1 Kings 20
records the details of a war between the people of Israel and their northern
neighbors, the Syrians. The children of Israel were victorious in the first
battle, much to the dismay of the Syrians, and later on, as the Syrian leaders
gathered for coffee at the local café, they tried to figure out why they had
lost. One of the leaders said, “Aha! Why didn’t we think of this before? They
beat us because they had home-field advantage! Their god must be a god of the
hills, so next time let’s fight them down in the plains, and our gods will give
us the victory.”
After that
conversation, the Lord sent a prophet to the king of Israel, who said, “Because
the Syrians think I’m only the god of the hills and not the god of the plains,
I’m going to give them all into your hand.” In that moment, God wanted to make
a crystal-clear distinction between himself and the so-called “gods” of the
other nations—the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, cannot be assigned to
one location as if His power were only operative there. Rather, the testimony
of Scripture is that our God—the true God—is in all places. He is king in all
places and every place at the same time.
In other
words, God’s presence is pervasive—He is in all places at once. This
characteristic of God is often called His “omnipresence,” and today, I want to
look at this idea so that we can understand our God in better detail, and think
about some implications of God’s pervasive presence in His creation.
Where is this idea found in
Scripture?
The
clearest expression of this idea is also the most moving and memorable. It is
found in Psalm 139:7-12. In this psalm, David had just stated how thoroughly
God knows him, and now we read that part of the reason for that knowledge is
that God is everywhere. I know in years past, I have read these verses as if
David was trying to run away and hide from God—probably because of the word
“flee” in v. 7—but upon a closer look, these verses don’t have to be understood
that way. In fact, it seems that just the opposite is the case—David sees God’s
presence as comforting and reassuring [READ Ps.
139:7-12]. Notice how David considers various factors like distance,
speed, and even a condition like darkness and concludes that none of these
things can separate us from God. He is with us!
But how can
God be with you in your house and also with me in my house at the same time?
It’s important for us to remember that God does not have the limitation of a
physical body like we do. John 4:24 states that God is
spirit, which means that He doesn’t have flesh and bones like we do. My
body can only be in one place at one time, but since God doesn’t have the
limitation of a physical body, that is one reason that he can be omnipresent.
“You’ve got some ‘splainin to
do!”
We should
clarify at this point just what we are claiming when we say that God is
“omnipresent.” As much as it pains me to say this,
since I love these movies, the Star Wars movies have popularized some ideas
that some people have wrongly associated with God. People have been
tempted to draw parallels between God and “The Force” in the Star Wars movies,
but we really don’t want to make that connection.
In Star
Wars, The Force is a kind of power that flows through humans and rocks and
trees and spaceships and everything that exists. That idea is actually based on
a religious belief called “pantheism,” which comes from religions like Buddhism
and Hinduism. But when we say that God is omnipresent, we should not be
thinking that God is somehow inside the wood that makes up my pulpit, or that
He is somehow inside the pew that you’re sitting on.
What we are
actually claiming is that God is aware of all that is happening in every corner
of creation and that He is active in every corner of creation—all at the same
time. When we say that God is omnipresent, that should be the idea that we have
in mind, rather than some notion that God is inside the carpet or the drywall
or the lightbulbs.
Unique Reminders of God’s
Presence
Now, God
does, at times, give unique reminders of His presence to specific people in
specific places. One familiar example of this kind of act of God is the pillar
of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that accompanied the people of
Israel during the Exodus, when they fled from their slavery in Egypt. That
pillar wasn’t visible from every place on the planet! It was in a specific
location, and from time to time it would move to a new location to show the
people where to go.
In such moments,
when God offers a unique reminder of His presence, He does so to teach people
important lessons. Think about what the children of Israel should have learned
from that pillar of cloud and fire. God wanted to teach them lessons like:
·
“I am here to guide you”
·
“I am here to protect you” (like when Pharaoh
chased after them)
·
“I am here to provide for you” (giving them
light and warmth by night).
Of course,
the greatest example of God making His presence known in order to teach us was
the Incarnation, when Jesus added a human nature to His person. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God. The only one,
himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known
(NET Bible).”
Some Implications of God’s
Omnipresence
1. His knowledge about me is
first-hand knowledge
I am
repeating this thought from my sermon on God’s omniscience, but I think it
bears repeating here. Since God is personally aware of everything that is going
on in creation, then He personally knows everything that is going on with me. I think this observation is comforting, because so many
of our problems with each other are either created or exaggerated by misinformation—for
example, someone hears a piece of gossip about you and they start to act
differently around you. Perhaps they’re less friendly or less open with you—all
because they heard something about you that didn’t reflect the truth.
But we
don’t have to worry about any such issues with God! He doesn’t have to seek
information about us from some other source—He sees us, so He has direct
knowledge about us. This thought is also the second implication.
2. God always sees what is
happening to us and what we are up to
Many
situations in life can move us to think, “God, where are you?” Though it may
not feel like God is always with us,
that is only an appearance; it is not the reality. God sees all that is
happening to us. He sees when people sin against us; He sees when people are
kind to us. He sees it all!
He also
sees what we are up to, and this thought should be a powerful reminder for us
as we make choices in life. The temptations we face always look more appealing
when we think that no one will see what we’re doing and no one will find out
about what we’ve done. We can hide things from each other, can’t we? And when
we’re only thinking on that level, our temptations look far more appealing. But
when we remember that God is always with us and He sees us at all times, we are
reminded that we can’t hide anything from Him.
You may remember a children’s song that tried to teach us
this lesson when we were young. It goes like this: “Oh be careful little eyes
what you see, oh be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above
is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see.” That
little song reminds us that God is watching us, and it contains such an
important reminder when it says that God is “looking down in love.” God is watching, yes, but He’s watching in love! He is
not like some grumpy piano teacher who’s waiting to slap you on the hand any
time you play a wrong note. Remembering that God watches us in love will help
us think accurate thoughts about God, and it still leaves us with the awesome
realization that we will one day answer to God for everything that He has seen
us do.
3. I am never alone—God is
always with me!
When God
asked His people to carry out some task in Scripture, He always reminded them
that they would not be alone—He would be with them. When Moses was preparing to
lead the people of Israel toward their first attempt to conquer the Promised
Land, God said to him, “My presence will go with you,
and I will give you rest (Exodus 33:14).”
When the
people rebelled before their first attempt, and God prepared Joshua to lead the
second attempt, the Lord told him to remember what he had been promised, to
remember God’s commands, and he wrapped it all up by saying this: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not
be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).”
When the
Lord Jesus was on the earth, and He told His disciples on the night before He
died that He would be going away, He said, “I will not
leave you as orphans; I will come to you (John 14:18).” And when He gave
those men the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations, He said, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew
28:20).”
We are not
alone as we seek to carry out the tasks that God has for us. When you’re going
around town and you see that person that you know you should forgive, you are
not alone. When you walk into the office to co-workers who do not share your
faith, you are not alone. When you are facing down the temptation that has
tripped you up a hundred times, you are not alone. The Lord your God is with
you wherever you go!
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