The Wonder of Knowledge

Today I want to consider the wonder of the knowledge of God.

This can be a hard subject to grasp.

Some boundaries to remember:

God does not think like us - His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways

God resides in eternity not bound by the constraints of time

God is not like us - though his desire is for us to grow to be like Christ

The knowledge of God knows no bounds as we will see today

I am reminded of a Psalm of David - Pew Bible pg. 419

Psalm 139:1–6 NASB 2020

1 Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all. 5 You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.

There is nothing that God does not know.

Today I want to dive a little deeper into the knowledge of God which will deepen our understanding of the God of Wonder

Are you ready for the message God has for us?

Let’s dig in!

Knowledge outside of time

Remember what we have learned already God does not reside in time

There are some who claim that God resides in our time and sees time as a sequence of events

God exists only in the present

Knows only what is knowable

The future is uncertain and has not been decided

He sees time as a sequence of events

God does not know with certainty what people will do

In my studies of this someone provided me a quote from C.S. Lewis - READ

It is like C.S. Lewis spoke write into what some believe

When I think of an undecided future it seems to violate the law of entropy

This law states that there is finite amount of energy in the universe and the universe is using it up. Eventually the energy will run out, this means that our universe in moving toward an end and God knows it!

More importantly the belief that the end is undecided contradicts teaching of Scripture

Pew Bible pg. 486

Isaiah 46:9–10 NASB 2020

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 plan will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

How can God declare the end if the end is undecided?

The Foreknowledge of God

There are couple of words we need to define

Foreknowledge - Knowledge of things or events before they exist

Isaiah 42:9 NASB 2020

9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.”

Omniscience - God’s infinite knowledge and understanding of things past, present, and future

This is what David spoke of in the Psalm we read at the opening of the message

David reminds us that God knows things before they happen

A problem with an uncertain future is prophecy.

They struggle with prophecy.

They try to get around it by claiming that God can settle portions of the future if He wants to.

Anytime God has foreknowledge it is because God is going to cause an event to take place

You can’t have it both ways, God has foreknowledge or He doesn’t.

God dwells in eternity and His knowledge not bound by the constraints of time

There will always be an element of mystery to the knowledge of God from a human perspective

Demonstrations of Foreknowledge in Scripture

The Betrayl of Judas - Matthew 26:20-25 Pew Bible pg. 665

Matthew 26:20–25 NASB 2020

20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: “Surely it is not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”

Peter’s denial of Jesus - Matthew 26:31-35 Pew Bible pg. 666

Matthew 26:31–35 NASB 2020

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 But Peter replied to Him, “Even if they all fall away because of You, I will never fall away!” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” All the disciples said the same thing as well.

Here is one from the Old Testament - Isaiah 44:24-28 Pew Bible pg. 485

Isaiah 44:24–28 NASB 2020

24 This is what the Lord says, He who is your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb: “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth alone, 25 Causing the omens of diviners to fail, Making fools of fortune-tellers; Causing wise men to turn back And making their knowledge ridiculous, 26 Confirming the word of His servant And carrying out the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’ And I will raise her ruins again. 27 “I am the One who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Dry up!’ And I will make your rivers dry up. 28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he will carry out all My desire.’ And he says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’ ”

Fulfillment is recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:23

2 Chronicles 36:23 NASB 2020

23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; go up then!’ ”

150 years before Cyrus lived God tells us exactly what Cyrus would do

These are examples that show not only does God know what is the future from our perspective, but also what human actions will be

God and Jesus knew that Cyrus and the disciples would do these things but did not cause their action

We will come back to this in another sermon, but remember this for now: There is a difference between what God knows and what God chooses.

Thus Judas is at fault for betraying Jesus, Peter is at fault for his denial, the disciples at fault for falling away, and Cyrus set the Jews free and helped them rebuild

Conclusion

As I stated last week when our belief contradicts scripture we must take a closer look and be willing to change

When I think how confusing some these beliefs are I remember 1 Corinthians 14:33

1 Corinthians 14:33 NASB 2020

33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

It is freeing to know that I have a choice and that God had a plan to send Jesus because he knew people would make bad choices.

God has done everything He can to bring salvation and grace, we need to chose to follow Him