{"id":418,"date":"2014-10-10T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=418"},"modified":"2014-09-30T04:18:50","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T04:18:50","slug":"matthew-61-4-giving-to-the-needy-theological-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-61-4-giving-to-the-needy-theological-commentary.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 6:1-4; Giving to the Needy (Theological Commentary)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 comment, recorded in Matthew 6:4, is an affirmation of the related ideas that God is both everywhere and all-knowing. Theologians call these concepts \u201comnipresence\u201d (or \u201cimmanence\u201d) and \u201comniscience.\u201d So what do they\u00a0mean?<\/p>\n

Omnipresence, in its most practical sense, simply means that all of God is everywhere at all times<\/em>. It is both his necessity and his nature to exist completely in every space at any time. Or as theologian Michael Horton says, omnipresence is \u201cGod\u2019s transcendence of time and place.\u201d<\/p>\n

We must be aware, though, that although God himself fills all of creation, he is not spread out<\/em> through his creation. His immensity doesn\u2019t dictate that only parts of him are present in any particular place or space or moment or hour. Rather, \u201che is present in every place because he transcends spatial categories\u2026[and] God\u2019s transcendence of time is the very presupposition of his presence in every creaturely moment.\u201d (See Jeremiah 23:23-24, Psalm 139:7-8, Proverbs 15:3, Matthew 28:20, Acts 17:27-28.)<\/p>\n

Nor is God\u2019s omnipresence a passive or inert existence. Jesus is very clear that the Father \u201csees what is done\u201d (Matthew 6:4), indicating an active, accurate, intelligent understanding of every place and every moment in our universe. This is called \u201cOmniscience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the omniscience of God,\u201d theologian Henry Thiessen explains further, \u201cwe mean that He knows Himself and all other things, whether they be actual or merely possible, whether they be past, present, or future, and that He knows them perfectly and from all eternity. He knows them immediately, simultaneously, exhaustively and truly.\u201d (See Psalm 139:1-4, Matthew 10:29-30, Hebrews 4:13.)<\/p>\n

Thus, when Jesus reprimanded his hearers for seeking human admiration while they gave to the poor, he did more than just point out a social or religious wrong. Christ reminded us that we all (individually and corporately) are constantly, irrevocably acting within the intelligent, active presence of our awesome, omnipresent, omniscient Creator\u2014and his attention should be more than enough for anyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[CHF, 254-255; LST, 124-125]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n

About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.\u201d Jesus\u2019 comment, recorded in Matthew 6:4, is an affirmation of the related ideas that God is both everywhere and all-knowing. Theologians call these concepts \u201comnipresence\u201d (or \u201cimmanence\u201d) and \u201comniscience.\u201d So what do they\u00a0mean? Omnipresence, in its most practical sense, simply means that all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,14],"tags":[175,178,179,177],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matthew","category-theologicalcommentary","tag-giving","tag-omnipresence","tag-omniscience","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nMatthew 6:1-4; Giving to the Needy (Theological Commentary) - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-61-4-giving-to-the-needy-theological-commentary.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew 6:1-4; Giving to the Needy (Theological Commentary) - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYour Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.\u201d Jesus\u2019 comment, recorded in Matthew 6:4, is an affirmation of the related ideas that God is both everywhere and all-knowing. 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