Did the Son of God cease being omnipresent when He became man?
Was the Son of God fully contained within the human body of Jesus?
In other words, was the whole of who the Son of God is, contained in the body of Jesus, the man, where His full existence was within that body, such as we ourselves are fully contained within this body?
Further, did He lose any of the attributes that make Him God?
The answer is NO. To quote King Solomon:
(1 Kings 8:26-27 – BSB) — [26] And now, O God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David. [27] But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
Note also, that Jesus Himself equates His human body to be a temple:
(John 2:19-21 – BSB) — [19] Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” [20] “This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?” [21] But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body.
God cannot be contained (limited) in a human body, or in any other type of building. The universe itself cannot contain God. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present (omnipresent). Therefore, when the Son of God entered this world in the person of Jesus the man (fully God, fully man), He didn’t lose any of His attributes, especially the attributes that distinctly make Him who He is as God.
We can conclude that Jesus did not cease being omnipresent when He took on a human body. This is not a guess, but a fact. God cannot cease being God just because the Son dwelled in a human body, and now in a resurrected (glorified) human body in Heaven, where He is seated next to His Father as the Ruler of the universe, and as the King of those who belong to Him.
Many translations have Jesus saying the following about Himself:
(John 3:13 – NKJV) — No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
Even though the phrase “the Son of Man who is in heaven” is not found in all ancient manuscripts, it is found in the majority of manuscripts (The Majority Text, which includes the Textus Receptus). Along with the NKJV, this phrase is also found in other translations, such as the KJV, the ASV, Amplified, YLT (Young’s), EHV, WEB, and the MSB (Majority Standard Bible). The translations that don’t have this phrase are based on the Critical Text, which is what most modern translations are based on, such as the NIV, CSB, NASB, ESV, LSB, BSB, and the NET.
Many believe that the original New Testament writings are preserved in the continuous majority of manuscripts, while others believe that much of the original writings are preserved in the most ancient manuscripts, which is what the Critical Text is based on, which is primarily the Alexandrian text. The phrase “the Son of man who is in heaven” is not in the Alexandrian text. However, since this phrase is so important, and since it’s in the majority of ancient manuscripts, we must consider the possibility that this phrase is part of the original autographs.
However, whether this phrase is what the Holy Spirit actually authored at the time the book of John was being written, it’s still a true statement. It doesn’t change the fact that God cannot cease being who He is. If the Divine essence of the Son could be altered in any way, then it would likewise alter God in His Triune nature. In other words, if becoming human would limit the Son of God in any way (such as losing His omnipresence), then it would likewise change the Triune relationship and how the the three Persons of the Trinity function as one.
God exists as a Triune God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. At no time or in any case, can God cease being God in all of His glorious attributes. Thus, when the Son entered the human race in the Person of Jesus, the Son still existed, and still exists, in His eternal form.
Somehow, in a way that is beyond our ability to comprehend, the Son of God was able to dwell in a human body, while simultaneously existing as He always has and always will. The essence or nature of God cannot be altered in any way, shape or form. Throughout eternity, He is who He is.
Think of it this way: as born-again believers, the Son of God dwells within each of us (Ro 8:8-11). Even though He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven in a human (glorified) body, He still exists in His true form, which includes being omnipresent. However, the difference between the Son living within us as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19-20; 2 Cor 6:16), and the Son Himself living within a human body, is that He’s not dwelling within another person’s body, but in His own body.
Thus, when Jesus was born into this world, it was the Son of God who was born into that body. He existed in that body in a way that is different from the way He indwells each of us as His redeemed, and as His Church. It was unique to Him. All of this is a total mystery to us as to how it all works within the nature of God, where all things are possible for Him.
Even though Jesus was resurrected in a glorious human body, and ascended back into Heaven in that same body, He still exists in His eternal and unchanging form. To fully understand how the Son of God can exist in this dual form, we would have to understand it experientially. However, we are not God and will never know and understand all the things He does. It’s a mysterious experience known only to Him…..and so will it ever be.
We serve a glorious, all-powerful, and unchanging God!
