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The author doesn't really want to talk about God's omniscience, he wants to discuss predestination. It's one of the Calvinist's favorite doctrines. And that's what Calvinists do, they insert their doctrines into everything. The are unable to discuss the Bible apart from Calvinism.
Aside from this, the author will never cite any verse that tells us God knows everything. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (Ps. 147:5)
(...)
God’s knowledge is one of His communicable attributes. This means knowledge is something that both God and man possess. (A useless factoid.)
But whereas our knowledge is limited, His is not; He is omniscient. Simply put, He knows everything about everything. (We agree. Bible verse?)
This means that God is aware of every event that has ever taken place in the universe. Nothing escapes His attention. He knows when every sparrow falls to the ground anywhere in the world. He knows about the smallest subatomic particle and the most gigantic star in the farthest reaches of the universe. (We agree. Bible verse?)
But God’s knowledge is not limited to content or bare information. As the ultimate source of all things, He knows the cause behind the effect. (We will later discover the author is a Calvinist, which means he believes that God IS the cause behind the effect.)
This means that God is aware of every event that has ever taken place in the universe. Nothing escapes His attention. He knows when every sparrow falls to the ground anywhere in the world. He knows about the smallest subatomic particle and the most gigantic star in the farthest reaches of the universe. (We agree. Bible verse?)
But God’s knowledge is not limited to content or bare information. As the ultimate source of all things, He knows the cause behind the effect. (We will later discover the author is a Calvinist, which means he believes that God IS the cause behind the effect.)
I can know that my eye is the organ through which I see the world around me, but I don’t know how it works. Furthermore, I don’t know how it was created or the process by which God put it together. But God’s knowledge and His creative genius are related to one another. He not only knows everything but He understands it all.
Here’s an interesting thought: God’s wisdom and His knowledge are linked. He has determined that humans have two hands. But He could equally have designed us with four or six. He knows how we would have functioned with different faculties, such as wings, but He has decided, in His wisdom and omniscience, to make us as we are. (The author veers off topic to God's power.
Here’s an interesting thought: God’s wisdom and His knowledge are linked. He has determined that humans have two hands. But He could equally have designed us with four or six. He knows how we would have functioned with different faculties, such as wings, but He has decided, in His wisdom and omniscience, to make us as we are. (The author veers off topic to God's power.
Now we admit that it isn't always easy to discuss a single attribute of God without referencing other attributes. But up to this point the author has hardly made an effort to discuss God's omniscience, at least in reference to the Bible.)
Here’s another thought: God’s knowledge extends to the “what-ifs.” He knows what would have happened under different circumstances if events had gone in other ways. He knows not* what might* have happened if I had married that other girl I dated in high school, but what would have happened (1 Sam. 23:10–12). For that reason, I can be content in the assurance that my times are in His hands. (The author leaps to an unjustified conclusion, that because God knows every eventuality that He controls everything.)
And here is a slightly more complex truth: God’s knowledge is also linked to His will or purpose. He doesn’t just know what will happen in the future, as if it is randomly inevitable or the outcome of unpredictable forces or arbitrary cause and effect. There is such order, even in a seemingly chaotic world, that He knows not only the what but the why, and He has foreordained everything that comes to pass. (Now the author has fully transitioned from the stated topic to the doctrine of predestination. He asserts without evidence that God dictates every occurrence. This is a claim of substantial doctrinal import.
Here’s another thought: God’s knowledge extends to the “what-ifs.” He knows what would have happened under different circumstances if events had gone in other ways. He knows not* what might* have happened if I had married that other girl I dated in high school, but what would have happened (1 Sam. 23:10–12). For that reason, I can be content in the assurance that my times are in His hands. (The author leaps to an unjustified conclusion, that because God knows every eventuality that He controls everything.)
And here is a slightly more complex truth: God’s knowledge is also linked to His will or purpose. He doesn’t just know what will happen in the future, as if it is randomly inevitable or the outcome of unpredictable forces or arbitrary cause and effect. There is such order, even in a seemingly chaotic world, that He knows not only the what but the why, and He has foreordained everything that comes to pass. (Now the author has fully transitioned from the stated topic to the doctrine of predestination. He asserts without evidence that God dictates every occurrence. This is a claim of substantial doctrinal import.
If God not only knows everything but also dictates its happening it is problematic. What seems like real life and real choices is an illusion. Existence is merely pretend. Choice isn't real. We are simply actors in a play reading our lines at exactly the right time.
Further, both the devil and Jesus are irrelevant. Jesus' death is empty, because God chose the saved and the damned long before Jesus offered His life. There can be no such thing as love, generosity, sin or hate. It's all been planned out and executed by God long ago. God is simply a puppetmaster.
What an evil doctrine.)
Which, of course, leads us to ask: How does this fit with human freedom? (Continuing his foray into predestination, the author's first thought is to defend it from its most obvious flaw.)
Which, of course, leads us to ask: How does this fit with human freedom? (Continuing his foray into predestination, the author's first thought is to defend it from its most obvious flaw.)
If God knows and indeed has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, does that leave us with freedom to make choices? (The author doesn't answer this question so we will: No, it doesn't. If the choice has been made we are not free to choose anything else.)
Yet foreordination does not remove our responsibility. (The author thinks that God will hold us responsible for choices we did not make. This is sick.)
We are responsible for the choices we make, but even the freedom we have falls within His purpose and knowledge. (The author just told us God foreordains everything, but nevertheless tells us we are free to choose, but that freedom conforms to God's dictates. Where do we find freedom and choice in this nonsense scenario?)
God’s knowledge is also connected to His power (omnipotence). I have always wanted to drive a semitruck. I think I know how to drive it in theory, but if I was to climb into the cab, I’d probably crash it within minutes because I haven’t been trained. So, while my knowledge and ability do not always match, God’s knowledge and His ability always do. When He said, “Let there be light,” He not only knew what light was but how to create it instantly from nothing (Gen. 1:3). (A wasted paragraph that explained nothing.)
There is an aspect of God’s knowledge that is particularly focused on humankind: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me” (Ps. 139:1). (This is the first Scripture quote since the opening Scripture.
God’s knowledge is also connected to His power (omnipotence). I have always wanted to drive a semitruck. I think I know how to drive it in theory, but if I was to climb into the cab, I’d probably crash it within minutes because I haven’t been trained. So, while my knowledge and ability do not always match, God’s knowledge and His ability always do. When He said, “Let there be light,” He not only knew what light was but how to create it instantly from nothing (Gen. 1:3). (A wasted paragraph that explained nothing.)
There is an aspect of God’s knowledge that is particularly focused on humankind: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me” (Ps. 139:1). (This is the first Scripture quote since the opening Scripture.
This verse and the chapter were written by David about himself. While it may indeed be true that all the things David writes apply to us, we should not assume it.)
As God’s image bearers, we are fully seen and known by Him. Furthermore, as the gospel unfolds in the New Testament, we discover that our salvation in Christ is rooted in God’s knowledge and His predestining love: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). (This is a Calvinist go-to verse. However, a careful Bible student would ask, "Who did God foreknow and predestine?" That is, to whom does this verse apply?
Crucially, the author omits a phrase: ...that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. We need to understand the crucial fact that the Jews are the predominate theme in many of Paul's letters, and that we are not necessarily the people Paul talks about.
Paul was referring to some foundational things. Jesus' status as firstborn is a reference to Him defeating death, but also that He was the first of Israel to come into the new covenant He created [Col. 1:18].
We say this because "firstborn" and "brothers" are very Jewish terms. The firstborn received all of the father's inheritance, had all the privileges in his father's house. This is Jesus' position in His Father's house.
We know that Jesus' primary mission was to go to the Jews to save them:
Matt. 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
And, Jews as the chosen race referred to each other as brothers. So Paul was talking about Jews. "Many brothers" are Jews.
Further, only a few verses before in Rom. 8:23 we read this:
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit...
We did not receive the firstfruits of the Spirit, only the early Christians did. Therefore, this "we" is not us. Only those early Christians were foreknown and predestined. Not us.)
So how do we respond to this awesome truth? First, God’s extensive knowledge is a profound comfort to His people, particularly in perplexing times when the unexpected happens. To know that nothing happens outside of His sovereign will (??? this is the first time the author has mentioned this phrase. He drops it on us as if we are supposed to know what it means and how it connects with the topic.
Further, he has yet to demonstrate this, let alone discuss it.)
is a reassurance that God has always been in the place of ultimate authority and is able to make “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
Therefore, God’s omniscience (like all of His qualities) (Back to the topic... But he's almost done.)
Therefore, God’s omniscience (like all of His qualities) (Back to the topic... But he's almost done.)
ought to drive us to our knees in the kind of humble adoration expressed by the Apostle Paul:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. (Rom. 11:33–36)
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