On a cold and clear winter night, a little boy named Doug put on his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and hopped into his bed. When his mother came to tuck him in, she noticed him starring out the window. As he gazed up at the glittering stars and the big yellow ball glowing in the sky, he asked, “Mom, is God in the moon?” She did her best to explain that God is everywhere. “Is God in my tummy?” Doug wanted to know. “Well, sort of,” she responded, not sure where these questions were leading. Then Doug declared, “God wants a banana.”
Have you ever tried to explain a biblical doctrine to a young child? It is always a bit tricky trying to translate complex theological concepts into simple words and images that kids can understand (actually, this is necessary for most adults too). So allow me to share with you my most concise definition of God’s omnipresence: the doctrine of God’s omnipresence refers to his uniquely divine ability to be present everywhere simultaneously.
God does not have size or spatial dimensions but he is present everywhere in his creation with his whole being. The fact that God is the Lord of space and cannot be limited by space is evident from the fact that he is the one who created space. (Genesis 1:1) In today’s sermon, we will consider three biblical passages that help us reflect on God’s attribute of divine omnipresence.
God Cannot Be Put in a Box (I Kings 8:22-27)
Most of you have probably heard the phrase, “You can’t put God in a box” which today commonly means that we cannot limit God by human efforts or understanding. King Solomon made this same point about God’s omnipresence way back in I Kings 8:25-27 when he delivered a powerful prayer to dedicate the newly constructed temple in Jerusalem. Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said:
Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.’ And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
Solomon knew that, even though he had completed the temple and that God’s presence would fill it and the people of Israel would come there to worship, God’s presence could not be bound by a physical structure of wood and metal. He argues that if the “highest heaven” cannot contain God, there is no way that a man-made box can do it. God is omnipresent!
Unfortunately, many people today, even some Christians, have not adopted Solomon’s theology. They deny the doctrine of God’s omnipresence by trying to limit God to working only in certain places, times, people, or ways. If we try to contain God’s activity inside the four walls of the church building, our formats for worship, or our religious calendars, we have understood nothing of his true nature. Now don’t misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong with having or using any of these things. As a matter of fact, a church building is quite prudent for having a common place for people to gather for worship, weddings, funerals, fellowship, and ministry, but we must never limit God’s work to a specific physical location. God’s presence is not in an ornate cathedral or beautiful basilica any more than it is in a thatched-roofed hut.
C.S. Lewis, in his book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, makes a similar point when he says, “It is well to have specifically holy places, and things, and days, for, without these focal points or reminders, the belief that all is holy and “big with God” will soon dwindle into a mere sentiment. But if these holy places, things, and days cease to remind us, if they obliterate our awareness that all ground is holy and every bush a Burning Bush, then the hallows begin to do harm.”
You see, God is omnipresent, and therefore, he cannot be put in a box!
God’s Omnipresence Consoles and Reassure Us (Psalm 139:7-16)
Similarly to God’s omniscience, the doctrine of God’s omnipresence has both encouraging and alarming ramifications for our lives. On the encouraging side, the fact that God’s presence is always with us consoles and reassures us in our times of need. In Psalm 139:7-16, King David praises God for his personal presence in his life no matter where he goes:
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 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. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
David asserts that God’s presence will guide him and hold him and will be his light when he goes through time of darkness. God created David in his mother’s womb; his presence was there when David was woven together in that secret place. Even before David was born, God’s presence was with him and planned all the days of his life.
Just like King David, God’s presence was there when you were created. Even though your mother and father did their part, God is the one who ultimately created you! His presence was there in your mother’s womb! He knit your inmost being together in that secret place! He wove your unformed body together in the depths of the earth! And he has ordained all the days of your life before you were even born! God’s presence has always been with you, even when you didn’t know it!
And God’s presence is still with you today. He is there to hold you when you experience the pain of hurt feelings and broken relationships! He is there to guide you when you lose your job and you don’t know how you are going to make ends meet! He is there to console you when you lose someone close to you! He is there to reassure you when you feel something wrong in your body and when the doctor says “it might be cancer!” God is omnipresent, and therefore, he is always with you, no matter what you face!
And if you ever have doubts about God’s presence in your life, just think about how God preserved Noah as the ark floated upon the floodwaters! Just think about how God bolstered Moses’ bravery at the burning bush! Just think about how God liberated Daniel from danger in the lion’s den! Just think about how God delivered Daniel’s three friends from the flames of the fiery furnace! Just think about how God preserved the Apostle Paul through perilous persecutions in prison! And just think about how God’s presence sustained Jesus Christ as the soldiers nailed his hands and feet to the cross! God’s presence was with every one of them and he is with us today!
God’s Omnipresence Keeps Us on Our Toes (Amos 9:1-4)
Well, God’s omnipresence certainly consoles and reassures us in times of need, but it also keeps us on our toes (spiritually speaking)!
A burglar broke into a certain house and things seemed to be going well for him. He was able to get in without setting off any alarms, and he didn’t hear anybody stirring in the house. After surveying it, he thought there was no one there. As he went about his business of ransacking the house, he was startled when he heard a voice say, “Jesus is watching you.” The burglar was quite surprised to discover that the voice was coming from a parrot that was caged in the kitchen. He thought it was strange that a parrot would talk about Jesus, but he just went about his business when he realized it was only a parrot.
The parrot said again, “Jesus is watching you.” The burglar was a little bothered by that. His conscience began to bother him, but he went on about his business. The parrot said again, “Jesus is watching you.” This happened about four or five times and the burglar was just trying to ignore it, when all of a sudden the parrot said, “Sic ’em, Jesus,” and he turned around to be face to face with a big Doberman lunging at him.
Yes, Jesus is always watching us! God’s omnipresence should keep us on our toes!
This is the exact point that God was making to the Northern Kingdom of Israel through the prophet Amos in the mid-700’s B.C. In Amos 9:1-4, the prophet proclaimed:
I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. Though they dig down to the depths of hell, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them. Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”
God was present to witnessed first-hand the habitual spiritual corruption, unashamedly sinful attitudes, and systemic moral decay of the Northern Kingdom and he had finally had enough of it. He used Amos to prophesy about the coming Assyrian Exile that would eventually overtake Israel in 722 B.C. On that dreadful day, no one would be able to escape God’s judgment. Whether the Israelites tried to climb their way to heaven, dig their way to hell, or hide on the mountain peaks, God’s presence would be there to cut them down.
You would think that Amos’ preaching and prophesying would have been enough to make the Israelites stop and think about what they were doing. You would think that a warning like this would make them repent from their wicked ways and renew their faith in God. You would think that this exposition on God’s omnipresence would be enough to keep them on their toes. How about for us?
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, drives this home in his powerful sermon On the Omnipresence of God:
If you believe that God is about your bed, and about your path, and spies out all your ways, then take care not to do the least thing, not to speak the least word, not to indulge the least thought, which you have reason to think would offend him. Suppose that a messenger of God, an angel, be now standing at your right hand, and fixing his eyes upon you, would you not take care to abstain from every word or action that you knew would offend him? Yea, suppose one of your mortal fellow-servants, suppose only a holy man stood by you, would you not be extremely cautious how you conducted yourself, both in word and action? How much more cautious ought you to be when you know that not a holy man, not an angel of God, but God himself, the Holy One “that inhabits eternity,” is inspecting your heart, your tongue, your hand, every moment; and that he himself will surely bring you into judgment for all you think, speak, and act!
If you really believed in God’s omnipresence, how would it change what you do?
Well, is God in the moon? Absolutely! Is God in our tummy? You bet he is! Does God want a banana? No, Doug, he just wants you to go to sleep!
God is everywhere! We cannot confine him to a box, but his omnipresence does console and reassure us in times of need and keeps us on our toes through life!