Where does God dwell?

We cannot be sure about the physical characteristics of God, so when we talk about God dwelling somewhere, it is probably not in the same sense as people dwell.  Jesus tells us in John 4:24

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God, 1 Pet 3:22

who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

so obviously God is in heaven, but when we talk of the “heaven” where God dwells, I don’t think people can totally comprehend where/what that is.

Here is a small selection of verses referring to where God dwells:

• God is in heaven – Ecc 5:2

 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

• God cannot be contained by even the heavens – 1 Kings 8:27

 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

Psa 113:4-6

The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!  (5)  Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,  (6)  who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

• God dwells in Zion, his holy mountain – Joel 3:16-17

The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.  (17)  “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

• God, through his spirit, is everywhere – Psa 139:7-10

 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  (8)  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol [the grave], you are there!  (9)  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,  (10)  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me

• God dwells with his people –2 Cor 6:16

 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

John 14:23

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

1 John 4:15

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

Isa 57:15

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

• After the reign of Christ when he hands the Kingdom to God, God will then dwell with men – Rev 21:3

 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

SUMMARY
God dwells in ‘heaven’ but is present everywhere by his spirit.  He dwells with his children who are humble and have a contrite heart.