“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15, ESV)
As one considers with a reasonable degree of thoughtfulness the great gulf by which this term sets in opposition the very nature of God and the nature of fallen man; it should become increasingly clear that salvation can be none other than the sole work of the great Sovereign of the universe. For the purposes of this discussion God’s “Infinite Condescension” must be considered in three primary areas. First, the distance that must be bridged between a holy God and fallen man both physically as well as philosophically. Second, the durational difference between an eternal God and temporal man presented primarily as a function of philosophical distance mentioned just above. And third, the purposes and glory that God is dedicated to as opposed to those of the human race. The prophet Isaiah speaks to these three areas as he gives God’s promise of salvation to those who have been granted a new ontological contriteness. As the prophet begins his declaration he does so by highlighting in physical terms the philosophical disparity between God and man. In chapter 57, verse fifteen Isaiah stands as the mouthpiece of God who declares that He is, “the One who is high and lifted up .” The language of this verse clearly indicates that God’s purpose for his statement is one of declaration; that is God’s declaring purposely that his very nature is one of exultation. God is not simply sovereign by decree nor is he sovereign by might or victory; he is sovereign by his very nature. This sovereignty cannot be challenged by any other for through his very sovereign creative acts God has brought all others into being. This very fact of God’s self declaration is the basis for Paul’s statement in Romans 9: 20 – 21, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” As God is portrayed as being high and lifted up, as dwelling in the high and holy places, the ontological void that stands between God and man is pictured in the gulf of distance that stands between the earth and the highest of the heavens. As one stands and gazes into the sky and is unable to see the horizons of the universe, so the distance between point A and point B comes into sharpest relief; that is, from point A one cannot even see point B. In like manner as one stands and gazes at the face of God and is unable to even see the faintest of outlines, the gulf between holy God and fallen man becomes painfully clear as well; fallen man is not able to even see God. In like manner the philosophical disparity between this holy God and fallen man is pictured as one gazes at the unseen horizons of God’s divine sovereignty; the nature of being high and lifted up given to us by Isaiah. The physical description of the heavens illustrates in tangible terms man’s inability to even perceive the faintest outline of God’s Majesty. The conclusion can be only one steely point; God and man are separated by an immeasurable gulf of separation – a distance unspanned and unattainable. Isaiah goes on to illustrate that the gulf between a holy God and fallen man is not simply one of distance; it is also one of duration. God declares through Isaiah, “who inhabits eternity.” This disparity of duration further emphasizes not only the exalted nature of God but also the eternal nature of God. The eternal duration of God is not merely one of time but also of ontological quality; much like the “high and lifted up” nature discussed just above. What is meant here is that God is truly eternal; that is ever lasting in duration but He is also eternal in His holiness. Isaiah directly ties God’s holiness with His inhabiting eternity, “who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.” In other words, what Isaiah is emphasizing is God’s nature of holiness that is never changing. In fact, God’s holiness is the cornerstone of His other attributes; not that His holiness over arches or subordinates His other attributes for they are all equal in force and quality, but that God’s holiness is preserved through and by His other attributes. It is God’s holiness that moves Him to deal with mankind as He does. Motivated by His great love for His people, God moves to impute His holiness through the Lord Jesus Christ so that by the sacrifice of Christ purposed before time; the fallen sinner may be made positionally righteous, holy, by the imputation of Christ’s sacrifice. In this way, God’s holiness is demonstrated in its eternality and God’s divine nature of holiness stands as the basis of His name which is Holy. God does not just simply inhabit eternity in an exalted status separated from His people. He does “dwell in the high and holy place” but He also dwells with those “who are of a contrite and lowly spirit.” This is the dedication of God. He purposes “to revive the spirit of the lowly” to revive “the heart of the contrite .” The infinitival language of this passage indicates the transformative nature of God’s exaltation and holiness. Though true God exists in these fashions, He does so with intention; He exists with the transformative power of His own being. A transformation that is granted to His own people as indicated in the last phrase of verse fifteen, “to revive the heart of the contrite.” This final phrase should not be taken so much as “contrite” being seen as the condition but rather the result of God’s divine revival. Simply put, the eternal activity of God to revive His people renders them with the possession of a contrite nature, an ontology of “crushedness” so to speak. Not necessarily crushed by external circumstances or positional difficulty but rather crushed in one sense by the weight of their own sin. Flowing out of this self awareness, divinely revealed, is the further ontological identification of being in the One who was “crushed” for their iniquities. Ontologically, being crushed should be taken as the believer being found in the crushed One; that is, taking on the identity of Christ as an ontological characteristic, a nature, a condition that is more than mere identity but is a condition that is the result of God’s eternal transformation as God condescends from His exaltation to revive the hearts of His people.
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