(Omnipresence)

God is not a created being, but is the Creator. As Creator and Most Sovereign He has certain attributes (characteristics) that distinguish Him as separate from what He created. If you fail to understand these attributes you may fall into many of the mainline cultic representations of God: the God of manifestation (as presented by the Monotheists), the Adam-God (as presented by the Mormons), the angelic God (as represented by the Jehovah's Witnesses), and the immaterial God (as presented by the Spiritists and the Wierwielites). All of these cultic views (and there are many more abounding) present plausible explanations for their view of YHWH, but these views are ungrounded in scripture and therefore patently false.

In this study we will look at each of the attributes of God, one point at a time, as clearly illustrated through the Holy Bible. The Biblical text we will be using is the King James Authorized Version (1611), though I do not discount other scriptural translations available today. At times I will add original language (Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, Syrian) breakdowns of certain key words within the text to make it clearer for the reader, though these key word annotations will always be clearly highlighted as to make them stand out from the KJV translation. I am using the Netscape Editor for all of this work, though you should be able to view all highlighting equally well with Microsoft Internet Explorer. All other browsers should be able to view the texts, though I am not certain how the highlighting will show in them.

If you have any questions or comments about this study, as well as with any other teachings offered in this website, please contact me at bibleteacher.org. Your growth to further the Kingdom of God is all that we want. God Bless you!

This study is in four parts, and you can reach each part quickly by clicking on it's highlighted link:

The omnipresence doctrine is not to be confused with deism, an ancient oriental belief that there is a "god of the trees", a "god of the rocks", a "god of the river", and so on. God isn't separated into parts, nor are there numerous gods in Heaven each inhabiting a different reality on earth. Each member of the Trinity can, if they so desire, be anywhere or everywhere, though the Godhead is forced no where.
 

The key to understanding the omnipresence of God is that He is everywhere He wants to be, simultaneously, and without limitation. God is not a man, limited by a body, tied to one spot or even one time period. God in reality is a Spirit:

Though He is referred to in the Scriptures (and even in our writings) in often human terms, God possesses no body, nor any temporal fixture. When the scripture speaks of "God's hands", "God's face", etc, these are anthropomorphisms, terms used to humanize God so as to make Him more understandable to the readers. God has no more a body than He has feathers, an interpretation you could easily make if you literalized the following verse:

Psalms 91:1-4 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler."

But of course, you know God is not a great bird, and has no actual form as we understand form. Being a spirit Being He is able to immediately be anywhere and everywhere He wants to be, not constrained by time or environment. We often wrongly assign this attribute of God, omnipresence, to Satan. This is stupid! Satan is a created being, and as created he is tied to both time and place just as humans (and all creation) are. Only God, the Creator, possesses omnipresence, all others are limited and finite.

As God is omnipresence, our understanding of this attribute has practical applications for all Christians. I can sin and hide that sin from my wife, my children, my pastor, my parents, from everyone who is close to me. I can convincingly lie to everyone I know, and promote that lie so that all who know me think it be the truth. I can commit the deepest and darkest evils in a closed room and no one human will ever know. But God knows! The same God who immediately and clearly hears the prayers of ten million Christians simultaneously is the same God who immediately witnesses every dark deed that we do at the moment we do it. You cannot hide sin from God. You can pretend you didn't do it, you can ignore God's gentle warnings and pleading to return to your first Love, you can so harden your conscience that you no longer care that you sinned, but you will never hide that sin from God. Think on this the next time you cheat on your taxes, when you back-stab someone with vile gossip, when you wander with your eyes and lust after another woman. God has seen and He knows.

Whenever I preach or teach the doctrine of Hell, I am inevitably accosted with the question "What about those who never heard the Gospel?". This question is rarely asked by a brother or sister in Christ who is honestly seeking a Biblical answer, but is usually asked by those who have an objection to the aforementioned doctrine. I am, and remain firmly, convinced that there is no one who dies who was not at least ONCE presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ IF THEY WERE SEEKING GOD. God in His omnipresence is everywhere, and in His being is the very embodiment of perfect love and justice. Knowing that man could not work his way out of the hole Adam dug for us, God provided His dear Son to be a sacrifice for us all. Not just for the white man, nor just for the black, but for all races and cultures of mankind. Being omnipresent God is able to see when anyone comes to that point in their life when they begin to seek His Face, and at that time God (in His omnipotence) is able to put just the right agent near that person to present the gospel message.

Years ago I read a story, and as I grow older my memory (embarrassingly) fails me somewhat. I remember the general details of the story, which was true, but not the names or places associated with the same. So you can either believe that I tell you this in truth, or disbelieve it and move on. It seems there was a young African man who was the son of the local Chief. In this region of Africa, when two warring tribes were so closely matched in strength as to make the outcome of the battle a terrible waste of life for both sides, often an exchange was made between the two chiefs. This was the case in this instance. Both chiefs declared an uneasy peace, and to seal the bargain traded their firstborn children to each other.

The young man in question was traded out of the life he knew and loved, and into a strange tribe with ways extremely different from any that he had ever known. The man decided to run away, and try to reunite with his family. One night he did just that, but in the process of running away became horribly lost in the wildest jungles of Africa. For days he wandered, lost and undone, without food or water. Finally he reached the end of his rope, sat down, and waited for death.

As he waited for death the man began to study the trees around him, the design so evident in every leaf and flower. As he studied these things it occurred to him that there had to be more to life, that there had to be a God who loved him, that would help him out of this mess he was in. The man began to haltingly pray, not knowing who he was praying to, but knowing that a Creator was listening to his pleas. The man got up and began to walk with purpose, and in a few more hours walked into a clearing occupied by a Christian missionary. The missionary fed him, cleaned him up, bandaged his wounds, and told him about Jesus. This same young man accepted Christ as Saviour that day, and went on to spread the Gospel message to his whole tribe.

Do I believe this story to be true? Yes, absolutely! For years I sat in the "jungle" of this world, lost and without Christ. I was rebellious to my parents and to all forms of authority. The night I went to Church (and was subsequently saved) I went, not to hear the Gospel message, but to ridicule all the goody-goody Christians (who were, in my mind, panty-waists and worse). The invitational hymn came and went, and still I refused to believe. Just before the service fully ended, one brave Pastor stood up front and said: "There's someone in the audience who needs Jesus, who will die in his sins if he leaves this place unrepentant". At that moment I felt a touch on my right shoulder, turned around, and no one was there. Again the Pastor made the same statement, again I felt the touch of no one who was indeed Someone. A third time the statement was made, a third time I felt God's touch, and I was on my way to the front to confess Jesus as my Saviour! Do I believe that God in His omnipresence will make Himself known to every man, woman, and child prior to their deaths? Absolutely, because He made Himself known to me. You can also refer to our study of Heathenism, by clicking the link, which shows further scriptural and historical proofs that drive this point home. Please remember to click the BACK button of your browser to return here, though!

2 Chronicles 2:6 "But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain (KUWL = KEEP IN ALL OF, HOLD IN, RECEIVE FULLY) him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?"

1 Kings 8:27 "But will God indeed (UMNAN, INTEROGGATIVE OF DOUBT = INDEED? WILL HE NOW?) dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain (KUWL = KEEP IN ALL OF, HOLD IN, RECEIVE FULLY) thee; how much less this house that I have builded?"

Being humans, we like to compartmentalize things to make them easier to understand. When we go to Church on Sunday we like to think that we are going to God's house, that this place is holy ground, and that we must keep the devil out of this place. These are nice sentiments, and I am a strong believer in going to Church. The Bible teaches that we are to regularly fellowship together, and that all spiritual gifts given to us by God the Holy Spirit are only operational while in this Fellowship. (See also The Spiritual Gifts, but as before please remember to click the BACK button of your browser to return here, though!) We want our Churches to be nice, clean, wholesome places both to honor God and to give us a place of refuge together in this evil world. Remember, though, that your Church is not actually God's House. He occupies any place where two or more of you gather together for regular fellowship, as Jesus said:

Matthew 18:20 " For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

God does not dwell in one place, as a man must, but dwells everywhere simultaneously. Your Church can no more contain God than did that glorious Temple which Solomon created. No need to censor yourself, or change the name of your Church to "The Chapel" as so many others have. Just realize that God in His omnipresence is not contained in just your Church, but dwells in all Churches where Christ is worshipped simultaneously, and also in the heavens, as well as in the farthest reaches of uncivilization whether on earth or in the universe. Our God is that Mighty!

The hypostatic union is a theological term that refers to the unique person of Jesus Christ. Christ was and will always be fully man (and yet without sin) while also fully God. As fully man Christ's human spirit is contained within a body (just as we are), and can be seen with human eyes (just as we can be seen). As fully God Christ can project Himself, in full awareness, everywhere He wants to be simultaneously. His operational Deity is not tied to His human frame, but is as fully immense as the attributes possessed by both Father and Spirit. When we get to Heaven we will see neither Father nor Spirit sitting down, nor will we ever be able to "sit down at their feet". But we will see our Jesus, sitting on His Throne, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, judging our past works for reward (or no reward), and judging the unrepentant damned. In Jesus we have our mediator, one we can easily see and speak to, one who will stand (in human form) for us in the end times. He is the visible member of the Godhead, and our Saviour. (You can study more about the Hypostatic Union by clicking on this link, but as before please remember to click the BACK button of your browser to return here, though!)