God is there...
How foolish it is to think that the God who exists can only be found in a certain location. Can we really say, “God is here, but not there?” What do we mean when we say, “Let your glory fill this place,” or “Be filled with the Spirit?”
Isaiah prophesied, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being’ ” (Isa. 66:1-2a). Here we find that the presence of God in the world is far more expansive than the very temple that had been built for the very purpose of worshipping God. David likewise sings, “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” (Psa. 139:7-8). The king understood that even if he were to traverse the great divide between the living and the dead, even in the afterlife God would still be with him. When Solomon dedicated the finished temple that his father David longed to build, the wise king prayed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:24).
Each of these biblical writers acknowledges in his own way this truth: God is omnipresent. He is everywhere present. Whereas each person possesses certain physical dimensions as evident in the particular sizes of cloths we wear, such a quality cannot be attributed to God, since His presence goes beyond confinement to a single location. Whereas we might find ways to travel faster from one place to another, God does not move from place to place for He is everywhere. To speak of God in terms of being literally in a single location communicates a characteristic about an omnipresent being that is untrue.
The idea of God being present with people is not in the sense of location but relationship. That’s why when the everywhere present LORD inquires about who would build an single earthly temple to house a deity who’s has Heaven as a throne and earth as a footstool, He gives the answer, “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2b). When the Moses uses an anthropomorphism to describe fear of Adam and Eve “hearing the sound of God’s walking in the garden” (Gen. 3:8), the prophet meant to convey a picture of divine wrath of man having sinned and standing guilty before a holy and righteous God. Likewise, when Paul instructed the saints, “Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit,” the apostle did not want to communicate that the Holy Spirit can occupy some physical space in the human body in the same way alcohol can be present in the blood; rather, he sought for Christians to be in communion with their Lord through the mediating work of the Holy Spirit, which ultimately would be manifested in a community characterized by praise, thanksgiving, and mutual submission (cf. Eph. 5:19-21).
God’s presence extends far beyond earthly temples. His very presence in the creation is also more than just being a spectator. He is the one who holds together and sustains the universe (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). He is present to bless the creation. God causes the sun to rise on the evil and good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous (Matt. 5:45). God blesses the redeemed saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). ). There is also the sobering reality that He is present to display wrath against the wicked. Reflecting upon Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness, when the Lord provided for them manna and quails, the Psalmist laments, “Before they had satisfied their desire, while their food was in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and killed some of their stoutest ones, and subdued the choice men of Israel. In spite of all this they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works. So He brought their days to an end in futility and they years in sudden terror” (Psa. 78:27-33). The eternal conscious punishment of hell is another example God being present to punish sinful people (cf. Rev. 20:10, 14-15; 21:8).
We can find assurance in the presence of God who never leaves nor forsakes His people. He sees all things clearly, and there is nothing that happens in our lives that escapes His eyes. Wherever we may wind up, God is there.
Isaiah prophesied, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being’ ” (Isa. 66:1-2a). Here we find that the presence of God in the world is far more expansive than the very temple that had been built for the very purpose of worshipping God. David likewise sings, “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” (Psa. 139:7-8). The king understood that even if he were to traverse the great divide between the living and the dead, even in the afterlife God would still be with him. When Solomon dedicated the finished temple that his father David longed to build, the wise king prayed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:24).
Each of these biblical writers acknowledges in his own way this truth: God is omnipresent. He is everywhere present. Whereas each person possesses certain physical dimensions as evident in the particular sizes of cloths we wear, such a quality cannot be attributed to God, since His presence goes beyond confinement to a single location. Whereas we might find ways to travel faster from one place to another, God does not move from place to place for He is everywhere. To speak of God in terms of being literally in a single location communicates a characteristic about an omnipresent being that is untrue.
The idea of God being present with people is not in the sense of location but relationship. That’s why when the everywhere present LORD inquires about who would build an single earthly temple to house a deity who’s has Heaven as a throne and earth as a footstool, He gives the answer, “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2b). When the Moses uses an anthropomorphism to describe fear of Adam and Eve “hearing the sound of God’s walking in the garden” (Gen. 3:8), the prophet meant to convey a picture of divine wrath of man having sinned and standing guilty before a holy and righteous God. Likewise, when Paul instructed the saints, “Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit,” the apostle did not want to communicate that the Holy Spirit can occupy some physical space in the human body in the same way alcohol can be present in the blood; rather, he sought for Christians to be in communion with their Lord through the mediating work of the Holy Spirit, which ultimately would be manifested in a community characterized by praise, thanksgiving, and mutual submission (cf. Eph. 5:19-21).
God’s presence extends far beyond earthly temples. His very presence in the creation is also more than just being a spectator. He is the one who holds together and sustains the universe (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). He is present to bless the creation. God causes the sun to rise on the evil and good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous (Matt. 5:45). God blesses the redeemed saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). ). There is also the sobering reality that He is present to display wrath against the wicked. Reflecting upon Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness, when the Lord provided for them manna and quails, the Psalmist laments, “Before they had satisfied their desire, while their food was in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and killed some of their stoutest ones, and subdued the choice men of Israel. In spite of all this they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works. So He brought their days to an end in futility and they years in sudden terror” (Psa. 78:27-33). The eternal conscious punishment of hell is another example God being present to punish sinful people (cf. Rev. 20:10, 14-15; 21:8).
We can find assurance in the presence of God who never leaves nor forsakes His people. He sees all things clearly, and there is nothing that happens in our lives that escapes His eyes. Wherever we may wind up, God is there.
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