The Omnipresence Of 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 confined by nothing. No part of creation can contain Him in the fullness of His glory. He is not restricted to any section of the universe. There is no place where God does not inhabit. He is fully present everywhere. This attribute of God clearly shines forth in 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)

          Solomon marveled at the incomprehensibility of God. He cannot be contained by a temple because He is immaterial. He has no physical parts.

          "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)

          God appeals to His infinitude in making the point that the wicked and deceitful cannot escape His judgment. He says outright that He is present in exactly the same way everywhere else. This results in paradoxes like God being both accessible to man and far beyond his reach at once.

         These expressions describing God as omnipresent are equally applicable to Jesus Christ in His deity. Consider these words from Paul about His relation to creation:

          "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 records Christ promising to be with us always to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). He has resided with believers, who live throughout the world, during the course of history. This strongly implies that He in His deity is omnipresent.

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

           Christ alluded to His own omnipresence. In His deity, He is limited to no particular locale. It is also possible that in Matthew 18:20, Matthew echoes 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 Jesus Christ being in many places at the same time in His humanity. Such a statement would be true of Him only in His deity. Christ is both truly God and truly man, which is the hypostatic union. Just as God dwelt in the temple, so He has chosen to reside in a human body to make atonement for our sins. In both instances, He concealed His glory and dwelt with man for a time.