It’s important to understand that when we talk about the presence of God we are really talking about the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence on the earth today.
The Bible makes it clear that the Father is in Heaven and the Lord Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the One who is on the earth among and within the Body of Christ.
This is why the scripture says,
“I (Jesus) will go away to Him (the Father) who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:5-7)
So, when we talk about someone feeling the presence of God, or we read the scripture where Jesus promised to never leave us nor forsake us, these are both instances of the Holy Spirit at work.
God is always with us because His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) is with us at all times. Now that we understand this we can go on to discover what God’s presence does in our lives.
God’s Presence transforms us
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
This passage is revealing to us a couple of things. First, it is revealing that we are created for the glory of God by bearing the image of God. That is why this scripture says “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.” That’s also why Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” We can’t fall short of something we weren’t created to meet.
Second, we are being transformed back into the glory of the Lord (which is the image of God) by the Spirit of God.
So how does this take place? How does the Holy Spirit do this and when does He do it?
The answer is whenever we are beholding the glory of God. Whenever our face is unveiled and we go to spend time with God in prayer and His word.
The more and more we behold God through communing with Him, the more and more His Spirit transforms us into His image. And this all happens when the Spirit of God is present in our lives.
God’s Presence develops intimacy
The presence of God being with us at all times gives us availability to Him. Through His Spirit being present we are able to engage with Him whenever we need Him and whenever we desire to know Him. His Spirit is always there. [Related article: How to Enter God’s presence (Step-by-Step Guide)]
The Bible gives us an amazing promise, that Christ would never leave us nor would He forsake us (matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5). But the fact of Him never leaving us is through the agency of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, the Holy Spirit is even called the Spirit of Christ in multiple passages throughout the New Testament.
“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”” (Galatians 4:6)
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9).
His Spirit residing on the inside of us is Him being with us at all times. And since the Bible reveals that He is with us at all times this now means we have complete access to God at anytime! (
Wherever we are throughout our day we can fellowship with almighty God because He literally dwells inside of us. How amazing is that! [Related article: How to Stay/Abide/Dwell in the Presence of God (4 Steps)].
The Presence of God is a fragrance
When I was in the military I lived in a dorm room similar to a studio apartment. Within my dorm room, I had a couple of wall plugins that make your living area smell good.
Well, I had too many for the small space that I was living in so everyone that passed my room in the hallway could smell that fragrance. I was unaware of the smell because I was used to it.
In the same way, God’s presence can so saturate us that the world around us can tell that we are different and it could impact them dramatically. This is what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2:
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).
When we walk with God our lives become a literal aroma every where we go. And the Bible says that that aroma impacts every one: the saved and the unsaved. For the saved, it reveals their life that they have received from Christ. For the unsaved, it reveals their certain destruction if they do not repent.
We know that this “aroma” is the presence of God becasue the Bible says that the Holy Spirit has the same job as this “fragrance”.
“And when He (Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11).
The two main points I want you to notice here is the Holy Spirit convicts of sin and righteousness. Sin is for the unbeliever and righteousness is for the believer. The former is the revealing of man’s need and certain destruction if we don’t repent and believe in Christ, and the latter is the conviction that we have received Christ’s righteousness when we got saved.
“To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).
So, this fragrance is the presence of the Holy Spirit that rests on us, and as we yield to Him He convicts the world around us. Now obviously, the greater we yield to Him, the greater His fragrance becomes.
God’s Presence produces freedom & healing
The Bible reveals to us in multiple places that the Kingdom of God is within the Spirit of God.
“for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
Notice the scripture says that God’s Kingdom is not in these natural things such as eating and drinking, rather it consists of righteousness, peace, and joy, and dwells within the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said it another way when He was answering His accusers after He healed a blind and mute man. He said, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28)
Now from these two verses we can conclude that wherever the Spirit of God is, the Kingdom of God is present as well.
And Jesus knowing this would command His disciples to tell the people that the disciples healed that “the Kingdom of God has come near to you” (Luke 10:9).
Thats also why Jesus said to His accusers, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28).
When the Spirit of God comes upon a person, healing and deliverance flows naturally because it is the nature of the Kingdom that the Holy Spirit carries.
The Presence of God creates assurance
The final work the presence of God does in us is it creates an assurance. Whenever we experience God’s presence it produces an assurance of faith and the reason is obviuos: we are tagibly experiencing God.
A perfect example of this is an experience I had recently. Over the past couple months I have been seeking God for direction in a given area of my life and just recently God spoke to me.
It wasn’t a booming voice, it was more of an impression that I felt God was giving me. But as He spoke it to me I felt His tangible presence on my flesh. This created an assurance of the fact that this leading was from God and not just my own thoughts.
Now this type of experience is fairly rare for me and I believe it will be rare for you as well, but the point is still the same: God’s presence produces an assurance of faith when we experience Him. [Related article: What does the Presence of God Feel Like? (Explained) and Why Can’t I Feel God’s Presence? (Helpful Insight)]
I hope this article assisted you in your walk with the Lord. If you enjoyed this article, please consider giving a donation of any amount by clicking the button below. The support we receive from you enables The Biblical Foundation to keep all of the resources free and to reach more people with the teachings of the Word of God.
