The Omnipresence of God

 Devotion 3 - The Omnipresence of God

The character of God and His attributes are fully present in His creation at every point and at every place.  God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means his divine presence encompasses the whole of the universe. This is a key attribute of God. God is in all places simultaneously. There is no place where God's Spirit is not present.

 

Psa.139:7-12 – “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. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.”

 God is spirit, not “a” spirit. There is no location where He does not inhabit. And He is not spread thinly throughout creation; there is not a little of Him here and a little of Him there. God exists in His fullness in every place throughout reality. For that reason, we have His fullest presence with us each time we reach out to Him in prayer. Even in our most private moments or when we do not “feel God,” He is still present. Consider the example of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego.

 Dan. 3:24-25 – “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”  “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

They themselves do not see or feel the presence of God in the burning furnace, however, God was there with them, protecting them, and was seen by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Jer.23:24 – “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.”

 God is unconstrained by neither time nor space. The creator is everywhere in the universe He created, there is no place in the universe that is away from His presence and nothing escapes His notice. His presence may be experienced at any time and at any place.

 

Manifested Presence vs Omnipresence

Theologically, we understand that God is omnipresent, however, the fact is not readily discernible with our senses. There is never a time when God is not present with us, but there are times when God is not manifested among us. Thus, God’s omnipresence may or may not result in a special experience on our part.  In reality, we cannot lose God’s presence, but we can lose the sense of His presence.

Sadly, most of us do not have an objective reality grounded in the revealed Word of God and thus, many base our faith on perceived reality – His manifested presence.  We must be mindfully conscious that the manifested presence of God may not be visible or able to be sensed physically, but His presence is still real, and it occurs in actual time and space.

A mother may know her child in the womb, but it is only in holding the child after birth that the mother experiences the child in actual reality. Nevertheless, the child is an actual reality before she was experienced by the mother in real-time and space.

Oftentimes, the presence of God is not evident in our experience, nevertheless, there is never a time when God is not present with us. For that reason, we are exhorted to “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor.5:7). We cannot live our Christian life by ‘feeling’. God’s omnipresence exists without our awareness. However, God, in His mercy and goodness, reveals Himself to us in His sovereign timing at times to awaken our awareness of His omnipresence.

So Near yet so Far

Eph.2:13 – “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ”

How can an unbeliever be far away from God when He is omnipresent? This verse is not talking about the physical distance, but relational distance. Though God is present everywhere, we can still be far from Him in terms of relationships.

Isa.59:1-2 – “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

In Isaiah's time, the nation of Israel as a whole had become apostate and corrupt. So, God refused to listen to their hypocritical prayers and allowed calamity to befall them. But it was the Israelites’ own fault that distress occurred - they had revolted against God.

While God can hear prayers and has the power to save, He does not do so for those who are unrepentant evildoers. If we choose to live in sin, He can also be far from us. We must be mindful of this paradox. God is present everywhere, but He is not necessarily everywhere to bless.