Who is the smartest person you know? I’m sure everyone has one of those people in their lives who just seems to know everything - and I mean everything, from the latest sports scores, to random trivia, maybe even to math and science. I know a few such people, and their knowledge always seems to amaze me.
Even if that person seems so infinitely smart, guess what - there’s always someone smarter! And no, I’m not talking about Albert Einstein or any other certified genius like him. I’m talking about God.
The word of the week this week is omniscience. Omniscience is a characteristic of God that means that God knows everything! He knows all things, all events, and all circumstances in a perfect way. A few weeks ago we studied the word omnipresence, which means that God is in all places at all times. Omniscience goes hand in hand with omnipresence. Because God is present in all places and at all times, He also knows everything from all times!
How do we know that God is omniscient? Hebrews 4:13 (NIV) tells us,
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes to him whom we must give account."
In the original Greek of that passage, it actually says that everything is laid bare and is naked to God’s eyes!
How does it make you feel when you realize that everything you have ever said, done, or even thought is as plain as nakedness in God’s eyes? At first, that makes me a little uncomfortable and squirmy! There are definitely things in my life that I’m ashamed of and don’t want other people to know, much less the God of the universe!
On the other hand, it can be very comforting that God is omniscient and knows every detail about each one of us. When I have a problem in life and I take it to God, I don’t need to reiterate every detail of it to Him as I would if I were telling a friend who is unfamiliar with it. I still tell God about it, but I can have confidence that He truly understands and knows what is going on.
Along with that, God knows everything in all times - which means He also knows what will happen to me in the future! He has plans for my life that He knows will prosper me and will not harm me, and He is able to give me hope and a future (see Jeremiah 29:11-12). Because He knows what will happen - though He does not control it the outcome of events - we can have confidence that all things will work together for the good of those who love Him.
As we saw with omnipresence recently, the fact that God is omniscient causes us some concern, but it is also a comfort. God is a God of paradoxes to our human mind, but we can be thankful that He is still a perfect God who has our best interest at heart if we choose to follow Him with our lives.
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