Attributes of God - Omniscient

Knowledge is power.

So goes the saying, and God has the most knowledge of all.

Omniscient means all-knowing. And it's a crucial attribute for God to have—what good is power without knowledge? How powerful would a God who didn't know everything truly be, or God from whom you could hide?

That isn't our God, though. The God of the Bible is omniscient, all-knowing, and it's important for us to understand what that means.

 

The True Power of Knowledge

Omniscient is also a word derived from Latin. Omni means all, and scient comes from the word sciere, meaning "to know." It's also the word that "science" comes from.

Science is a popular field. Ever since the early days, when it was called natural philosophy, human beings have studied the world and start to understand its secrets. We have a thirst for knowledge that hasn't been satisfied yet.

Now, it's possible that this desire stems from our nature. God has knowledge, and we want that knowledge. In fact, the desire for knowledge is what led Eve to eat the fruit in the garden of Eden—so maybe curiosity isn't always a virtue.

But there's no denying that we want knowledge because we want to be like God. And studying him is a great way to worship, because we're  seeking to glorify our creator: we seek to imitate his knowledge.

Last time, we talked about the greatness of creation. About how great God must be, to have made everything and to continue to sustain it by his power.

But also consider how much knowledge that must take. 

To sustain the world? You'd really have to know how the world worked.

God knows the inner workings of every natural process. He knows why the mountains stand, how mitosis happens, and why balloons sometimes stick to your hair.

He also knows every thought you have, every action done in secret, and the heart behind every word that's spoken.

He knows everything.

God's omniscience and his omnipotence go hand-in-hand. A god who knows everything but is powerless to do anything about it is useless, and god who is powerful but doesn't know what goes on in his world is blind.

Fortunately for us, God is not powerless. And his knowledge is complete.

The omniscience of God is what makes our faith possible. What if you were crying out to him for help, but he didn't really know how to help you? What if he had infinite power, but didn't have the knowledge to pull it off?

Yeah, I'd be pretty worried too.

But God knows everything, including every event that's going to happen. He had his sovereign plan since the beginning, and it's accurate—and it's a plan that we can trust.

 

God Knows Our Sin

"Uh-oh," you think. Now you're getting nervous.

Because if God knows everything, then he knows all of the ugly thoughts you've had over the past few years that you haven't let anyone see. He knows what you're trying to hide.

Yep, he does. But that's actually a good thing.

God isn't Roz from Monsters Inc: "Always watching you, Wazowski." He isn't on the edge of his seat, waiting for you to mess up.

If you are his child, he loves you. Despite knowing everything about you.

God knows the future, and he knows every sin that you're going to commit. He sees your struggles, and he sees all the pain that you're going to put others through.

And yet!

And yet he still sustains you, and he still blesses you. He doesn't shove you away after you slip up once.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the Gospel story.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

God sent Jesus into the world because he loved the world. Even though he knew exactly what the world would do to Jesus, his only son.

He knew everything that would happened to Jesus on the cross. The humiliation, the mocking words, the agony, the beatings, and the abandonment.

And yet he did it anyway, because his love for the world was that unbelievably strong.

Do you really think he'll step back on what he's promised?

Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." 

God knows everything you're going to do before you're even born. Isn't that comforting?

Because it shows you that you don't have to pretend. You don't have to be some fake, holy version of yourself when you're talking to God. Just be yourself.

Because you are who he made you to be. And he knows everything about you.

 

The Blessing of Repentance

There's another side to this.

God knows that you will sin, and he still loves you. But that isn't a pass for the sin itself.

A true Christian wants to please their father, even though they won't be able to do it perfectly. And like a child who hasn't brushed their teeth but does everything they can to avoid their dad finding out, the shame of failure often drives us to cover up our wrongdoings when we come to the Lord in prayer.

The thing is, God already knows what you did. He watched you do it. Don't try to hide it from him.

Be honest with him. Repent of what you did, and pray that he'll help you avoid doing it in the future—humble yourself! Admit that you messed up!

This is tough. But it's important to remember that repentance certainly won't hurt your relationship with God. In fact, it'll strengthen it, since you finally admitted your dependence on him.

God is omniscient. Don't try to hide your sin. It only harms you in the long run, while repentance brings healing.

 

The truth of God's omniscience is one of the best things that we can know.

God knows us, and he forgives us of our sins. He knows everything that will happen—every single one of life's plot twists—and he is on our side, through no strength of our own.

If God wasn't omniscient, he wouldn't be God.