Before the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, the LORD went down to see the extent of their sin (Genesis 18:20-21). During the episode at Babel, God “came down to the see the city and the tower” ( Genesis 11:5). Yet if God is immensely omnipresent, what then are we to make verses that describe the absence of God’s presence? After the Fall, Adam and Eve attempted to hide themselves from God’s presence ( Genesis 3:8). By declaring God’s immensity, we affirm that His presence gloriously transcends space itself, while His omnipresence shows Him to also inhabit all space. Indeed, the immensity of God helps us to connect God’s transcendence to His omnipresence. As he is larger than all time, so he is vaster than all places.” Or we might simply say that He is immense. Charnock notes that as “all times are a moment to his eternity, so all places are as a point to his essence. Rather, He is present among every molecule, atom, and quark of the universe, but He is infinitely beyond His creation. But neither is the universe a part or piece of God, as panentheism would teach. God is not the same as the cosmos, which is pantheism. God is not the sum total of all existence. As we previously discussed about God’s being, we must be careful to avoid thinking of God in pantheistic or panentheistic ways. Yet we must note that His presence does not mingle His substance with creation. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.” David meditates upon God’s omnipresence in Psalm 139:7-10, declaring, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, 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.” At the dedication of the temple, Solomon prayed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you how much less this house that I have built” (1 Kings 8:27)!īecause God is the Creator of all things, He is the Transcendent One who is present in all places. In Jeremiah 23:23-24, God speaks of Himself, saying, “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Paul’s sermon above clearly implies God’s omnipresence, but it is also made quite explicit elsewhere in Scripture. His presence is infinite and knows no measurements or boundaries. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:22–31Īs Paul spoke to the Athenians about the one true God, He does not dwell “in temples made by man” because He is not confined to any particular location. ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ Īs even some of your own poets have said,īeing then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. Standing among them, the apostle spoke these words: As he was preaching in the synagogue and marketplace, some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers heard him speaking and invited him to present his new teaching to them at the Areopagus. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!Īlong Paul’s second missionary journey, he came to Athens, the great city of philosophy and art. Or where shall I flee from your presence?
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