Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 30 May 2023 10:01

Omniscient God: Infinite knowledge and wisdom
The old saying that there are only two things for certain–death and taxes–is another way of stating that this world is filled with uncertainty. We also know that if we ask mom for something and she says, “maybe,” that actually means “no.” But can you think of a world with no “maybes” or uncertainties? A world where you don’t have to make a decision without all the information. And you have a perfect understanding of all that information. Seems out of this world, right? You would be correct. It isn’t an alternate universe, but the Supreme Being. It is found in the omniscient God. The omniscience of God reaches a depth our limited minds can’t fathom, yet Scripture clearly communicates that God possesses infinite knowledge and wisdom.

Since He is infinite, His knowledge is also infinite or immeasurable (Psalm 147:5). If you think of human knowledge, we can only possess some knowledge of the past, some of the present, and even less of the future. God, being outside of time, possesses complete knowledge. God has never been surprised. God has never needed to learn anything. There has never been anything that He did not already know. From the beginning, God knew the end and all the things that would come about in our lives (Isaiah 46:10). His knowledge isn’t limited. He knows big things like galaxies that we have yet to discover, and the sometimes-indeterminable things, like our longings or thoughts. Hebrews 4:13 says none of His creatures escape His sight; all His creatures are basically naked and open. This means everything about us is known to God, and we all will be held accountable to our Creator.

Not only does God know everything that has happened and will happen, but He knows what could have been. In Matthew 11:20-24, Jesus (God in the flesh) tells unrepentant cities that if the miracles that He performed in them had been performed in other cities, they would have repented long before. This speaks of the complete knowledge and wisdom of God. Where we must live out the “maybes” and uncertainties, God already knows what will or would have happened.

God having complete perfect knowledge and wisdom guarantees many things for the believer. We can, with reckless abandon, trust that God will lead us in the right path since He knows the correct way for us to go. We can cry out “Abba, Father” because He knows and understands our hurts, fears, struggles, wants, and needs (Galatians 4:6). When we come to even this minimal understanding of the omniscience of God, it should bring us into a state of awe-inspiring humility. The infinite One desires to lead the finite man in perfect wisdom. The One that has no need for counsel wants to guide us through this world of uncertainty. The One without limits has intimately engaged with the limited even knowing our struggles. In our humble state, we should find great comfort knowing that our all-knowing God has chosen to dwell with man despite man’s limited knowledge and unwillingness to follow Him. These truths must leave the believer in a state of worship proclaiming, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11:33).

-Cody Anderson