In this message we study the Omnis of God. Tune in!
Teaching Notes:
Intro: does all for own glory, eternal, self-existent, need of no one, unchanging in perfections and purposes.
A. The God of the Bible is Omnipresent
1) What Is The Meaning of Omnipresence?
omni = all. All-present, or everywhere present at same time. God is not confined to space, just as not confined to time. He existed before created space. Should not think of God as having spatial dimensions. Should not think that God exists in a sort of infinite, unending space. Nor that God is somehow a “bigger space” or bigger area surrounding the space of the universe. He exists without size. Also should not think that God is equivalent to any part of creation or all of it. Pantheist: God is everything and everything is God. No, God is present everywhere in His creation, but distinct from it. Like water in a sponge. Water present in sponge, but not the sponge.
2) What Does the Bible say about God’s Omnipresence?
Psalm 139:7-10: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.”
Jeremiah 23:24: “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.
1 Kings 8:27: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!”
Prov. 15:3: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.”
Amazing! Drew scale 1 inch = 1 million miles. How far would nearest start after sun be to us? 3 feet? 10 ft? 100 ft? No! From here to L.A.! Light travels 186,000 miles/second. That is 7.5 times around earth. Takes 4.5 years for light of that start to reach us!
3) How Can We Apply the Doctrine of God’s Omnipresence?
It’s an Encouragement for Believers to Fellowship with God: if God only in heaven we might ask, “How can I commune with Him?” Doesn’t matter if we are here in USA or in China, Hawaii, Belarus, Mexico, in beautiful cathedral, or poor slum house. Can fellowship with God anywhere!
It’s an Encouragement for Believers to Serve God:
Ex.4:12 “Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”
Mt.28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Whatever God calls me to do, He is always there to strengthen me to perform it!
It’s an Encouragement for Believers to Be Holy like God: when we sin, it’s as if we walk into heaven up to throne of god and commit sin before His face! We must learn to live our live as if lived in presence of God, cuz it is! This 1 doctrine could be greatest motivator to holiness will ever learn! If you were always aware that God is with you, and sees you, how much sin would you allow? Are certain things we would never do if knew people watching. Would a husband look at porn sites if knew wife looking over his shoulder? Would a man rob a store if knew police watching? Provides a restraint to sin. Why will we do them when we know God is watching? Do we care more about people’s opinions than God’s? Need to learn to practice the presence of God – be constantly aware of God’s presence; cultivate awareness of Him; pray w/o ceasing; meditate often; set mind on things above. This is abiding in Christ and way to produce fruit!
The Ungodly Can’t Escape From God!
Amos 9:1-4 “I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, “Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; they will not have a fugitive who will flee, or a refugee who will escape. Though they dig into Sheol, from there will My hand take them; and though they ascend to heaven, from there will I bring them down. Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; and though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, from there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword that it slay them, and I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”
Rev.14:9-11 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Sometimes a man who owes debt can escape by fleeing to another country. Nothing a fugitive wants to hear less than his pursuer is everywhere! No place to hide from infinite spirit. Omnipresence is a comfort to God’s saints; but sheer terror the wicked. Make your peace with God!
B. The God of the Bible is Omniscient:
1) What is the Meaning of Omniscience? Omni = all; science = knowledge. All knowledge. God knows everything. He’s only Being that knows everything. Nothing hidden, overlooked, escapes His notice. God never learns anything. Has never learned anything & can’t learn. Never surprised. Everything we are now learning He has known from eternity.
2) What does the Bible say about God’s Omniscience?
Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”
Psalm 139:1-6 “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
1 Jn.3:18-20 “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”
1) God knew Cain killed Abel though no human eye saw it – Gen.4:10
2) God knew Sarah laughed derisively in her tent about bearing a child – Gen.18:12
3) God knew Achan stole wedge of gold & hid in earth – Josh.7:11
4) God knew about David’s adultery, lying & murder & sent Nathan to him – “Thou art the man.”
3) How Can We Apply the Doctrine of God’s Omniscience?
It Brings Confidence to Believers: Jn.21:17 “Lord, You now all things; You know that I love You.” Some days God wouldn’t even know we loved Him if not for His omniscience! Many days someone might not even know if we were Christians cuz of bad attitudes, temper, etc. Thank God, He knows!
It Brings Comfort to Believers:
a. He knows me: I’m not all that significant. In God’s universe, earth nothing but speck. From 6 billion people, I’m like drop in ocean. He knows you as much as there nobody else in world for Him to look at.
b. He knows my trials: Ps.56:8 “You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?” We aren’t going through trials alone. God knows & cares & will be with us in them. Like 3 Hebrew youth in furnace – Son of God was with them.
c. He knows my needs: Mt.6:8 “your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” How discouraging if my God didn’t know my needs or trials & was left to myself!
d. He knows my sins and still loves me: My whole life stood open to Him from beginning: every fall, sin, backsliding. All of us have skeletons in closet. He knows all, including things that could destroy our reputation and still loves us! Comforting! No enemy can make accusation at Judgment that He doesn’t know. No hidden skeleton can come tumbling out of closet to expose. He knew us from eternity & called us to Himself in full knowledge of everything.
It Brings Correction to Believers:
a. He knows our sins. Ps.90:8 “You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.”
b. He Knows our thoughts & motives. Heb. 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Can’t hide anything from God. Would men cheat in business if believed God knew? Seek to be as holy as a saved sinner can be! Seek inward purity of heart as well as outward purity of life! Is.55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
It Will Result in an Accurate Judgment on the Ungodly: Rev.20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. All deeds recorded in “books.”
Eccl.12:14 “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” Can’t play games with God. Can fool man, but not God. Confess sins and seek His forgiveness now!
C. The God of the Bible is Omnipotent:
1) What is the Meaning of Omnipotent? Potent = powerful. All-powerful. Means God is able to do whatever He wants to do. Are certain things God can’t do – something inconsistent with His nature. Can’t lie, sin, violate His word, deny Himself, cease to exist. God only wants to do that which is consistent with His nature. Can do anything as easily as He can do anything else; effortlessly. We get tired and need food to replenish our energy. God never needs replenishing – to what or whom would He go?
2) What Does the Bible say about God’s Omnipotence?
Is.40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.”
Rev.19:6 “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.’”
Job 9:4-10 “He is wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has defied Him without harm? It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how, when He overturns them in His anger; who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; who commands the sun not to shine, and sets a seal upon the stars; who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea; who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; who does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.”
Eph.3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us”
3) How Can We Apply the Doctrine of God’s Omnipotence?
Believers Should Adore God: why? Eph.1:18-20 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places”. How much power did it take to save you? Omnipotence! Same power that raised Christ from dead. Why? Cuz we were dead in sin. Nothing but God’s almighty power can give life to dead sinner. He hates God, rebels from God, is at enmity with God. You can’t save yourself. Nobody else can save you. Only God! But cuz God is omnipotent, when He sets out to save, He saves effectually, irresistibly! “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” Satan’s power not great enough to prevent it; your power not great enough to stop Him.
Believers Should Trust God: To enable you to serve Him. Phil.4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”.
To provide your needs. Phil.4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
To give you victory over Sin and Satan. Eph.6:10-11 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
To keep you until the end. 1Pet.1:5 “we are protected by the power of god through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Jude 24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.”
To raise your body from the dead: hard to believe bodies eaten by worms, torn to pieces by animals, burned to ashes can be raised. But what is harder – to create or resurrect a body?
Believers Should Fear God: Luke 12:4-5 “I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.” NIV
The Ungodly Should Repent Now! Heb.10:30-31 “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” To fight with God is like thorns fighting against the fire. God’s power is FOR saints – AGAINST ungodly. He is Almighty to save believer but to damn the unbeliever. Oh, repent now! Bow knee to Christ now!
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