God Is Everywhere!
“Knowing God-Part VI” 2 Chronicles 16:1-9, 02/26/2017
Introduction: It
was 1986, for the very first time I left India on an overseas trip to
Philippines to attend a YWAM conference. Up until then I had never flown on an
Airplane. In the flight, I had motion sickness, and felt miserable. After
several hours of flying, we reached our destination. I was so sick, so I stayed
back in my room and the rest of the team went off to attend the conference. Here
I was all by myself, in a foreign country, sick like a dog, missing my mother,
and my home country. While laying miserably in the bed, I wondered where is
God! Was he still there with me as He promised that He would? Or had He stayed
back in India? As I was wrestling with those thoughts in my mind, all of a sudden
I sensed so vividly God’s presence in that room, right next to me in my pain
and misery. What an assurance flooded into my spirit, knowing that when God is
with me, I can never be lonely.
Can you remember a situation where
you felt all alone, a time when you felt that there was nobody around for you?
Maybe it was a time when you moved to a new town. Maybe it was going to college
for the first time. Maybe you have been on a business trip to another city or
state. Maybe you are at home and everyone happens to be gone for the night and
nobody you know is available to hang out. Whatever the situation, you are
feeling entirely alone. Maybe you are even wondering where God is when you are
having this feeling?
Well the fact of the matter is, is
that you are not alone. God is near you. In fact, no matter where you are or
what you are feeling, even when you don’t sense him, God is there. In our
Journey of Knowing God, we have learned that God is All Powerful, God Knows All
Things and today we will talk about the Omnipresence of God, which means: God is Everywhere. 2 Chronicles 16:1-9.
You may have a head knowledge of this truth, but have you experienced it?
Before we go further let’s deal with
this Latin word “Omnipresence” the dictionary definition means, “present in all
places at all times.” Synonyms of Omnipresence are: all-pervasive, everywhere; boundless,
infinite; prevalent, far-reaching etc. When we talk about the Omnipresence of
God we are talking about his ability of being present everywhere at the same
time, and at all times. However, there is a stark difference between the
biblical view of Omnipresence and the Pantheistic view. The word Pantheism in short, means “all is
God.” This is the view that between God and the universe, there is no
difference. They are one and the same thing. As a result, every person, object,
animal, plant, and grain of sand is in one way or another, God. This view is largely
held by Hindus, Taoists, and various New Age movements.”
I OMINIPRESENCE OF GOD: (God is Everywhere)
Where as in Christianity the divine
attribute of omnipresence describes that God does not have size or spatial
dimensions but is present at every point of space in his entirety. For this
reason, God is not the universe and we are not God or any part of him.[1] In other
words, humans can never become God. That has been the deception since the
Garden of Eden, remember what the serpent told Eve? When you eat from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, your eyes will be opened and you will be
like God.” That deception is still in
existence in some religions.
When we say, God is omnipresent we
mean that everything both the known and the unknown universe and all it contains
is in the presence of God or in God’s eye sight. Let me illustrate, as a child,
I used to think my mother was omnipresent. She has eyes all over her, nothing
would escape her view, and it seemed like as if she was present everywhere at
all times especially when we were a bit mischievous. That may have been the
understanding of the OT people of God being everywhere, which can be
frightening and comforting at the same time.
When we read the scriptures the
picture we get is that nothing escapes God’s eye sight. God’s eyes are everywhere keenly observing
what is going on in the world. Consider the following scriptures: Proverbs,
15:3, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the
evil and the good.” Jeremiah 16:17, “For My eyes are on all their ways; they
are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.”
Zechariah 4:10, ““Who dares despise the day of small things, since “the seven eyes of the Lord” that range
throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand
of Zerubbabel?”
The seven eyes of the Lord appear
here in Zechariah and again in Revelation 5:6. The seven eyes represent the
sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit or the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
What is the
purpose of God’s eyes roaming throughout the earth? From the passage, we read
in II Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to
strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done
a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” A bit of context and
history would be helpful.
Under King Asa’s reign things looked
brighter in Judah. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD. When
Asa was attacked by an enemy on one occasion, he cried out to God saying, II Chronicles
14:11“Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like
you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we
rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you
are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” God was pleased by
Asa’s reliance on Him, so he struck down the Cushites before Asa. and Judah. A
number of years later, the northern King, Baasha came up against Jerusalem. But
unlike before this time Asa made a treaty with the king of Aram. God was not
pleased with Asa. Hanani the prophet confronts Asa, telling him that because he
had not trusted in God, there would be continual wars. In the end, Asa dies not
trusting God.
From these passages, we learn that
God, wanted his people, especially the leaders to trust him and seek him when
they are in trouble, for he alone can deliver his people from all kinds of
trouble. The encouragement we receive from this scripture is that, God is
watching over his people, and when they are fully committed to him and when they
cry out to him, he comes to their rescue and strengthens their faith. God is delighted when we seek him and his
Kingdom first. On number of occasions, I drew strength and comfort from God as
I meditated on the fact that He is watching over me. He is there by my side,
and He is going to protect me.
But the skeptics will have hard time
to understand this truth, they might ask, if God is Everywhere, then why can’t
I see him? One reason why we cannot see God’s physical manifest presence is
that his face shines brighter than the Sun. (Rev 1:16) The Apostle Paul
encountered the presence of the glorified Jesus he became blind for three days
(Acts 26:14). The Evangelist John when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet as
though he was dead. Revelation 1:17
These few incidents explain what
happens to us when we try to see God, so out of his pure mercy and grace God curtails
himself. Do you remember, when Moses asked God that he might see his glory, God
said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see my face and live, so I will
put you in a cave and cover the cave with my hand when my glory is passing by
you. Once I passed the cave and I will lift my hand, you be satisfied by just
seeing my back.” Ex 33:20-23.
If no one could see God in all his
brilliance and live, then how can we ever have a relationship with Him? That is why Jesus, the exact representation
of God came into this world to show us God. Jesus said, if you have seen me you
have seen God.” The moment we accept Christ as our savior we are welcomed into
God’s amazing presence. What we know off God today is only partial, and we see
only today a reflection as in a mirror, but a day is coming when we shall see
him face to face. What a glorious that
would be? I am looking forward to that
day.
I get very excited talking about
this wonderful truth of God being everywhere, but what does that mean for our day
to day life? How is this truth going to impact our decisions and priorities?
Firstly, the sheer awareness of God being everywhere and he sees and knows
everything must make us tremble with fear of God. Hebrew 4:13, “Nothing in all
creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare
before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Secondly, since we have
established the fact that God is everywhere and sees and knows all our problems
we can be at rest knowing that He is going to take care us. This is the most
comforting thought in our Christian faith.
Thirdly, when we come together on
Sunday morning to Church, the thought of Emmanuel, God is with us, should
excite us in releasing ourselves in praising and worshipping God who inhabits the
praises of his people. (Psalm 22:3) “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of
Israel (ESV) In other words when we praise God will show up and be with his
people.
You know what will happen when God shows
Up, right? He takes control of whatever is troubling you. When God is with you,
you can smile at the storm. Let me share a real-life story of someone who was
inspired by the awareness of God’s eyes are upon her. In 1905, a beautiful Hymn
“His Eye on the Sparrow” was composed by Civilla D Martin. Here is a part of
the Hymn, “Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, Why
should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home, When Jesus is my
portion? My constant Friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He
watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me….” Civilla was
inspired by the truth of three scriptures, Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and
teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on
you.” Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or
store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much
more valuable than they”?
Matthew 10:29-31, “Are not two
sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside
your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So
don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Civilla was attracted
by watching an elderly couple experiencing these eternal truths of the gospel.
Listen to what led Civillia to pen the words of this hymn. “Early in the spring
of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a
deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints
of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nearly twenty years.
Mr. Doolittle was an incurable
cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Despite
their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and
comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the
Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for
the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle's reply was simple: "His eye is on the
sparrow, and I know He watches me." The beauty of this simple expression
of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin
and me. The hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" was the outcome of that
experience.
What a powerful story of faith and
trust in God whose eyes are always upon his children. Let me close with these
assuring words of the Psalmist who often amazed by God’s ever abiding presence.
Psalm 121: 5-8, “The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right
hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by
night. The Lord will keep you from
all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your
coming and going both now and forevermore.” Amen
