As humans, we have a limited understanding of time and space, some more than others. Those who study and have a comprehension of quantum physics, understand time and space more than most, and I admittedly am one of those ‘most’.
So, when we say God is eternal, it is difficult for us to comprehend what that truly means. But, to answer the question, ‘when is God with us?’ we must undertake an examination of one of the three essential elements of God’s nature.
God’s OMNIPRESENCE
Those three elements are His omnipresence, His omnipotence, and His omniscience. Omnipresence means present, everywhere at once. In understanding this first element, we can comprehend when God is with us. If He is everywhere at once, then there is no place where the divine presence of God does not exist. Ever. Therefore, it is not in His nature, to be separated from us.
Something to Remember and Celebrate
In the Christian faith, tomorrow is Good Friday. The day on which we remember the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to save mankind from sin. The sin which separates us from knowing Him personally.
In the Jewish faith, tomorrow begins Passover, also called Pesach, a spring festival which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from centuries of slavery in Egypt. A week of celebration that begins with the Passover feast, or Seder. On Thursday 2 April AD 33, (a date put forward by Harold Hoehner in his Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ), Christ celebrated the Passover with his disciples.
In celebrating the Passover with his disciples Jesus celebrated the past deliverance of God’s people. But also, Jesus celebrated the coming deliverance of the Father for all of mankind.
The Israelites slew a lamb, and its bloodshed delivered the Israelites from Egypt. To deliver humanity from the captivity of sin another lamb would need to be slain.
That lamb was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Tomorrow, on Good Friday, I will answer the next question. Is God with us when we are in the wrong?