Transcendent means “beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience.”
When one is transcendent, it means that their abilities are beyond what anyone can surpass. But God being transcendent is another thing since God is not comparable to any human being.
So, what does it mean that God is transcendent, then? Let’s dive into Scripture and explore what it means when we say that God is transcendent.
There are a lot of meanings as to why God is transcendent and one of the most powerful reasons is that He created all things; both the fathomable and the unfathomable.
This is written in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
God is transcendent because He is the Creator of all things. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. This fact makes us reflect on our relationship with God.
Despite being the Creator of all things, God made us in His own image. God loves His creations so much that He made humans guardians of His creations. God is transcendent and He made us in His own image to watch over what He has made.
This fact gives us hope in our lives and gives us meaning and purpose merely by the fact that we are made by a transcendent and we were made in His image and likeness. Therefore, we must be thankful to God for making us special among all beings.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).
God is the most holy being in the universe and beyond, and for this reason, it is impossible to fathom His holiness.
This is written in Exodus 33:20, as the Lord told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And in Psalm 99 it is written,
The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name — he is holy. The King is mighty, he loves justice — you have established equity; in Jacob, you have done what is just and right. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the Lord and he answered them. He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them. Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
In this verse, God’s holiness is emphasized as well as His influence in all nations. This is one of the reasons why He is transcendent because His holiness is without bounds. He is exalted everywhere and beyond.
Sin does not reside in God in any way, as written in Isaiah 64:6-7,
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
While humans have sinned, God does not have sin. His sinlessness makes Him transcendent. Instead, He forgives the sins that we have committed, as stated in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
For this reason, He is above sin because He can forfeit it. This fact that God is transcendent to sin gives us so many aspirations in our lives that even if we fall short in His eyes, He will forgive us from our sins because He is above sin in the first place.
God is eternal, as stated in Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’”
In Jeremiah 10:10, it says, “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.”
For this reason, He is transcendent of time. Being eternal means lasting forever, without bounds, and is the beginning and the end.
This fact alone means that God is transcendent beyond what we can fathom. After all, time is a human construct and God is beyond time.
God being eternal gives us the yearning to be with Him and gives us the hope that our future loved ones are also able to be with Him. Imagine having a person you can depend on for all eternity. This is what God is to us.
God being transcendent means that He is beyond anyone and anything in this world. After all, He created the Heavens and the Earth. He is also the most holy being above all and He is sinless.
Lastly, God is eternal. Knowing that God is transcendent gives us hope, aspiration, yearning, and meaning to our lives in this world until we are united with Him forever.
For further reading:
What Does it Mean That Jesus Is the Alpha and Omega?
Do We Know What God Was Doing Before He Created the Universe?
How Are We Created in the Image of God?
What Does it Mean That God Is Infinite?
Does God Really Forgive Our Sins?
What Is God’s Relationship to Time?
What Does it Mean God Is Holy, Holy, Holy?
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Glory Dy has been a content creator for more than 10 years. She lives in a quiet suburb with her family and four cats.