the earth below it, but from his remaining within it – all of it. He knows the hip pain felt by the guy who has spent too many cold nights sleeping on the streets, he knows the joy of the couple who find out they are going to have a baby when they thought they couldn’t….you get the idea.

 

“To speak of God’s action in the world, of heaven’s action on earth….is to speak not of an awkward metaphysical blunder, nor a ‘miracle’ in the sense of a random invasion of earth by alien forces, but to speak of the loving creator acting within the creation which has never lacked the signs of his presence.” (1)

 

God has always remained in a close, dynamic and intimate relationship with creation just as a painter, sculptor or composer remains intensely involved in the piece they are creating.

 

Two important implications arise from this for me:

 

1)      Creation is good, it was a good idea to begin with, it is still a good idea and God remains devoted to it. Creation is still underway, the artist has not yet finished the painting, God is re-creating, “making all things new” (Rev 21:5 ).

 

2)      After Jesus’ ascension into heaven the primary interlocking point between heaven and earth is now us, the church. The Holy Spirit has made his dwelling place in us. This means that heaven and earth come together within me or, to use N.T Wrights language, I exist in both the earthly dimension and the heavenly dimension.

This is an inspiring but sobering thought and leads me immediately to the importance of holiness. Learning to live our lives according to the rules of God’s kingdom while living within the present one. Holiness demonstrates new creation within our own lives, it is a testament to his reclaiming work.

 

(1) Tom Wright, Simply Christian, (SPCK, 2006)