Have you ever wondered how great God is? In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read
55:8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 55:9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
His thoughts are not our thoughts. They are immeasurably higher. Theologians call this God's transcendence. He is far higher than his creation and greater than it in every way. From the beginning, God has been called the "most high" (Genesis 14:18-22; Numbers 24:16; Mark 5:7; Acts 7:48). The songwriter asks the rhetorical question "Who is like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high" (Psalm 113:5).
Karl Barth described transcendence as God being unable to be known except by revelation. Søren Kirkegaard explained that God is qualitatively distinct, beyond dimension. Historically, we have viewed God as above time. So when things happen and we don't understand why, people of faith often reply that God only knows, and they are right.
Grant, This is one of my favorite attributes of God. It's the idea that God is always just beyond our human reach. No matter how hard we try it is not possible to comprehend Him. And yet, He is never far away and "speaks" to us individually and corporately despite the great distance. He bridges the knowledge gap; we cannot.
Often times we think in our minds and presume that they are inspired by God and they are put there by God. When the actuals happen, we know that what we thought were not what God thought. This will teach us to discern the ways of God.
Transcendence is about God being just beyond and how we can sometimes get to that level of understanding through the grace of God. That ability is perspicacity (a clear understanding of a thing - discernment). When we actually transcend in our understanding, it is through perspicacity.
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