The Omniscience of God

Intro:

We are going to spend the next three Sundays looking at attributes or characteristics of God that give us a greater understanding of his divine nature so that as we understand more about God, we can understand his work in the world and the purpose of that work.

The truth about the nature of God is necessary for all people in this world to seek out and understand. God has revealed himself so that humanity can see his majesty and his glory and worship him. Humanity has no excuse not to know God because of the picture of himself that he paints in his revelation. He reveals his nature in creation, in his word and most importantly in His Son, the Lord Jesus.

Humanity may reject searching out such truth but in doing so they only resign themselves to ignorance of God. I have heard preachers say before with total stupidity, that “I am not a theologian, I am simply a preacher.” There cannot be a more asinine statement coming from a man who has committed to the study and proclaiming of the nature of God to his congregation. It is simply a statement bound up in laziness because the preacher of the word is exposing the revelation of the nature of God to those learners that God has given him. To be ignornant of God’s nature from failure to study deep truths of God, this preacher is simply passing on his ignorant ways…

In his introduction of his book, Everyone’s a Theologian, RC Sproul writes that any true Christian …

“is committed to the premise that the ultimate truth is the truth of God, and that He is the foundation and source of all other truth. Everything we learn-economics, philosophy, biology, mathematics- has to be understood in light of the overarching reality of the character of God. That is why in the Middle Ages, theology was called the “queen of the sciences” and philosophy “her handmaiden.” Today, the queen has been deposed from her throne and in many cases, driven into exile, and a supplanter now reigns. We have replaced theology with religion. “

We will study the bible in this church deeply and we will mine its riches because it is God’s greatest gift to us…to know his glory deeply and worship him forever.

As the learner, please be committed to study and wrestle through the revelation of God’s nature and essence. If you study hard deep theological truths, it shapes a good theology and it deepens your faith in Christ. If you choose to ignore it, you form a bad theology and you rob yourself of the joys of knowing the Creator who chooses to reveal Himself to us in words and concepts that our finite minds can comprehend. There is no greater exercise that we can enter into in this life.

I. God Knows All (selected passages)

To begin our study, we define omniscience from the passages in scripture that God knows all things.

1 John 3:19–20 NASB95

19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

The theological term Omniscience is not found in the Bible. It is a Latin compound word OMNI which means “all” and SCENTIA which means “knowledge.” Therefore, it would be right to call theology a science because science in its truest form is the component of knowledge. Such a knowledge that we seek to study is the science of knowing God and understanding what he knows.

A. God Knows Himself

We know God then from how he reveals himself to us in his word and so we look to selected passages to understand the knowledge of God. Our understanding of God’s knowledge is limited in two aspects.

1. Our understanding first is founded on the Spirit of God that gives us illumination and understanding of these truths. This removes the weight of the human intellect and instead puts all the pressure on the Spirit of God. God opens the mind to understand what the Scriptures teach about him.

1 Corinthians 2:11–14 NASB95

11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

2. The second way human understanding of God’s knowledge is limited is that man is not given all knowledge about God. Only God himself possesses all knowledge of himself.

Isaiah 55:8–9 NASB95

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

There is an understanding that in the knowledge of God, only God knows himself fully and completely. We have only the revelation that has been given and we can only conceive the limited nature of that revelation compared to the full scope of God’s knowledge of himself that only He possesses.

A person intimately knows himself… his secret thoughts, emotions, and heart leanings. No other person can know you -the way that you know you. The closest would be a spouse and they are still a great distance from knowing you fully in the self-consciousness of your whole person.

But God knows himself fully. We have to acknowledge that God’s full knowledge of himself is part of his essence and nature and it is very different from the ways humanity accesses knowledge. For example, what we know of our own person, we come to that knowledge through time, observation and experience. Time leads us to new information about ourselves through learning and therefore we increase in knowledge of ourselves with self-awareness and maturity. A child understands less about himself than an adult might know. This is nothing like God’s knowledge.

James Boyce states in his Abstract of Systematic Theology…

“there is nothing in him corresponding to observation, comparison, generalization, deduction, processing of reasoning, by which we pass from one step to another, or the contemplation or conjecture of suppositions or theories by which we account for facts….The knowledge of God therefore, is not being acquired and cannot be increased. Time does not add to it. Succession of events does not bring it before God. All the objects of his knowledge are to him eternally present and known. “

B. God Knows His Creation

In this passage in Jeremiah, we see that God’s creative power in conjunction with God’s infinite knowledge at play

Jeremiah 51:15 (NASB95)

15 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.

One cannot separate God’s power from his divine knowledge for God’s acts in powerful ways according to his wisdom and knowledge. What he has made in creation, he has made according to his knowledge of that creation. The entire universe and all that is contained within in this realm including the unseen spiritual realm is known by God perfectly, for he made it.

Jesus gives attention to this in Matt 6 when talking about the anxious heart of man compared to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. It is assumed that as their Creator, God’s knowledge of them lends Him to give them exactly what they need for survival and purpose according to his will. Jesus makes the point that how much more does God care about humanity.

The writer of Hebrews makes the point also that of all creation… God is most specifically concerned with humanity and his knowledge of it. His word has been given in such a way to humanity that it exposes that which God knows and sees in man.

Hebrews 4:13 NASB95

13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

What God knows and sees, he speaks into the deep recesses of mankind in order to expose the great need of God with man and yet the great divide between them both because of sin in man. God’s knowledge of man will be discussed in greater detail in my second point shortly.

C. God Knows Past, Present and Future

Isaiah 46:9–10 NASB95

9 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

Notice that Isaiah does not merely say that God knows the end from the beginning. Instead, he goes a step further and states that God’s interaction with events of time flow from his knowledge and that knowledge according to his will or decrees. That which is willed or decreed by God is that which is planned or purposed for his glory.

A W Pink writes,

“Were it in anywise possible for something to occur apart from either the direct agency or permission of God, then that something would be independent of Him, and He would at once cease to be Supreme. Now the divine knowledge of the future is not a mere abstraction, but something which is inseparably connected with and accompanied by His purpose. God has Himself designed whatsoever shall yet be, and what He has designed must be effectuated. As His most sure Word affirms, “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand” (Dan 4:35).”

Pink, Arthur W.. The Attributes of God . Kindle Edition.

So then, just as the power of God is not distinct from the knowledge of God, so equal in God is his decrees, which are determined in eternity past by his perfect knowledge so that they will come to pass completely for his glory.

It is here that should understand that God’s omniscience is equally found in Father, Son and Spirit for all three persons of the Godhead possess omniscience. It is helpful to note ways that the Lord Jesus, who is the Son of God, displayed examples of omniscience during his time on the earth.

Jesus knew the eternal plan of redemption

In Luke 2, as a boy Jesus was separated from his parents and they found in the temple. There he states a knowledge of his relationship with God the Father as His Son. Later, as an adult he states in John 5:36

John 5:36 NASB95

36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

Jesus knows those whom he came to save

Jesus also possessed a spiritual knowledge of the inner man so that he could proclaim to the sinning woman and the friends of the paralyzed man that their faith has saved them. To the thief on the cross, Jesus looked at his demonstration of faith in Jesus as the Son of God and stated the future yet momentary promise that “today you will be with me in paradise.”

II. God Knows Me Psalm 139:1-5

The second idea today looks at God’s knowledge of you and me. This knowledge, that King David examines of his own relationship with the Lord, is personal and not abstract. This knowledge flows out of the loving knowledge of God in relationship with His people.

Now we turn to one passage, written by King David, which has not been identified with any particular moment in David’s life, outside of consisting of his life as King.

What David reveals to us here is the detail of God’s intimate knowledge of each person in the world, but most importantly, the realization of that knowledge by those who love the Lord. Unbelievers reject such intimate knowledge of God regarding their detailed lives but the believers has been given eyes to see how much God knows about us all and how God’s love and grace is applied to each person who loves the Lord.

Psalm 139:1–5 NASB95

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.

David uses intimate language here that forces us to see a relationship with God in regards to his knowledge.

v 1- you have searched me and known me. To be known by God in many passages, means more that awareness and observation. It means relationship. Adam “knew” Eve and they conceived a son. That same word communicates intimacy. That same word is used in Gen 18:19 where Abraham is said to be “chosen” by God to be the Father of many nations. The KJV translates that literally to be KNOWN by God signifiying the relationship of God and Abraham. Similarly, David states that his relationship with God is recognized as the Lord searches his heart.

David then gives four verbs to elaborate of the way God knows him.

He Knows David (repeated) (v 2)

He understands David

He scrutinizes David (v 3)

He is acquainted with David

First, in v 2, David reveals that God knows Him in all the details of his life. He uses the phrase “when I sit down and rise up” as a picture of all of his life is before the eyes of God. God sees the details of every moment of our lives so that everything that humanity experiences is not a a shock to our Creator. Instead, he does not just see events, he understands them in light of His great purposes and plans.

Secondly, God knows and understands your thoughts from afar. David recognized that his thoughts were not hidden from God as well. In God’s divine knowledge we understand that our sorrows of the heart and mind and not a mystery to God. The line to Him is disconnected when we experience hurts and pains or in our moments of rejoicing. Instead for David to say God “understands” means that God is focused and paying attention to what he experience and how we feel.

This of course means that both in actions and thoughts, our nature of sin is always not hidden from Him. Our sinful acts and our sinful thoughts can be clearly seen by the Great judge and savior of sinners.

Jeremiah 17:9–10 NASB95

9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 10 “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.

This means that when we can act outwardly pious but inside are thinking with evil intentions, God sees. He searches and tests the heart and mind and therefore nothing is hidden from his sight. David says something similiar to Jer 17 in vs 3 of Psalm 139

The third description David uses in v 3 is “you scrutinize my path.” All the Bible translations uses different terms here “observe, search out, discern” The HB term has been used for the process of tossing wheat in the air in its refining. The weight of the good part of the wheat falls back to the ground, but the chaff, or waste of the wheat blows away in the wind. This gives us a picture of God’s discernment of our thoughts and ways. He sees what bears the weight of true devotion to the Lord and what is merely waste and useless acts from an evil and unregenerate heart.

So for the believer, knowing that our heart is exposed and analized means that the Lord sees our love for him even when our actions stumble and fall into sin. We cling to Jesus in those moments for Christ as our only refuge from the judgment of God for our sinful acts.

Again, AW Pink gives great pastoral wisdom,

In time of sad failure, when our actions have belied our hearts, when our deeds have repudiated our devotion, and the searching question comes to us, “Lovest thou Me?”, we say, as Peter did, “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee” (John 21:17).

Pink, Arthur W.. The Attributes of God . Kindle Edition.

But God also sees the hearts of those who live religiously but not holy. Those, like the pharisees who outwardly are like whitewashed tombs but inwardly are full of dead mans bones. This means that God sees the hypocrite and all his religious acts mean nothing to God because He can see the evil and wicked heart has not been transformed.

David summarizes in v 4,

Psalm 139:4 NASB95

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

AW TOZER gives great commentary on the final thought that “ O Lord you know it all.”

Psalms, Volume 3: (Psalms 107–150): An Expositional Commentary Praise to God for His Omniscience

God knows instantly and effortlessly all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every unuttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, and hell.…

III. Therefore I Stand in Awe Psalm 139:5-6

Again, we must remember that David is observing such truth from the concepts of a failures in life and yet the acknowledge of God’s grace in his failures. V 5-6 overflow with language that those those who love God through a relationship with Jesus Christ, they will find comfort from these words as people who are known by the Lord.

Psalm 139:5–6 NASB95

5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Some translations state v 5 as “you hem me in, or put a hedge all around me.” The Lord laying his hand upon someone is a hand of love and security, not judgment and wrath. This intimate language of relationship ensures the believer in Jesus that with God’s all knowing character, he is showing grace to those who trust in Him. God has assessed the sinners heart and evaluated his actions and he knows that the Lord rules and reigns in the man or woman. Therefore David comforts himself with the truth that God has got us. We find rest and protection in the one who sees our sin and provides a savior and Lord for us to trust in.

Looking back to Jeremiah 17, verse 14 also gives that assurance

Jeremiah 17:14 NASB95

14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.

This psalm is a act of acknowledging the omniscience of God for one who trusts and therefore, the doctrine of God leads to awe and worship of Him. Jeremiah states, “you are my praise” and David states, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me. Friend, let us be in awe of the knowledge of God and let it lead us to trust in Him and all that he sees and how he loves us in Christ in spite of our glaring stains and weaknesses. Let us sing and pray and live in a state of continual worship of the One True God who knows us before we were ever formed in our mothers womb. This knowledge is too overwhelming for us to comprehend fully and completely. But what God does reveal to us leads us to be in awe of him not angered towards him. So worship him like the apostle Paul in Romans 11:33-36

Romans 11:33–36 NASB95

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.