Knowing the God Who Is Everywhere- PT 2

The Relational Presence of God

God is over all things, under all things; outside all; within but not enclosed; without by not excluded; above but not raised up; below but not depressed; wholly above, presiding; wholly beneath, sustaining; wholly within, filling. —Hildebert of Lavardin

Psalm 139:7 ESV

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Genesis 3:24 ESV

24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Psalm 138:6 ESV

6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

Matthew 25:41 ESV

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV

9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Alienated. Withdrawn. Distant. How can these words accurately describe the one being who dwells in all places at all times?

Essential presence of God— the fact that He essentially fills all of creation.

Relational presence of God— the fact that He is relationally involved with His creation in varying degrees.

2 Corinthians 5:18–19 ESV

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Ephesians 2:12–13 ESV

12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Hebrews 2:14–17 ESV

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Philippians 2:6–8 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Psalm 68:16 ESV

16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

Psalm 68:18 ESV

18 You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

“If the Ark of the Covenant could make the world’s mountains jealous, would the nearness of God to your life make the great people of this world envious?”

The Idol of a Localized God

1 Kings 20:23 ESV

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

1 Kings 20:28 ESV

28 And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

God dwells in all places at once, effortlessly

There is no place from which He can be excluded

There is no place that can fully contain Him

As regards His essential presence, there is no place that has more, or less, of God

God’s essential presence is our one unchaining environment or circumstance

God is not merely existing everywhere, He is observing, governing, and sustaining all things

Am I living as if God were a local deity, limited to certain places?

Am I living as if God is only present in religious building, attending religious events?

Do I tell myself that He is not active in my home because I am the only believer in my family?

Do I believe the lie that God is not ruling over my workplace because it is anti-Christian?

Do I believe that Sundays are lived near God, and Mondays are lived far from Him?

Do I believe that he is “over there” and “back then” instead of “here” and “now”?

Am I living as if God is limited to certain tasks?

What are some reasons for the loss of God’s relational presence?

Isaiah 59:1–2 ESV

1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Hosea 5:15 ESV

15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Revelation 3:14–20 ESV

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Psalm 27:4 ESV

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 27:8 ESV

8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Psalm 42:1–3 ESV

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

Psalm 63:1 ESV

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 73:28 ESV

28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

What would our churches be like if everyone made a renewed effort to draw close to God in a relational sense?

“Oh to be so filled with the presence of the Lord Jesus, so one with Him, that His life may flow through our veins; that He may borrow our lips to speak His message, borrow our faces to look His looks of patience and love, our hands to do His service and our feet to tread His weary journeys.” — Hudson Taylor

The church’s ineffectiveness in evangelism might be related to the fact that it has lost the relational presence of God!

“My goal is God Himself … At any cost, dear Lord, by any road. — John Owen