"God is Our All"
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Series: Attributes of God; Psalm 139:1-12

Introduction: If you know anything about sports, you know that almost every sport has a “hall of fame.” The hall of fame is to set apart, and remember, those athletes who accomplished great achievements in the sport. But it isn’t just sports that have a hall of fame. Music has a hall of fame. And in the entertainment industry they have their own forms of remembering the great actors, actresses, directors, and others. The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award given for great achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. In all walks of life, we have people who are accomplishing great things.

            This morning, as we continue our series on the attributes of God, we will be looking at some more of the great accomplishments God has done, because of who God is. This morning we will be looking at God’s attributes of being all-powerful (or omnipotent), all-knowing (or omniscient), and all-present (or omnipresent). We will see that these are characteristics that are beyond anything we could fathom.

I.                   God is Omnipotent- (Habakkuk 3:4; Genesis 1:2-3; Hebrews 1:3;

1 Peter 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

a.      Nothing is impossible- In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina

passed by the east of New Orleans, as a Category 3 hurricane. But it created waves equivalent to that of a Category 5 hurricane, and caused the levees to be breached, thus flooding much of New Orleans. There is great power in a hurricane. There is also great power in a lightning strike. Have you ever seen lightning strike? The bolt that comes down is an amazing sight, and can cause great destruction as well. How about an earthquake? I have been in many earthquakes in my life, including the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. A few years ago, while on our vacation, my family and I drove over the San Francisco Bay Bridge. This is a double-decker bridge. And during the 1989 earthquake, the top level crashed down on the lower level. So as we were driving across the lower level, I had this anxious feeling about the destruction that was caused by the earthquake.

            People…desire…to be powerful. We see it in societies. We see it in rulers. We even see it in the average person. I our world we have created the nuclear bomb, chemical weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. The sense of power causes people to want to control and dominate others. In essence, we want to be like God. But no one will ever be as powerful as God.

            Habakkuk 3:4 tells us, “His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.” God’s power in many ways is concealed, more than it is revealed. From time to time we just catch a glimpse of what God is capable of doing. Think about how God created everything out of nothing. In Genesis 1:2-3 we read, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” By simply speaking, God was able to create the earth, and the heavens, and all that is in it!

            But even more, God allows everything to exist by His power as well: (Hebrews 1:3)- “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word….” Again, we see it is by the power of God’s word…. By simply speaking, God exhibits tremendous power!

            The other amazing thing about God’s power, is that there is no such thing as one act being more difficult than another. This is hard to imagine, because on earth, for us, there are definitely some things that are more difficult than others.

            EX. When I was in high school, I started lifting weights. One reason was that I was small and skinny. And in high school, when you are small and skinny, you get picked on. So I decided to get stronger. I worked hard throughout the year. And then the next year. As you work out, especially with bench press, you regularly try to lift your “max” (which is pressing the most you can press one time). When I was a junior in high school, I weighed 130 pounds. One day I decided I was going to try to “max” 265 pounds! More than twice my weight. I looked at all the weight on the bench (it was a lot), and then I got myself mentally ready. And in the end, I lifted 265 pounds. I was the only one in school that could bench press twice his weight!

            It was a great achievement, but nothing compared to what God can do. For God, nothing is too difficult. God can do whatever He WILLS to do. This is difficult for us to accept, because so often we want our will to become God’s will. But God, whether it is physically healing someone, bringing someone back from the dead, or creating new life, God is capable of doing anything! And when it is in His will, He will indeed do it.

b.      Eternal life- But another great power that God brings to us is that

of eternal life. When sin was brought into the world, by Satan, through Adam and Eve, life looked bleak. God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, so they wouldn’t eat of the tree of life, because God didn’t want humankind to live forever in sin. God also made a plan to save His people from their sin. God knew that in time, He would come in the flesh, in the form of Jesus Christ, and die so that all those who believed could live. As 1 Peter 1:23 tells us, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” By placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we have become new in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us of this, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Even more, the power of God is exhibited in that the God, who is all

powerful, lives in you and in me when we believe! So the same power that was in Christ, and raised Christ from the dead, is at work IN you and IN me. We have the power of God available to us to do the work God calls us to do. This is wonderful.

      God’s power is at work all around us. Unfortunately, we are too pre-occupied, or too blind to see it. If we look with believing eyes, we will see God’s power exhibited regularly. You will see God’s power exhibited in your life!

II.                God is Omniscient- (Psalm 139:1-6; Acts 15:18)

a.      God knows us- A second great power that God possesses is that

of being all-knowing. Now in some ways, this could be disconcerting. We really don’t want anyone knowing all that we do, or all that we think. And yet, because God knows all things, God can understand who we are. God also knows our needs (as we talked about last week), and God can relate to where we are in life.

            Maybe you are lost or confused, in anguish, or frustrated. You don’t know what to do or where to turn. The truth is, you need to turn to God; the God who knows everything about us. As the psalmist tells us in Psalm 139:1-4, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”          God knows not only what we are thinking, but also how we feel.

            Illustration: “The President and the Little Boy,” p. 140,  More Hot Illus.

            During the war between the states, a young soldier in the Union Army lost his older brother and his father. He decided to go to Washington D.C. to see President Lincoln to ask for an exemption from any further military service so that he could go home to help his mother and sister do the spring planting on the farm.

            When he got to the White House front gate, he was told by the guard: “Son,

you can’t see the president. Don’t you know there is a war going on? The president is a very busy man. Get back out to the battle lines”….So the young soldier left, very disheartened, and sat down on a park bench. Not long after sitting down, a little boy came up to him. “Soldier, you look unhappy. What’s wrong?” The soldier decided to tell the boy his story, and tell him how he couldn’t get in to see the president…. The little boy answered: “I can help you, soldier.” And with this he grabbed the soldiers hand and led him back to the front gate of the White House…Apparently the guard didn’t notice them, because they were able to walk right through. The boy continued to walk the soldier straight up to the front door of the White House. To the soldier’s astonishment, they walked right through the front door; past generals and high-ranking officials. Why wasn’t anyone trying to stop them?……Finally, they reached the Oval Office, where the president was working. The boy didn’t even knock. He just walked right in, pulling the soldier behind him. AND, there behind his desk, sat President Abraham Lincoln….The president looked up at the boy, and then at the soldier. And then said: “Good afternoon, Todd. Can you introduce me to your friend?”….. And Todd Lincoln, the son of the president, said: “Daddy, this soldier needs to talk to you.”….The soldier pled his case, and right then and there received an exemption from President Lincoln. The great news is that not only does God know what we are thinking and feeling, but we have total access to come to God.

b.      God knows everything- But what does the phrase “God knows

everything” really mean? This concept can be a difficult one for us to grasp. In Acts 15:18 we are told, “Known to God from of old are all his works.” God has total knowledge. God knows the tiniest movements that have occurred and that will occur. And yet, this knowledge is just a fraction of God’s omniscience.

            On top of this knowledge, God also knows the “what-ifs.” God knows about all the possibilities that could happen. Illustration- Many of you know that I have a very analytical mind. I like to think things through. In fact, I try to think about all the possibilities that could possibly happen in a given situation. This can be a blessing in some ways, but a curse in others. For example, let’s say that I need to have a talk with someone else, and this talk could possibly lead to a conflict. I will role-play this talk in my head trying to imagine how the conversation will go I try to imagine what the other person MIGHT say, and what I would say in response!

          Far beyond what we could ever imagine, God can imagine the possibilities of what could happen; because God doesn’t control our decisions and actions. What will we do each moment of the day is not pre-determined. But God is not surprised by anything we think or do, because God has knowledge of all of the possibilities.

            The good news is that even though God knows everything about us, God still loves us, and wants to help us make good decisions. Wouldn’t it be wise to go to God to receive counsel and guidance in our lives? Wouldn’t it be prudent to let the God of all knowledge have control of our lives?

III.             God is Omnipresent- (Psalm 139:7-12, 32:8; Hebrews 13:5;

Matthew 28:20; Jeremiah 23:24; 1 Kings 8:27; Romans 8:35, 38-39)

a.      Presence- Right now, you and I are surrounded by the presence of

God. But God’s presence isn’t limited to this church building. Anywhere we go, God’s presence is there. You cannot go where God is not. As Psalm 139:7-12 tells us this, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

            This presence is not the presence of just part of God, for God is not divided, diffused, or spread throughout the entire universe. God is one. All that God is, is totally present everywhere. Everywhere we go, we are surrounded by God. We are therefore always in the presence of God.

            The word “presence” here in Psalm 139:7 literally means “face.” The Hebrew word is “paw-neem.” The concept of presence is that of facing or looking at a person eye-to-eye. Everything that God is, is continually facing or being directed toward you and me. No wonder God can promise in Psalm 32:8, “I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

            Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) He also said in Matthew 28:20, “Lo I am always with you.” It is true that God could never leave us, because God’s very nature is of being always present. This is what allows us to have peace in all situations, because we know, by faith, that God is always with us. All of God is inside of us in a most unique way through the Holy Spirit.

b.      Uncontained- But the truth is, that God is uncontained. There is

nothing that can contain God. This is one of the great mysteries. God is not just here on earth, God fills the heavens as well! As we are told in Jeremiah 23:24- “‘Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD.”… If you are inside your home, you know that you are not anywhere else. You can only be in one place at a time. But space limitations do not affect God, for He is Spirit.

            God also exists outside of space. As 1 Kings 8:27 says, “Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You (O God).” God is not contained in space (like our spirit is by our body while we live here on earth). This is great news, because I know there are many people who worry about doing something that will cut them off from God. But the apostle Paul assures us, in Romans 8:35, 38-39- “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            This brings us great security and encouragement. The truth is that God is everywhere, and we cannot separate ourselves from that presence. In God, through Christ, we have a Guide, a Protector, a Father, a Friend, present and available to us. And as we allow ourselves to be more aware of this, we don’t need to fear darkness or challenging circumstances. For “the night shines as day to God.”

            Since we are always in the presence of God, we have the potential for fullness of joy. We need to embrace God’s presence, not be fearful of it in any way!

Conclusion: The Bible clearly teaches us that all power belongs to God. Any power that we might possess is nothing compared with the power of God. God Himself tells us that He is God almighty, the God of all power. We have a choice, we can receive God’s power or fight against it. And while we are finite and limited in our being, God is infinite. Infinite in His knowledge. He knows all about us; He understands the ways of the world; He knows completely every detail. As God said to Job, in Job 38:4-11, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. ⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? ⁶ On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- ⁷ while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? ⁸ "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, ⁹ when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, ¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, ¹¹ when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?” God is infinite in His presence as well. The amazing truth is that we can always be in the presence of God, and there is nothing that can keep us from being in God’s presence. Although, the one thing that will keep us from God’s presence is not believing in Jesus. Without faith, we don’t have access to God. We disconnect ourselves from God here on earth, and ultimately we will be eternally separated from God.

Let us go from here today believing that in Jesus, and through our faith, we come face to face with God’s power, knowledge, and presence. Amen.