The Omni's of God

We serve an all powerful God, I'm sure we all recognize that. We had a lesson at our church that talked about the omni's of God and here they are and what they mean. If you want to find the sources I used, click on the underlined words and it will take you to the source!

* Gods omniscience - God is all-knowing * Gods omnipresence - God is all-present/all-seeing * Gods omnipotence - God is all-power

The term “omnipresence” is borrowed from Latin. It is a compound of omni, meaning “all,” and praesens, meaning “here.” Thus, God is always here, close to everything, next to everyone.1 This means that God is unlimited with respect to space. As Wayne Grudem puts it, “God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places."2

A. W. Tozer posits that fewer truths are so clearly taught in scripture.3 Indeed, the scriptures teach that even though the highest heavens cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27), He is still nearby when we pray, unlike other Gods, which don’t even exist (Deuteronomy 4:7). Yet, God is not just nearby, He is in fact everywhere! He fills heaven and earth and no-one can hide from Him. There are no secret places where He is excluded (Jeremiah 23:23-24). The Psalmist summarises this truth beautifully: Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV).

Again, the term “omniscience” is borrowed from Latin. It is also a compound of omni, meaning “all,” and scienta, meaning “knowledge.” Grudem explains it in this way: “God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and external act.”8 Or, as Tozer describes it, God knows “every possible item of knowledge concerning everything that exists or could have existed anywhere in the universe at any time in the past or that may exist in the centuries or ages yet unborn.”9 In other words, God is infinite in regard to knowledge. He knows Himself and all other things perfectly (Job 37:16), whether they be actual or merely possible, throughout all of time (Isaiah 46:10; 1 John 3:20b). He knows things immediately, simultaneously, exhaustively and truly.10 Since God knows all things perfectly, He knows nothing better than any other thing.11 Tozer adds that God knows instantly and effectively all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every unuttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven and hell.12

As with the other omni terms, “omnipotence” is a Latin compound of omni, meaning “all,” and potens, meaning “power.” Grudem defines it in this way: “God’s omnipotence means that God is able to do all his holy will.”26 Omnipotence implies the possession of all power, and unlimited power. An omniscient God can do anything He pleases (Job 42:2) and is never exhausted. His power is unlimited in regard to both its extent and its magnitude. What is impossible for man is possible for God (Matthew 19:26). Nothing is too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:17). Furthermore, anything can be done as easily as anything else, and all acts are done effortlessly.27 Note also that the possession of omnipotence does not demand its exercise: “God can do what he wills to do, but he does not necessarily will to do anything.” In other words, God has power over His power.28 It is important to note that omnipotence also includes the power of self-limitation. For example, God created other beings which have free will, and His Son voluntarily took on the form of humanity (the incarnation). Because of this self-limitation, God does not keep sin out by force, or force people to repent and believe (that power lies solely with each individual person). When describing the doctrine of omnipotence, it is not entirely accurate to say that God can do “anything,” for God cannot do anything that would deny His own nature and/or character.29 Indeed, Thomas Aquinas writes: All confess that God is omnipotent; but it seems difficult to explain in what His omnipotence precisely consists: for there may be doubt as to the precise meaning of the word ‘all’ when we say that God can do all things.30 God is able to do whatever He wills, but His will is limited by His nature. In other words, God cannot contradict His own nature.31 God cannot sin, because sinning means that God does evil, and evil is something which is outside of the will of God. So if God sins He is going against His own will, which is absurd. Therefore, it is legitimate to say that God cannot sin, yet also maintain that God is omnipotent. Indeed, God cannot do anything that is absurd or self-contradictory. For example, God cannot make a boulder so heavy that He cannot lift it, or create a square circle. In any case, these are not objects of power and so “denote no limitation of God’s omnipotence.”32

And so, our God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscience.