God Is Omniscient
God’s
Incommunicable
Attributes
PART TWO
The first Incommunicable Attribute of God that we studied was the Omnipotence or the All Power of God. The All Power of God is directed by the All Knowledge of God. Power without direction and control is always destructive; but properly directed it is always a blessing.
Omniscience involves three components;
All Knowledge
All Understanding
All Wisdom
We will consider each aspect of omniscience separately; however, they function seamlessly together.
“For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Omniscience Is All Knowledge
When we use the phrase All Knowledge, we are speaking of the knowledge of all facts eternally. This means God has the knowledge of all substances, all elements, all creatures and all things. He knows their beginning and their end. He knows every detail of their being and activity in its entirety. Omniscience is the absolute certainty of perfect knowledge. Both the Old and New Testaments ascribe omniscience to the LORD.
1 O Eternal One, You have explored my heart and know exactly who I am;
2 You even know the small details like when I take a seat and when I stand up again. Even when I am far away, You know what I’m thinking.
3 You observe my wanderings and my sleeping, my waking and my dreaming, and You know everything I do in more detail than even I know.
4 You know what I’m going to say long before I say it. It is true, Eternal One, that You know everything and everyone…
6 It is the most amazing feeling to know how deeply You know me, inside and out; the realization of it is so great that I cannot comprehend it.
— Psalm 139:1-4, 6 The VOICE
God knows everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head. So do not fear.
— Matthew 10:30b VOICE
For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
— Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
— Matthew 6:8b NKJV
Omniscience Is All Wisdom
The Omniscience of God is All Wisdom. What do we mean by all wisdom? All wisdom is best understood as the right and proper use of all knowledge. It is knowing how to apply all one knows to all purposes. It is the eternal fitting of all things together so they unite in one perfect, unified and harmonious whole.
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew.
— Proverbs 3:19-20 NKJV
Omniscience Is All Understanding
Understanding comes from having insight into the motives and or the spiritual activity that influences the people. Omniscience is knowing the “Why” of all creation. It is the knowing and appreciation of spiritual purpose. We see this attribute expressed by Jesus to His disciples James and John. Luke wrote about it in the ninth chapter of his Gospel. Jesus and his disciples were headed back to Jerusalem.
A couple of His disciples went on ahead to find a place for them to stay in a village along the road to Jerusalem. When the Samaritans realized Jesus was going to Jerusalem, they refused to welcome them. Let's pick up the story in Luke 9:54 NKJV:
54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
We also saw this aspect of understanding demonstrated in an encounter that Jesus had with Peter. We find this in Matthew 16. Jesus and His disciples are walking and having a discussion about who people thought he was.
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Notice that Jesus points out to Peter that this understanding was the result of being influenced by the Spirit of God. It came by revelation given by the Father in Heaven. This is awesome. But in just a few minutes Jesus has another insight for Peter.
As they continued walking Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. It is at this juncture Peter has another declaration.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus' reaction may seem surprising and harsh, but it was important for Peter to recognize the source of the spiritual influence with which he was coopering.
God’s omniscience is the foundation of the revelatory gifts of the Spirit. Here, in this scripture, we see a demonstration of the gift of discerning of spirits. Paul wrote about in a letter to the church in Corinth and taught them about these spiritual gifts.
The revelatory gifts are the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the discerning of spirits. These are gifts that come from our Father in Heaven by the Holy Spirit and these gifts often work together.
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.
— Proverbs 4:7 NKJV
Understanding, Wisdom and Knowledge are the three parts of Omniscience.