Systematic Theology Part 10-The Omni's

Christie and I love to watch the show Heroes. I loved watching the X-Men cartoons when I was a kid. An interesting question that always gives a wide range of answers is, "If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose and why?"

We love superheroes. They seem unbeatable. They almost always win...ALMOST!

Some people like to think of God as a cosmic super hero wielding these great powers. The problem with this view is that superheroes have limits to their powers. God, being infinite, is unlimited in his attributes. Tonight we are going to look at three attributes that we will call the “Omni’s”.

Our goal, once again, is to understand “what” these attributes are, not “how” they work.

The First Omni
Think about the last time you went on a scavenger hunt. What makes a scavenger hunt fun? If you didn’t have to look for things, would it be fun? Scavenger hunts are fun because you don't know where the items are. You have to dig around for them. If you didn't have to look for them, it would not be fun.

The first “omni” we are going to look at tonight is difficult because our experience is that things can only be here or there, not everywhere. We know of nothing in this created world that matches this attribute. Even oxygen cannot be everywhere at once...it is made up of individual molecules, and those molecules only exist where they are. God, however, is OMNIPRESENT.

Psalm 139:7-12- ⁷Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or whereshall I flee from your presence?
⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

What does omnipresent mean? “God is present, in the totality of His presence, throughout the universe, at all times.” Dr. David Nelson, class notes p81 He is not partly here and partly there. He is altogether everywhere all at once.

Omnipresence is God’s infinity as it relates to space.

“The greatness of finite objects is measured by how much space they occupy. With God, however, the question of whereness or location is not applicable. God is the one who brought space (and time) into being. he was before there was space. He cannot be localized at a particular point. There can be no plotting of his location on a set of coordinates...There is no physical body to be located at a particular place.” Millard Erickson, Systematic Theology, p299

“Though God is present everywhere throughout the universe, he cannot be contained in any one part of it.” A Theology for the Church, p234

“There is no place where he cannot be found.” Erickson p 299


If God is Omnipresent then...

...Nothing can contain God (Acts 17:24; 1 Kings 8:27)
-”House of God” is a figure of speech-temples cannot contain him.
...No one can hide from Him (Jer 23:23-24)
-God is near and far at the same time (Grover is only near and far one at a time)
...He’s always got his eye on you (Prov 15:3)

Truth: God’s Omnipresence “reminds us that we can never outrun the power and providence of our great Lord.” (TftC p234)

Romans 8:38-39-³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“God is not localized. He has not been left behind. He is available to us wherever we may be. It is good to assemble with believers in a regular lace of worship, but God is not prevented from meeting with us because we have been unable to come to this special place. Nor does God have any difficulty dealing with needs and problems that arise in widely differing locations at the same time. He does not, however, move from one place to another as a sort of divine superman who flies at infinite speed. Rather, he simply has access to the whole of creation at all times.” (Erickson, p300)

God is not only infinite as it relates to space. He is also infinite in power.

The Second Omni
How do we measure someone’s power? (weight can lift, # of pushups, etc.). When we talk about God’s power, we are not talking about physical ability.

Define Omnipotence: God is able to do all things that are proper objects of his power.
God’s “power to do everything that in his rational and moral perfection God wills to do.” J. I. Packer

If God is Omnipotent then...
...He must be the most powerful (Genesis 17:1-”I am God Almighty”)
...He must have power over everything (Genesis 18:10-14-Power over creation)
...Nothing can be too difficult for him (Jer 32:17; Matt 19:26)
...Nothing can stop him (Psalm 115:3; Job 42:2-he will accomplish his will)

Typical arguments against God’s omnipotence:
-Can God make a mountain he can’t move? Can he make a square circle?
-Can God sin? (Sin is an exercise in weakness, not power)

Truth: God can do everything but can do nothing that involves contradiction or are against the proper use of his power

What God "Cannot" Do:
He cannot do the logically absurd or contradictory
He cannot undo the past (can wipe away the consequences)
He cannot sin (act contrary to his nature)
He cannot break a promise

“All of these ‘inabilities’ are not weaknesses, but strengths. The inability to do evil or to lie or to fail is a mark of positive strength rather than of failure.” Erickson p 303

A lot of times when we think of the power of God we think of physical feats that God can do.

Truth: The greatest display of God’s omnipotence is his ability to change people.

“Whereas giant machinery can accomplish extraordinary types of physical work, it is not so easy to alter human nature.” (Matt 19:26-with respect to salvation)

Finally, God is also infinite as it relates to knowledge.

The Third Omni
My brother and I used to play Trivial pursuit for fun. It tests your knowledge of several different subjects. We liked to see how smart we were. I always chose the sports and geography questions. He liked the history questions. We may have been pretty knowledgeable in some subjects, but neither of us was completely knowledgeable in all subjects. God, however, is.

Psalm 147:5-⁵Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.

Define Omniscience: His comprehensive knowledge of all that was, is and ever shall be (TftC p231)

If God is Omniscient then...
...He never misses even the most insignificant event (Matt 10:29; Psalm 139:2)
Matt 10:30-knowledge of the impossible (hairs on head)
...He has knowledge of what no man can see (the heart) (Acts 15:8)
...He has knowledge of what has yet to happen (Psalm 139:16)
...He knows about all our needs (Matt 6:8)
...He must be the source of knowledge (Acts 15:18)
...He is infinitely wise (Romans 11:33)

“We are all completely transparent before God. He sees and knows us totally. He knows every truth, even those not yet discovered by humankind, for it was he who built them into the
creation.” Erickson p301

Application:
When we realize that God truly is OMNI then we can have confidence that what he says is true...especially this:
Isa 46:9-10-I am God and there is no other

The God we worship is everpresent, all powerful and all knowing. This should give us comfort, trust, hope and peace.

The One True God is always close
The One True God is always in control
The One True God always knows

This is why the One True God is the only one worthy of worship.