The Other Omni

I've talked about God's Omnipotence (possessing all power) and God's Omniscience (knowing everything), so I should probably touch on that last "omni" -- God's Omnipresence.

So, first the easy part. "Omni" means "all" and "presence" means "presence." Thus, "omnipresence" means "present everywhere." Okay, that was simple. But, is it true? Is it a tradition or a biblical fact?

Solomon wrote, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good" (Prov 15:3), so we know He sees every place. Paul wrote, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col 1:17), so we know that all matter is contained in Him. Jeremiah says, "'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" (Jer 23:23-24). Perhaps Psalm 139 gives us the most explicit and expansive text on the subject.

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. (Psa 139:7-10)

Well, that's about everywhere, isn't it? Pretty clear. Heaven, hell, here, there, wherever ... God is there. Not tradition; Scripture.

We need to be careful here. There are those that argue that Hell is simply the absence of God. If God is Omnipresent, that simply can't be. It could be the absence of the knowledge of the presence of God, but God's Omnipresence requires that He be everywhere at the same time and if He is not He is not Omnipresent. Another key point we need to dodge is the growing popularity of pantheism. "God is in everything." It doesn't simply say God is everywhere; it says God is everything. that's called idolatry. Conversely, deism as a formal belief is not common, but as a practice is everywhere. They think that God is "there", perhaps, but He's "hands off." You'll find it in strange cultic views or in everyday Christian perspectives where nature and sin occur outside of God's control and His hands are tied. It's just not so.

So what? God's Omnipresence has many ramifications. It means that He is accessible because He is present. It means that He is aware ("The eyes of the LORD are in every place") because He is present. It means that God doesn't miss your pain or problems. He is there. It means you can't hide from God. He's there. And we look forward to the day when we realize His presence, when we "make real" the presence that is real even when we're not aware of it. Every time we go to church, we worship, we pray, we delve into His Word, we share Him with others either in fellowship or in evangelism, we declare His presence. And I declare, with David, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it" (Psa 139:6).