God's Omnipresence

The atheist wrote: "God is nowhere,"

but his little daughter read it: "God is now here,"

and he was converted.

GOD'S OMNIPRESENCE: The term omnipresence is not mentioned in the Bible, yet the theological truth of His presence being in every place at al times is made clear to us:

Key Scriptures:

Jer. 23:24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the Lord; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord.

Ps. 139:7-10

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

See also: 1 Ki. 8:27; Is. 66:1; Matt. 28:18; Acts 7:48f.; 17:24f.

Definition

The word omni  means all

"Omnipresent" means "present everywhere at once."  God is present in all His creation, but in no manner limited by it.

"God, in the totality of His essence, without diffusion or expansion, multiplication or division, penetrates and fills the universe in all its parts."  A. H. Strong (Systematic Theology, p. 279).

"God is distinct from all His works while His power and intelligence and goodness embrace and penetrate them all."  Merril F. Unger (Unger's Bible Dictionary,  p. 809).

"The omnipresence of God is not a necessary part of His being, but is a free act of His will. If God should will to destroy the universe, His omnipresence would cease, but He, Himself would not cease to be. Pantheism binds God to the universe, but God is transcendent and not subject to it."  Henry C. Thiessen  (Lectures in Systematic Theology, p. 80).

Going back to Jer. 23:24 (see above) we can see that God is the only one in heaven or on earth who is able to be present in all places at all times. He is present in all his creation, but is not limited by it in any way. It is not a necessary part of the Divinity of God—it is a free act of His will. Henry Thiessen says, “If God should will to destroy the universe, his omnipresence would cease, but he himself would not cease to be…The doctrine of the omnipresence of God is both comforting and subduing. It is a source of comfort to the believer, for God, the ever-present one, is always available to help us.” (Deut. 4:7; Ps. 46:1; 145:18; Matt. 28:20).

It is a source of warning and restraint to the believer. No matter how much he may try, the sinner cannot escape from God. Neither distance nor darkness hides from Him (Ps. 139:7–10) Henry Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, p. 80.

• He is not a shapeless blob filling every space – He is not like water that spreads all over, He is able to be omnipresent because He is a Spirit. He is not confined to physical matter. At this very moment:

He is on every distant plant - even where there is no life

He in the depths of the darkest ocean

He is on the highest mountain

He right beside you

• God's omnipresence is not potential or just limited to His knowledge. If I know a lot of facts about London, it does not mean that I am in London. But God actually is in London at the same time as He is everywhere else.

• God is present in all places – at all times – with all creatures.

• God is present without dividing Himself – He is equally in each place. In mathematics, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. But with God the Spirit,  every part is equal to the whole. Every Church and every Believer has the fullness of God at the same time. Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt. 13:20).

• "The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul" (1 Samuel 16:14). This simply means that the sense of His presence left Saul – Saul’s ability to know the comfort and guidance of God. We might feel Him to be far from us as regards the experience of His comfort, or near to us as far as his support is concerned. At all times, though, His actual presence continues the same.

Presence   -  (Heb. paniym  -  face; Gk. prosopon  -  face; enopion  -  in the face of)

The place where God is seen is called peniel   lit. the face of God (Gen. 32:30).

After man sinned, contact with God usually involved some form of veiling. Few knew God face-to-face (Moses. Deut. 34:10). Alienation from God is the hiding of (Deut. 31:17) or being hidden from (Gen. 4:14) His face. In these cases, "face" is a metaphorical term for "presence".

God is calling His church to come boldly into His presence, and to know His presence (Heb. 4:16). It is important for worshipers to learn how to tap into God’s omnipresence, and know this presence as a reality. We tend to act as though the only “presence” we are satisfied with is His manifest presence – when He “shows” Himself in some way. If only we could learn how to “find” Him in every place – trust in His word to us that wherever we go, or whatever we go through, He is there – whether we can feel Him or sense Him in any way – he is Jehovah Shammah (The God who is there).

For more on the presence paniym of God look HERE

If God is everywhere:

• You don’t have to be afraid–He is right there with you wherever you go:

He helps us in times of temptation

He guides us when we need to know the way

He comforts us when we are downcast

He protects us when we are afraid

He strengthens us when we are weak

He heals us when we are sick

He provides for us when we are in need

• You can “practice” or know God’s presence at all times and in all places. When you worship or pray you must believe He is there. Speak and sing to Him as One who is directly before you.

• He is in every believer in the Lord Jesus—Jn. 14:16–17; 15:26–27; 16:12–14.

• You cannot escape from the presence of God - there is no place you can run to or hide that God is not present. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good Prov. 15:3.  

• You will walk with greater carefulness – knowing that He is right there with you no matter what choices you make, or what actions you are involved with. He does not watch you in order to spy on you, but to walk in greater intimacy. He longs for you to know Him and be known by Him. D. L Moody said,

Character is what a person is in the dark.

Dark and light are all alike to God.

• You can find Him anywhere and talk to Him in any situation. Because of God’s omnipresence we do not have to rely upon a particular location, building, liturgy or format in order to worship Him. Our hearts are His tabernacle—wherever we go we are able to draw near to Him—Ps. 139:7.

• The devil must live in fear – even he is subject to the omnipresence of God.

Even when I walk through the dark valley of death,

I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Ps. 23:4