Side by side with the transcendence of God is also the important consideration of His immanence. God’s transcendence testifies that the God of the Bible is high and lifted up, far above the knowledge of mortal man and far beyond our limited human comprehension. On the other hand, an appreciation of God’s immanence reminds us that, although God is higher than the heavens, He has willingly chosen to stoop low and condescend to our station.

The prophet Isaiah summed up the immanence of God in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” God dwells in the “high and holy place,” yet He stoops down to draw nigh to the “contrite and humble spirit.” This is God’s immanence.

Three very similar words are often confused when discussing this attribute of God’s immanence. Let’s consider the distinction between these three similar but very different words in their adjective forms.

Eminent

Eminent means “exceptional” or “prominent.” We might speak of an eminent scholar or an eminent musician. This adjective means that the scholar is distinguished in his field or that the musician is one of the most prominent in his genre. God is eminent with respect to His being superior in every way in all that He is and does.

Imminent

Imminent is used to describe something that is “coming very soon.” A weatherman might speak of a thunderstorm as imminent. An expectant mother could describe the birth of her baby as imminent as her due date nears. As believers, we anticipate and rejoice in the sure and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Immanent

Immanent is the proper word used to describe this particular attribute of God. Our God is immanent in that He fills and transcends His Creation and occupies all space and time. Not only is He high and lifted up, but He is also near to us and He can be known.

From the earliest chapters of Genesis, we find that our Creator delights in fellowship with His people. According to Genesis 3, the Lord God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. The statement seems to imply that this was a common, daily occurrence—that Adam, Eve, and God communed together regularly in unbroken fellowship.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they severed this close relationship with God. After they yielded to Satan’s temptation and ate the forbidden fruit, the tragic consequences of sin followed. According to Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”

Even while they were hiding in shame and confusion, the Lord God sought them out in the very next verse, filling their world with His divine presence. “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9).

Try as they did, Adam and his wife Eve could not hide from God. The Lord God filled His creation with His presence. He called the sinful man and woman back to Himself. He confronted their sin and showed them the devastating consequences of their disobedience: the curse, sorrow, pain, thorns, thistles, sweat, and ultimately death.

But God also extended to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden the protoevangelium, the first “good news” or announcing of the Redeemer, given in the Bible: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

God promised to rebellious Adam (and his descendants) that there was coming a day when the “seed of the woman” would crush the head of the serpent. God’s ultimate expression of drawing near to mankind was when He sent His one and only Son to earth to restore relationship and fellowship with the triune God. In fact, Jesus Christ would be called Emmanuel—“God with us.” According to Matthew 1:23, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”