The Being, Names, and Attributes of God

Omnipresence

Opening Text: Psalm 139

I. Exhortations

A. “Though heaven be God’s palace, yet it is not his prison.” -Thomas Brooks

B. “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” -C.S. Lewis

C. “When mention is made of God, it behooves us to apply our minds properly to those attributes of his nature which are specially fitted to establishing our faith, that we may not lose ourselves by vainly indulging in subtle speculations.” -John Calvin

D. “...we deny that God is such an extended, long, broad, thick, high, low Being. We rather contend that God is a supernatural, unfathomable Being, who at one and the same time is in every little kernel of grain and also in and above and outside all creatures.” -Martin Luther

E. “The knowledge that God is present is blessed, but to feel His presence is nothing less than sheer happiness.” -Dr. Allen Fleece

F. “Our Father, we know that Thou art present with us, but our knowledge is but a figure and shadow of truth and has little of the spiritual savor and inward sweetness such knowledge should afford. This is for us a great loss and the cause of much weakness of heart. Help us to make at once such amendment of life as is necessary before we can experience the true meaning of the words ‘In thy presence is fullness of joy.’ Amen.” -A.W. Tozer

II. Defining our terms

A. God’s infinity (that He is without any limitation in all His virtues) regarding space is His Immensity and Omnipresence.

B. “The infinitude of God, so far as space is concerned, includes his immensity and his omnipresence. These are not different attributes, but one and the same attribute, viewed under different aspects. His immensity is the infinitude of his being, viewed as belonging to his nature from eternity. He fills immensity with his presence. His omnipresence is the infinitude of his being, viewed in relation to his creatures. He is equally present with all his creatures, at all times, and in all places. He is not far from any one of us.” -Charles Hodge

C. “Although the immensity and omnipresence of God are always connected together, yet they admit of distinction. The former indicates an absolute property of belong to him from eternity; the latter, based upon it, denotes a habitude to place existing in time...For out of immensity arises omnipresence, which supposes immensity as its foundation, God is therefore omnipresent because he is immense.” -Francis Turretin

D. [Immensity] “may be defined as that perfection of the Divine Being by which He transcends all spatial limitations, and yet is present in every point of space with His whole Being...’Immensity points to the fact that God transcends all space and is not subject to its limitations, while ‘omnipresence’ denotes that He nevertheless fills every part of space with His entire Being. The former emphasizes the transcendence, and the latter, the immanence of God.” -Louis Berkhof

E. “God is not confined to any place, he is infinite, and so is present in all places at once. His centre is everywhere...” -Thomas Watson

F. “God’s omnipresence does not mean that he fills the space of the entire universe and that, besides, he extends infinitely beyond all space; it means rather that God is essentially above all space so that the essential characteristics and laws of space do not apply to him at all.” -Herman Hoeksema

III. Defending our terms

A. God’s Essence/Being cannot be contained in creation: 1Kings 8:27; Acts 7:44-50

1. This reminds us that God is transcendent

2. That is, God is wholly, with His infinite Essence, above the world and every moment and relation of it. He is exalted above all creation

3. Consider, however vast creation is, if it were 10,000 x 10,000 more vast, it could not contain God as no finite amount of space can contain the infinite immensity and omnipresence of God.

B. God’s Essence/Being fills creation. There is nowhere God is not: Ps 139:7-10; Jer 23:23-24; Acts 17:22-29

1. This reminds us that God is immanent

2. That is, God is wholly, with His infinite Essence, in the universe and in every part, relation, and moment of it. He is very near us, and directly in and behind all the existence and activity of the creature

3. As there is nowhere God is not, we cannot hide from Him C. God’s Essence/Being dwells in a special way among His people: Is 57:15;

Ez 37:24-28; Rom 8:9-11; 1Cor 3:16-17 D. God’s Essence/Being dwells uniquely and fully in Christ: Jn 17:20-24; Col 2:9; Heb 1:1-4]

[Additional Scripture References: Gen 11:1-9; 18:16-21; Ex 19:10-25; 25:1-8; Deut 4:32-40; 10:12-14; 1Kings 20:23-28; 2Chr 2:1-10; Ps 11; 16:5-11; 21:8; 91:1;Is 40:12-17; 59:1-2; 66:1; Amos 9:1-4; Mt 5:33-37; 6:9; Jn 1:1-18; 14:23;1Cor 6:17-20; Eph 2:19-22; 3:14-21; 4:1-10; Col 1:15-29; Rev 21]

Questions to Consider and Discuss:

1.  How do we live in such a way as to deny the truth of God’s omnipresence?

2. How does the truth of God’s omnipresence bring us comfort?

3. Is hell a place “away from the presence” of God?

4. God is omnipresent, so how does sin separate us from Him?