This is a sixth in a series of devotional readings written in preparation for the "Waiting 2018" gathering later this week, which many of us are planning to attend. To read Devotion #5, click here. To read from the beginning of the series, click here.
From
A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy
...The word "present," of course, means “here, close to, next to,”
and the prefix “omni” gives it universality. God is everywhere
here, close to everything, next to everyone.
Few other truths are taught in the Scriptures with as great clarity
as the doctrine of the divine omnipresence. Those passages supporting
this truth are so plain that it would take considerable effort to
misunderstand them. They declare that God is immanent (inherent,
indwelling) in His creation, that there is no place in heaven or
earth or hell where men may hide from His presence. They teach that
God is at once far off and near, and that in Him men move and live
and have their being. And what is equally convincing is that they
everywhere compel us to assume that God is omnipresent to account for
other facts they tell us about Him.
For instance, the Scriptures teach that God is infinite. This means
that His being knows no limits. Therefore there can be no limit to
His presence; He is omnipresent. In His infinitude He surrounds the
finite creation and contains it. There is no place beyond Him for
anything to be. God is our environment as the sea is to the fish and
the air to the bird. “God is over all things,” wrote Hildebert of
Lavardin, “under all things; outside all; within but not enclosed;
without but not excluded; above but not raised up; below but not
depressed; wholly above, presiding; wholly beneath, sustaining;
wholly within, filling.”
...Thinking men of almost every age and culture have been concerned
with the question of what kind of world this is. Is it a material
world running by itself, or is it spiritual and run by unseen powers?
Does this interlocking system explain itself or does its secret lie
in mystery? Does the stream of existence begin and end in itself? Or
is its source higher up and farther back in the hills?
Christian theology claims to have the answer to these questions. It
does not speculate nor offer an opinion but presents its “Thus
saith the Lord” as its authority. It declares positively that the
world is spiritual: it originated in spirit, flows out of spirit, is
spiritual in essence, and is meaningless apart from the Spirit that
inhabits it.
The doctrine of the divine omnipresence personalizes man’s relation
to the universe in which he finds
himself. This great central truth
gives meaning to all truths and imparts supreme value to all his
little life. God is present, near him, next to him, and this God sees
him and knows him through and thorough.
At this point faith begins, and while it may go on to include a
thousand other wonderful truths, these all refer back to the truth
that God is and God is here. “He that cometh to God”, says the
Book of Hebrews, “must believe that he is” And Christ Himself
said, “Ye believe in God, Believe also...” What ever “also”
may be added to the elementary belief in God is superstructure, and
regardless of the heights to which it may rise, it continues to rest
solidly upon the original foundation.
The teachings of the New Testament is that God created the world by
the Logos, the Word, and the Word is identified with the second
person of the Godhead who was present in the world even before He
became incarnate in human nature. The Word made all things and
remained in His creation to uphold and sustain it and be at the same
time a moral light enabling every man to distinguish good from evil.
The universe operates as an orderly system, not by impersonal laws
but by the creative voice of the immanent and universal Presence, the
Logos.
Canon W. G. Holmes of India told of seeing Hindu worshipers tapping
on trees and stones and whispering ”Are you there? Are you there?”
to the god they hoped might reside within. In complete humility the
instructed Christian brings the answer to that question. God is
indeed there. He is there as He is here and everywhere, not confined
to tree or stone, but free in the universe, near to everything, next
to everyone, and through Jesus Christ immediately accessible to every
loving heart. The doctrine of the divine omnipresence decides this
forever.
This truth is to the convinced Christian a source of deep comfort
in sorrow and of steadfast assurance in all the varied experiences of
his life. To him “the practice of the presence of God”
consists not of protecting an imaginary object from within his own
mind and then seeking to realize its presence; it is rather to
recognize the real presence of the One whom all sound theology
declares to be already there, an objective entity, existing apart
from any apprehension of Him on the part of His creatures. The
resultant experience is not visionary but real.
The certainty that God is always near us, present in all parts of His
world, closer to us than our thoughts, should maintain us in a state
of high moral happiness most of the time. But not all the time. It
would be less than honest to promise every believer continual jubilee
and less than realistic to expect it. As a child may cry out in pain
even when sheltered in its mother’s arms, so a Christian may
sometimes know what it is to suffer even in the conscious presence of
God. Though “alway rejoicing,” Paul admitted that he was
sometimes sorrowful, and for our sakes Christ experienced strong
crying and tears though He never left the bosom of the Father (John
1:18).
But all will be well. In a world like this tears have their
therapeutic effects. The healing balm distilled from the garments of
the enfolding Presence cures our ills before they become fatal. The
knowledge that we are never alone calms the troubled sea of our lives
and speaks peace to our souls.
That God is here both Scripture and reason declare. It remains only
for us to learn to realize this in conscious experience. A sentence
from a letter by Dr. Allen Fleece sums up the testimony of many
others: The knowledge that God is present is blessed, but to feel His
presence is nothing less than sheer happiness’…
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.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
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.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
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