Growing up I was told about a man who could see me when I was sleeping; he knew when I was awake; he knew if I was bad or good so, therefore, I should be good for goodness sake. While Christians should not be overly concerned about Santa Claus watching us, we should be thankful that God watches over us. In our sermon today, we shall learn about God’s total and complete knowledge (omniscience). In other words, God knows everything about everything.
Below are 5 reasons to rejoice about God’s omniscience:
- God is never surprised. Surprises may be good (birthday party) or bad (attack). Nothing surprises God because He knows all things. God knows everything about everything so there is nothing for God to learn or figure out. This means that nothing escapes God’s notice, nothing escapes God’s knowledge, and there is nothing outside of God’s concern. God is paying attention. As the old hymn says: “For His eye is on the sparrow (Matt 10:29) and I know He watches me.” God is well aware of you and everything you are going through and this is good news.
- God’s plan cannot fail. God knows all things, nothing surprises Him, and He “works out everything in agreement with the decision of will” (Eph 1:11). You and I have had plans fail because we failed to foresee certain events, but God’s plans have never failed and will never fail. God knows all things and God knows what we know and knows more than we know. God knows what bothers you before you pray. Prayer, therefore, is not our attempt to make God aware of what is happening. Prayer is our acknowledgment of what is happening and our confession of our dependence on God. God knows everything and this is good news.
- God’s judgments are perfect. A travesty of justice is when a guilty person goes free and an innocent person is punished. This can happen through ignorance of the facts or if there is bribery, but God is never ignorant and cannot be bribed. We can rejoice in knowing that God “will never leave the guilty unpunished” (Nah 1:3). God’s judgments are pure and right and this is good news.
- God’s grace is genuine. God chooses to give grace with complete knowledge of you and your situation. Someone may say that if God knows all things and is not surprised by anything, then He knows what I did last Friday night and wasn’t surprised that I did it. They may falsely conclude that confession is not important. God’s omniscience does not make confession meaningless, on the contrary, omniscience makes confession essential. Confession is not making God aware of what you did, but acknowledging that it is sinful so that you can be healed.
- God is in complete control. God is in control and you never have to worry (Matt 6:34). God’s complete and total knowledge should produce peace in your heart and mind (Phil 4).
Do you believe that God knows everything about everything? Does it bother you that God knows everything about you? Does it comfort you?
First Baptist Scott City, MO 