Where is God?
Little Suzie is sitting in Sunday School quietly thinking about where she lives, where her cousins live, where her grandma lives, and then…where God lives. She asks her Sunday School teacher, “Where does God live?” Her teacher, surprised by this strange interruption asks for some clarification. She says, “Well, where is he? Does he live at church or in the sky?” Understanding the question now, her Sunday School teacher responds…
How should her Sunday School teacher respond? What is the right answer? What is the best answer that she can understand? I would like to give a couple options and then explain which option I think is best as it relates to OT and NT scripture and is consistent logically.
This question is not a new one, but an age-old query. The Hebrews never questioned God’s existence as their very identity was built around God (Israel means “struggles with God”). So, to question whether he was real would eventually come back around as the question “who are we?” Instead, they questioned God’s absence. Where is God while the Egyptians are making us their slaves? Where is God when our land is taken away? Where is God when we live among a people we don’t know, with all their gods around us, and no temple of our own to worship God in? So, we are not the first to ask where God is.
The question receives much thought today as the war on terror continues to alienate groups of people. Is God among the Iraqi people? Is God among the terrorists? Is God among the U.S. people – some would argue the counter-terrorists? How we answer this question is extremely important as it could at the very least give confidence or justification to certain parties if God is with them as they wage war, and it could have the reverse effect of stripping parties of their confidence and justification as a military force and even a people if God is not with them.
As we begin to look at our options as to where God may be, there is something we must affirm and another thing we must deny. We must affirm that God is, which implies that he must be somewhere. Even though God is spirit and possibly incorporeal (no body), we have to say that to be is to be somewhere. At a great sporting or music event there seems to be something in the room, some energy that is not taking up space yet affects everyone. So, should God be spirit (like the energy in the room), he still would be somewhere. And as Christians we must deny that God is not involved in the world. A deistic concept of God sees the Clockmaker has detached and separate from his creation; a Christian concept of God always sees God acting in the world, from creation, through the flood, through kings and kingdoms, etc. Combining these two ideas we say that God is at the least in the world and involved with it in some way.
Our first option for answering where God is says that he is everywhere. Psalm 139 and Isaiah 6:3 are verses that seem to suggest that God’s presence permeates the whole earth; you cannot escape it. The glory of the LORD in the OT is God’s manifest presence, and to behold the glory of the LORD, to be aware of it, is to actually see the presence of God (if that makes sense). So, we can’t flee from his presence because it fills the earth.
If we pontificate on God’s omnipresence we are led to the question, how is God everywhere? I know of two possible answers: either God is everything (pantheism), or he is in everything (panentheism). Both options affirm an understanding of God being everywhere all at the same time. This means some degree of his presence would be in every piece of matter. We can explain the difference between the 2 options with two formulas. Pantheism says ALL is God. Panentheism says God is ALL. (These are not the only two options for omnipresence; one could say God could be everywhere—just like Santa—though he is not everywhere at the same time. This may be the best position logically, but most Christians would see this as a limitation to an all powerful God.)
Our second option in answering the question where God is looks to the Kingdom of God, as this was Jesus’ favorite conversation topic. What is the Kingdom? How does one become apart? When does it begin? Jesus answered all these questions during his ministry: the Kingdom is the rule of Christ in the hearts of men; as people submit to the Lordship of Christ they force their way in; the Kingdom was inaugurated with Christ on earth and will reach its fullness at his return. The Holy Spirit has come to guide, teach, and seal us until the second coming. So, the kingdom has already begun here, but it is not yet completely here. In the same way God’s presence is in the hearts of those in his kingdom, but his presence will be fully revealed when he comes again.
The third and fourth options to the question look at various biblical texts that seem to have a common theme. Ephesians 4:5 says that we should let our “gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” I understand the word ‘near’ in this verse to primarily mean the time in which he is coming, but some have suggested the word refers to where he is – near (in close proximity). So, the Lord is on his way to the extent that he may already be in town. The latter prophets wanted to impress upon their audiences that he was right around the corner (even on the other side of the door) as they continually cried, “The day of the Lord is near.” (Joel 1:15, Obad. 1:15) They, like John the Baptist, knew that the coming of the Messiah was only a good thing if you were on his side; so they preached a message of repentance in light of His coming presence.
So far we’ve looked at philosophical positions and biblical texts, but now we must turn our attention to some recent theology that causes me to throw up a caution flag. There has been much theology written in the last 100 years to underscore the fact that God sympathizes with the oppressed of any nation, as he did with the Hebrews in Egypt. Some have drawn the conclusion that because God is FOR them, God is also WITH the oppressed, rather than the oppressors. And there are places in scripture that suggest the Lord does look with favor on anyone who is low in spirit (Matthew 5, Isaiah 57:15, 66:1-2). But one does not have to think too hard abut this option before throwing up a red flag. Remember how the kings of Assyria and Babylon were actually the Lord’s instruments, his tools to punish Israel and Judah? He was certainly with the oppressors then, so why not now? So, we must conclude that the Lord is for the oppressed, the contrite, the lowly, but he can be with anyone as he uses them to bring about his purposes.
Though this post has been too much in places and not enough other places, I believe we have come to some important conclusions. First, our God can be anywhere and we believe he is everywhere (the great problem philosophically is explaining how one can be in two places; once that’s established, adding a million more places is nothing). When we say he is everywhere, we are saying God’s presence is in everything, as his glory fills the earth. This would be a baseline level (a first degree) of his presence. Second, his presence is actually in those who believe, as his Holy Spirit rests in us – a second degree. Third, his presence is right around the corner, so we should reform our actions as quickly as possible before we behold his glory in the fullest sense – a third degree. Finally, we have concluded that his presence is not any more with the oppressed than it is with the oppressors. Though his heart is broken for the down-trodden and he promises justice to them, he may put his spirit on a wicked nation for a time to bring about his purposes.
How does/should this understanding of God’s presence affect us? What are the implications of our knowledge? Well, if we know that God is everywhere (not just here, not just with us), we are accountable for the destruction we are bringing to God’s earth, as it drips with God’s presence. Over consumption and nuclear missiles both contribute to the disfigurement of the divine beauty in the earth. (But rest assured that a more awesome display of his presence is coming, and with that he will set things back into their rightful places). Second, the divine presence (here, the Holy Spirit) could be in both camps, which means we are not guaranteed victory in Iraq precisely because some members of our army carry God’s presence with them as they fight. Third, repentance rather than physical combat is the best means for removing “evil” in the world, as this will ensure the repenter that he is on God’s side when Christ comes to judge everyone. Fourth, we are not alone, moreover, no one is alone. We can say to the oppressors and the oppressed, God is coming to town, he is on his way. You will receive what is coming to you.
So what can we say to little Suzie? First, God is in every room she goes in, because has left some trace (esp. good if she likes CSI type shows) of himself in everything. Second, God’s spirit lives inside her, just like her heart, lungs, and stomach, though she may not always “feel” God. But the good news is that the Holy Spirit will always be trying to teach and guide her as she goes through life. He’ll give her new ideas and help her think through hard decisions. Third, she’ll get to see God face to face when Jesus comes back to reward and discipline everyone for how they have lived. For all of us who have honored him in our words and actions, he will take us to heaven to live forever with him. But until then we must look forward to that day, as we get ready for it, and tell others about it. This Christmas we celebrate the first time Jesus came, but we are so thankful that the story is not over. He’s coming again to take us home!
So where is God? He’s there, he’s here, and he’s on his way! He’s closer than you think.
