God’s Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence
I am writing this on the last morning of a week of family vacationing in the southwestern area of the Ouachita Mountains. I am sitting on the back patio of our rented cabin, gazing at tall pine trees, and listening to the birds sing. It’s been a marvelous week as we’ve hiked, kayaked, boated on the lake, and enjoyed spending time together as a family.
I love spending time in nature and seeing God’s glory revealed through His creation. It reminds me of Psalm 19.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
As I’ve unplugged from most of the world and the constant fear-driven media and just paused in the middle of God’s beautiful creation, I’ve been reminded of His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. I’ve experienced the peace that comes from knowing God is in control.
OMNIPRESENCE
Omni comes from the Latin word “omnis” which means “all.” So, in other words, God is “all-present,” or “everywhere present.”
God Himself declares His omnipresence in Jeremiah 23:24.
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.
(Jeremiah 23:24)
David also proclaims this truth in Psalm 139.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
(Psalm 139:7-12)
David recognizes that God’s presence is everywhere. All of Him is present everywhere, all of the time.
“God in the totality of His essence, without diffusion or expansion, multiplication or division, penetrates and fills the universe in all its parts.”
So, it’s not like God is some vapor spread out across the universe where part of Him is present in one place and part of Him is present in another place. No, God is entirely present in all His being. We are not limited to part of God’s presence but have access to all of Him!
It’s easy to think that we have more access to God in nature or in a church building, but God is fully present and with us, no matter where we are. You are never alone.
“The knowledge that we are never alone calms the troubled sea of our lives and speaks peace to our soul.”
GOD’S OMNISCIENCE
“Science” here comes from the Latin word “Scientia” which means “knowledge,” and as mentioned earlier, “omni” means all. Therefore, “omniscience” means that God has all knowledge.
God knows all things.
20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:20)
God knows everything there is to know! The definition that Paul Enns in the Moody Handbook of Theology uses is this:
“God knows all things actual and possible, past, present, and future, in one eternal act. ”
As I sit here and stare at God’s magnificent creation, I am reminded that He knows all things. As God was creating the world from nothing, He had the knowledge to know what He was doing and how it would all fit together.
We live in a day and age where we have access to all kinds of information. It’s unbelievable how much knowledge is available through the internet, but we still do not know all things actual and possible, past, present, and future, in one eternal act. Only God is omniscient.
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE
Omnipotent means all-powerful. God Himself in Scripture declares his omnipotence.
27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
The implied answer here of course is “No, nothing is too hard for God!” He is omnipotent, all-powerful.
Perhaps we see that most through Him as Creator.
God took nothing and created everything. Now that’s power. You try taking nothing and creating anything, and I’ll bet that you don’t have much luck. God took nothing and created everything.
And here’s the part that is almost unfathomable . . . it didn’t strain Him to do so. He didn’t have to work at it. He didn’t get tired while He was doing the work of creating everything in this world.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:9)
As the all-powerful God, He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He just spoke things into existence! That is how powerful He is.
Being reminded of God’s omnipotence brings me great comfort. Listen to what Job said in Job 42:2.
2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
(Job 42:2)
God is so powerful that whatever it is that He wills to happen, He is going to make happen. Nothing is stronger than Him to stop those plans. Isn’t that comforting?
It should be comforting because God is not reckless with His power.
GOD ACTS IN WAYS THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH HIS GOOD NATURE
When we think about God’s omnipotence, we must be reminded that His power and ability to do all things is only applicable to all things that are consistent with His nature.
For example, God is truth, and therefore, He cannot lie.
18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie.
(Hebrews 6:18)
God also can’t sin. He is holy and perfect.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
(Habakkuk 1:13)
So, when we talk about God’s omnipotence, what we mean is that He is all-powerful to do whatever is consistent with his nature. And God doesn’t change which means that you can always count on Him to be consistent in the way He handles Himself and deals with us as His creation.
Henry Thiessen, a New Testament scholar puts it this way…
“God is all-powerful and able to do whatever He wills. Since his will is limited by his nature, God can do everything that is in harmony with his perfections.”
GOD IS IN CONTROL
When I think about God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, I am reminded that God is in control. That can be easy to lose sight of as we live in this fast-paced, social-media-fear-driven world. It can seem out of control. It can seem like only bad things are happening. It can cause us to live afraid and feel like we are alone.
However, when we renew our minds to God’s truth which reveals His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence we can breathe deeply and relax. We can live confidently, knowing that He is with us, that He is in control, and that He is working for our good and His glory.
