Part 9 | The Only True God – God is Omnipresent

By Sonny Simak

Friday 12th March 2010

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. (Psalm 139:7-10)

The word omnipresence comes from the Latin word omnipraesens.

Omni mean ‘all’ and praesēns meaning ‘presence’. God is all present. The word “omnipresence” is not found in the Bible, but the teachings of the scriptures clearly reveal it. This attribute of God is an incommunicable attribute, meaning He does not share it with anyone or anything. This attribute belongs exclusively to the God of the Bible.

So before we go into the depths of this wonderful attribute, let us consider a few things which atheists and unbelievers fail to see about the omnipresence of God.

You must believe that God exists

You must know and believe that God exists. It is pointless trying to explain an attribute of God to someone that doesn’t believe God exists in the first place. However the overwhelming evidence for the existence of God will one day accuse those who deny Him. Not only does He exist, but He is also in control (Genesis 1:1). Click here for an article on the existence and knowability of God.

I believe that the reason many deny the existence of God is because of their sins. The reasons are not necessarily intellectual but moral as they have said in their hearts that there is no God (Psalm 14:1).

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:18-21)

Can I really understand His omnipresence?

Yes. As you grow in your knowledge of God and your relationship deepens, you will start to learn more about Him. He will reveal more of Himself to you through the revelation of His Word, the Bible. However, you can only come to understand and appreciate these attributes of His when you humble yourself.

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6)

If you really desire to know God then I can assure you 100% that God will make Himself known to you. However you must surrender to Him. You must repent of your sins and acknowledge God through Jesus Christ.

God is present everywhere at once

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? (Psalm 139:7)

God is Omnipresent. He is present everywhere at once. We cannot run away from His presence because He is present everywhere. He fills the spaces of this universe. There is no place in this whole universe and beyond where He is not present.

The Psalmist describes His omnipresence by speaking about his inability to avoid Him or hiding from Him. It does not matter if you sit in the core of this earth or if you travel to the moon. There exists no such place where you can hide yourself from Him.

He fills the universe

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. (Jeremiah 23:24)

God is present everywhere at once is because He fills the heaven and the earth with His presence. What does it mean when He says I fill the earth?

Filling means that His essence and being fill the whole universe. God says “I” fill the heaven and earth. Not one of His parts fills one place and another part another place. The whole being of God fills this universe at once. He does not even have to use His knowledge and power to be at all places at once. He does not multiply Himself in order to be everywhere at once.

For thus says the High and Lofty One, Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy (Isaiah 57:15)

The key word in this verse is “inhabits” meaning He dwells. He is so big and majestic that He dwells in eternity. He is present in the land, sea, sky, stars, moon, planets and galaxies. There are more than 80 billion galaxies. There are almost 200-400 billion stars in our galaxy called Milky Way and He exists at all places in this universe and beyond the universe.

His being is infinite hence His presence is infinite and in contrast with our presence which is obviously finite since we are finite creatures. We can only be at one place at once. We can only fill once place at one time.

We also find in this verse that He is not bound with time. He inhabits eternity means that He does not have a beginning and an end. He lives in the “present”.

The universe cannot contain Him

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)

God is undoubtedly, unimaginably, incomprehensibly so big that even His own creation is not sufficient to contain Him.

Dr. Ravi Zacharias tells of a story where he visited a museum and he saw a picture of stars. He spoke to someone about this picture as he really wanted to know more about this fascinating picture. He soon found out that if he would start to count one star a second, it would take him ten thousand years to finish counting the stars. Now, this is the God we serve. Amazing, isn’t it?

God is infinitely big. He is omnipresent because He has created this universe and not only created it but He also sustains it and operates it with perfect power and knowledge. He could not have been a sustainer of this universe if He was not omnipresent.

God’s judgment is also linked with His omnipresence

If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there (Psalm 19:8)

This one is very interesting. Have you ever heard that heaven is heaven because God is there and hell is hell because God is not there? Yes, it is true that heaven is heaven because God is present there, but hell is hell because God is present there too.

The word “in hell” in the original Hebrew language is “sheol” which is equivalent to “hades”. In the book of Revelation 1:18 we see that Jesus holds the keys of hades.

Heaven is a place where the elect of God will spend eternity living in the presence of God. Hell is a place where God will punish all those who have rejected the Gospel of His Son and the atonement for their sins.

He himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (Revelations14:10)

We notice in this verse that “sheol” or hades is not mentioned. It is teaching us that Jesus Christ will be inflicting the punishment on those in everlasting hell which is called “gueena” in Hebrew. His presence is even going to be there in hell. Satan will not rule over it but he too will be punished there. Even hell itself belongs to Jesus Christ as it is part of His creation. Nothing escapes the presence of Almighty God.

God’s judgment

Hell is a place where sinners will be tormented by God’s wrath in the lake of fire because God is present there. This will be the place of eternal justice for sin against a holy God. All those who have rejected Christ’s invitation to be saved and so-called Christians will live in hell for all eternity. The reason God will send sinners into hell is because He is infinitely just and must execute justice towards guilty sinners. However, the Good News is that He has made a way for your sins to be forgiven through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

The Bible says that on that day at the name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow because no one will have any power to defend Himself. Christ will execute perfect judgment because He is the Judge as well the Witness. He has seen and recorded every secret thing.

He will deliver righteous judgment, because He is everywhere and He sees everything. He will not even need a witness to confirm whether a man is guilty or not. He knows every little secret of ours. He knows everything about us. He has got a record of every single second which we have lived so far. He is going to be the judge and the witness.

There is hope in Christ

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. (Isaiah 59:1)

If you are not right with God then know this; that God has provided a way for you to get right with Him. No matter what you have done, there is grace and mercy for you in Jesus Christ. God has spoken to us through His Son. Jesus Christ bore you sins on that cross and God the Father crushed Him for our sins. He was bruised and killed. But, three days later He rose from the dead and He promises to give you a new heart and life when you come to Him in absolute surrender.

Repent and believe in Him. He is willing to forgive you. Come to Him before it is too late. You do not need to walk 100 miles to please Him, travel to another country to climb mountains or enter caves in order to find Him. He is present right where you are. He is willing to forgive, receive and transform you.

Come to Him and be saved. He is calling all men to repent of their sins. The door is left open for you today. Enter through this door and find everlasting life in Him

Christians must rejoice because God is present with us

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. (Psalm 139:9 -10)

These verses are very comforting to those who are walking in Him. Day or night, winter or summer, monsoon or spring, mountains or plains, sea or desert, behold He is present everywhere. He is with us always. He guides are paths. He is not far away. He is our hiding place and His hand shall lead us.

Sometimes we go through lonely times and those times become so weary and upset but beloved if we are around many or none either way rejoice because He is present with you. He gives them strength and grace to go through difficult times. Jesus said:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

This verse shows that our Lord Jesus Christ is omnipresent because He is God. He is with us. We must rejoice that He is more than capable of meeting our supplication and needs. He restores us and guides our paths where ever we go.

Some people have a problem with Jesus Christ being omnipresent. They say how can Jesus be in the flesh and omnipresent at the same time? But then they must answer the question of how can Jesus be a man and God at the same time? How can two distinct natures be united?

Jesus was in perfect communion with God the Father on this earth. He did so many wonders, but how? Was He not just a man? Remember, He is God/Man. God in flesh. Yes, He humbled Himself but He never left His deity. He was omnipresent because of the one who had sent Him.

I and My Father are one. (John 3:13)

Jesus said before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). It fills my heart with joy to know that the Shepherd is not far from His sheep.

Conclusion

You cannot run away from His presence. You cannot hide from Him. You will one day meet Him. I will leave you with these questions to ponder upon His omnipresence.

• What do you do in your free time?
• What do you do when you are not around believers?
• What do you feed on spiritually when you are alone?
• What do you talk about when you are not around believers?
• What do you watch/listen/read when you are alone?
• Do you gossip about others?

God sees it all and knows it all. Every hidden and secret thing is open to Him. God knows your heart and if you feel you are not right with Him then do not delay. His mercy is at hand.

Finally, I will finish with these words from an unknown author fittingly summarise the omnipresence of Christ.

Christ is the head of this house,
The unseen guest at every meal,
The silent listener to every conversation.

Amen

Tags: Dr Ravi Zacharias, God is Omnipresent, Omnipresence, Omnipresent, Ravi Zacharias

Category: Latest Article, Theological Reflections