“The presence of God is the central fact of Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push into conscious awareness of His presence. ”
– AW Tozer (The Pursuit of God. pg 35)
The Bible is a unique collection of 66 books with at least 40 different human authors that were written over the course of 1500 years. This diverse set of writings is compiled for a reason. There must be a primary theme and cohesive narrative throughout the Christian Scriptures. Yet how do we define the center of biblical teaching?
What Exactly Changes Everything?
Some scholars and theologians are beginning to embrace the idea that the “relational presence of God” could be the thread that ties every book of the Bible together into a cohesive whole. J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays argue for this idea comprehensively in God’s Relational Presence: The Cohesive Center of Biblical Theology. The pair of scholars have partnered together — each bringing their individual academic specialties to the table — to walk the reader through both the Old Testament (Hays) and New Testament (Duvall). The authors’ main thesis is that ‘the relational presence of God is the “cohesive center” of biblical theology’ (pg. 5). In their conclusion they restate their claim:
“..the Triune God desires a personal relationship with His people and so makes his presence known to establish and cultivate this relationship. In other words, this relational presence of God lies at the heart of the Bible’s overall message, at the heart of biblical theology.”
(pg. 325)
In my book David’s Tabernacle I proposed that God’s presence changes everything. While I was not arguing academically, I did make my case from Scripture and my own experience to demonstrate the power of God’s presence through worship & prayer to bring heaven to earth and transform lives. God wants to dwell among, know and love His people in a tangible and personal way. This is at the heart of our existence and the redemptive narrative of history. God is restoring His presence to His creation, and it really does change everything. For some, my emphasis on the manifest presence of God could seem exaggerated. It changes everything? Really?
I’m not the first to be so bold. Amazon released a laughable ad this fall that claimed that “Prime changes everything.” Cyndi Lauper once sang that money changes everything. Awaken the Dawn, a ministry where I serve on staff, uses the phrase “Jesus Changes Everything.” Now that’s more like it. Various Christian movements, denominations and streams put differing biblical themes in the “center” of their paradigm for understanding and expressing Christianity. Duvall and Hays note that others have put forth “redemption, creation, the kingdom of God, covenant, God’s glory and the sovereignty of God” (pg. 4) as primary theological themes.
At the Center is God’s Relational Presence
With so many claims as to what’s most important, even within Christianity, it may have been a bit audacious for me to claim in my book that God’s presence is the central theme in understanding God’s purposes. You can imagine my excitement when I discovered in God’s Relational Presence that a few Baptist theologians are making the same case through their extensive study of the whole canon of Scripture. They seem convinced that God’s presence, more than any other topic, is what the Bible is all about. They are also quick to point out that they are not the first ones to make this argument. 1
‘… the cohesive central megatheme of God’s relational presence connects all… other themes into the big overarching plot of the biblical story. In our view, most… other major biblical themes are actually “subplots” (so to speak), each of which is interconnected and related to the megastory of God’s relational presence.’
(pg. 5)
The authors spend most of the 300+ page book diving into Scripture, book-by-book, to trace the prominence of God’s presence in nearly every chapter. This is a thorough, academic book. I made my way through it, but it is not light reading. However, the scope of their findings is quite overwhelming. Once you begin to see the pervasiveness of God’s relational presence in Scripture, you start to understand God’s heart to be among and know His people. You begin to interpret the myriad of biblical stories, prophecies and songs within the overarching narrative of God’s desire to be in a relationship of covenant love with us.
‘…God’s relational presence offers the ultimate reason for creation: the self-giving Triune God inviting his people to enjoy perfect community. Presence also lies at the heart of the covenant: “I will be your God; you will be my people; I will dwell in your midst.” The fall of humanity is best seen as a loss of presence. Presence incarnate in Jesus Christ and made real by the empowering Spirit makes possible the people of God as the new temple. Presence describes the end result of God’s kingdom: eternal communion with the King…. Presence supplies the goal of the Gospel: salvation, for fellowship, and for worship. Presence stands as the final chapter of God’s salvation story…. He will wipe away our tears and we will see his face… At the center of it all is God — the Triune God, who has created and redeemed and invited his people to enjoy his relational presence for eternity. That is what the Bible is all about. That is indeed the center of biblical theology.’
(pg. 336)
What Exactly is God’s Relational Presence?
One of my favorite contributions that this book makes is the simple but profound use of the phrase “God’s relational presence.” They say that God “makes his presence known to establish and cultivate…relationship.” (pg. 325)
I teach in my book that God is omnipresent but that His presence can manifest itself in specific places — most notably in the midst of His worshiping people. Some call this the “manifest presence” of God or the glory of God (pgs. 88-90 in David’s Tabernacle). This is a biblical way of thinking about God, but it can also be helpful to think about God’s presence relationally. Being “close” to God is less about proximity and more about intimacy.
Being “close” to God is less about proximity and more about intimacy.
We understand this principle when we speak about “drifting apart” from someone who used to be a close friend. We don’t mean that our physical body is now miles away from theirs. We mean that there has been a decrease in the familiarity of our relationship. Likewise, our “nearness” to an omnipresent God is primarily about the condition of our relationship to Him. If our love is strong, God seems near.
When the apostle James writes “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8), he’s not imagining the Holy Spirit zooming through space from the other side of our galaxy to come visit us as we worship and pray. His point is that as we open our hearts to the Lord, disclosing ourselves to Him, we will be able to experience more of God’s heart, presence and power in our lives as well. It’s primarily about an intimate relationship, not a specific locale.
One way the authors connect the ideas of presence and relationship is through a series of phrases that are repeated throughout Scripture. Paul quotes these phrases in 2 Corinthians 6:16:
“I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
Here the ideas of God dwelling among His people and relating to His people in love come together as one expression. Knowing God is being with God. To love God is to experience His presence. These phrases used to describe God’s desire for relational presence (some version of “I will be their God; they shall by my people; I will dwell in their midst”) are found throughout the Bible — from God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai, to the Old Testament prophecies and throughout the New Testament writings.
While I think it’s appropriate and biblical to ask God to “come”, we must remember that our asking is an expression of our longing for depth and vibrancy in our relationship with the Lord, not a request for God to relocate. We can experience more of God — if we’re willing! And ultimately that ache for “more” of God’s presence will be fulfilled when Jesus himself returns to the earth in His second coming. God’s Relational Presence highlights this reality when they note Jesus’ “here but not yet” condition in His letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3 (pg. 312). In one sense, Jesus is near to the churches in what the authors call His sustaining presence. In another sense, Jesus claims to be “coming soon” (Rev 2:25, 3:11) in what the authors call His promised eschatological presence. We may be experiencing a measure of God’s presence now, but we long for more in this age and the age to come.
Worship: The Chicken or the Egg?
One area in which my teachings and God’s Relational Presence would slightly disagree is in how we recognize the role of praise in experiencing God’s presence. I teach in my book (quoting King David, CS Lewis and others) that praise causes us to experience more of God’s presence. The authors argue that praise is a result of God’s presence:
“We see glory (in the sense of praise) to be the result of glory (in the sense of presence). Presence precedes praise and makes it possible. Praise is the result of presence.” (pg. 329)
This may seem to contradict my position, but it may also be the chicken and the egg scenario. Which comes first?
I believe that praise and worship is a context in which God’s manifests His presence. I believe we should offer a “sacrifice of praise” to God, even if we don’t feel His presence, simply because He is worthy to receive it. And many times when we choose to praise God, we will then begin to sense the manifestation of His presence.
I certainly agree with the authors that God’s presence results in praise as well! This can become a scenario in which praise and presence are fueling one another. We praise and begin to experience more of God; then we praise God because we’ve experienced more of God.
Perhaps John Piper’s quote from Let The Nations Be Glad is helpful when he says that worship is both the fuel and the goal. In context, Piper is referring to global missions, but the principle applies more broadly. Praise and worship are both a means and an end. We sing in order to draw near to God, but we also sing as a response to God’s nearness. Praise fuels the manifestation of God’s presence and kingdom (which is what I spend most of my book talking about), but once we are experiencing God’s presence and kingdom, what do we do? We worship, of course!
I imagine that the authors may agree with me on this point, although their emphasis in the book is on praise as a response to God’s presence, rather than a catalyst for it.
In conclusion, I’m thankful for theology books like God’s Relational Presence that undergird the prayer movement and presence-centered ministries with a theological foundation. After reading it, I’m more convinced than ever that God’s relational presence changes everything.
1 They point to The Elusive Presence by Samuel Terrien, writings by Old Testament scholars R.E. Clements and Tremper Longman, G.K Beale’s work such as The Temple and the Church’s Mission, and Ryan Lister’s The Presence of God.
P.S. Be sure to follow the Presence Pioneers podcast where I will talk about this same topic on an episode in the near future.