Perfection in Knowledge
The Attributes of God • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsGod is comple & perfect in His knowledge of all things
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Open: Sitting in the Cardin’s kitchen waiting for a mouse. I was around 13 or 14 and listening to Carl talk about how the mouse would come for the peanut butter. We sat quietly for about 10 minutes, and sure enough, the mouse set off the trap and was killed.
Open: Sitting in the Cardin’s kitchen waiting for a mouse. I was around 13 or 14 and listening to Carl talk about how the mouse would come for the peanut butter. We sat quietly for about 10 minutes, and sure enough, the mouse set off the trap and was killed.
Transition; I was impressed with an adult’s ability to predict the future. Experience and a familiarity with creatures went a long way in that incident, but I now know human knowledge is very limited. Unlike His creation, the Creator is in a different category when it comes to knowledge.
The Omniscience of God
The Omniscience of God
Explanation: Another of God’s attributes is His Omniscience. Three of God’s attributes use the Greek prefix “omni” which simply means all. Therefore, the word omnipotent means God is all powerful; omnipresent means that God is present in all places at the same time; and omniscience means that God knows everything. He is perfect in His understanding, He never has to learn anything new, and He is never surprised by anything that takes place.
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Illustrate: Standing in one place and watching a parade. As the parade comes by your position, you experience that as your now, in that moment. The other segments of the parade that you cannot see or experience are considered either your past or your future. You have already seen them, or you will see them. God is outside and above the parade and He sees it all at the same time. To God, everything is in the Eternal Now.
Argument: As the Creator, God is outside of Time itself. God knows what will happen tomorrow and next week and next month and next year, and He knows it all at the present time. Because God has all knowledge, He is able to make predictive prophecy with 100% accuracy
Isaiah
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
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Application: Realize that God is truly in a different category than we are as His creation. He will not be put in a box or manipulated by any of His creation; contra the WoF teachers who claim that we can obligate the Almighty
Answering some Critiques of God’s Omniscience
Answering some Critiques of God’s Omniscience
Explanation: There are those who are not comfortable with the idea of an All- Powerful and All-Knowing God, so they set out to bring God down to a more manageable level
Illustrate: scene from the Wizard of Oz. “I am Oz, the Great, the All Powerful and All Knowing” and then “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”
Argument: God is not worried about anyone “throwing back the curtain” on Him. Any attempt to do so simply results in discovering more of His majesty, not less.
One area that seemingly addresses the limitation of God in knowledge is found in the life of Jesus. Critics point to Jesus growing in stature and knowledge (), His loss at knowing who touched him () and His lack of knowledge regarding the eschaton (). Each of these situations, and others, indicate an misunderstanding of the nature of the Incarnation as expressed in ). Jesus did not “empty” Himself of His divinity; He voluntarily laid down His ability to use those aspects as He took on the full nature of man.
Application: We can be confident that our God is not limited in any way at all. He can be trusted with tomorrow and the future.
Worship of the All- Knowing One
Worship of the All- Knowing One
Explanation: How should this doctrine impact our worship? Gaining an understanding of God’s Omniscience should increase our awe of who He is
“Consider how great it is to know the thoughts and intentions, and works of one man from the beginning to the end of his life; to foreknow all these before the being of this man, when he was lodged afar off in the loins of his ancestors, yea, of Adam. How much greater is it to foreknow and know the thoughts and works of three or four men, of a whole village or neighbourhood! It is greater still to know the imaginations and actions of such a multitude of men as are contained in London, Paris, or Constantinople; how much greater still to know the intentions and practices, the clandestine contrivances of so many millions, that have, do, or shall swarm in all quarters of the world, every person of them having millions of thoughts, desires, designs, affections, and actions! Let this attribute, then, make the blessed God honourable in our eyes and adorable in all our affections. . . . Adore God for this wonderful perfection!” (Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, pp. 239-40).
Argument: We can only agree with the Psalmist, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” God is worthy of our worship just for Who He is, not just for what He does for us. The more informed our worship, the more pure and acceptable it will be.
Applications for the Doctrine
God’s Omniscience gives us the ability to be real. Since God knows everything about us, we cannot fool him. We feel the need to pretend with our parents, our spouse, or our friends so we act or speak differently. With God, we have the refreshing ability to be real - WE DON’T NEED TO PRETEND
God’s Omniscience should urge us to greater personal holiness. Again quoting from Stephen Charnock: “Can a man’s conscience easily and delightfully swallow that which he is sensible falls under the cognizance of God, when it is hateful to the eye of his holiness, and renders the actor odious to him? . . . Temptations have no encouragement to come near him that is constantly armed with the thoughts that his sin is booked in God’s omniscience” (258). Sadly, we can even fool ourselves, but God knows our heart () and because He does, we should strive for greater personal holiness
God’s Omniscience secures our hope. We live in an anxious time and our world hold’s hidden dangers. We fret because we don’t know what tomorrow holds for us: sickness, loss of a child, loss of a job, a broken relationship, etc. While we can’t know the future, we do know the One who holds the future in His hand. We can trust that He loves us, and that regardless of what comes our way, He has allowed it to enter our lives. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
God’s Omniscience should increase our security. Think about this truth: He knows every ugly and sinful thought we harbor in our hearts and He still loves us! God knows all of our failures and faults, the secret prejudices and the small pettiness we entertain, and we are still His. (1 John 3:19-20)
God’s Omniscience secures our hope.