God's Incommunicable Attributes #2: Omnipresence
Omnipresence: God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places.
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
This implies that God also created space.
Deuteronomy 10:14
“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.”
God has created everything! That means space as well as material items. He is Lord of all, therefore cannot be limited by it.
How can God be present everywhere?
Jeremiah 23:23-24
“Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.”
Here we see that God is both present in a specific space, but also able to be everywhere at the same time.
Psalm 139:7-10
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, 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.”
This is not just a part of God. He is present everywhere in His fullness!
Does God have special dimensions?
1 Kings 8:27
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”
God cannot be contained by even the largest place imaginable.
We must avoid thinking of God in terms of size or spatial dimensions.
God is far different and greater than anything we can imagine! Before He created anything, He Is! There was no “where”, yet God existed!
Can God be present to punish, sustain, and bless?
Is God present in Hell?
God is present in different ways in different places. God also acts differently in different places.
Amos 9:1-4
“I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, and he said: ‘Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.’ ‘If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”
God is present to punish.
Many think of hell as the absence of God. While that would be hell for the believer…that would in essence be paradise for the unbeliever! It is a tough thing to think of…but what is worse for someone who hates God, to be forever out of the presence of God or to forever be punished by God for the sins committed against God!
Is God present to sustain?
Even in a non-believer?
Colossians 1:17
“And he is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
Hebrews 1:3
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
God is present to sustain.
This also means that God is present within the unbeliever…if only to give them life and to sustain them.
Keep in mind He is not there to Bless them.
Is God present to Bless?
Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Most of the time when the Bible talks about God’s presence…it is in reference to Him blessing or being present to bless!
“When you wish to do something evil, you retire from the public into your house where no enemy may see you; from those places of your house which are open and visible to the eyes of men you remove yourself into your room; even in your room you fear some witness from another quarter; you retire into your heart, there you meditate: he is more inward than your heart. Wherever, therefore, you shall have fled, there he is. From yourself, whither will you flee? But since there is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. Will you flee from him? Flee unto him.” Herman Bavinck
Doesn’t it bring great comfort to your soul that God is ever present? He knows all that you are going through! He is able to continually sustain your life and give you breath!
It is an amazing thought that we are absolutely dependent upon God…also very humbling! Just think about sleep…we all need it, it is a great and wonderful gift from God! He created it and instituted rest on the 7th day of creation!
When you go to sleep remember your dependence, and that God is there with you sustaining your life as you sleep. When you awake in the morning, remember that God is there with you giving you life, and He just gave you wonderful refreshing and recharging sleep.
Thank you Lord, that we Can depend upon you for everything. That you are our great provider and that you are the only One who will never fail. Thank You that you are ever present and know every one of our needs! Thank you for being present not only to bless me but also to discipline me when I do not obey you. Lord continue to remind me throughout the day that you are present and help me to bring glory to your name.
In Christ,
David
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
This implies that God also created space.
Deuteronomy 10:14
“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.”
God has created everything! That means space as well as material items. He is Lord of all, therefore cannot be limited by it.
How can God be present everywhere?
Jeremiah 23:23-24
“Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.”
Here we see that God is both present in a specific space, but also able to be everywhere at the same time.
Psalm 139:7-10
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, 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.”
This is not just a part of God. He is present everywhere in His fullness!
Does God have special dimensions?
1 Kings 8:27
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”
God cannot be contained by even the largest place imaginable.
We must avoid thinking of God in terms of size or spatial dimensions.
God is far different and greater than anything we can imagine! Before He created anything, He Is! There was no “where”, yet God existed!
Can God be present to punish, sustain, and bless?
Is God present in Hell?
God is present in different ways in different places. God also acts differently in different places.
Amos 9:1-4
“I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, and he said: ‘Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.’ ‘If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”
God is present to punish.
Many think of hell as the absence of God. While that would be hell for the believer…that would in essence be paradise for the unbeliever! It is a tough thing to think of…but what is worse for someone who hates God, to be forever out of the presence of God or to forever be punished by God for the sins committed against God!
Is God present to sustain?
Even in a non-believer?
Colossians 1:17
“And he is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
Hebrews 1:3
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
God is present to sustain.
This also means that God is present within the unbeliever…if only to give them life and to sustain them.
Keep in mind He is not there to Bless them.
Is God present to Bless?
Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Most of the time when the Bible talks about God’s presence…it is in reference to Him blessing or being present to bless!
“When you wish to do something evil, you retire from the public into your house where no enemy may see you; from those places of your house which are open and visible to the eyes of men you remove yourself into your room; even in your room you fear some witness from another quarter; you retire into your heart, there you meditate: he is more inward than your heart. Wherever, therefore, you shall have fled, there he is. From yourself, whither will you flee? But since there is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. Will you flee from him? Flee unto him.” Herman Bavinck
Doesn’t it bring great comfort to your soul that God is ever present? He knows all that you are going through! He is able to continually sustain your life and give you breath!
It is an amazing thought that we are absolutely dependent upon God…also very humbling! Just think about sleep…we all need it, it is a great and wonderful gift from God! He created it and instituted rest on the 7th day of creation!
When you go to sleep remember your dependence, and that God is there with you sustaining your life as you sleep. When you awake in the morning, remember that God is there with you giving you life, and He just gave you wonderful refreshing and recharging sleep.
Thank you Lord, that we Can depend upon you for everything. That you are our great provider and that you are the only One who will never fail. Thank You that you are ever present and know every one of our needs! Thank you for being present not only to bless me but also to discipline me when I do not obey you. Lord continue to remind me throughout the day that you are present and help me to bring glory to your name.
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 7:41 PM
3 Comments:
Question: can you expound more on God being present in hell? Why is it that people are "cast out" then? Cast out of heaven. I understand your line of thinking...but do you have anything to back it up? Scriptures or anything?
Just wanted to ask. I've always thought of God in HEaven and Satan in Hell and God is not in that place. This is just a new thought for me.
kelli b:
Good questions all!
I must say that I have not fully grasped nor do I think I will in this life ever fully grasp the concept of God being present in hell. It also took me a long time to come to grips with God being present within and unbeliever.
What I do understand is that just as God is present within and unbeliever only to sustain their life and nothing more (if God didn't sustain their life -- they would cease to exist!), the same is true for Hell. God is only there in a punishing capacity. A 100% Just punishing cpacity.
The Amos passage referenced mentions, "If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them;"
Also from Job we know that Satan is not limited to Hell. He was in Heaven after His fall and also roamed the earth...and still does roam the earth.
So to sum up how I understand this so far:
1. God must sustain everything for it to exist. He is present where things are being sustained.
2. God cannot create a place that He cannot go...that is outside of His nature...for He is not bound by space. He created it!
3. Is Hell w/o God really punishment for someone who hates God??
Hell is described as a place of eternal torment...who is doing the tormenting? Is not God the only one who can Justly punish?
Now please keep in mind that I have not fully come to grasp this. I came from the God is in Heaven and Satan is in Hell line of thought and I reside there often! I like it, it is comfortable. But I am understanding that God is not bound by space and He is present everywhere to sustain all things. And He is present to punish because He is the only one who can punish!
I could be way off base...but I don't believe that I am. A lot of my understanding of this was paved by Wayne Grudem from his book Systematic Theology.
I hope this helps!
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have!
In Christ,
David
Thank you for responding. I think the way you layed it out here hit home with me. Especially this part:
"What I do understand is that just as God is present within and unbeliever only to sustain their life and nothing more (if God didn't sustain their life -- they would cease to exist!), the same is true for Hell. God is only there in a punishing capacity. A 100% Just punishing cpacity."
I've just never thought of it before - it was so outta bounds for me! But it makes sense too. Though I cannot wrap my mind around it in entirety, I can start to see the truth about how BIG and about who God really is.
Another thought is this - I have never thought about Heaven w/ God for eternity would include his wrath and anger. I just never include it when I think of heaven, you know? But if God never changes, is the same yesterday today and tomorrow, then that aspect of Him will not be "left out" or "lost" - where will it be used? Will we in heaven experience it? Or perhaps, as you have opened my mind to thinking...perhaps it will be displayed to those in hell..as He will be present there as well, not confined by space.
I shudder...God is SO HUGE! I have a new sense of fear of the Lord today...in a good way! He is just so much bigger than i can even formulate in my mind.
Thanks for challenging my thinking...I find it rather interesting and a good test of what I really believe and what I know and dont know.
Keep on postin'!
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