“The Omniscience of God”

Preached 5/17/20

The Omniscience of God

The Omniscience of God speaks to the fact that God is all-knowing.  He knows everything.  He knows everything that has happened, is happening and will happen.  For me to think that there is something that God does not know means that there is something outside of His realm, outside of His control, He is limited.  And for Him to be an all-powerful God, for Him to be the Almighty, there can be nothing that is outside of His realm, nothing that limits Him or is not controlled by Him.

The fact that God is everywhere, all the time, Omnipresent, means that things are not just within His realm, they are surrounded by Him.  Nothing is outside of Him.  Knowing this concept lets you see that there is nothing outside of Him, or His realm and therefore nothing that He does not know about.  Therefore, He is all-knowing, or Omniscient.

In 1 Chronicles 28:8-9 – “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. we can see King David, the author, speaking to what would be the most interesting part of God’s Omniscience, at least for me.  This is the fact that God not only knows everything, but that “everything” includes knowing me, and the depths of me.  for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. (1 Chronicles 28:9b)  That is scary territory for me.

I can hide my secrets from the rest of the world, but not from God.  He knows me, He knows me well, better than I know myself.  And that is scary.  As King David tells us in Psalm 139 Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

That He knows the rest of the world and everything going on in it, can be comforting.  However, that He knows everything about me, everything I think, everything I will do, can be a bit disconcerting.  Not because I worry about Him watching over my shoulder, but that I might do or think something that will disappoint Him.  And I know I have done that.  Have you?  I asked because I want some company out here on this limb.

The Holy Spirit within us is the same Holy Spirit that searches the heart of God, have you ever thought about that?  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10b-11)  Wow, that’s deep.  The Holy Spirit helps us communicate with God on the deepest, most intimate levels by linking us up, in a sense.  Our spirit communes with His Spirit, revealing everything about us to Him constantly, instantly.

In 1 Chronicles 28:9 for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thought, not only does God know our thoughts and hearts, but He knows our motives.  I believe God is big on motive.  Seeing that, the word motive lets us know that why we do something is as important as what we do.  Why did you put the money in the offering plate?  Why did you take those old clothes to the Goodwill drop box?  Why did you take that meal to that shut-in?  Why did you come to Church today?  Why we do something speaks to what is in the depths of our hearts.

At the same time, God’s Omniscience lets Him know how much love for Him we have in our hearts.  He can also see our hurt, our pain, He knows when we suffer, He knows when our hearts cry out for Him and His comfort.  This brings me to one of my very favorite passages in the Bible – Romans 8:22-27 – We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

When we are too weak to Pray, or don’t even know what to Pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.  He knows us.  He prays for us.  In the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest Jesus Prayed for us, for you and me.  And here, the Holy Spirit continually Prays for us.  When we are so weak, when grief wraps us, when pain in the heart is so real you physically feel it, the Holy Spirit prays for us according to God’s will.  He knows we want to pray, but just cannot form the words.  We want to pray, but we cannot even think of words to make a sentence.  So, in that case what does God do?  He hears our prayers through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The fact that God is Omnipresent, and Omniscient should bring us more comfort than concern.  God’s first ambition is not to punish us or condemn us but to love us.  Do you need to be reminded?  That’s easy enough.  John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

God’s Love is a part of Him.  It is part of His makeup.  It is not something He has; it is Who He Is.  His Love is always there, just as He is always there.  And to me that is the most comforting thought in this sermon.

BUMC 5/17/20