Notes compiled by Marty Zide and Steve McAtee
Omnipresence simply stated means that God, in His totality, is everywhere present at all times. However, He is not present in everything, that is Pantheism.
Insights Into God’s Omnipresence
This does not contradict the fact that there are varying degrees of the manifestations of His presence.
There is never a time when one can escape the presence of God.
God is present in different ways in different places. No one can ever hide from God. Adam and Eve, Jonah, and others have tried it without success.
There is never a time when one can escape the presence of God.
Sometimes God is present to bless, sometimes to punish.
Ps. 139:7-10 -Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
Jer. 23:23-24 -Am I a God who is near, declares the Lord, And not a God far off? 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.
Ps. 16:11 -You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Amos 9:1-4 -I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape. Though they dig into Sheol, From there will My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down. Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.
Understanding God’s omnipresence, will bless and comfort us as we consider that there is no place where we can go where God’s presence is absent. God was with Joseph in prison, Daniel in the den of lions, Nehemiah in the emperor’s palace, Esther before the king, Paul on the ship during the storm, and on and on.
Practical Applications Of God’s Omnipresence
This should produce a tremendous amount of comfort in the heart of a true believer.
It should be an incentive for boldness as we serve the Lord.
It should motivate us to holiness
Matt. 28:19-20 -Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Heb. 13:5 -...I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.
Ps. 119:168 -I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are before You.
Prov. 15:3 -The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.
Coming Next –“God Is Omnipotent”