omnipresence

By Elizabeth Prata

The question in my title was a discussion on Facebook.

“If God is omnipresent, does that mean he is also in hell?”

Hmmm, interesting!

First, let’s make sure we understand the word omnipresent. Omni means all. Present means present. It means God is present in all His creation. There is nowhere God isn’t.

Neither the noun “omnipresence” nor adj. “omnipresent” occurs in Scripture, but the idea that God is everywhere present is throughout presupposed and sometimes explicitly formulated. God’s omnipresence is closely related to His omnipotence and omniscience: that He is everywhere enables Him to act everywhere and to know all things, and, conversely, through omnipotent action and omniscient knowledge He has access to all places and all secrets (cf Ps 139). The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

These are two verses among many addressing declaring God’s presence everywhere: Jeremiah 23:24, Psalm 139:7.

So yes He is in hell. He is omnipresent. That means everywhere. Even in hell/sheol/the Lake of Fire to come. As for the question asking whether God (or Jesus) is in hell, there is this verse to consider.

Revelation 14:9-10 says “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb“.

A women came into the discussion asking:

“Why would a holy God be in hell? Through Christ’s salvation we are made holy so as not to go to hell.”

I replied, “True! But He is also a God of wrath who punishes sin, as is stated in Revelation 14:9-10. He glorifies Himself through his redemption of saints – and also through his punishment of sinners. God is not ONLY love but also justice.

Then I received the “whatabouts”

What about 2 Thessalonians 1:9 verse?…

(which says-)

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, AWAY FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND FROM THE GLORY OF HIS MIGHT,

I replied: Yes the Revelation 14 and 2 Thessalonians verses do seem to say the opposite of each other. In Thessalonians, that the people in hell are out of the presence of the Lord, and Revelation 14 the people in hell endure the wrath in His presence. But we know the Lord is not the author of confusion, and He does not contradict Himself. So what can this mean? Bottom line is, it means we need to study it more, because the scriptures are perspicacious (clear) and the Spirit will illuminate any confused understandings we may have- if we ask. (James 1:5).

As Michael Horton explained, about the apparent contradiction,

“These verses are best reconciled, in my view, by recognizing that judgment consists in being excluded from God’s presence as the source of all blessedness, but not from God’s omnipresent lordship.”

Further, we see that Matthew 10:28 warns of the presence of God in hell, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Jesus is the One who dispenses the wrath. Who else would it be? Horton said hell is torment not just because of the fiery punishment, but BECAUSE of the presence of the Lord.

“Hell is horrible because of God’s presence, not his absence.“
Michael Horton

God is omnipresent. Omni means all. He is everywhere at all times, but not everyone everywhere is experiencing Him in the same way. Saved Christians experience His presence in glory with blessings, unrepentant sinners in hell experiencing the wrath due them for sin.

On Hell:

‘The torments themselves will be universal. It will not be merely one or two torments but all torments united. Hell is the place of torment itself (Luke 16.28). It is the centre of all punishments, sorrow and pain, wrath and vengeance, fire and darkness’. ~Ralph Venning, The Sinfulness of Sin

The Transfiguration

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matthew 17:1-3).

The Transfiguration

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-31).

The disciples were heavy with sleep and initially did not notice the change in Jesus’ appearance. He was with them though, praying, and then, as He changed, talking with two men. The men were Moses and Elijah. The Bible identifies them for us.

Moss and Elijah had departed the earth centuries before. Moses had died (Deuteronomy 34:4) but his body was never found. Satan and Michael had been disputing over it so God just took the body and put it somewhere. Elijah the Prophet had personally been taken by God, bodily to heaven. (2 Kings 2:11). So these two men had been in heaven for many centuries, and Jesus was talking with them. Yet Jesus was bodily here on earth, too, and shortly before this had been talking with the three Disciples. When they awoke, Peter talked with all three of them- Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Then God broke into the conversation! What an amazing scene.

This is an example of the attribute of Jesus we call omnipresence.

Omni means all. Think of omniscient or omnivirous. And presence means presence. Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20b that he would always be with all His people.

“behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20).

Jesus was talking with two men who were in heaven, and He was also with the sleeping and soon-to-wake disciples on earth – at the same time.

No matter how alone you feel, or what you are going through, He IS with you and will be forever. It is an insanely difficult concept to grasp, that He is eternally in body form ascended in heaven, but He is also with each and every saint who is in His fold, even if they’re here on earth. We can trust His promise though. He is with you. We serve a great and loving God.

Linked below are a few resources for you on the Omnipresence of Jesus

What does it mean that God is omnipresent?

How is Jesus omnipresent?

The Omnipresent Son of God

God: What is He Like? (exploring His attribute of omnipresence)