Volunteers Of Christ Institute of Leadership RESOURCE Compendium of Sermons– Vol 1

THE SOFT HANDS OF GOD

Isaiah 40:12-40:31

You can tell allot about a person by their hands. You can get a clue to a person’s self image by their
handshake. The confident person has a solid grip. The arrogant person has a handshake that seems
to say, "You know, I can whip you if I want." And the person who is lacks confidence barely grips your
hand at all. They are limp and uncomfortable. There is almost a sense in which they are saying, "You
won’t like me . . .I know you won’t."

The nervous or hyper person often reveals it by their shaking hands, gnawed fingernails or constantly
moving hands. You can see tell a calm and confident person by the absence of these things. Their
hands are steady.

You can gain insight into the kind of work a person does by their hands. A person who does physical
and strenuous labor has hands that have callouses. They are rough and have become so to defend
them against the constant stress their hands are put through. Others do delicate work and so their
hands are extremely sensitive to touch. Some people are rough in their touch, others are tender.

You will hear it said of athletes that they are big and strong but have "soft hands". This is the opposite
of someone who has stone hands. You throw the ball to the one with stone hands and they will drop
the ball. You throw the ball to one with soft hands and they seem to welcome the ball like you would
an egg during the egg toss at a family picnic.

I suspect I have you wondering where in the world I am going with this. I know, and I hope you know,
that God does not really have hands. But I need to give you an image you can relate to this morning.
In order to understand God we must sometimes think in terms of opposites. That’s the case this
morning. We need to see that God is beyond us and independent of us . . . but at the same time He
has made Himself near. He is strong yet tender. He is powerful but yet has soft hands.

GOD IS TRANSCENDENT . . . He is unique

In order to describe God’s unique character I need to give you two new theological words this morning.
The first word is "transcendence".
R.C. Sproul tells us

transcendence means literally, "to climb across." It is defined as "exceeding the usual limits." When we
speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond
us. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over
Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. He is an infinite
cut above everything else. [The Holiness of God p. 55]

Isaiah was pointing to God’s transcendence when he wrote,

To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? Do you not know? Have
you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth
was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings
princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. “To whom will you compare me? Or
who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great
power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The
LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and
his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the
weak. [Isaiah 40:18-29]

And scripture records God’s own testimony . . .

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts. [Isaiah 55:8,9]

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Volunteers Of Christ Institute of Leadership RESOURCE Compendium of Sermons– Vol 1

All throughout the Bible we read words like this. They are designed to remind us that God is apart from
us. He is over and above what we know and experience. God is transcendent for many reasons.

First, Jesus tells us that God is Spirit (John 4:24). God is not limited by time and space. He is not
bound by a body. We are created in God’s image . . . We are fashioned according to His plan . . . and
we have characteristics that reflect some of God’s own (intelligence, compassion, a spiritual essence),
but God does not have hands, feet, a body, and is not confined to a time and space continuum. God is
not like us. He is Spirit.

God is Self-Existent. Everything we hear, taste, smell or touch comes from something. Anything we
observe must have a cause adequate to explain it. This idea of cause and effect is even the basis
some non-believers use for their belief in a "Supreme Being". They infer him from the idea of cause
and effect. They see order in a universe and conclude there must be one who established the order.
Sometimes you will hear people ask, "Well, who made God?" The answer is "No one". In fact, if
something or someone made God then that something or someone would be more God than God!!

James Boice says, "God’s self-existence means that he is not answerable to us or to anybody.
Although He sometimes explains things to us, he does not have to and often he does not. God does
not have to explain himself to anybody." [Foundations of the Christian Faith p. 103]

Third, we see God’s transcendence in the fact that He is self-sufficient. God has no needs and
therefore He depends on no one. He does not need worshippers, he does not need helpers, he does
not need defenders. God is sufficient in and of Himself.

Fourth we see God’s transcendence in the fact that God is eternal. God has always been here. No one
made God. He does not have a birthday. He is not limited by time. He has no beginning and no end.
He does not change. He always has been . . . and always will be.
Of course there are many other illustrations of God’s transcendence. But you may be thinking, "Why
should I care about this?" "What difference does it makee" Let me give you two reasons that this
matters to us.

First, since God is transcendent it reminds us that we must describe God carefully. We make a
mistake when we seek to "draw a picture of God." Inevitably we will diminish Him even though we
have the best of intentions.

Perhaps an illustration would help. If you asked me to tell you about my dad I might tell you that he is
retired. It is simple and true . . . but is it an accurate picture of my father? No. I also need to tell you
that he worked as a draftsman, he’s always been active in his church, he belonged once to
Toastmasters, he worked for two years in Korea, he used to play softball, he grew up Lutheran, was
raised on the farm . . . and I could go on and on. And even in those descriptions I still haven’t really
told you who my dad is.
Now, if my father is that difficult to accurately describe, we should not be surprised when words fail us
when we try to describe God. Yes, we should talk about Him. Of course, we need to tell others about
Him. But we must always do so with a quiet reverence that admits that God is so much bigger than our
descriptions of Him. Listen to St. Augustine’s declaration about God,

You are ever active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no
need. . . . You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and yet serene. Your works are
varied, but your purpose is one and the same. . .You welcome those who come to you, though you
never lost them. You are never in need yet are glad to gain, never covetous yet you exact a return for
your gifts . . . You release us from our debts, but you lose nothing thereby. You are my God, my Life,
my holy Delight, but is this enough to say of you? Can any man say enough when he speaks of you?
Yet woe betide those who are silent about you. [Confessions p. 21]

Second, since God is transcendent it means we should worship Him passionately. God is unique,
spectacular, the One before whom we should bow. Every time we come to worship. Every time we
bow in prayer, every time we open His Word we should do so with a reverence that comes from the

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Volunteers Of Christ Institute of Leadership RESOURCE Compendium of Sermons– Vol 1

fact that He is above and beyond us. But we have lost some of this sense of wonder and awe.

Let’s be painfully honest, we give more intensity to our play than we do our worship. We are more
passionate towards our family than we are to the Creator. We give greater priority to our jobs, our
hobbies, and a carload of other things than we do developing our relationship with the Lord. We have
lost our sense of awe.

We are constantly being told that something is new, or better, or noteworthy. Everything is
sensationalized. So much effort is exerted to excite us, attract us, and persuade us in the common
things of life, that we have become numb to what is truly awesome. We need to regain our sense of
God’s greatness. Knowing God is the joy of life. Knowing Him and being with Him should be our finest
and chief pursuit. But how do we begin?

I’ve told you many times that even though I would disagree with much that is in Catholic theology, I do
appreciate the sense of reverence I have seen in many Catholic churches. I am sobered by the
worshipper who kneels before entering their pew in an acknowledgment that they are in the presence
of the Lord. I appreciate the ones who kneel during prayer. I appreciate the solemn reverence that is a
part of their worship. It is something we have lost.

I encourage you to find ways to remind yourself of God’s transcendence.

Make it a point to pray when you get into your seat in worship
Stop and ask God to help you every time you open His Word
Adopt a posture of prayer when you pray at home
Make times to intentionally sit in silent wonder before Him
Consciously give the words of the hymn you are singing as an offering to the Lord
When you place your check in the offering plate remind yourself that you are giving not to pay the bills,
you are giving a gift in honor of the God who has changed your life in Christ.
Be careful about how you talk about God . . . speak about Him with respect and honor.

Our God is not a "run of the mill" Deity. He is the great God of the universe. Keeping a sense of His
transcendence is essential for us to truly honor Him and know Him.

GOD IS IMMANENT . . . . He is Close to Us

The second word I want to give you today is the word "immanent". The dictionary defines immanence
as: "existing in, and extending into, all parts of the created world." When we say that God is immanent
we are affirming that God is close to us. Though God is great and far superior and different from us . . .
He is also personal. He condescends (or lowers Himself) to be close to us and to be known by us.

This is the astounding thing about the Christian faith. We affirm that God is Creator, He is supreme,
He is above us . . . and yet, "He walks with me and talks with me, and tells me that I am His own."
Listen to some of the Biblical affirmations of God’s immanence.
See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may
follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will
show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say,
“Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have
their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? (Deut. 4:5-7]

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he
determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that
men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of
us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ [Acts 17:26-28]

The immanence of God is important to us for several reasons. First, because God is Immanent We
can Know Him. C.S. Lewis before He was believer commented,
that he did not think that a person could know God any more than Hamlet could know Shakespeare.
Later Lewis came to realize that Hamlet could have known Shakespeare, but it would depend not on
Hamlet but on Shakespeare. As the author, he could write himself into the play and make his presence

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Volunteers Of Christ Institute of Leadership RESOURCE Compendium of Sermons– Vol 1

known. Through this analogy, Lewis describes what actually took place when God became man. [C.S.
Lewis: Christian History, Issue 7]

The Bible tells us that God has revealed Himself to us. God has written Himself into our lives. God has
left His fingerprints in creation. As we look the world God created we can know that God is wise,
powerful, creative, good, and orderly. We learn from the fact that we have a conscience and an inbuilt
sense of right and wrong that there must be a standard of truth. Our sense of fairness and decency
came from somewhere. God reveals Himself in subtle ways.
But God also reveals Himsef boldly in the Bible. God used the prophets to communicate His message.
He revealed His character in His dealings with the Jews. Adn He reveals Himself more boldly in Jesus.
God became a man and lived on earth for a while to teach us in words and concepts we could
understand. We can know God because God has chosen to make Himself known.

Second, Because God is Immanent we can have a relationship with Him. God is not only concerned to
tell us what He is like . . . He invites us to talk with Him, to know Him, to enjoy Him and to dwell with
Him. How in the world does a finite creature like man have a relationship with the transcendent God?
How does a rebellious human being find acceptance from a Holy God? The answer is Jesus. The
apostle Paul wrote,

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. [1 Timothy 2:5,6 NASB]

Notice what these verses tell us. First, we are told that Jesus is the only way to a relationship with
God. There is ONE God and ONE mediator, and that mediator is Jesus. This is not popular in our day
of religious tolerance. But understand that we are not saying that Jesus is the only mediator because
He is our favorite. We are proclaiming that Jesus is the only mediator because He is the only one
qualified to be a mediator.

Paul tells us why Jesus is the true mediator . . .it’s because He gave His life as a ransom for all. When
the perfect Son of God gave His life as a substitute for us He erected a bridge that made it possible for
us to know, and enjoy a relationship with God.

Mohammed was sincere but He did not give His life as payment for sin and did not rise from the grave.
The same is true of Buddha, Confucius, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, L Ron Hubbard and a host
of others. Only one has given Himself as a ransom and risen to prove that His payment was
acceptable. . . .Jesus.

But as we have said over and over again. This is a relationship that is available only to those who
welcome Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. In other words, Christ’s sacrifice is applied to our rebellion
and failures (yes, all of them) ONLY when we consciously receive what He has given.

Let me illustrate. Suppose you are caught in flood waters. You were warned to evacuate but you
ignored the warnings. As people were evacuating they stopped by offering to take you to high ground
but you scoffed at them. The water keeps rising. You go to the roof of your house but the waters
continue to rise. A helicopter comes by and offers to take you to safety. A rope ladder is dropped from
the helicopter. At this moment you have several options. You could try to swim to safety (but you will
die trying). You could (out of embarrassment, shame, or arrogance) refuse the rope and take your
chances (and be swept away). Or you could climb the ladder and trust that doing so will lead you to
safety.

This is a picture of salvation. God has warned us about sin all our lives . . . but we have ignored the
warnings. We have justified and rationalized our sin and we have tried to redefine what is good. But
the waters keep rising. So God, if you will, provides a ladder. He provides a way of escape that we do
not deserve. He gives us Jesus who gave His life for our stupidity and rebellion. The ladder is there
and we are faced with three choices.

We can try to work harder and try to earn God’s favor on our own
We can try to ignore the problem and hope that there is no day of judgment

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Volunteers Of Christ Institute of Leadership RESOURCE Compendium of Sermons– Vol 1

We can place our trust in the means God has provided. We can grab hold of Jesus.

I suggest that It’s time to stop talking, debating, and hiding. It’s time to start over with the Savior. Why
not do that today? Why not decide in the quiet of this place to dare to trust Jesus to forgive you and to
remake you? He has done everything . . . all you must do is grab hold. You do this by an act of faith. In
sincerity and in prayer, tell God that you will cling to Christ alone for your hope of eternal life.

And when you have done so, tell someone else. The very act of making your profession public will
strengthen that commitment. Many of you have been putting this off. You’ve been hoping that if you
just ignore the issue it will go away. It won’t. Decide now before the floodwaters wash you away.

Because God is immanent we can depend on Him. God will always be available. He is always there
when we need Him. We can’t say that for our friends and family. Sometimes we are not home,
sometimes we are involved in something we can’t get away from, sometimes we are on the Internet
and you can’t get hold of us!! That will never happen with the Lord. When we need Him (which is
always) He will be there. The Lord NEVER fails. Nations will crumble, financial reserves can
disappear, health can be snatched in a moment, friends may disappoint, but the Lord will never fail.

Is it possible that you have forgotten this? Are you filled with anxious thoughts about the future? Are
you overwhelmed by what you are facing? Maybe it is an illness in you or in someone you love. Maybe
a financial need that threatens to take everything. Maybe it is a conflict with someone that makes you
fear for your life. Maybe it is a job that seems to demand more than you have to give. Maybe it is
moving away from home for the first time. Perhaps it is the prospect of retirement, or the children
leaving the nest, or the rebuilding process that comes after a spouse has died. Whatever the mountain
. . . you are not alone. God is near. Isaiah said it well,

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of
the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in
the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint. [Isaiah 40:28-31]

Yes, God is a big God. He is awesome and beyond comprehension. But if you have received His offer
of salvation, He is also YOUR God. He is strong. He is above us. He is great . . . but His hands are
soft, His arms are strong, and His heart is filled with love. Thanks be to God!

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