If God is Infinite then He is Boundless
Heaven as a place cannot contain God
The general conception is that God is infinite since He is omnipresent, everywhere simultaneously. Scripture does not outright declare God to be infinite but it does allude to Him being outside of His creation(s). The Psalms declare that there are no limits to God’s understanding and that He has sufficient power {ability} to create this material physical universe which includes earth and us (Ps 147:1-6). The assumption is that God lives in Heaven; however, Heaven as a place has boundaries and thus cannot contain an infinite God.
God, via Isaiah, declares that Heaven is His throne as the earth is His footstool (Is 66:1). Indeed, He also declares that He fills both Heaven and earth (Je 23:24). Yet, through Isaiah God also declares that He has made all these things! Which things? Those just mentioned in the previous verse: Heaven and earth {physical material universe} (Is 66:2).
God the Father in Heaven with
God the Son and God the Spirit
“Who cares,” one may say! Indeed, many do not care and maintain a small view of God; something akin to an old man with long flowing beard sitting on a throne in Heaven looking down on sinful man ready to judge each person for every single flaw and sin. However, it the Father is in Heaven then what need was there for a Son? Could not the Father, who is omnipresent, be both in Heaven and on earth simultaneously? No, not in bodily form for the Father is never in bodily form: He is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit (Jo 4:24). Thus, the Son was necessary as the interface for man since He could come in bodily form, as He did. But, was the Son necessary only for His salvation purposes?
No, the Son was also necessary in Heaven as the interface between the Father and His spirit creations, the angels. The Bible does not inform us at to when the angels were created but it does say that they were present at the creation of this material physical universe (Jb 38:7). They could get their orders directly from the Father since they could pray to the Father as we can pray to the Father Who is in Heaven {transmitted via the Holy Spirit based on the work of the Son to the Father Who hears and answers according to His will}. However, Revelation speaks of One who occupies a place of authority in Heaven and to whom the twenty-four elders praise as God for His acts of creation (Re 4:2-3, 11).
The Bible tells us that the Father was present at creation; indeed, He is present everywhere simultaneously as was the Holy Spirit (Ge 1:1-2). John reveals to us that Jesus was also present; in fact, John says that all creation was made through Jesus (Jo 1:1-3). Thus, Jesus being of the same substance of the Father always co-existed with the Father but has delegated responsibilities from the Father which He fulfills perfectly (Jo 14:8-11; 5:19). From the Scriptures I deduce that it was the Son who was on the throne whom Lucifer rebelled against just as it is the Son who is on the throne in Revelation to whom the elders sing about His acts of creation and being worthy of all power, glory and honor since He was the active agent of their creation.
Also, Hebrews tells us that all that we perceive exists only because of that which we cannot perceive (He 11:3). What this means is that the Father, who is spirit and thus unseen, is the foundation for all that is created. He is the force that hold this creation together. His Son is the interface, that which is seen, between Him and us as well as the angels whom He commands in Heaven. Thus, Heaven was created for the angels, as their sphere of function, just as this physical material universe was created as our sphere of function. The one commonality of both of these spheres is that they have been tainted by sin. Lucifer and his angelic, now demonic, followers in heaven who then brought man to the same error of folly on earth which tainted this universe also (Ro 8:18-23).
Finally, Revelation also tells us that when God ends this creation He creates a new Heaven and a new earth (Re 21:1). What point is there for God to remake a universe filled with stars which were placed in the heavens for “signs and seasons, for days and years to give light to the earth” (Ge 1:14-15)? Christ Himself will be the only Light needed for the new earth (Re 21:22-25). He will be our interface with the Father for all eternity.
Our conclusion? Christ is so much more than a man who came to earth to die for our sins and return to Heaven to reign with the Father. And, the angels are less than we imagine them to be, simply creations of God carrying out the will of the Father as we are to do also and we will seek to serve us in a similar capacity in the eternity future as we will be adopted sons of God. Understanding that Jesus created Heaven as well as earth gives us an understanding that the only permanence or constant is the Father who is the measure of all things. Everything else is transitory; everything else will be cleansed from the taint of sin; and all will be based on the work of Christ who is the very image of the Father doing the will of the Father alone. When the Bible says Jesus is Lord we gain a clearer appreciation of this meaning when we understand that even through Him were the angels and Heaven created for the Father’s glory and purposes.
I write this not to be argumentative or heretical but to challenge believers to think beyond common limits of convention. We know that Heaven is a place and therefore has boundaries because Christ said that He goes there to prepare a people for eternity future (Jo 14:1-4). Thus, we know that it cannot contain the Father who is in fact, infinite. This should give us a better appreciation of the vastness of the Father, the true position of the Son who will be the only one to be with the Father {since He came from the Father} and who will show us the Father {for whoever sees Him has seen the Father}. We simply stand in awe at the great truths that John so aptly displays in such flowing language in his gospel. It should also show us how limited Lucifer actually is and why he felt he could rebel. He, though created with great wisdom and beauty {might I point to Solomon}, believed he could rebel against the Son, whom he could see, and win {just as Solomon tolerated many forms of idolatry becoming lost in their philosophy}. Lucifer became lost, spiritually and intellectually, in his sin even to this day. The Father pitied Solomon and saved him from his hopeless dilemma toward the end of his days as recounted in the book of Ecclesiastes. The Father does the same for all people who are saved based on the work of the Son and the power of the Spirit. We who are without merit or power cry out praise when He saves us. Amen.
Very nice write up. I share similar views. The only problem with this view is in the book of Daniels and Revelation when it was explicitly stated that the ancient of days was sitting in his throne and one like a son of man on a cloud was brought before him and the kingdom of the earth was given to him. Also in Revelation, we saw the almighty sitting on his throne and the Lamb was brought before him. That’s the only hole I this school of thought. I prayed that the Lord will continue to open our understanding on his Person. Shalom.
I do agree that historically conservative scholars reinforce your belief. I vacillate between both beliefs as there is no means to refute one or the other from our empirical senses. One could be as correct as the other without doing harm to biblical doctrine. I put my belief forward as a means to challenge one to think non-empirically {non three dimensionally} based off the statement that no one had seen the Father except the Son who makes Him known. The imagery is metaphoric since it is impossible to present spiritual, non-empirical, forms directly to empirical minds as we have no frame of reference for understanding. Father is spirit and thus without direct form but Christ is His intermediary who does have form, deliberately. I was trying to preserve this difference in my presentation. Again, I would not take issue with your position and neither drifts into heretical modalism. Thank you for your close observation and response. Blessing.