Chris Taylor Text: Psalm 139.7-12 Series Title: God is: The Doctrine of God! Sermon Title: God is Everywhere and Desires to be Known Everywhere (for His glory)! Big Idea: The God who is everywhere comes near so that people everywhere might know Him! Intro.: Ill.: Ryan Rayburn in football He s everywhere! I ve always said that Ryan imitates God, but surely not in this way. Ha! God, however, is everywhere present at the same time! Some may merely respond to this doctrine with awe, which is a great start; but, this doctrine has implications for God s saving mission in the world! The God who is everywhere desires to be known everywhere for His glory! And He uses us the church because where we are God is present! Read Psalm 139.7-12 God s Omnipresence Defined! Wayne Grudem writes, 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. He goes on to write, We should note also that there is no indication that simply a part of God is in one place and a part of him in another. We cannot say that some of God or just part of God is present, for that would be to think of his being in spatial terms, as if he were limited somehow by space. It seems more appropriate to say that God is present with his whole being in every part of space. My definition: God is everywhere at all times sustaining everything by His power and for His glory! God s Omnipresence and Praise This doctrine is awe-inspiring! What does this incredible doctrine teach us about God? Some initial observations and implications The omni s should move us to our knees in awe and praise of the Almighty God! These omni-doctrines reveal to us how BIG and MAJESTIC and GLORIOUS is the GOD of the universe! God is everywhere at all times sustaining everything by His power and for His glory! Gerald Bray writes: his omnipresence is the foundation of his power. The only point in saying that God is everywhere lies in implying that he can act anywhere, and not just within particular limits (Bray, 86). Because God is everywhere present He can save anywhere and at the same time! He is NOT limited by space and time, like we are, or like the pagan gods of old! Bray notes, Thus for example, Bel and Nebo were gods of Babylon who had no power in Egypt They were restricted to a particular geographical location! This is NOT the case with the God of the Bible! Salvation can happen in Mexico City at the precise moment that it happens in Lynnwood, WA. Ill.: Grand Canyon awe! This is beyond that! Sunset awe! This is beyond that!
This doctrine should move us to awe and worship! That is application! Praise is application! But there is more! You cannot hide from God. This may be unsettling for some! Jeremiah 23.23-24 Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? (24) Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? declares the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. For the unbeliever this doctrine results in angst! The unbelievers desires (and strives for) independence from God! Herman Bavinck (the brilliant Dutch Reformed Theologian) 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 and visible to the eyes of men you remove yourself into your room; even in your room you fear some witness from another quarter; you retire into your heart, there you meditate: he is more inward than your heart. Wherever, therefore, you shall have fled, there he is. From yourself, whither will you flee? Will you not follow yourself wherever you shall flee? But since there is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. Will you flee from him? Flee unto him. You cannot run from God, so run to God! For the believer the doctrine of God s omnipresence results in mighty assurance and great peace! Psalm 139.10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. No matter where the believer finds him or herself, we have the promise of God s guiding and protective presence! He is with us! The God who is everywhere is with us! Even when things appear out of control; when it looks like darkness has won; God is present to guide and protect! The reality of God s omnipresence is a wonderful source of encouragement for the follower of Jesus! Wherever we go He is with us guiding, directing, empowering and using us for His glory! A Prayer of Praise for the Omnipresence of God! These doctrines should inspire and inform our prayers! They should form the content! They should ground our adoration of the ONE TRUE GOD! Example: Oh God, I thank you that wherever you call me to go, you are there with me! I cannot be removed from your presence! Although you are everywhere present you have come near in the person of Jesus Christ to save! When I share the gospel, you are with me; each day I follow you, you are with me! Your presence is empowering and protective! I am in awe of your omnipresence God! Application: If you re a believer this doctrine should inspire praise and prayer; if an unbeliever, it should move you to run to God for salvation! God s Omnipresence and Mission God s mission has always been for His personal redemptive presence to fill the earth through his redeemed (or rescued) people.
His personal presence is manifested through relationship! Let s trace this theme across the pages of redemptive history, beginning with creation. The God who is EVERYWHERE present desires to be made known everywhere for His glory! How does this work? - Creation Genesis 1.26 Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness Genesis 1.28 God blessed them [Adam and Eve] and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth Mankind is made in the image of God! God made us to know Him (relationship) and make him known (mission). He made mankind to be fruitful and to multiply and to fill the earth so that His personal presence would be seen throughout the world! God reveals His personal presence through His people! Ill.: Ancient kings, after conquering a land, would set up a statue of themselves conveying their presence and rule in that land (as they extended their empire). God made Adam and Eve in His image to spread His glorious presence across the created world for His glory! - Exodus/Israel God rescues Israel from slavery for the purpose of mission! Israel, God s people, called to reflect the image of God, are given a very significant job (or mission) in Exodus 19.6. Exodus 19.6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Israel was called to mediate the personal redemptive presence of God to the surrounding nations! They were called to connect the world to God! Again, everything that God did for Israel was so that the nations might know God, so that He might be known everywhere! Exodus 7:5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them. God s desire was for His personal redemptive presence to permeate the world! He still desires this today! God s people are called to mediate God s personal redemptive presence to the world! The God who is everywhere present desires to be known everywhere for His glory! The purpose of God s omnipresence is so that He might be known everywhere! God is honored when and where He is known! We proclaim Him everywhere so that He might be honored and glorified everywhere! - Great Commission
Matthew 28.18-20 (18) Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. God s heart has always been for the nations to know His personal redemptive presence! Isaiah 52.10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. I m making a distinction between God s omnipresence and His personal redemptive presence. Grudem refers to this as God s presence to bless. God is everywhere present! Yes, we get that! But not everyone everywhere has encountered His personal redemptive presence! Our job as Christians is to mediate God s personal redemptive presence everywhere which is possible because we have a personal saving relationship with God and we have the gospel message which if received by repentance and faith results in a personal redemptive relationship with God! Let s take a brief look at Matthew 28.18-20 the Great Commission! Jesus final words in Matthew 28.20 are staggering! Jesus Lordship, on the basis of His death and resurrection, extends to the highest heavens, the deepest oceans and to the most remote areas of the world! He is Lord everywhere, but He is not Lord to everyone! He is present with us everywhere we go ready to open blind eyes to His Lordship! We have a responsibility, a calling, a mission, to mediate God s personal redemptive presence to the world! God s personal redemptive presence is spread through the proclamation and reception of the gospel! God s presence is a reality for both the believer and the unbeliever. However, only the believer knows the saving presence of God! The personal presence of God! Only the believer experiences fellowship with the One True God through faith in Jesus Christ and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Again, the unbeliever desires independence from God! This independence will in some sense be granted in that the unbeliever in rejecting Jesus Christ will forfeit the personal redemptive presence of God forever! Those who forfeit the personal redemptive presence of God will spend an eternity in hell away from His presence to bless! I hope you see the missional implications of this doctrine!!! How are you currently participating in God s Mission? Application: May we boldly announce the gospel so that unbelievers everywhere might come to know God s presence to bless His personal redemptive presence through faith in Jesus Christ! Two questions remain: (1) How did God ultimately accomplish His mission? To be known everywhere! (2) How does He use His people to get the news out? These two questions will be answered by the next two points.
God s Omnipresence and Incarnation This is how He ultimately accomplishes His mission!!! The God who is everywhere present comes near! He focuses (or localizes) His presence in the Incarnation! He makes His presence tangible and personal in the Incarnation! The God who is NOT bound by space and time enters space and time in the person of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to the world! What do we mean by the Incarnation? John 1.14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The God who is everywhere present focuses His presence in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of revelation and redemption! Two examples where God localizes or focuses His presence for the purpose of revelation and redemption: The Exodus and Incarnation! With the Incarnation God became man so that men everywhere might know God! What God has accomplished through Jesus Christ s life, death and resurrection has implications for the entire world! Through Jesus Christ salvation has been provided for the world! The Son was sent so that the world might know God. John 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God s Omnipresence and the Church Our only hope of announcing the good news of God is the promise of His presence in mission. We have the presence of God as we go out to announce the good news of God so that others can encounter the redemptive presence of God everywhere! Those who have responded appropriately to the gospel the church--are empowered by the Spirit (and have the promise of God s presence) to announce the gospel everywhere! The church is God s means of mediating His redemptive personal presence everywhere! God empowers His church with His presence for the purpose of making His presence known everywhere! The Church, as the temple of God, the place where God dwells, is set apart because of the Spirit s presence! Wherever you have the church you have the presence of God the personal redemptive presence of God! We get the good news out by means of the Spirit s power at work in us! God is with us enabling us to be His witnesses so that people everywhere can know the God who is everywhere! John 20.21-22 (21) Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. (22) And with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28.20 And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Acts 1.8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Furthermore, God s presence is seen in His redeemed people as they gather together in His name! 1 John 4.12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. Wherever you have the church, God s gathered people, you have God s personal redemptive presence on display! Through our love, unity and mutual encouragement God s presence is seen! We as the church are called to reflect the image of God, restored in Christ, throughout the world! God purposes for His personal redemptive presence to fill the earth and bring glory to His name through His redeemed people the church! Application: As a church we must always be looking outward! Where is Jesus NOT yet known? We must send, go and support others to see people everywhere come to know the personal redemptive presence of God! God s Omnipresence and Future Glory God s omnipresence is a part of our future hope! Isaiah 11.9 for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2.14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Philippians 2.9-11 (9) Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. According to the Philippians text, one day God s glorious ruling presence in Jesus Christ will be seen by all and every single person will acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ! For many on that day it will be too late! Therefore, until that day comes may we be found proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ everywhere so that people everywhere will know the personal redemptive presence of God! The two Old Testament passages, I believe, speak of the New Heaven and the New Earth, the time when God s personal redemptive presence will permeate the new creation and all of God s people will gather together in worship in awe of the beauty and majesty of God! This is our blessed hope! Conclusion: The Spirit-filled church is God s intended means of mediating the personal redemptive presence of God in the world so that the God who is everywhere might be known everywhere for His glory! May the Lord use His church as His gospel testimonial so that our unsaved neighbors, friends, coworkers and family members will be with us on that glorious day acknowledging their King and God in worship! We, the church, are God s means of mediating His personal redemptive presence to the world! Let s get to it!