2. _The relation between God and man is a relation of immanency._ "In Him we live and move and are" (ἐσμέν, = have conscious being). Our life, our power, our consciousness are _from_ God, _through_ God, and _in_ God. This relation is manifestly something more immediate than the relation of contiguity. It is the present, instant, ceaseless relation of Divine _efficiency_. This is involved in the very idea of the creature. If man is the creature of God, he has not only his beginning, but his continuance of existence by a real and immediate causality. God alone possesses true life--"life in Himself"--He alone is really self-existent, our life and our being are continually derived from Him. If we were without God, and entirely isolated from Him, we could not live or move or even exist. God is every where, not virtually but actually. He pervades and interpenetrates all existences without displacing them in space or disturbing their operations. His infinite essence underlies all the principles and powers of all created existences; they all move within the range of his presence, and act within the sphere of his energy. And God is not only present immediately to man, but his mighty will sustains man in existence every moment, vitalizing his organism, endowing him with power, illuminating his reason, and inspiring him with knowledge. God is immanent in man, and man is immanent in God. "To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we _in_ Him."[498]--"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and _through_ all, and _in_ you all."[499]--"The same God who worketh _all_ in _all_."[500] Our life is from God and in God. Our power to energize is from God and constantly sustained by God. We consciously know in and through God, who so illuminates our reason that we can interpret the symbolism of nature. "God teacheth man knowledge." "He giveth wisdom to the wise and prudence to men of understanding." "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding." The reason of man is a beam of the eternal reason. "The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord." All good desires, all noble impulses, all power to resist temptation and perform heroic acts of endurance and suffering, are from God. "Every good and every perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of Lights."[501]