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Doctrine of God 0002 - Lesson 2
Attached Audio:
- THE ESSENCE OF GOD (Continued)
- His Immensity
- Omnipresence, which will be considered under the attributes of God, refers to the presence of God in every part of the universe.
- Immensity goes further and means that God is more than can be contained in the entire universe (1 Kings 8:27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
See All...; 2 Chronicles 2:6But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?
See All...). - Immensity shows God bigger than space as Eternity shows Him to be greater than time.
- Not only is God the God of the entire universe. He is the God of anything else that may exist. If there are any other universes, then God is the God of those universes as well. There is no escape from God.
- His Personality
- The meaning of personality
- To say that God has personality is not to say that He is a nice person to get to know. It means that He is a person. But again, this is not to make Him human in the least, but rather to distinguish Him from impersonal spirit or impersonal energy.
- Three qualities make up the essence of personality: self-consciousness, the psychological qualities of personality, and self-determination. God has all three.
- The personality of God
- Self-consciousness
- This is one of the most important qualities that sets humans apart from animals.
- Consciousness is the ability to think about something outside of the one thinking. Plants are not conscious since they cannot think about what another plant is doing. However, a dog can think about a cat that it sees walking across the lawn. The dog is the subject of thought and the cat is the object. A dog therefore is a conscious being.
- Self-consciousness is the ability of the thinker to think about himself. That is, the person is both the subject and the object of the thought at the same time. A dog (as well as all other animals) does not consider themselves as an object of thought. Therefore, animals are not self-conscious beings. However, humans do think about themselves. They consider how they appear to others, what their purpose in life is, what is lacking in their lives, and much more. Humans are self-conscious beings.
- God is self-conscious. He considers Himself and who He is (Exodus 3:14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
See All...; Isaiah 45:5I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
See All...; 1 Corinthians 2:10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
See All...). - The psychological qualities of personality are three:
- Intellect: the ability to think. God has intellect (Exodus 3:7And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
See All...; Acts 15:18Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
See All...) - Emotion: the ability to feel. God has emotions (Genesis 6:6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
See All...; John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
See All...) - Volition: the ability to will or to make decisions. God has volition (Psalm 115:3But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
See All...; John 6:38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
See All...) - Self-determination
- This is the ability to act from an inner purpose and will and not from an outside force (as a stone might move when it is hit).
- In scripture, God is represented as speaking (Genesis 1:3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
See All...), seeing (Genesis 11:5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
See All...), hearing (Psalm 94:9He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
See All...), repenting (Genesis 6:6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
See All...), being angry (Deuteronomy 1:37Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
See All...), and doing many other things that demonstrate His self-determining personality. - THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
- His Greatness
- Omnipresence
- Definition: God is all-present. There is no place hidden or outside of His presence.
- The doctrine of the omnipresence of God can be subdivided into other doctrines:
- The immensity of God. He is greater in size than the universe (1 Kings 8:27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
See All...). - The transcendence of God. He is above the earth and the heavens and especially dwells in the highest heaven (Deuteronomy 26:15Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
See All...; Psalm 2:4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.
See All...; Psalm 11:4The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
See All...; Psalm 13:5-6 [5] But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. [6] I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
See All...; Psalm 115:3But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
See All...; Psalm 123:1Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
See All...; Ecclesiastes 5:2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
See All...; Isaiah 63:15Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
See All...; Matthew 6:9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
See All...; Ephesians 1:20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
See All...). - The immanence of God. He is present throughout the universe in every place.
- Both in heaven and in earth (Deuteronomy 4:39Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
See All...; Joshua 2:11And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
See All...; Acts 17:24-27 [24] God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; [25] Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; [26] And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; [27] That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
See All...). - In all creation (Psalm 139:7-10 [7] Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
[8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
[9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
[10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
See All...) - He fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24 [23] Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
[24] Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
See All...) - Even in hell (Job 26:6Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
See All...; Psalm 139:8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
See All...; Proverbs 15:11Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
See All...). Though separation from the presence of the Lord is also a result of the judgment of God (Genesis 3:8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
See All..., 23-24; Psalm 51:11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
See All...) and hell (Matthew 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
See All...; 2 Thessalonians 1:9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
See All...). - The special presence of God. This could be called the spiritual presence of God. This is His presence in certain places and at certain times in a way that goes beyond His normal presence in all places (Exodus 33:3Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
See All..., 15). - Forms of the special presence of God:
- In particular situations
- He descended to the earth (Genesis 11:5-7 [5] And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
[6] And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
[7] Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
See All...; Genesis 18:21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
See All...; Exodus 3:8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
See All...). - He walked in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
See All...). - He came down to Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:9And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
See All..., 11, 18, 20; Deuteronomy 33:2And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
See All...). - In holy places
- In and around the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-5 [1] Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
[2] And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
[3] And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
[4] And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
[5] And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
See All...) - In Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:11Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:
See All...; Deuteronomy 14:23And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
See All...; 2 Kings 21:7And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
See All...; 2 Chronicles 6:6But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
See All...; Psalm 135:21Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
See All...; Isaiah 24:23Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
See All...) - In the Tabernacle and the later Temple (Exodus 40:34-35 [34] Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
[35] And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
See All...; 1 Kings 8:10-11 [10] And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, [11] So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
See All...; Matthew 23:21And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
See All...) - Between the cherubim (1 Samuel 4:4So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
See All...; 2 Samuel 6:2And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.
See All...; 2 Kings 19:15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
See All...; 1 Chronicles 13:6And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it.
See All...; Psalm 80:1Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
See All...; Psalm 99:1The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
See All...; Isaiah 37:16O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
See All...). - In the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
See All...) - In Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
See All...) - In the midst of His people
- Old Testament (Exodus 25:8And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
See All...; Leviticus 26:11-12 [11] And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. [12] And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
See All...) - New Testament (Matthew 18:20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
See All...; 1 Corinthians 3:16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
See All...; 1 Timothy 3:15But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
See All...) - Indwelling individual believers (John 14:17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
See All..., 23; Romans 8:9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
See All..., 11; 1 Corinthians 6:19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
See All...) - Practical lessons
- God is larger than space – His immensity.
- God is above space – His transcendence.
- God is present in all space – His immanence.
- God is spiritually present in special places and people.
- All of the above is part of the omnipresence of God.
- Sin diminishes the spiritual presence of God (Isaiah 59:1-2 [1] Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
[2] But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
See All...; Proverbs 15:29The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
See All...) but not the actual presence of God.
Proverbs 26:8
As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.