However, this paradox can be explained by the fact that God can be present-because He fills all things with His presence (Colossians 1:17) and upholds everything by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3)-yet He is not necessarily everywhere to bless. That God should be present in a place that the wicked are said to be departed unto does cause some consternation. However, the wicked in hell endure His everlasting anger, for Revelation 14:10 speaks of the torment of the wicked in the presence of the Lamb.

Many argue that hell is a place of separation from God (Matthew 25:41), and if so, then God cannot be said to be in a place that is separated from Him. One of these paradoxes is important: the presence of God in hell, that place unto which the wicked are departed and suffer the unlimited and unceasing fury of God because of their sin. Just as the omniscience of God suffers apparent paradoxes due to the limitations of the human mind, so does the omnipresence of God. Supremely, He is present in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:19), and mystically present in the universal church that covers the earth and against which the gates of hell will not prevail. God is in a special way attentively present to those who call upon His name, who intercede for others, who adore God, who petition, and who pray earnestly for forgiveness (Psalm 46:1). God is actively present in a different way in every event in history as provident guide of human affairs (Psalm 48:7 2 Chronicles 20:37 Daniel 5:5-6). God is naturally present in every aspect of the natural order of things, in every manner, time and place (Isaiah 40:12 Nahum 1:3). But if we were to remove creation, God would still know of it, for He knows all possibilities, whether they are actual or not. No molecule or atomic particle is so small that God is not fully present to it, and no galaxy so vast that God does not circumscribe it. Although God is present in all time and space, God is not locally limited to any time or space. Omnipresence is God’s characteristic of being present to all ranges of both time and space. The Bible reveals that God can be both present to a person in a manifest manner (Psalm 46:1 Isaiah 57:15) and present in every situation in all of creation at any given time (Psalm 33:13-14). At times, He may be actively present in a situation, while He may not reveal that He is present in another circumstance in some other area. God’s presence is continuous throughout all of creation, though it may not be revealed in the same way at the same time to people everywhere. Although God is not totally immersed in the fabric of creation (pantheism), He is present everywhere at all times.

In many religions, God is regarded as omnipresent, whereas in both Judaism and Christianity, this view is further subdivided into the transcendence and immanence of God. The prefix omni- originates in Latin and means “all.” So, to say that God is omnipresent is to say that God is present everywhere.

Definition of omnipresence