"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9)

"And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth." (Luke 11:2)

"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." (John 6:32)

The apostle Paul repeated this same concept:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17)

The location of God is in "heaven." This is a place beyond the "heaven" of the stars. However, the Bible teaches that God can move within this creation as He pleases through the Holy Spirit. The term “Holy Spirit” means: "Holy Breath," or "Holy Wind." This is a term that descibes God “breathing” His own essence into creation, at a certain place and time. In Judaism (and in the Old Testament,) God’s Spirit is called His “Shekiniah.” This is God's Spirit, “bridging the gap” between the God who inhabits heaven and His creation.

Despite this simple foundation in Judaism, some teach that God is like a liquid, filling the entire universe. Several passages appear to support this conclusion, which will be discussed here. For instance, in Isaiah, we read:

"Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

There are two ways to look at this passage. Either God taught that His essence is like the water filling the ocean, or it means that God fills the universe by "breathing" into it. Since the universe will come to an end according to the Word of God, the origional Jewish view must be correct.

Not everyone in the world feels the Holy Spirit of God. God might be aware and working in the lives of sinners, but those who are not coming before Him in humility do not feel His power. This reality answers the question of God’s “omnipresence.” God can move upon everywhere in this creation, but He does not.

In the book of Acts, there is a passage that is usually used to teach that God’s omnipresence is “ever-present” like a liquid. We read:

"That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts 17:27-28 27)

It appears that Paul teaches that we are “in” God as a fish is in the ocean. Again however, this does not mean that God is “spatially extended” throughout the entire universe. Paul spoke these words in the context of "we are his offspring." Paul did not say that everyone "moves" and has their being in God, only those who have been born again, filled with God's Holy Spirit.
Isaiah taught that God dwells in heaven in this passage:

"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" (Isaiah 66:1)

Since the throne is where God sits, this is where He dwells. In Judaism, the “throne of God” is a symbolic term for heaven—as Christ taught that the Father dwells in heaven. The “footstool” is earth, where God “places his feet” or “breathes” His essence.

Next Page: God Knows all things

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