Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 14 – The essence of God – Omnipresence. 1Ki 8:14, 27; Jer 23:24; Psa 139:1-12.Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 14 – The essence of God – Omnipresence. 1Ki 8:14, 27; Jer 23:24; Psa 139:1-12.
5. The essence of God part 1: Attributes that constitute God and are not commuted to beings.
B. Omnipresence = God is present everywhere [not commuted to beings].
Space has been defined as “extension void of matter or body, and capable of receiving or containing matter or body” (cited by Dick, Theology, 98). It is thus that space exceeds all that it contains.
God is the cause of space and is therefore not subject to it (1Ki 8:27). Respecting His creation, including space, God is both immanent and transcendent. If space is defined by bounds, He exceeds it by infinity.
1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee
Not even heaven is enough to contain Him:
1 Kings 8:14 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built!
In relationship to space, God is imminent – God indwells all space; and transcendent – God is prior to, exalted above, and creator of space.
Jer 23:23 "Am I a God who is near," declares the Lord, "And not a God far off?
Jer 23:24 "Can a man hide himself in hiding places, So I do not see him?" declares the Lord. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the Lord.
This truth is very hard to reason in our finite minds. All other beings known to man, including angels, are restricted to a given place at a given time. If you’re here then you are not over there. Material things occupy space, but never all of it. Also, two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Again, God is Spirit and not matter – He has created matter and space and so He is infinitely outside of space and filling all of space.
Omnipresence is not pantheism, since pantheism denies the existence of the life and personality of God. Pantheism says God is in every object; it is a false doctrine.
God fills space and time with His presence, sustains it, and gives it purpose and value. God sustains the changing realm of succeeding events and is conscious of every movement and every action of every person in history.
Yet we also read in the Scriptures that each of the three persons of the Trinity is resident in one place at any given time. Rationally, if something occupies all space then it cannot be in a specific and bounded place, yet God can.
Omnipresence includes the concept of locality. God is free to be local as when He dwelt between the cherubs in the Holy of Holies and when He appeared to Moses on the mountain.
The Father is in the third heaven: Matt 6:9 'Our Father who art in heaven,
The Son sits at the right hand of God: Heb 1:3 When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Ps 113:5 Who is like the Lord our God, Who is enthroned on high,
Ps 123:1 To Thee I lift up my eyes, O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens!
The Holy Spirit indwells the believer: 1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The Son indwells the believer: Col 1:27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
On the other hand, the Father is said to be in the Son as the Son is in the Father John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee,
At the same time, the Father is: Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
The Son is: Matt 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst."
The Son is also: Matt 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
The Holy Spirit restrains the anti-Christ projects of satan and the KOD: 2 Thess 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
As you can see, they started their work early on in the Church-age and are continuing while the HS restrains them, which will cease at the Rapture of the Church.
The Holy Spirit also convicts the world: John 16:8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;
So the Father is in heaven but also everywhere. The Son sits at the right hand of God and is also with every believer, in every believer, and in the midst of two or three gathered believers. The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning the conflict and restrains the lawless deeds of the KOD and yet He also indwells every believer.
The reason of the believer cannot but hope to make a common equation from all of these variables, yet it is impossible since they are seemingly contradictory on the surface. The difficulty lies in the fact that omniscients is being explained to a finite and bounded creature. Language of accommodation is used by God while He entreats the believer creature to exercise faith.
However, it is made clear that God is everywhere as well as in the believer and always with the believer. This is what God wants to convey to you. Your God is transcendent and therefore filling everything, yet He is always intimately with you as if you were the only one here. You are never alone. He is not stretched out or diluted in some way so that only a portion of Him is with you. His entire essence is in you and with you, forever. You are never alone.
Ps 33:13 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;
Ps 33:14 From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,
Ps 33:15 He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.
Ps 33:16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
Ps 33:17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
Ps 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
Ps 33:19 To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.
Ps 33:20 Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
Ps 33:21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.
Ps 33:22 Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in Thee.
Heb 13:5 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"
Heb 13:6 so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?"
This is quoted from two passages, which have meaning for us:
Josh 1:5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
Josh 1:6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
1 Chron 28:20 Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.
We see in both passages that the nearness of the Lord to the believer and the promise of forever being with him prompts the believer to action on behalf of the Lord without fear of failure. Grace doesn’t produce laziness; rather it produces the hardest and most faithful workers.
1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
In the Church-age, accuracy of doctrine [intellect], faith in doctrine [sensibility], and application of doctrine [will] are the main targets of satan’s attack.
Lastly, to the righteous this doctrine is a source of abundant consolation. In every place they meet a friend, a protector, and a father. Does the voice of thunder, or the raging of the ocean, or the fury of the tempest, announce his presence? They have nothing to fear, for love to them presides over the commotions of the elements.
Do they perceive Him in the more tranquil scenes of nature, in the silent progress of vegetation, in the smiles of the heavens, and in the regular beneficence which supplies their returning wants, and diffuses so much happiness among all classes of animated beings?
Oh! how delightful the thought that He, in whom they repose confidence, is so near that they may always assure themselves of ready and effectual aid! This thought is fitted to en- liven every scene, and to sweeten every condition.
It will make the springs of joy burst out in the parched and thirsty wilderness, and clothe the naked and cheerless waste with verdure. It will give a relish to a dry morsel, and a cup of cold water. It will lighten the pressure of poverty, and soothe the pangs of affliction.
It will dissipate the horrors of a dungeon, and console the exile from his country and his friends. How transporting the thought, that we cannot go where God is not! A good man may be bereaved of his reputation, his liberty, his earthly all; but the deadly hatred of his enemies can never so far succeed as to draw from him the mournful complaint, “Ye have taken away my God, and what have I more?”
With whatever afflictions his faith and patience may be tried, and whatever change of circumstances a wise providence may appoint him to undergo, although there should be no human heart to sympathise with him, and no kind hand to perform the offices of friendship, he can express his faith and joy in the words of an ancient saint, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou boldest me by my right hand. Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and afterward receive me to thy glory” (Psa 73:23, 24).—Dick’s Theology, p. 102 |