Saturday, September 22, 2018

The Omnipresence Of The Jesus Christ

  • Discussion:
          -One aspect of God's nature is that He is omnipresent. That means He is present everywhere at once. He transcends the boundaries of matter, space, and time. He is infinite. Nothing in creation can contain Him in the fullness of His glory. He is bound by nothing. This is revealed plainly throughout the Old Testament:          

          "But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built." (2 Chronicles 6:18)

          "Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,“And not a God far off? “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." (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

         The various expressions from the Old Testament describing God as omnipresent are equally applicable to Christ in His deity. Consider this passage in the New Testament:

          "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:21-23)

          The church is said to be His body, which can be found across earth. Christ dwells spiritually amongst people of faith. He resides in our hearts.

          One passage from Matthew states that Christ is with us always to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). This strongly implies that He in His divinity is both all-knowing and all-present. Another noteworthy text is cited as follows:

           "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20)

          It is likely that in Matthew 18:20, Matthew alludes to a saying popular amongst Jewish rabbis of his day. The New American Bible Revised Edition has this excerpt:

           "[18:20] For where two or three…midst of them: the presence of Jesus guarantees the efficacy of the prayer. This saying is similar to one attributed to a rabbi executed in A.D. 135 at the time of the second Jewish revolt: “…When two sit and there are between them the words of the Torah, the divine presence (Shekinah) rests upon them” (Pirqê ’Abôt 3, 3)."

            We never see in the four gospels Christ being in many places at the same time in His humanity. Such a statement would be true of Him in His deity. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He is fully human and divine, which is known as the doctrine of the hypostatic union.

1 comment:

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Matthew 18:20 is about church discipline. Two or three are witnesses for the disciplinary action.