To Infinity and Beyond

PDF

We continue our study tonight of the character of God, and I have to confess to you that I almost hope the study doesn't end. You know I'm personally enjoying it so much and benefiting from it that I'm in no hurry. We're going to take an attribute for now anyway one each Sunday night until we sort of exhaust those that are the main attributes of God. Tonight we're looking at the omnipresence of God. I'm certainly not a scientist and not qualified to tell you much of what I'm about to share, but I do understand some basic things about science that fascinate me. Matter as you know and I know is composed of atoms. Atoms are incredibly tiny in fact; they're a million times smaller than the thickness of the human hair.

The smallest spec that can be seen under an ordinary microscope if you were in science class and you broke out the microscope and you examined what you could see under that, the smallest speck that you can see under a normal microscope contains about ten billion atoms. Atoms in turn as small as they are consist of minute particles that are called protons, neutrons, and electrons. Each atom has a combination of those three particles. If you could see an atom you would see that the protons and the neutrons are crowded into the center of that atom, which is its nucleus or core. Just to put the size of the core of an atom in perspective if we could take one hydrogen atom, now remember that atom is one millionth times the size of the thickness of human hair, but if we could take that atom and blow it up where we could get a better picture of it, and it were that one atom were four miles wide the nucleus of that atom would be about the size of a tennis ball.

You see what happens in the case of an atom is it is made up of mostly space. And in the center of that atom is a core of neutrons and protons, but circling that core are electrons. In between is nothing but space. But those electrons whirl so fast, they whirl through space and complete, and this is remarkable to me, they complete billions of trips around the nucleus each millionth of a second. Let me say that again in case I lost you, those electrons circle the core of that atom billions of times in a millionth of a second. Because they moved so fast because those electrons travel so fast around that core it gives the impression that it's solid when in reality it's made primarily of space. A good example or illustration from our world would be if you try to stick a pencil through a fan that's moving. Don't try this at home kids, but if you try to stick a pencil through a fan you can't stick it through the fan seems solid because it's moving so fast that it rejects the attempt to thrust something through it the same thing is true of an atom.

This podium, that's right here before me, consists of atoms. Theoretically, there is more space here than there is matter. But because the electrons are whirling so fast, I can't stick my hand through it and well I could perhaps, but I would do serious damage to my hand. You get the idea. You see from the smallest atom to the vast universe, most of what we observe is space. The question is how is God related to space? And the answer is His omnipresence, and that's what we want to look at tonight. What is God's relationship to space? Which is all the created universe from the tiniest space within atoms to the vast reaches of the space, the realm of the stars, God is omnipresent.

Now let's begin as we have these last several Sunday nights with a definition. What do we mean when we talk about God being omnipresent? Well essentially, there are two words two related words that are often used, and those words are omnipresent and immensity. Some use them interchangeably others use them with slight distinctions, let me give you the distinctions. Omnipresent means God is everywhere present, God fills all space. Immensity refers to the infinity of God with relation to space. In other words, God is unlimited when it comes to space; He's not bound by space. Let me give you a couple of definitions that I like, this one is from Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology, God does not have size. There's a good starting place. God doesn't have size. He doesn't have spatial dimensions, and He is present at every point of created space with His whole being yet God acts differently in different places, and we'll take that definition apart in just a moment.

Another definition I like is this in Robert Raymond's Systematic Theology. God transcends all spatial limitations and is immediately; that means without a mediator right away, present in every part of His creation. Or what amounts to the same thing that everything and everybody are immediately in His presence. As you can already tell, this is going to bend your mind a little bit tonight. But I think when we get to the ramifications to the spiritual lessons that God revealed this truth about Himself to teach us; I think it will be worth stretching your mind a little bit, so stay with me.

All right first of all as we talk about this definition, let's make sure we know what it's not. This is Martin Lloyd Jones approach, and this works for this one particularly. What does it not mean when we talk about God being everywhere present? Well first of all understand that God isn't present everywhere physically. God isn't physically anywhere, except in the body of Jesus Christ. Secondly, God doesn't leave one place to go to another place. You know there are a lot of biblical references that seem to indicate this. For example, let's just look at one turn to Genesis 11, Genesis 11 verse 5, talking about Babel, the Tower of Babel, verse 5 says, "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built." Verse 7, "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand each other's speech." There seems to be some indication that God is moving from one place to another. That He's ascending to heaven or descending to the earth.

You can look further at Genesis 18:2, you remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and God comes down as it were. There are also those verses that talk about Satan leaving the presence of God. You remember in Job, he comes before the presence of God, and then he leaves the presence of God. Those seem to indicate that God is somewhere stuck in a particular space and either He moves or someone moves away from Him. When scripture uses that kind of language, it intends to underscore a special manifestation of God for a special purpose. In other words, God didn't actually move anywhere as we'll learn from the biblical data in a moment. God is everywhere at every moment in time in the totality of His being. So God didn't leave one place and go to another. What's intended to be emphasized is God is doing something special in that place for a special reason.

Now let me just mention here there are a couple of important implications for the second point. One of them is the incarnation. We often talk about Christ leaving heaven and coming to earth. Well there's a sense in which that's true. God's the manifestation, the special manifestation of the Son of God, was in heaven, and then the special manifestation of the Son of God was in the manger in Bethlehem, so in that sense, it's okay to say He left heaven came to earth. But He didn't literally leave heaven and come into the world confined to the earthly body of Christ that would mean, Christ divested Himself of His omnipresence, He gave up something about being God. It intends rather to convey that the Son of God uniquely manifested Himself to men in human flesh.

Listen to what Cyril of Alexandria, who was one of the early church fathers wrote. "For although visible and a child in swaddling clothes, and even in the bosom of his virgin mother, he filled all creation as God." At the same time, he was a little baby in Mary's arms, and He filled all of creation. John Calvin wrote, "The Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that without leaving heaven, He willed to be born in the virgin's womb to go about the Earth to hang up on the cross, yet He continuously filled the earth even as He had done from the beginning." As a human being, Christ was defined and confined by one place, but His divine nature was never confined to the human body that He walked around the streets of Jerusalem in. He at the same time filled all of creation.

It also has ramifications this second point here for the coming of the Spirit. You know at Pentecost we talk about, and the writers of scripture talk about the coming of the Spirit. But again remember that wasn't intended to communicate that the Holy Spirit wasn't around and then He came. The idea is to communicate that now there is a special manifestation of the Spirit who always was here who always was indwelling every part every point of space as our definition said. But now He specially manifests Himself at Pentecost. Well let's move on, that's not a major point I want to make. It's also important to realize that when we talk about God's omnipresence, it doesn't mean that God is identical with space that's pantheism. Pantheism says creation as you see it is God. Christianity and the Bible teach that God is present everywhere in His creation, but He is distinct from it. Orthodox teaching says that He is along with or at every point in His creation, not identical with it.

Now with that sort of stripped away, let's look at what the scriptures teach about this issue. Basically, there are four propositions that Scripture presents regarding this attribute of God four basic propositions, let's look at each one. First of all, and this is crucial, God is not bound by space. You see it in Genesis 1:1, and John 1:3. All things were made by Him. That includes space. He is the creator of space, so He can't be bound by it. He made it. Deuteronomy 10:14, "Behold, to the Lord Your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in them." God is the Lord of space. That's what this intends to communicate. He's the Lord of all created things including space. He can't be bound by it. First Kings 8:27, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth." In this great prayer, the dedication of the temple. "Behold, heaven in the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!" God can't be contained in space. He's not bound by it. He says not only this house isn't going to hold You, but the heaven and the highest heaven can't contain You. That's a way of saying there's no way to contain God, God can't be contained to a space.

God may manifest His presence in a special way in a special place like the temple, He may even call it His dwelling place, but He isn't bound to it and He isn't bound by it. At that place, we just become more aware of God and of His presence. Let me say that again, at that place that He designates to particularly manifest Himself, we just become more aware of God and His presence. But He's no more specially present there than He is somewhere else. Second Chronicles 2:6, "But who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? So who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except to burn incense before Him?" Again, the parallel passage making the same point. Still on this same point, God is not bound by space. Isaiah 66:1 and 2, "Thus says the Lord, "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool." Now there's a powerful image of just the majesty and magnitude of God. It's as if distant heaven is My throne, and the earth is where I put My feet. So "Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things." Do you see what God is claiming here? He's saying, I created everything there is including the highest heaven and space, and so I cannot be bound by any of them. I can't be contained by any of them. "Thus, all these things came into being," declared the Lord. "But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."

Acts 7:48 and 49, "The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says: 'Heaven is My throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet; what kind of house will you build for Me? Or what place is there for my repose?" Over and over again the Lord is making this point. I am not bound by space, I created it. You see, and this is an important application for you and me, because let's admit that when we were growing up at least hopefully now as mature believers we're beyond this, but when we were growing up both as children and perhaps as young in the Lord, we sort of had this picture that God lived in a box, a box like this one, the church on the corner, and we went there, and that's where God was. That's what God and the prophets are trying to get the children of Israel beyond. They went to the temple, they went to the Tabernacle, and that's where they thought God was. And God says, no, you've got it all wrong. That's where I specially manifest My presence, but I can't be contained in a box. You can't put me in a box.

You and I should avoid thinking that God extends infinitely far in all directions, a kind of infinite unending space. Nor should we think that God is somehow a bigger space or a bigger area surrounding the universe as we know it. In fact, we should avoid thinking of God in terms of size or spatial dimensions at all. God has no dimensions in space. You can't measure God with a ruler, even a really big one. Think about this for a moment, remember God existed before He made space, where was He, where was God before He made space? Now this will bend your mind a little bit, but stay with me. He was not in a place that we can call where. God relates to space as well as time in a far different way than we do. He is outside of space. He is not bound by space just as He's not bound by the passing sequences of time. Think of God as completely unlimited by space.

That brings us to our second biblical proposition and that is not only is God not bound by space, but secondly, and this is important however, God fills all space. God fills all the space that He created. You say well, can you help me get a picture of that? This is an imperfect analogy, but it may help you. Think of a large sponge. You take a large sponge and you go to your kitchen sink and you thrust that sponge into the water and you pull it out. Now that water has absolutely filled the sponge, but the water isn't the sponge and the sponge isn't the water. But water permeates and fills in the same way. God is not bound by space, but He permeates and fills all space that He created.

Let's look at several passages that drive this point home, let's turn to Psalm 139. You knew we would get here before the evening was done. Psalm 139, the great psalm of God's omnipresence. Verse 7 drives home the point that God fills all of space. David asks, "Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" It's a rhetorical question. The answer is nowhere, can't be done. And then he tells us why, he explains that no matter where he goes God is there. "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." If I say okay well, let's not go anywhere let's just go dark. "If I say, surely the darkness will overwhelm me and the light around me will be night, even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day, darkness and light are alike to You." You see what David is saying, he's saying there is no location to which I can go that God isn't there, and there is no condition in any location where God isn't there and can't see me, whether it's dark or light. God fills all of Space.

We were teaching one of our daughters, and she'll remain nameless to protect the guilty. We were teaching one of our daughters about this truth about God, His omnipresence, and we were explaining to her that God is everywhere that you can't, like the psalmist says, you can't get away from God, He's wherever you go. And I remember her being fascinated with that reality, and she would sit in the back of the van and she'd say to her mother, "Mommy is God here in the van?" Yes honey, God is here in the van. And she was really thinking seriously about this and one day we caught her at the door to the bathroom. And she had this she was holding her arms out in a sort of strong arm sort of way, and she was gritting her teeth and sort of groaning and kind of trying to accomplish something but obviously it wasn't working, and so my wife said honey, What are you trying to do? And she said, "Mother, I'm trying to get God and Jesus out of the bathroom because I need privacy." She had the point. There's nowhere you can go that God isn't there.

Jeremiah 23:23 and 24, "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 that I don't see him?" declares the Lord. "Do I not fill the heavens and the Earth?" says the Lord." The context of this, the prophets that are dishonoring God, think that their words and their thoughts are somehow hidden from God, and this is God's response. You think there's somewhere you can hide from Me? You think there's somewhere you can go that I don't know what you're thinking and what you're doing and what you're saying, I feel the heavens and the earth. Jonah chapter 1, you remember the story of course in verse 3 and Verse 10 we're told that Jonah rose up to flee from the presence of the Lord, but of course we're reminded later in the story that he didn't get very far because God was not only at Tarshish, but God was in a storm in the middle of the ocean. And God was there with him in the whale or the great fish, and God was there when he got to Nineveh. There's nowhere you can run from God.

Act 17:27 to 28, Paul says in his sermon on Mars Hill, "God is not far from each one of us for in Him we live and move and exist." You see if God fills all space you and I every movement we make, every moment we have breath, every moment we exist, we exist as it were in God. And we'll talk about the ramification of that in just a moment. By the way, this Acts 17 runs contrary to deism. You've heard of deism with many of the founding fathers of our country were. A deist believes God is present in the world only in the sense that His power is felt. But that He Himself is distant from the world. Paul says, no, He's not. He's not far from each one of us because we actually live in Him; we move in Him, our very existence is in Him. So God fills all space. So God transcends space that is, He's not contained or bound by space. But He fills all the space that He created.

That brings us to our third major biblical proposition. God chooses certain parts of space in which to specially manifest Himself. I suppose a way to think about it is it's like God's address. God's bigger than any one spot, but this is like God's address. There are a number of I'm just going to choose a few to illustrate for you. God specially manifested himself, although He fills all of heaven and earth, He specially manifests Himself, for example, in the garden in the form of a man. He specially manifested Himself at Sodom with Abraham, as God was choosing to go to Sodom in the form of a man and then when He actually arrived at Sodom. Genesis 32:30, this is one example of the Angel of the Lord. At various points in the Old Testament, God chose to specially manifest Himself as the One we call the Angel of the Lord. But does that mean God was confined to that one space at that one time? Absolutely not, God fills all of space, every moment of time with His entire being, so He simply chose to specially manifest Himself at that moment in that place.

Exodus 3, the same thing with the burning bush. Exodus 14:20, and a number of references here in fact there are a hundred references or more to God demonstrating Himself or manifesting Himself as the glory cloud or what we call the Shekinah; this cloud that encompassed blazing light that was some sort of a visible manifestation of the presence of God. But was God only present in 1445, near the Red Sea in Egypt in the cloud? No, He was still filling all of heaven and earth, but He chose to specially manifest Himself in that one place for a very particular special purpose and that was the care of His children. In Matthew 6:9, you remember we're told that God's special abode is heaven. In other words, God more fully manifests His presence in heaven than in any other location. It's not that God isn't everywhere else. It's that God especially manifests His presence in the place we call heaven.

Number four. God's presence wherever it is accomplishes various purposes. In other words, God is present everywhere, but He's present in different places for different reasons. He's present to sustain, Colossians 1:17. "He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together." You remember that illustration I used earlier about the atom? How that most of an atom is space? You know with all of our brilliant scientists, and with all of the work trying to understand all of those things, we still don't fully understand how an atom pulls together, and why those electrons that are spinning at such an incredible rate of speed don't just spin off from their nucleus. We do know, Colossians 1:17 says 'Christ holds all things together.' He is ever present in every corner of His universe to sustain it. Hebrews 1:3, "He upholds all things by the word of His power." And of course that goes along with His presence. German theologian Bavinck wrote, "Though God is essentially distinct from His creatures, He is not separate from them." Listen to this. "Every particle of matter and every point of space require God's omnipresence to sustain them in their existence." God has to be everywhere at every moment in time to sustain every one of those little atoms that make up you, and that make up everything you see. In Him we live and move and exist.

God also is present not only to sustain but to judge. You say well, how can He be always present everywhere but be present for different purposes. Let me give you a little illustration of it. Assume for a moment that you're on an airplane and you're sitting in economy, which is where I always travel, which means you're sitting very close to two people that usually you don't know. But imagine that on this particular airplane, your spouse has come along or a good friend, and you're sitting next to that person on one side on the other side, unbeknownst to you, when you get on, but as you find out there is a two seats over, there is a law enforcement official and between the law enforcement official and you there is a horrific criminal. And you learn about the nature of this criminal's crimes and they are horrific. Now you are present, with both your spouse or your good friend on one side, and you're equally present with the horrific criminal on the other side. But your presence has different responses to those two people. In the one case, there's a response of love and care and concern. And in the other case, perhaps there's a response of fear and shunning. That is a good illustration, although not a perfect one, of how God is present in many different places, but His purpose is totally different in different places, and He is present in some places to judge. By the way this is described in Scripture as both His presence and His absence as you'll see in a moment.

To judge, for example, Proverbs 15:29, "The Lord is far from the wicked." Now, is God really distant from the wicked in terms of space? No, God fills all of space. God indwells the heart of the wicked, not in the same way He indwells the heart of the believer, but God fills all of space. But God responds differently to the wicked than He responds to the righteous. Isaiah 64:1 and 2, "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, but the mountains might quake at Your presence-as fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil-to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence." Here, the prophet Isaiah looks for a time when God will manifest his presence in judgment.

Jeremiah 23:39, "Therefore behold, I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers." Here through the mouth of Jeremiah, God is dealing with His people and He says I'm going to cast you away from My presence. Again does God mean that He's not going to be in the space where His people are? No, He's filling all of space; He's saying I'm going to take up a different relationship with you. I'm going to treat you differently. I'm going to be with you, I'm going to be present with you to judge. James 4:8, this is an interesting picture, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded." Sinners are described as being distant from God and if they choose to repent, they can draw near to God. Again, not talking about space talking about God's presence with them is not a presence merely to sustain, but to judge if they don't respond and make changes.

Alright let's keep moving. Not only is God's presence there to sustain in some places and in other places to judge, but God's presence is often there to bless. This is by far the most common reference to God's presence. Let's look first at Exodus 33, turn there for a moment Exodus 33, Of course, this is the chapter after the golden calf incident, and God is dealing with His leader Moses, and He says this, verse 3, "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way." In other words, a special manifestation of My presence isn't going to accompany you, to bless you. Verse 14, or let's go back to verse 12, Moses intercedes here, and Moses said to the Lord, "See, that You say to me, 'Bring this people up!' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by your name, and you have also found favor in My sight." So here's his request verse 13, "I pray, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. And He said, "My presence shall go with you and I will give you rest. Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here." What's going on here? Are we talking about God's physical presence? No, remember we're not talking about physical at all. We're talking about Moses wanting God to manifest His presence to bless His people, to be with them, to guard, to protect, to care for. That's the argument that's going on, and God agrees that He will go up with the children of Israel; He'll be with them in His presence to bless.

First Samuel 4:4, "So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of Lord of hosts who sits above the cherubim." Talking about, of course, the ark of the covenant, this doesn't mean that God wasn't present everywhere else in Israel or everywhere else in the universe. It simply means that that's where He made His presence specially known. Where He specially manifested His character and how He brought blessing to the people. Second Kings 13:23, "that the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence." In other words, He kept His presence with them, His presence to bless to care for them. John 14:23, "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him." In other words, We will be present with him in a special way to bless not that God isn't always present, but He will be in a special manifestation of His presence.

And lastly look at Romans 8 verses 9 and 10. Here we learn about our privileges as believers. "However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you." What does this mean? Is God not present in every point of space, including in the hearts of unbelievers? Yes He is, but this indwelling is a special indwelling to bless, to comfort, to care for, to treat as His own.

Now a couple of clarifications before we look at the application. And again stay with me, don't let your minds wander too much here. God is not diffused throughout space. In other words, one part of God is not at my house and another part of God at your House and another part of God here. God is present in every point of space in His whole person; in the totality of His person. You remember Psalm 139, what did David say? He didn't say if I go over there, I find God's hand and if I go over there, I find His feet and if I go over there, I find another part of God. No, he said wherever I go what do I find? I find God is there. So God isn't sort of diffused throughout space at every point God is there in the totality of His person. And secondly, God is not present in the same degree and manner everywhere. Listen again to the German theologian Bavinck, he says, "To be sure, even the most insignificant creature owes its origin and preservation to God's power to His being. God dwells in every creature. But this does not mean that He dwells equally in every creature. All things are indeed in Him, but all things are not with Him. God does not dwell on earth as He dwells in heaven, in animals as in man, in the inorganic, as in the organic creation, in the wicked as in the righteous, in the church as in Christ." His presence is not to the same degree in the same manner everywhere.

Now, let's move quickly to what are the ramifications of this and I love this. There are a number of them, and we're going to look at them together. First of all, the fact that God is omnipresent reminds us that the entire material universe is sustained each moment by the power of an omnipresent God. We won't turn to Acts 17, we've already looked at it together, but in God everything has its existence, its being, its ability to act and to move. Because God is everywhere, you take breath in this very moment because God is sustaining the atoms that sustain your life. You Live. I still haven't been able personally to plumb the depths of those words of the apostle. I think they're so far reaching that in God, we live and move and exist.

Secondly, it protects us; God's omnipresence protects us from thinking that God lives in the box of the church building. There is no special place of worship that gives special access to God. Turn to Hebrews 10. Let me show you this, as the writer of Hebrews puts it. Hebrews 10:19, "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place (that is into the presence of God) by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near (that is to God) with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith." You know what the writer of Hebrews is saying? He's saying that the gate into God's presence isn't found at a place it's found in a person. And if you know that person, you don't need to go to a place to get access to God; you simply go into God's presence through the person and work, and death and life of Jesus Christ. So wherever you are all ground is holy ground, and in a moment's time you can enter the very presence of God. God doesn't live in this box, nor the one down the street. He's everywhere and we have immediate access to Him through Christ.

A third ramification is that God's omnipresence and the knowledge of it should terrorize unbelievers. You see God is not with them to bless, but He is with them to judge. One of the most chilling passages I think in all the scripture is Amos chapter 9. Turn there for a moment. Amos 9 verse 1. Amos said, "I saw the Lord standing beside the altar and He said, "Smite the capitals so that the threshold will shake and break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them the sword; they will not have a fugitive who will flee or a refugee who will escape." Verse 2, "Though they dig into Sheol, from there will My hand take them, and though they ascend to heaven, from there will I bring them down. Though they hide on the summit of Caramel, (which was one of the highest peaks in Israel) I will search them out and take them from there; and though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea; from there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword that it slay them, and I will set my eyes against them for evil and not for good." God says, because I am everywhere, My enemies have no place to run. What a frightening picture. You know my mind goes to Revelation 6 verses 15 and 16, where in that day all of the great men of the earth and all the men who are fleeing from the presence of the Lamb, cry out to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of God. Amos says there's nowhere to run. What a chilling reality. The fact that God is everywhere should absolutely terrorize unbelievers.

God's omnipresence underscores God's promise that His presence to bless will always be with the Christian. I won't turn there because you're so familiar with Matthew 28:20, you remember what the Lord told His disciples as He gave them the great commission, He said, "and lo" what? "I am with you always." Now some think that's a prohibition against flying you know because it's low, I am with you always. But as I responded recently to one of our members it doesn't have anything to do with that, because fortunately there's another passage that says that even Jesus took a flight to Egypt with Pontius the Pilate. So, there's no prohibition against flying in that verse. No, here's what Christ is saying, He's saying because I am everywhere I will always be with you wherever you are, however you are fulfilling the commission I've given you, whatever part of the world you find yourself in for all time I am always with you. There's no place you can go in fulfilling the mission I've given you that I'm not there to assist and to help. God's omnipresence creates a purifying sanctifying influence on us who know him. We live literally as the reformers used to say coram Deo, before the face of God, you and I live every moment of our lives before the face of God.

Turn to Psalm 139, again Psalm 139 and start at verse 1. We started verse 7 before where David traces the reality that you can't get away from God. Verse 1, "Oh Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path in my lying down, You are intimately acquainted with all my ways, even before there's a word on my tongue, behold oh Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it's too high, I cannot attain to it." You see what the psalmist is saying. He's saying, not only is there not a place I can go to where God isn't there, but God's omnipresence implies His total and complete knowledge of me. He understands everything about me every thought I have as I believe it was Martin Lloyd Jones says, "God is closer than your thoughts." He knows them all. We live before the face of God.

I have to read you this quote. Again, Bavinck wrote, "When you wish to do something evil, you retire from the public into your house where no enemy may see you. From those places of your house, which are open invisible to the eyes of men, you remove yourself into your chamber. Even in your chamber, you fear that some witness from another quarter may see, so you retire into your heart where you meditate. But God is more inward than your heart. Whithersoever you shall have fled there He is. From yourself where shall you flee? Will you not follow yourself wherever you flee? For since there is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place where you can flee from God angry but to God reconciled." I love that there's no place you can run from God angry at you because of your sin, except to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee, will you flee from Him, flee to Him? And God's omnipresence reminds us that He sees He understands He knows what we do. There's no place we can go whether it's in the secret room of our house or whether it's within our hearts but He sees it. And that knowledge has a great purifying influence.

Just a couple of more. God's omnipresence explains what happens when we sin. You remember Psalm 51 David's praying, and as he's repenting for his sin with Bathsheba, he says, "Do not cast me away from your presence." Do not cast me away from your presence. And of course Isaiah 59:2 says that "your sins" have what? "Separated you from your God." You see when we sin it's not that God isn't indwelling us anymore. God indwells all of space; it means that God's presence in the purpose to bless to comfort to help is removed. Sin brings about a spiritual not a physical separation between God and us. It's not that there's been a separation of place but separation sin. So when you and I sin, that's what happens. God's presence with us to bless us, to care for us, to comfort us that purpose is removed. His presence is still there, but His presence to bless is removed. And once we repent and turn back to God, then His presence to bless continues. Not because we deserve it. Not because we earn His grace, but because that's what He's said He will do. One writer said this, "Approaching God and seeking His countenance does not require a pilgrimage but penitence." You don't have to go anywhere to find God. Tonight if you find yourself living in sin, you don't have to go searching for God. All you have to do is turn in repentance.

God's omnipresence provides a continuing source of comfort. We won't turn there, but Psalm 46:1 describes God as an ever present help in time of trouble. God's omnipresence means that He continues ever in all ways whatever circumstance we find ourselves in to be a source of comfort and health. We encounter trouble in a variety of places. You remember places where you were injured where you were in danger, where your heart was utterly stripped away from you in discouragement and despondency. And so many other circumstances of life, because God is everywhere, He is an ever present help in time of trouble.

God's omnipresence highlights that Christ is in a unique way in God's presence, representing us. Is Christ always in the presence of God, has He always been, is He always everywhere? Absolutely. So why does Hebrews 9:24 say that He is in the presence of God appearing on our behalf? Back to what I said earlier, and that is when God says He is in a particular place, it is to demonstrate that He has a very special purpose and reason, and in this case it's to intercede on our behalf.

And then finally, God's omnipresence teaches that in our eternity we will experience a special manifestation of God's presence. God will still be everywhere filling all of space and not bound by it, but He will specially manifest His presence to us who are His children. Turn to Revelation 21. We'll close with this Revelation 21 verse 1. The Apostle John writes, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven, and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea." And of course he goes on to describe the "holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." Notice Verse 3, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;" notice the stress on the reality that in our eternity, God will be among us. Is God among us now? Of course. So why is it identified that way in Revelation 21? It's to stress the reality that in a unique special intimate way for all of eternity God will manifest His presence to us who know and love Him. He will still fill the universe. But He will be with us. What an amazing reality. No wonder the psalmist says such knowledge is too amazing, too wonderful for me. I hope that's the response of your heart tonight. Let's pray together.

Father thank You for what You have revealed about Yourself. Lord we confess that our minds are sweating from trying to understand this truth about You, and yet our minds are also filled with joy, filled with gratitude, filled with the glory of who You are. Lord, I pray You'd help us to think about these things, help us to take comfort in Your eternal abiding presence with us who know You and love You. Lord we're so grateful that You are not like us in Your relation to space. We are so bound by space, but You are limitless. Help us to worship You, to praise You to live before Your face to live coram Deo, understanding that we live before Your very face every moment of our lives. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.