Omnipresence-Everywhere
Notes
Transcript
Omnipresence
Omnipresence
Have you ever wished that you could be at two places at once?
He wanted to be at a birthday celebration at Mr. Gatti’s and he wanted to go to the Varsity Football game in Bloomington.
So he had to make the choice.
Does he go to Gatti’s or does he go to the football game.
And when presented with the choices he said “I really want to do both”
But the reality is he couldn’t do both.
He is limited.
He can only be at one place at a time.
Life would at times be easier if we were able to be at more than one place at a time.
But we can’t b/c we are physical beings that live within time and space.
However, God doesn’t run into this problem.
God is everywhere at all times.
He is Omnipresent.
He isn’t limited by space and time.
He is universally present.
This can be a difficult attribute to wrap our minds around as one theologian says
“Attempting to fit this aspect of God into our small minds is like trying to pour the bottomless ocean into a tiny thimble-it simply will not fit.”
But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth exploring.
B/c God’s omnipresence demonstrates his grandeur and immensity.
When we first started this sermon series, I challenged us to attempt to discover who God is according to how he has revealed himself.
This is going to be what we try to do this morning and for the rest of this series.
And in order to do this accurately we must make sure that we don’t limit God.
This morning and over the next 2 weeks we are going to look at what are called God’s Omni’s.
This morning omnipresence, meaning God is everywhere.
Next week Omniscience, meaning God is all-knowing.
And the following week Omnipotence, meaning God is all powerful.
As you noticed these words all have the prefix omni- in front of them.
Omni comes from Latin meaning “All”
So when we see the word omni in front of presence it simply means that God is all present.
He is all present within his universe.
How is this possible?
How can God be everywhere in the universe?
And what Scriptures help us to see this most clearly.
The first Scripture I want us to look at together is found in
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits,
10 even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me.
If you look at this scripture, David is wondering where could he possibly go to not be in the presence of God.
And here in Ps 139, we see that there is no escaping God’s presence.
In fact, if we look closely we see that David hits on all directions in this Psalm.
If he goes to heaven, representing the north, God is there.
If he goes to Sheol, representing South, God is there.
If he goes to the eastern horizon or the western limits God is there.
There is nowhere in the created universe that we can escape God.
We actually read about a prophet who tried this out.
Jonah tried to flee from the Lord.
God came to Jonah and told him that he needed to go and tell the Ninevites that they will be destroyed if they didn’t repent of their evil and wicked ways.
And then we are told in
3 Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.
Jonah doesn’t want to obey the Lord so he tries to flee from his presence.
But the Lord doesn’t lose Jonah.
In fact, the Lord sends a windstorm to toss about the boat that Jonah gets on.
Then God sends a big fish to swallow up Jonah.
Then Jonah prays to God while he’s in the fish, and God hears his prayer and causes the fish to spit Jonah on the dry ground.
No matter how hard Jonah would have tried, he couldn’t escape the presence of the Lord.
He is everywhere.
Whether in life or death, time or eternity God is there with the fullness of his being.
There isn’t one place in all the universe where God isn’t full God and present there in the fullness of who he is.
God is both transcendent meaning beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience.
And He is what theologians call imminent.
Meaning that he is also close to his creation. Near to us.
God with us.
Let’s take a look at God’s transcendence and imminence.
First we will examine his transcendence.
1 I lift my eyes to you, the one enthroned in heaven.
9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over the whole earth; you are exalted above all the gods.
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it.
4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them.
Exalted in Heaven
Exalted in Heaven
In these 4 verses what we notice is that God is exalted in Heaven.
He is on his throne.
Sitting, Ruling, and Reigning.
In the Hebrew the word for heaven is shamayim which when translated literally means “heights”
When the Scriptures talk about heaven it’s often in the plural.
Meaning that God is sitting in the loftiest of or highest of heights.
And where is he sitting.
He is sitting on his throne.
like we talked about a few weeks ago, God is ruling and reigning from his throne, never taking a day, hour, or minute off from his rule.
On his throne in heaven, he towers over his creation in the highest of heights.
And he fills the fullness of heave with his glory.
Jesus even recognizes God’s rule in Heaven sitting on the throne.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
22 And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.
God’s throne is established in Heaven.
Heaven is the dwelling place of God, but it’s not the only place where he is present.
God is also in the great beyond.
God is also present in outer space.
He upholds the sun, moon and the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
2 He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe, spreading out the sky like a canopy,
18 can you help God spread out the skies as hard as a cast metal mirror?
God is present even in the areas that are unreachable to humanity.
This harkens back to the Sovereignty of God we spoke about a couple of weeks ago.
God isn’t an absent ruler.
Not he is purposely present in every square inch of the universe.
Including the parts that will never be touched by humanity.
Why?
B/c he is the one who alone holds everything together.
He is the one with sole authority.
He is the one who is never out of touch with his creation.
As the universe continues to expand it will never escape the presence of God.
A.W. Tozer said, “The universe operates as an orderly system, not by impersonal laws but by the creative voice of the immanent and universal presences, the Logos.”
As our knowledge of the universe expands, our understanding about the vastness of God must expand too.
In the Psalm we read earlier, David mentioned heaven, sheol, and the horizon as places we can’t escape the presence of God.
Now we can include the moon, mars, the sun and the outer most parts of the universe that we have pictures of.
God’s presence. His involvement, and his rulership doesn’t change the further from earth we leave.
He is literally in the most basic sense ever present, every where.
And that should cause us to stand back in awe and wonder of our God.
The highest of highs to the depths of the seas.
The outermost boundaries of the universe.
God is present and involved with his creation.
There’s no where we could go that God isn’t ruling and reigning.
And here’s the beauty of that truth.
As transcendent and great our God is he is also close to us.
He is God with us.
God is beyond and God is here.
Moses commanded the Israelites
39 Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.
God On Earth
God On Earth
Here’s the thing, God dwells equally in heaven and on earth.
He isn’t just the God of the heavens.
He’s the Lord of all creation.
He occupies both heavenly and earthly realms.
Remember there is no place where we can escape his presence.
This is a beautiful truth to hold fast to, God isn’t divorced from what happens on earth.
He is intricately and directly involved and present in the creation that he created.
He both oversees his creation and is involved with his creation.
And what’s even more, we don’t get second hand presence on earth.
God is fully present on earth and in heaven.
He isn’t more real, more present in heaven than he is right here on earth.
He exists everywhere in the fullness of who he is.
Let’s look at what God says in
15 For the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: “I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed.
Yes he lives in a high and holy place, but he also lives in the brokenness of his people.
God cares about you when you hurt.
God draws near to those who are in the lowest places.
He is with those who are broken down.
He is present in our every situation and circumstance.
In sickness and in health.
In pleasure and in pain.
In hurt and in rejoicing.
God is there with his own.
He draws near to the broken hearted.
The holy, perfect, transcendent Creator of all, dwells in the dumps with those who love him.
That’s why David can write
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
We have the assurance that God is with us no matter where we go.
God tells Jeremiah
23 “Am I a God who is only near”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away?
24 Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?”—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”—the Lord’s declaration.
From the highest of highs in the universe, to the lowest of lows on earth.
God doesn’t leave those he loves behind.
This is why the author of Hebrews can boldly proclaim
Hebrews 13:5–6 (CSB)
5 ...Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.
6 Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
The Lord is with you everywhere and in all situations.
Paul goes further to help us really grasp this idea
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
God is above all, through all, and in all
One Theologian once said
God is over all things, under all things, outside all, within but not enclosed; without but not excluded; above but not raised up; below but not depressed; wholly above, presiding; wholly beneath, sustaining; wholly within, filling.
And even better than him being with you and in all things.
If you belong to Jesus, If you have put your faith in him, then he is also in you.
17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.
4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.
Do you see that in those verses.
God is in you.
You are the dwelling place of the living God.
You are the temple of God
So God isn’t just around us on earth in ever circumstance, if we belong to him then he is in us as we struggle.
As we face and endure the brokenness of life around us.
The Holy Spirit empowers you .
He Gives you strength.
He guides you into all truth.
Convicts you of sin.
Covers you.
You were once alienated from God, but through the blood of Jesus, God dwells with you.
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
God has come to give you life through the power of the Holy Spirit through the person and work of Jesus.
13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
This is an interesting phrase.
It says you were far away from God, but you have been brought near.
It never said that God was far away from you.
Why is that?
B/c God is present everywhere, unfortunately you were dead in your sins and trespasses and didn’t have access to the goodness of God.
B/c of your sinful state you were unable to see the beauty of God and the truth of the gospel.
But when you are transformed by the gospel the reality of God’s presence permeates our very being.
Now we know that We are not far off from God, but we have now be brought near, not b/c of what we’ve done or who we are but solely b/c of Jesus.
Since we have been brought near to God, he is with us and IN us in every circumstance.
The mountain tops and the valleys.
And this reality is both comforting and convicting, or at least it should be.
For comfort he will never leave you.
He will hear you when you pray.
The fact that God is everywhere means that it doesn’t matter where you are, when you pray he will hear you.
He is with you and in you.
Now this is where I might lose some of you.
Remember when we first started this series, I told you that this was going to stretch you understanding of God.
That we need to be willing to abandon any preconceived notions we have about who God is and let him reveal himself to us.
I’ll be honest when studying God’s omnipresence this truth shook me at first.
It rocked me to my very core.
I immediately reached out to my friends and had to work this out with them.
And if I’m being honest I really thought about leaving it out of this sermon, b/c it might be hard for us to swallow.
But I believe it is what the scriptures lay out.
And if God is omnipresent then it also must be true.
If God’s omnipresence means that he is in heaven above, on the earth below, to the outer reaches of our universe, the depth of the ocean, and in all other created places.
Then this must mean that God’s presence is also in hell.
Can I tell you why this shocked me?
It shocked me b/c I was taught whether intentionally or not that Hell was separation from God.
And that’s true to an extent, we will get there in a minute.
But the thought that God is in hell can boggle our mind.
When I first read and heard this it was like whiplash.
So the next logical question is is there any scripture to back this up.
10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
God In Hell
God In Hell
Here John in Revelation is talking about those who don’t believe in Jesus.
And did you see that phrase, “He” that being the unbeliever, “will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb”, that is Jesus.
So the torment will be enacted upon the unbeliever by God himself.
I’m not sure who first taught that Hell is separation from God or that God isn’t present in Hell, but I can only imagine that whoever first came up with that teaching was trying to sanitize God.
Maybe it came about at the same time that people were teaching that satan rules over hell.
That hell is his domain.
But if hell is a created place, then God is the overseer and ruler of that realm just as he is over all that is created.
Teaching that God is the one who executes the Judgement on the unbelievers to some may make God out to be the bad guy.
But who else would do it?
God is the one that is sinned against.
God is the one who is rebelled against.
God is the one who executes his judgement upon those who don’t repent.
We may not like this truth, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
God himself is personally in hell and he is pouring out his wrath on those who have sinned and rebelled against him.
And It’s even more of a punishment than if God was absent.
God is not passive in the judgment he is actively punishing those who deserve punishment.
God is the one in Rev 14:10 who gives over the cup of divine anger and wrath.
He pours out his wrath.
And I know there are many who don’t like to talk about the wrath of God.
We want the love of God without the wrath of God, but we can’t have one without the other.
God is both the one who demonstrates his love and pours out his wrath.
Now people who oppose this might point to
8 when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength
10 on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.
“They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s Presence”
That sure sounds like God isn’t present when people are punished.
However, that word for presence in the Greek means “countenance or face”
This means that the Lord will turn his face away from unbelievers.
When God turns his face away it means that his favor or blessing is removed.
Not that he is absent.
Meaning that God is present in hell, but he is withholding his goodness, grace, mercy and kindness.
This will lead us to our final point,
God though omnipresent does manifest himself differently at different times and in different places.
For example, God was present everywhere, but he had a special presence with the Israelites in the Tabernacle and Temple.
Same thing with Mt. Hebron when he gave the law to Moses.
He was everywhere, but he there for a specific purpose manifesting himself differently.
His presence in the burning bush was different than his presence in the rest of the world at that same given time.
So God is everywhere, but he chooses to show himself differently at different times and different places depending on his purposes.
So God isn’t necessarily tied to a certain time and place.
This is important for practical reasons as a believer.
God isn’t more present here at church during a worship service than he is while you are at work.
He isn’t more present during your prayer time than he is when you are at the grocery store.
Every where you go, he is present and he is with you.
Meaning that there is no where you can go to escape him.
As that old Latin phrase goes, you are living Coram Deo before the face of God.
Everywhere at all times.
He may show up in a worship service differently.
But when need to know that he is everywhere at all times and in all circumstances.
This knowledge of God’s omnipresence should inform us on how we think, act, and behave.
We should know that in the dark recesses of sin and doubt God is there.
We should know that in the brokenness and despair, God is there.
We should know that in the joy God is there.
There is nowhere we can go to Escape the presence of the Lord.
But the question is do you have God dwelling in you.
Have you committed yourself to Jesus and are you pursing him.
If not, He wants to have a relationship with you.
give your life to him.
Let’s Pray.