He does not, however, move from one place to another as a sort of divine superman who flies at infinite speed. God does not “have any difficulty dealing with needs and problems which arise in widely differing locations at the same time. God’ s omnipresence is a comfort (Ps 139:10). Unlike the teacher, God doesn’t leave the room. Rather than trying to run away from God, we should find ourselves running to Him. Adam and Eve tried (Gen 3:8), as did Jonah (Jonah 1:3). Like David in Psalm 139, we must acknowledge that we cannot hide or run away from God. “ Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the LORD (Jer 23:24 see also Job 34:21-22 and Amos 9:2-4). Because God is omnipresent, we cannot escape from Him. God’ s omnipresence is a cause for concern. To emphasize God’s transcendence to the neglect of His immanence leads to deism (the belief that God is so separate from His creation that He is not personally involved in it). To emphasize God’s immanence to the neglect of His transcendence leads to pantheism (the belief that the universe is god, not that God is a person who created the universe and is, thus, separate from it). Jeremiah 23:23 speaks of both: “Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “And not a God far off?” An overemphasis on either of these truths leads to theological error.

However, He is also transcendent, that is, He is present above, beyond, or apart from His creation. God is immanent, that is, He is present within His creation. Ĭorollaries of omnipresence are immanence and transcendence. In like manner, His presence in Heaven is qualitatively different from His presence elsewhere (Deut 26:15, 1 Kgs 8:30, Ps 33:13-14, Matt 6:9). For example, His presence in the saved is qualitatively different from His presence in the unsaved (Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 6:19). Though God is fully present everywhere in a quantitative sense, He is not so in a qualitative sense. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

Omnipresence in the bible