Condensed Theology, Lecture 11: Theology, Omnipresence, Spirituality, Simplicity, Invisibility, and Independence

8/14/2019 Condensed Theology, Lecture 11: Theology, Omnipresence, Spirituality, Simplicity, Invisibility, and Independence

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Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology


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Theology Proper:The Doctrine of God

What does the Bible teach about

God?


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Where Were Going

Ten lectures covering four subjects: The existence of God

The attributes of God God as Trinity Gods works of creation & providence


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The Attributes of GodWhat Is God Like?


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General Categories

1. Communicable The communicable

attributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he shares withhumanity

2. Incommunicable The incommunicable

attributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he does notshare with humanity


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The IncommunicableAttributes of God

Qualities of God Peculiar to

Himself that He Does Not Sharewith Us


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OmnipresenceGod is everywhere


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Omnipresence

God is present everywhere; he is notconfined to any spatial location


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Direct Biblical Assertions ofthe Omnipresence of God


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Direct Assertions of Gods

Omnipresence Ps 139:7-10: Where can I go from Your

Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your

presence? If I ascend to heaven, You arethere; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold,You are there. If I take the wings of thedawn, 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.


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Omnipresence 1 Kgs 8:27: But will God indeed dwell on

the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest

heaven cannot contain You, how muchless this house which I have built! Prov 15:3: The eyes of the LORD are in

every place, Watching the evil and thegood.


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Omnipresence Jer 23:23-24: "Am I a God who is near,"

declares the LORD, "And not a God far off? Cana man hide himself in hiding places So I do not

see him?" declares the LORD. "Do I not fill theheavens and the earth?" declares the LORD. Ezek 8:12: Then He said to me, "Son of man, do

you see what the elders of the house of Israelare committing in the dark, each man in theroom of his carved images? For they say, 'TheLORD does not see us; the LORD has forsakenthe land.'"


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Omnipresence Acts 7:48: However, the Most High does not

dwell in houses made by human hands; as theprophet says

Acts 17:27-28: that they would seek God, ifperhaps they might grope for Him and find Him,though He is not far from each one of us; for inHim we live and move and exist, as even someof your own poets have said, 'For we also areHis children.'


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Indirect Biblical Assertions ofthe Omnipresence of God


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Indirect Assertions of Gods

Omnipresence Amos 9:2: Though they dig into Sheol, Fromthere will My hand take them; And though theyascend to heaven, From there will I bring themdown. Though they hide on the summit ofCarmel, I will search them out and take themfrom there; And though they conceal themselvesfrom My sight on the floor of the sea, From thereI will command the serpent and it will bite them.And though they go into captivity before theirenemies, From there I will command the swordthat it slay them, And I will set My eyes againstthem for evil and not for good.


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Omnipresence If God is the creator, then it follows that he

transcends what he has made

Gen 1:1: In the beginning God created theheavens and the earth. Deut 10:14: Behold, to the LORD your God

belong heaven and the highest heavens, the

earth and all that is in it. (God made space).


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Omnipresence If God is the creator, then it follows that he

transcends what he has made

Isa 66:1-2a: Thus says the LORD, "Heaven isMy throne and the earth is My footstool.Where then is a house you could build forMe? And where is a place that I may rest? ForMy hand made all these things, Thus all thesethings came into being," declares the LORD.


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Implications of theOmnipresence of God


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Implications of Gods

Omnipresence Gods movements from place to place are

not meant to be understood literally

All of God is present everywhere


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Omnipresence Implication 1: Gods

Spatial Movements Not Literal Gods immanent presence The dominant idea in Scripture with

reference to Gods presence and absenceis that God is present when he blessesand absent when he curses


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Spatial Movements Not Literal Gods immanent presence Absent to curse

Isa 59:2: But your iniquities have made aseparation between you and your God, Andyour sins have hidden His face from you sothat He does not hear.

Prov 15:29: The LORD is far from the wicked,But He hears the prayer of the righteous.


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Spatial Movements Not Literal Gods immanent presence Absent to curse

2 Thess 1:9-10: These will pay the penalty ofeternal destruction, away from the presenceof the Lord and from the glory of His power,when He comes to be glorified in His saints

on that day, and to be marveled at among allwho have believedfor our testimony to youwas believed.


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Spatial Movements Not Literal Gods immanent presence We have barely scratched the surface with

texts from the Bible that conceive of Godspresence as positive and his absenceas negative.

The point is that Gods spatial movements

are used to suggest relational realities In addition, God performs different acts indifferent places (e.g., heaven and hell)


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Omnipresence Implication 2: All of

God Is Present Everywhere The last point regarding Gods immanentpresence, especially as it relates to hisbehavior from place to place, should notbe construed to mean that part of God is inone place while part of God is in another.

God has no partshe is a spirit and doesnot have a body like ours

Indeed, were he not a spirit, he would notbe able to be omnipresent


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God Is Present Everywhere Thus, very closely related to Gods

attribute of omniscience are the attributesof Gods spirituality and Gods simplicity.


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God Is Present Everywhere Gods simplicity refers to his quality of being

indivisible. His essence is part-less. Notice that Gods simplicity, his partlessness,

is inferred from his omnipresence. The logic moves like this

God is omnipresent (i.e., he cannot be confined tospace)

For something to have a part it requires space Therefore God has no parts


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God Is Present Everywhere In addition, he is not a spirit in the same

sense that our bodies are animated by ourspirits.

Our spirits can be confined; God in hisessence, cannot be confined to any spatiallocation.

God is a spirit, and because he is a spirit heis not only nowhere, but he is capable ofbeing everywhere.


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God Is Present Everywhere Here is an excellent definition of Gods

spirituality: no property of matter may be ascribed to him.

He has no extension in space, no weight, nomass, no bulk, no parts, no form, no taste, nosmell. He is invisibleand being one in essenceand without parts, is indivisible.

Robert L Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Louisville: Thomas Nelson, 1996), 167.


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God Is Present Everywhere So related to Gods omnipresence are Gods

spirituality and his simplicity God is a spirit; therefore he cannot be confined to

space. Thus his spirituality is what allows for hisomnipresence.

God is a spirit; therefore he is simple (he has noparts). And it is his simplicity that allows for all of

him to be present in his omnipresence.


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God Is Present Everywhere Thus all of God is present everywhere Notice carefully Ps 139:7-10:

Ps 139:7-10: Where can I go from YourSpirit? Or where can I flee from Yourpresence? If I ascend to heaven, You arethere; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Youare there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I

dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Eventhere Your hand will lead me, And Your righthand will lay hold of me.


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Omnipresence

God is present everywhere; he is notconfined to any spatial location


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Invisibility

Gods total essence cannot be seen byanyone


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Direct Biblical Assertions ofthe Invisibility of God


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Invisibility John 1:18: No one has seen God at any time;the only begotten God who is in the bosom ofthe Father, He has explained Him.

John 5:37: And the Father who sent Me, He hastestified of Me. You have neither heard His voiceat any time nor seen His form.

John 6:46: Not that anyone has seen theFather, except the One who is from God; He hasseen the Father.


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Invisibility 1 Tim 1:17: Now to the King eternal, immortal,invisible, the only God, be honor and gloryforever and ever. Amen.

1 Tim 6:16: who alone possesses immortalityand dwells in unapproachable light, whom noman has seen or can see. To Him be honor andeternal dominion! Amen.

1 John 4:12: No one has seen God at any time;if we love one another, God abides in us, andHis love is perfected in us.


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Qualifying the Invisibility ofGod


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Qualifying Gods Invisibility Exod 33:11, 21-23: Thus the LORD used to speak to

Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua,the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the

tent. 21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place byMe, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it willcome about, while My glory is passing by, that I will putyou in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My handuntil I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away

and you shall see My back, but My face shall not beseen. If God is invisible, how can this be?


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Qualifying Gods Invisibility

The ultimate theophany is the Lord JesusChrist John 1:18: No one has seen God at any time;

the only begotten God who is in the bosom ofthe Father, He has explained Him.

John 14:9: Jesus said to him, Have I beenso long with you, and yet you have not come

to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me hasseen the Father; how can you say, 'Show usthe Father '?


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The ultimate theophany is the Lord JesusChrist Col 1:15: He is the image of the invisible

God, the firstborn of all creation. Heb 1:3: And He is the radiance of His glory

and the exact representation of His nature,and upholds all things by the word of His

power. When He had made purification ofsins, He sat down at the right hand of theMajesty on high.


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Though Gods essence is such that he isinvisible, we will in some sense see him inheaven. Rev 22:3-4: There will no longer be any

curse; and the throne of God and of the Lambwill be in it, and His bond-servants will serveHim; they will see His face, and His name willbe on their foreheads.


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Invisibility

Gods total essence cannot be seen byanyone


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IndependenceGod is self-existent


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Indirect Biblical Assertions of

the Independence of God


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Independence Job 41:11: Who has given to Me that Ishould repay him? Whatever is under thewhole heaven is Mine.

Ps 50:10-12: For every beast of the forestis Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. Iknow every bird of the mountains, Andeverything that moves in the field is Mine.If I were hungry I would not tell you, Forthe world is Mine, and all it contains.


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Independence Job 22:2: Can a vigorous man be of useto God, Or a wise man be useful tohimself?

Rom 11:35-36: Or WHO HAS FIRSTGIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAIDBACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and

through Him and to Him are all things. ToHim be the glory forever. Amen.


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Independence The Bible correlates Gods position ascreator with his independence

The logic runs like this: Since God createdall things out of nothing, he himself isuncreated, self-existent. Acts 17:25: nor is He served by human

hands, as though He needed anything, sinceHe Himself gives to all people life and breathand all things.


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Independence Since God created all things out ofnothing, he himself is uncreated, self-existent. John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Wordwas God. He was in the beginning with God.All things came into being through Him, andapart from Him nothing came into being thathas come into being.


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Independence Since God created all things out of nothing, hehimself is uncreated, self-existent. 1 Cor 8:6: yet for us there is but one God, the

Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him;and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,and we exist through Him.

Ps 90:2 Before the mountains were born Or You gavebirth to the earth and the world, Even from everlastingto everlasting, You are God.


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Independence

Sometimes called his aseity (from theLatin a se , meaning from himself), Godsindependence is his utter self-sufficiency.He has no needs.


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Conclusion

For purposes of teaching, we havedivided the attributes of God into twocategories: communicable andincommunicable

This lecture addressed five of Godsincommunicable attributes: His

omnipresence, spirituality, simplicity,invisibility, and independence.


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Conclusion Gods omnipresence refers to his quality of

being present everywhere. Gods spirituality refers to his quality of being

non-corporeal and incapable of being confinedto space

Gods simplicity refers to his quality of unity orindivisibility (he has no parts)

Gods invisibility refers to his quality of being

unable to be seen Gods independence refers to his quality ofbeing self-sufficient and self-existent

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Condensed Theology, Lecture 11: Theology, Omnipresence, Spirituality, Simplicity, Invisibility, and Independence