Living Theology



Living Theology Friends1209

Leon Combs

March 18, 2012

“Attributes of God: omniscience”

Past issues of these letters (300+ so far) may be read at Other writings of mine (over 45 articles, 24 commentaries, and 40+ audio files) are at . The author is solely responsible for content of the site, which does not represent any particular denomination.

The attributes we have examined so far are: solitary, love, light, spirit, trinity, sovereign, mercy, holiness, immutability, grace, omnipotence, wrath, and patience. Today we look at God’s omniscience.

1John 3:19-20 We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

God knows everything! He knows our thoughts:

Psa 139:2-4 Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, Thou dost know it all.

Nobody can hide from God:

Psa 139:7-12 Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee.

God has known us before we were born: Psa 139:13 For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb.

God knows even the sinful thoughts and actions:

Hosea 7:2 And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face.

Psalm 90:8 Thou hast placed our iniquities before Thee, Our secret sins in the light of Thy presence.

Prov 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.

God knows everything in complete detail. Consider the following; 2Peter 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Since one day is as a thousand years to God, He can look at each detail of every day as though He were taking 1000 years to look at that day! That would be like taking about 0.69 years to thoroughly examine one minute or 0.01157 years to examine one second! That is about 4.22 hours to examine one second! Try to imagine the details of one second of your life you could understand if you could examine it for 4.22 hours! On the other side of the coin, seeing 1000 years as though it took only one day puts everything in its proper perspective. I doubt that we are meant to take the 1000 years literally but rather we are to understand God as saying that He can take as long as He wants to examine every detail of every second passing on earth and that He knows each second of time on earth from His perspective according to His plan for that time period. This attribute of God is incredible and totally incomprehensible to us!

As we contemplate that God knew every detail of our life before we were born and that He loves us enough to have sent His Son to take the wrath due us for our sins, we should fall down and worship Him, giving Him the praise, glory, and thanksgiving due Him.

Rom 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Permit me a brief aside regarding our knowledge. Seth was born in the image of his father, Adam (Gen 5:3) and his genealogy is carefully traced all the way to Noah. We then came from Noah so everyone since Seth has been born in the image of Adam, not God. But the potential for someone to be born again into the image of God is not only possible but required (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:3, 23). After the Holy Spirit has caused someone to be born again, he is being renewed according to the image of God:

Col 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

Spiritually regenerate humans are then capable to some extent of interacting with God and having some true knowledge of God. Christians can know the will of God (Col 1:9), be less susceptible to worldly arguments (Col 2:4), and understand how to teach and worship God (Col 3:16). Although Christians cannot be omniscient, all have been given the ability to interact with God and to apply our understanding of Him to all that we do, say, and think. Since He knows everything, even all thoughts, we can begin to understand that the primary purpose of our prayers is to mold our minds so that we can be more attuned to His mind for all events in our lives.

Because of His attributes including His omniscience, we can trust God’s promises for those who are His children:

Rom 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

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