5 reasons to rejoice that our God is omniscient
Omniscience is one of the immutable attributes of God, namely that all knowledge of all things is an integral part of his character and being. Nothing is outside the sphere of knowledge of God. The word "omniscient" is defined as having infinite awareness, understanding and intuition; it is universal and complete knowledge.
God's omniscience means that he can never learn anything new. Nothing can surprise him or take him unaware. He is never blind! You'll never hear God say, "I didn't see it coming!" or "Who would have thought that?" A firm belief in God's omniscience gives the follower of Christ extraordinary peace, security, and comfort in every area of life.
Here are five reasons why God's omniscience is so incredibly precious to the believer.
1. God's omniscience ensures our salvation
Hebrews 4:13 "And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare in the sight of Him with whom we are dealing."
Psalm 33: 13-15 “The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of men; from his abode he looks at all the inhabitants of the earth, he who shapes the hearts of all of them, he who understands all their works “.
Psalm 139: 1-4 “O Lord, you have searched me and you have known me. You know when I sit and when I get up; You understand my thoughts from afar. You search my path and my rest, and you know intimately all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know everything “.
Because God knows all things, we can rest in the security of His mercy and grace, fully assured that He has accepted us with "full revelation". He knows everything we've ever done. He knows what we are doing now and what we will do in the future.
We do not enter into a contract with God, with clauses for terminating the contract if he discovers some undisclosed fault or defect in us. No, God enters into a covenant relationship with us and has truly, completely forgiven us of all our past, present and future sins. He knows everything and the blood of Christ covers everything. When God accepts us, it is with a "no return" policy!
In Knowledge of the Holy, AW Tozer writes: “To us who have fled in search of refuge to seize the hope that is set before us in the gospel, how unspeakably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. No messenger can inform us, no enemy can make an accusation; no forgotten skeleton can come out of some hidden closet to disconcert us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to distance God from us, since He knew us completely before we knew him and called us to Himself in full awareness of all that was against us “.
2. God's omniscience ensures our present providence
Matthew 6: 25-32 “That is why I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as for what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, which do not sow, do not reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than them? And which of you, worried, can add just one hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothes? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of them. But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not clothe you much more? You of pocofede! Don't worry then, saying: "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear for clothes?" For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. "
Since God is omniscient, He has perfect knowledge of what we need every day. In our culture, a lot of time and money is spent on making sure our needs are met, and rightfully so. God expects us to work hard and use the skills and opportunities He provides us as good stewards of His blessings. However, no matter how well we prepare, we are unable to see the future.
Because God has perfect knowledge of what tomorrow will bring, He is able to provide for us today. He knows exactly what we need, both in the realm of physical things like food, shelter and clothing, but also in the realm of our spiritual, emotional and mental needs. A committed believer can rest assured that today's needs will be met by an omniscient provider.
3. God's omniscience secures our future
Matthew 10: 29-30 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet none of them will fall to the ground without your Father. But the same hair on your head is all numbered. "
Psalm 139: 16 “Your eyes have seen my formless substance; and in your book all the days that were ordered for me were written, when there was not one yet ”.
Acts 3:18 "But the things that God announced in advance through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, was thus fulfilled."
How would you sleep well if you weren't sure tomorrow is safe in God's hands? God's omniscience allows us to rest our heads on pillows at night and rest in the fact that nothing can happen that He is not fully aware of before it happens. We can trust that He holds the future. There are no surprises and nothing the enemy can throw at us “flies under the radar” of God's omniscient awareness.
Our days are orderly; we can trust that God will keep us alive until he is ready for our return home. We are not afraid of dying, so we can live freely and confidently, knowing that our lives are in His hands.
God's omniscience also means that every prophecy and promise made in God's word will come true. Since God knows the future, He can predict it with perfect accuracy, since in His mind, history and the future are no different from each other. Human beings can look back on history; we can anticipate the future based on past experience, but we can never know for sure how an event will affect a future event.
The understanding of God, however, is unlimited. Looking back or looking forward is irrelevant. His omniscient mind contains the knowledge of all things at all times.
In The Attributes of God, AW Pink explains it this way:
"God not only knows everything that has happened in the past in every part of His vast domains, and not only knows thoroughly everything that is happening now throughout the universe, but He is also perfectly aware of every event, from the least to the greater, which will never happen in the ages to come. God's knowledge of the future is as complete as His knowledge of the past and present, and this, because the future depends entirely on Him. If it were somehow possible for something to happen regardless of God's direct agency or permission, then that something would be independent of Him, and He would immediately cease to be Supreme “.
4. God's omniscience assures us that justice will prevail
Proverbs 15: 3 "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, looking at evil and good."
1 Corinthians 4: 5 “Therefore do not keep passing judgment ahead of time, but wait until the Lord comes and will bring forth the things hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of the hearts of men; and then the praise of every man will come to him from God ”.
Job 34: 21-22 “For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide “.
One of the hardest things for our minds to understand is what appears to be God's lack of justice for those who do unspeakable things to the innocent. We see cases of child abuse, sex trafficking or a killer who seems to have gotten away with it. God's omniscience assures us that justice will ultimately prevail.
God not only knows what a man does, He knows what he thinks in his heart and mind. God's omniscience means that we are held accountable for our actions, motives and attitudes. Nobody can get away with anything. Someday, God will open the books and reveal the thoughts, intentions and actions of every person he believed he could not see.
We can rest in God's omniscience, knowing that justice will be inflicted by the only righteous judge who sees all and knows all.
5. God's omniscience assures us that all questions are answered
Psalm 147: 5 “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. "
Isaiah 40: 13-14 “Who directed the Spirit of the Lord, or how did his counselor inform Him? With whom did he consult and who gave him understanding? And who taught him on the way of righteousness and taught him knowledge and informed him of the way of understanding? "
Romans 11: 33-34 “Oh, the depth of the riches of both God's wisdom and knowledge! How inscrutable are his judgments and his ways unfathomable! Why who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor? "
God's omniscience is a deep and constant well of knowledge. In fact, it is so deep that we will never know its extent or depth. In our human frailty, there are many unanswered questions.
There are mysteries about God and concepts in Scripture that seem to be contradictory. And we all have experienced answers to prayer that challenged our understanding of His nature. A child dies when we know that God could heal. A teenager is killed by a drunk driver. A marriage falls apart despite our fervent prayers and obedience as we seek healing and restoration.
God's ways are higher than ours and his thoughts are often beyond our understanding (Isaiah 55: 9). Trusting in His omniscience assures us that although we may never understand some things in this life, we can trust that He knows what He is doing and that His perfect purposes will be for our good and for His glory. We can plant our feet firmly on the rock of His omniscience and drink deeply from the well of certainty in an omniscient God.