Omni

Power is God’s hand or arm, omniscience is God’s eye, mercy is God’s delight, eternity is God’s duration, but holiness is God’s beauty!”

–Stephen Charnock

As most know, there is a new variant of the covid-19 virus, omicron. According to the research I have found, Omicron is a mild virus but this article is not about the virus and what it can and cannot do. Rather, it’s about its name as I have heard people refer to it as omnicron. Maybe this was accidental, maybe it was not, but there is a real distinction between omi and omni especially if you are a Christian.

Omi is used in the medical profession for different meanings and is an ancient Japanese title but omni, on the other hand, is a prefix that refers to something being all, whole, everywhere or everything. In other words, something omni is universally accepted as all or everywhere and while some reading this will think I’m a stickler and taking this much too seriously, words do have meaning especially in reference to God.

The three omni words in referring to God are omnipotent, omniscience, omnipresent. For Christians, we understand that God is omnipotent, or he is all powerful as the supreme being of all the universe but we also understand that God is omniscient or he is all knowing. All knowing means he knows all there is to know, then and now and what is to come, with no limitations and omnipresent means God is all present at all times with no limitations.

If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written, you then know that I take the Bible literally. Taking the Bible literally means that I read and comprehend God’s Word as it is written, as whole, rather than allegory unless otherwise stated.. Therefore, I have no problem believing the all of God and that God is everywhere and see all things. Unfortunately, I’ve had enough conversations with fellow believers to know that not every Christian believes what the Bible says it literal.

Honestly, this is a very difficult position for me to understand because if you confess to be a Christian, you are saying you believe in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice at the cross and that the Bible is the Word of God. However, when you say you are a Christian but you do not see the Bible as the literal Word of God, there is a real contradiction at play here. Many people put forth this position and to each their own, I suppose, as it their right to hold that position, but it is not a position that I believe is Biblically accurate.

Since I’ve joined the ministry, I have learned just how important our beliefs are. There are many Christians who believe that the Word of God is the literal Word of God, as I do, but they only adhere to certain parts of Scripture such as the Old Testament. This is not the stance that I take as both testaments are significantly important to a Christian’s life which is why the prefix Omni should be significant in our lives. After all, the Bible is whole as it is active and alive and the living word of God and each Christian should do their very best to grow in God’s Word and in doing so, growing in God.

“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

–Psalms 147:5

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

–Matthew 10:30

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

–Proverbs 15:3

“For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.”

–Jobs 34:21

“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

–Matthew 19:26

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.”

–Isaiah 40:28