Six Ways of Looking at God’s Omniscience

 

In which you discover the often-neglected implications of this classical attribute.

The omniscience of God is a straight-forward doctrine: God knows everything–past, present and future.

Why should you care? Simple.

If you think hard enough about God’s omniscience, it will create terror in you–or fascination.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because it relates to living a vivid, meaningful life rather than a short, brutal one…in fact, pointing back to an article earlier in the week about weaning ourselves off of addictions by a simple, uninhibited pursuit of the knowledge of God.

At the core of our sin and wretched state is a  lack of belief in God’s existence and attributes–especially omniscience.  This lack of belief allows our sin to escalate out of control.

 lamented the loss of the fear of God. He understood the concrete respect it afforded God. Lose that fear and you have a unbridled satisfaction to please the self.

So Let’s explore the six implications of God’s omniscience…and take a step away from the brutal and nasty life of chronic, enslaving sin.

Omniscience Means We Cannot Hide Anything from God

One of the most obvious–and frightening–aspects of God’s knowledge is that he sees our secret thoughts. Everything is laid bare.

We are .

We cannot think, plan or scheme without God knowing. He sees our agenda and understands what motivates us. Our words are seen by God before we utter them. Nothing is hidden from God.

Omniscience Means God’s Knowledge Is Perfect

. Cannot learn. And has no need to learn.

How does he know things? , God “knows all things intuitively and  rather than by learning or reasoning.”

God’s knowledge is perfect because God is absolute perfection. Perfection means God knows himself perfectly. And if he knows himself perfectly, then there is nothing that he doesn’t know, including our thoughts, words or deeds.

In , “Neither does His attention pass from thought to thought, for His knowledge embraces everything in a single spiritual continuation.”

Nothing–even the smallest thing–escapes His knowledge. And he can’t lie.

Omniscience Means God’s Knowledge is Unlimited

God is infinite. His knowledge is identical to his infinitude. Thus, he has .

Furthermore, we find it impossible to . Or to explain God’s ways.

His judgments are unsearchable. His . We are overcome by his infinite knowledge.

Omniscience Means God Appoints All Works Beforehand

We were in God’s mind before he created us. :

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

He appoints all the births, deaths and in-betweens for every living object–and he does it because he can. And the events God predicted happened just as he said they would, so people would not .

Omniscience Means God Foresees All

God’s knowledge extends to all that is real–including our .

And before the earth was formed, God –however vile, useless and deserving of death–by trusting in Christ would be made righteous.

, “God knows the future of all things, including the sins of mankind.”

Why God’s Omniscience Is Important to You

That God knows you–every thought, mystery, doubt, sin, worry or fear–through and through can be a cause of terror to the man that has something to hide.

But to the man who has nothing to hide, God’s omniscience can be a fascination. A trigger to unbridled adoration.

What does God’s omniscience trigger in you: Fear? Adoration? Or both? Leave your thoughts–brutal and all–in the comments.

**Part of The Nature of God: A Quick and Dirty Guide series.**

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