Q. 19 How is God’s spirituality our delight?
A. God’s spirituality is our delight because we are always in His presence; if we ascend to heaven He is there, if we make our bed in the grave, behold He is there.
How amazing this one attribute can at the same time be a treasure for the saint and yet a horror for the sinner. Because God is Spirit, there is no where we can flee from His presence. Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” This answer finds it’s anchor in Psalm 139. King David, a man after God’s own heart, comforted His own spirit with the thought of God’s Spirit. Psalm 139:7-10 “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” Heaven, hell, sea, land, there is no place, no dimension, no amount of darkness that can cover us from the Spirit of God. God is always present with us no matter where the waves of this world toss us. Just as the sun visits every part of the planet with it’s light, so God’s presences is simply inescapable. He is necessarily with us. Yet, as glorious as the light of the sun is, it can be overcast, it will set in the evening, it will not penetrate the deepest waters nor can it be seen from the grave. But God’s presence has no such limitations. “If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” His Spirit is present in more places than man has never seen. Man has barely left the confines of this atmosphere, yet God is present on the edges of the universe. “The whole essence of God is here, is there, and everywhere.” “God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference nowhere” As one saint has said “...He is in the world, yet not confined by it; He is out of the world, yet not debarred from it; He is above the world, yet not elevated by it; He is below the world, yet not depressed by it; He is above all, equalled by none; He is in all, not because He needs them, but they stand in need of Him...” For God’s spiritual presence to cease to be with us, He must cease to be God.
It is true that God’s omnipresence is necessary in regard to the perfection of His nature, however that He is omnipresent for our good is voluntary and an expression of His love. Because we are bound in covenant to Father by the blood of Christ, God is always with us, watching over us, sanctifying us in every cross and every blessing. There is no where we could ever be where God’s Spirit is not there working for our highest happiness in Him. He hems us in behind, and before, and He lays His hand upon us. Even in the midst of the greatest dangers and tribulations that we will pass through in our pilgrimage to heaven, God promises to be near to us. Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Even in the flames of the hottest furnace, the three Hebrew boys were accompanied by the omnipresent God retarding the heat of the flames so that they would not be consumed. There is nowhere that God is not. Through depression, misery or abandonment, God the Spirit was there before we arrived. Psalm 27:10 “...my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” God is not just present in our calamities, He is said to be very present “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. “ Psalm 46:1-3
God being Spirit is His “most precious” attribute.
Can there be a greater treasure than the omnipresence of God? Can there be a more precious truth than God is Spirit? Now this can and will be said about every one of God’s attributes. All are a treasure unto themselves. Yet this attribute brings all the others to us! Because God is omnipresent, we are in the presence of all of His other attributes. His wisdom has been brought near to us. “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 Because God is Spirit, His power has been brought near to us:“...greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 Because God is Spirit, His holiness has been brought near to us. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 3:18 Because God is Spirit, His justice and righteousness have been brought near us. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21 Because God is Spirit, His goodness has been brought near to us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction...” 2 Cor. 1:3-4 Because God is Spirit, His truth has been brought near to us. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;” John 16:13
Because God is Spirit, all His attributes have been brought near to us, His wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. Truly God’s Spirituality is the highest delight to our soul.
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