Living with Tozer's God

Blogpost #29

Chapter 14: God's OmniPresence

If you ask the typical churchgoer what the meaning of omnipresence is, what you will likely hear is that it means God is everywhere. While that is technically true, the Hindu thinks he believes the same thing; that's why he worships rock and trees. What's the difference? The difference is that the Christian's God is a person. A person who acts. No rock or tree is going to act. It doesn't have that power. It is not God. The one, true God is everywhere. And He can act in any situation and is sovereign in every situation.

Omnipresence is one of those great truth words describing God that everyone seems to know, but it doesn't really seem to make much difference in our lives. We have a much greater grasp of the value of omnipotence or omniscience. Why is this? Maybe it's because we focus on the wrong end of the word. We tend to focus on the omni- instead of the presence. Let's approach it that way and see what we can learn.

Presence

To be present is one thing, to have presence is another. You can be someplace and yet have no impact on it at all. Presence occurs when you have an impact on the place you are at. We all know that when some people come into a room, their presence is felt. Why is this? It can be the result of their character, their prestige, their power and influence, their accomplishments or even just their name. It's not just the fact of their presence, it's the knowledge of who they are that makes their presence have impact. For example...

We might as well begin with God, since His presence is the one that matters most to all of us! It's not far into the book of Genesis that we find that God manifested His Presence to Adam on a daily basis. Living in His Presence was part of Adam's daily life. Yet there must have been something awe-inspiring (even fearful) about that Presence because after they disobeyed God's command the Bible says, "They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden." Gen 3:8

Up to this point in time, Adam had only experienced the love and goodness of God. He had nothing to fear. Why fear now? Why run and hide? It's clear from Scripture that when sinful, rebellious men come into the presence of God, fear is always the result. Even righteous men (Daniel, Isaiah, etc.) react this way; we can only imagine what sinners feel in His Presence! Adam's response was the same as any guilty man...and since we're all sinners, even righteous men's initial reaction is fear when they first encounter His holiness. But, their joy and peace is restored when His love and grace are reaffirmed.

So, presence is what you feel when you are in the presence of greatness, power, holiness, etc. Even on a human plane we have many examples of this.

Kings have presence. It pretty much doesn't matter what king; virtually every king has presence, if only because of their power and influence over people's lives. The Scriptures tell us that Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh when it was discovered that he had killed the Egyptian slave overseer.

"When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well." Ex 2:15 NASU 

What was Moses doing? He was escaping the power and influence of Pharaoh to punish him for His crime. To do this He had to "flee from His presence." He had to go into a far away land.

This is one aspect of presence. There's also a very positive aspect. His Presence!

Omnipresence: God is with Us

This aspect of omnipresence is one of the great truths of Scripture. There are many scriptures we could use to illustrate this truth, but the point we need to embrace is that this takes the objective truth of God's omnipresence and makes it personal: He is with us. This changes everything! This is our anchor when the storm's begin to batter our lives and those we love. This was to be Israel's constant encouragement.

To Isaac, He said,

" I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you.  I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant Abraham." Gen 26:24 NASU

To Jacob, He said,

"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." Gen 28:15 NASU

When He sent Moses to deliver Israel in Egypt, so that Israel would know God was with Him, He said,

"Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ' The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.'" Ex. 3:14-15 NASU

To Israel, He said, (many times in many ways!)

"Do not fear, for I am with you ; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."  Isa. 41:10 NASU

One of the most beloved verses in the New Testament and which has brought great comfort to multitudes of Christians throughout the centuries is Heb. 13:5

"He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'" NASU

But this verse is actually an O.T. quote from the day when Moses was about to hand the reins to Joshua to bring Israel into the Promised Land. To encourage Joshua and Israel, he said,

"Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, 'Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8  The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.'" Deut 31:7-8 NASU

Even through all their failures and judgments, God continued to encourage them saying,

28 "O Jacob My servant, do not fear," declares the LORD, "For I am with you,

For I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you,

Yet I will not make a full end of you; But I will correct you properly..." Jer 46:28 NASU

Through Isaiah He often communicated His steadfast love and affection for His wayward people, the Bible often refers to it as "covenant love"...

"In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old." Isa 63:9 NASU

Even after the 70 years of judgment in captivity in Babylon, He was there to encourage them when the work of rebuilding the temple looked useless.

4 "But now take courage, Zerubbabel," declares the LORD, "take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage," declares the LORD, "and work; for I am with you ," declares the LORD of hosts. Hag 2:4 NASU

It's More Than "Comfort Food" for the Soul

The Biblical truth that God is with us is more than comfort food for tough times. While it is beyond dispute that knowing He is a "present help in time of need" (Ps.46:1) is great comfort, it's really much more than that. It's our identity. It's how we are meant to be known to the world. We are His...and His Presence in our midst is what is supposed to distinguish us from every other people on earth! This is exactly what God told Moses...and what Moses clearly understood by his response to God. Listen...

And He (God) said, " My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then he (Moses) said to Him, " If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" Ex. 33:14-16 NASU

That's quite something to read. God honored Moses request; He was personally present with His chosen people. But it wasn't enough, even for Israel. The testimony of the O.T. is that one day God had enough of their stubborn rebellion and pronounced "Ichabod" on Israel and His Presence departed from the temple and the nation.  Israel had ceased to be the tool God was using to reveal Himself to the world, at least for now. It's sad, stunning and bewildering at times to read of Israel's history. But, God is a holy God and Israel was shaming His Name (not unlike America today). However, that is not the end of the story. God has done a "new thing." The New Testament tells of God choosing a new people, making a new covenant, providing a new and unique way that His Presence can dwell with His chosen people...both Jew and Gentile...forever!

The Ultimate Presence

The Christmas story is about much more than the coming of the Jewish Messiah. It's the story of God revealing Himself to the world in a new way, "in the person of a Son," a Son who was willing to humble Himself to the point of taking on human flesh, becoming a man and living a life of perfect submission and trust in His Father, then offering that perfect life as a sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God which should have been ours. Isaiah's prophecy said His Name would be called "Immanuel, which translated means "God with us." Matt 1:23 NASU.

But, there was more. There was a grand mystery yet to be revealed. God was doing a new thing.

One of the most remarkable statements Jesus ever made was in John 14. Here He gave the essence of the "new thing" God was doing "in Christ." God was going to use the exercise of faith and trust in His Son as the vehicle to unite "believers" to Himself in a spiritual union forever. We would be one with the Father and the Son...and that union would be forever. Here's what Jesus said,

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ... He abides with you and will be in you . In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." John 14:18-20 NASU

The apostle Paul confirmed this in his epistle to the Colossians,

"...the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory..." Col 1:26-27 NASU

and, if there was any doubt that we were meant to be the dwelling place of God, the vehicle through which He could reveal Himself to the world, he confirmed it in first letter to Corinth...

"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." 1 Cor 3:16-17 NASU

He is Everywhere, He is Everywhere With Us and (now) He is In Us...Now What? Go!

There is a divine purpose to the revelation of this "new creation" in Christ. While we should be greatly comforted and strengthened by the manifold truth of God's presence with us and in us, it's not meant to end with us. If we live and dwell in His Presence and we truly appreciate the blessings He has given us, how can we not share them? Paul says plainly we are "saved by grace," but we are saved for a purpose...we have been "created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has foreordained that we should walk in them." This is not a suggestion, it's a divine imperative! God's plan is to reveal Himself to the world through us. Through us He wants to be "salt and light" to the world.

We don't know who wrote these words (possibly the German ribbon-maker, Gerhard Tersteegen), but it is hard to surpass them in beauty or power,

"From the glory and the gladness; From His secret place;

From the rapture of His Presence, From His radiant face;

Christ, the Son of God, hath sent me through the midnight lands;

Mine the mighty ordination of the pierced hands."

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...I am with you always, even to the end..." Matt 28:18-20 NASU