Don Stewart :: Is God Everywhere at Once? (Omnipresent)

The Bible teaches that God is everywhere present—omnipresent. In every place in the universe God is present. He is not limited by space. The psalmist wrote:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, 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. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:7-12).

David said that God's presence couldn't be eluded through space (verse 8), speed (verse 9), or darkness verse 12). In other words, nothing in the universe can hide a person from God.

God's Form Is Not Spread Out

This is not to say that God's form is spread out so that parts of Him exist in every location. God is spirit; He has no physical form. He is present everywhere in that everything is immediately in His presence. At the same time He is present everywhere in the universe. No one can hide from Him and nothing escapes His notice.

Nobody Can Hide From God

The prophet Amos records God as saying that no one can hide from Him:

Though they dig into hell, from there my hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down; and though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, from there I will search and take them; though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them (Amos 9:2,3).

In the Book of Jeremiah God says:

‘Am I a God near at hand,' says the Lord, ‘and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?' . . . ‘do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord? (Jeremiah 23:23,24).

The Bible is clear that there is no place in the universe that is away from God's presence. His presence is everywhere.

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it" (Genesis 28:15,16).

God Is Everywhere Present

Scripture testifies that God is present in both heaven and earth at the same time.

Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39).

In Jericho, Rahab the prostitute acknowledged.

When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath (Joshua 2:11).

In Proverbs we read.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3).

Isaiah wrote.

Thus says the Lord, "Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is a house you could build for me? And where is a place that I may rest?" (Isaiah 66:1).

The People Recognized That God Always Saw Them

From earliest times, people recognized that God saw them wherever they went. Hagar said.

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees;" for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing him?" (Genesis 16:13).

The idea that God is everywhere present is not the same as Pantheism – God is the same as the universe. Pantheism equates God and the universe. The doctrine of God's omnipresence says that He is present everywhere in the universe – not that He is the universe.

This Is A Comforting Truth For The Believer

The fact that God is everywhere present is a constant source of comfort for believers. Wherever the believer may go, they will find themselves in the protection of God's presence. There is no place where a believer can get away from God's reach. His presence may be experienced at any time and at any place. God has promised the believer that He is with them always.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you (Isaiah 43:2).

In the Book of Hebrews we read.

For he himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Summary

The universe that God created finds the Creator everywhere. He is everywhere present. There is no place that a person can hide and no chance that a believer will out of His protective care. He is everywhere present in His works and in His personality. This does not mean that God is the same as the universe – merely that His presence is everywhere in the universe. The truth of God's omnipresence if comforting for the believer for no one can escape God's notice.