The Sovereignty of God: Part 3

Another aspect of the sovereignty of God is God’s omnipresence. Omnipresence can be defined in this way: God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with His whole being, yet God acts differently in different places. (Grudem, 173)

God is present everywhere.

Psalm 139:7-12

7 "Where shall I go from your Spirit?Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me. 11If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night," 12even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you."

Jeremiah 23:23-24

23"Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God afar off? 24Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD."

God does not have spatial dimensions.

1 Kings 8:27

"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!"

God acts differently in different places. He can be present to punish, to sustain, or to bless.

A. Present to punish.

Amos 9:1-4

1 "I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, and he said:"Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape. 2"If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. 3If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. 4And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good."

B. Present to sustain.

Colossians 1:17

"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Hebrews 1:3

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"

C. Present to bless.

Psalm16:11

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

2 Corinthians 3:17

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."


-Jacob


Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994