One of the unique traits of God is the
vast and complete knowledge that He possesses.
Men have described this trait of God with the term "omniscience," which
means "all knowledge." To say that God
is omniscient means that He is unlimited in knowledge of things great and
small, whether past, present, or future.
Nothing escapes His knowledge, for His perception extends to every time,
place, object, and creature. "And there
is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Such infinite knowledge and perception are
exclusively the possessions of God.
The
Bible makes repeated claims of God's omniscience and verifies it with proof. Jesus demonstrated the Father's knowledge of even
insignificant things in Matthew 10:29-31:
"Are not two sparrows
sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
your Father. But the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. So do not fear;
you are more valuable than many sparrows."
Surely, if God knows the movements of every
sparrow and the number of hairs on everybody's heads, then nothing escapes His
knowledge. Consider God's own
declaration of His knowledge in Isaiah 46:9-11:
"Remember the former
things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is
no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I
will accomplish all My good pleasure'...Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring
it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it."
Here God lays claim to His unique
position as God and demonstrates His knowledge of events before they
happen. Only He can declare "the end
from the beginning," for only He knows what the end is. An example of this foreknowledge is seen in
the nation of Israel. God told Abraham
that his descendants would be enslaved for four-hundred years in a strange land
and then would return to take possession of Canaan (Gen. 15:13-14;
17:7-8). These things came to pass just
as God said through the history of the nation of Israel.
Another important example of God's
omniscience is found in the gospel plan for man's redemption from sin through
Christ. In Ephesians 3:11, the Bible
says that this plan "was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He
carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Indeed, God knew from eternity that He would send His Son to be the
Savior of man. Speaking of Christ, Peter
wrote by inspiration, "For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world,
but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you" (1Pet. 1:20; see also
Eph. 1:4). Even before the world was
made, God knew the gospel plan, including the very details of Christ's crucifixion
(see Psalm 22).
From ancient times, men have had
difficulties with the concept of God's omniscience, and some have offered
unscriptural doctrines to deal with the problems they perceive. Many have thought that God's complete foreknowledge
of man's deeds makes man's free will impossible. This perceived conflict has caused some men
to deny God's omniscience and others to deny man's free will. John Calvin is one who denied man's free
will, teaching instead that each man is predestined to either faith and
salvation or unbelief and condemnation even before he is born. However, this doctrine contradicts the plain
teachings of Scripture (see Josh. 24:15; Ezek. 33:11; Acts 17:30; 2Pet. 3:9;
etc.).
Compromises to Scripture or to the
concept of God's omniscience are unnecessary.
It is not incompatible for man to make his own free choices and for God
to know beforehand how man will choose.
Just because we may not understand this perfectly does not mean that we
must compromise. After all, God knows
some things that are impossible for man to know. God's knowledge does not depend on man, and
man's limitations do not constrain Him.
Isaiah asks rhetorically, "With whom did He consult and who gave Him
understanding? And who taught Him in the
path of justice and taught Him knowledge and informed Him of the way of
understanding?" (Isa. 40:14).
Some men have attempted to use the
omniscience of God to accuse Him of injustice, but this has no basis. They say that if God knew men would sin and
be lost forever, then it was unjust for Him to create them. This is not an argument made by believers in
God, but rather it comes from unbelievers who seek to destroy the faith of
others. Scripture answers this argument,
saying, "There is no injustice with God" (Rom. 9:14). The fact that God has created man in His own
image (Gen. 1:26-27) is immeasurably gracious, and the fact that he gives every
sinner an opportunity to be saved is beyond just. God's justice is served through the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Even as God is just to allow
men to exist now knowing that they will sin but can obtain forgiveness, it was also
just for Him to create men in the first place knowing that they would sin.
When considering the omniscience of God,
we all can join in Paul's exclamation from Romans 11:33 -- "Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and
unfathomable His ways!" To us, God's
ways are unsearchable, but how rich and wonderful are His wisdom and knowledge.
