Sovereignty And The Omnipresence Of Mind

But truly, as I live,

all the earth

shall be filled 

with the glory 

of the LORD.

Numbers 14:21

And one cried

to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy

is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth 

is full of 

His glory.

Isaiah 6:3

      The Scriptures plainly teach that God is omnipresent; what does that mean? Speaking with a friend the other day he mentions that God was everywhere, in fact, it was almost Pantheistic as he described that God was in some sense physically present, but hastened to add that He was not inside of things, pointing to a decorative tree in the restaurant. Is this what the Bible teaches? What is this thing omnipresence? When we speak of the omnipresence of God it is good to remember that we are speaking of His presence of mind. It is His mind that pervades the heavens and the earth. There is no place on earth or in heaven where His mind is not active and not present. Does He not note even a sparrow if it falls? Does He not know the number of hairs on your head (I will leave out the bald ones, ha!)? Can He not see and know the very flight of an arrow shot from a bow? Does He not make the grass grow? Yes! The Sovereignty of God is the cause for all physical things to exist and He is in charge of the results, all the organization of growth of a plant for instance is determined by His agency. King David writes: "My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them" (Psalm 139:15-16). It cannot be mistaken, God is Sovereign and knows all things, is present everywhere, and in His Providence controls all that is, even us, our bodies are fashioned in the womb by the intelligence of God and not by some undirected physical forces. There is no blindness in creation. 

     It is God's Providence that is extended over the minds, over the minds of rational free agents, and over the material universe. So then, how is it that man being a free agent is controlled by the Providence of God? Any sentient individual will admit that the mind is essentially active. That the mind originates it own acts. We call this consciousness. Does not the Bible call on men to act? Yes! Does not the Bible regard men as authors of their own acts? Yes! This doctrine stands opposed to those who hold to theories such as continued creation; and to any doctrine that denies the efficiency of second causes, and those who would merge all power into the immediacy of God. It is further denied that man as free agents cannot act unless acted upon or moved from without. 
     It is true that free agents have the power to act, and to originate their own acts, yet they are upheld in being and efficiency by the power of God. He controls the use by which man make of their ability. The mind of God is ever omnipresent, it is this omnipresence of God by which He acts upon His creation. It is then to be noted that if He is the controller of man's acts, then He controls both what is done and what He does not allow to be done. It is God who determines mans action to be one way or not in another. How does then pray work? God hears our prayers that He would incline the hearts of man and show us favor, that He would change the dispositions and purposes of wicked men. Furthermore, that He would work in us, His children, to will, according to His Will, and to guide us to do what He desires for us to do. No person is independent of God in the exercise of his powers, for those powers, those abilities of man are due to the empowerment of God in giving them to man. It is the hearts of man that God examines for from the heart comes actions whether they by good or evil. Therefore, the heart of man is in God's hands, He controls their action as effectually as He controls the operations of nature. The Sovereignty of God does not interfere with the laws of mind, but just as He exercises control of nature, the physical world, He controls the mind, the spiritual. 
     At first this may seem a bit confusing, we cannot grasp Sovereignty of God and the fact of man being a rational and free agent. Man having the ability to originate his actions, yet being controlled by God. Therefore in the next blog I will discuss the distinction between the Providential efficiency of God, and the influence of the Holy Spirit.


LORD, I cry 
    out to You;
make hast to me!
    Give ear to my
voice when I cry
   to You.
Let my prayer be
   set before You
as incense, the 
   lifting of my hands
as the evening sacrifice.
                 Psalm 141: 1


The Lord is gracious and compassionate


Richard L. Crumb