Omniscient

Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 to 13 is a story I think many of you are probably familiar with,

Genesis 3:1–13

but we will take a look at this again from a bit of a different perspective tonight.

Think about God's knowledge, what God knows, and what we know, and what perhaps we should or should not know.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?

The woman said to the serpent, We may eat from the trees in the garden,

but God did say you must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden,

and you must not touch it or you will die.

You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman,

for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom,

she took some and ate.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

So they sewed thick leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man, Where are you?

He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.

And he said, Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?

The man said, The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done?

The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

We're going to be thinking tonight about God's omniscience.

The fact that God is all-knowing, that God knows all things.

And contrasting God's all-knowingness with the limitedness of our own knowing.

Because we all have limits.

We have limits on what we can know, and what we should know, and what we do know.

But God doesn't have such limits.

To help us think about the limits of our own knowledge, and then segue into what God knows,

I want to ask you a question, or maybe some questions.

If you could know anything in the world that you don't know already, what would it be?

Would it be something about the future?

What school to go to?

What job to take?

Who you marry?

How your kids will turn out?

When you'll die?

Would you want to know a winning lottery number?

Answers to a test.

What direction a certain stock will go, so you can know whether to buy or sell and make a profit?

Lots of people want to know about the future.

That's why people read horoscopes, look at tarot cards, go to palm readers.

Or for those of us who are perhaps not into occult or New Age practices, we read business news, or sports assistants, relationship columns.

For academics, there's the never-ending drive to increase knowledge, to keep up in their field, or to have at least as much knowledge, if not more, than their peers, and the desire to get ahead.

Why do we want knowledge?

Why do we want to know things?

It's been said, knowledge is power.

Knowledge holds out the promise of security, control, safety.

These are all things that are good, aren't they?

Security, control, safety.

But can knowledge deliver on these promises?

Is knowing more the key to gaining security, control, safety, these things that we want?

Sometimes we think, if we can just get a little bit more knowledge, then everything will be okay.

Sometimes it's a good thing to get a little bit more knowledge.

That's just what we need.

But no matter how much we know, our knowledge is always limited.

There's always something that we don't know.

Always.

Our knowledge is always partial.

And what we might not know could be a threat to our security, our safety, our control, our status.

We feel like we lack knowledge, so we want to gain more.

We feel like we need to know more about something.

We might even fight for it.

We might get angry.

We might get frustrated at those who oppose us in our search for the knowledge of that thing that will bring security or safety or perhaps hope to our lives.

So, given the fact that we are in a world of knowledge, and especially now in the information age when there's so much at our fingertips via phone or computer,

how do we decide what knowledge we'll seek out and what we won't?

Because we can't know everything.

We have limited time, limited capacity.

Why do we seek to know the things we know?

Is our pursuit of knowledge driven by an inordinate desire for power, safety, control, or status?

Do we seek out more knowledge just because we're afraid?

What is appropriate knowledge to seek for and what is not?

Because some things we don't know, we probably don't want to know, and it would actually be harmful if we do know.

In order to answer some of these questions, I want us to think about our search for knowledge compared to God's.

Does God seek for knowledge?

He doesn't.

He has it all already.

God is omniscient.

So, for our younger members here, or for those who enjoy etymology and Latin,

the word omniscience is just two Latin words, omni meaning all, and science or scientia meaning knowledge.

So, God is simply all-knowing.

We may know people who act like know-it-all, but God does actually know it all.

Our knowledge is limited, but God's is unlimited.

God never learns.

Now, if we said that about a person, that would be a really bad character trait, wasn't it?

You know, so-and-so, they never learn.

That means they don't know their limits.

They don't know that they need to continue to be learning in order to improve themselves.

But God is generally the only being who never needs to learn because he has all knowledge already.

Now, the fact that God knows everything could be either comforting or scary depending upon where we sit and what we know about our own lives.

In the face of difficulty, suffering, hardship, uncertainty, the fact that God knows everything can be very comforting.

The Bible says in Matthew 10, 29-31,

It's comforting to know that God knows the most intimate details of all our lives.

So, he knows what we're going through.

And he knows what's ahead.

And he knows how to help us.

But God, the fact that God knows everything can be very scary as well if we've done something wrong or a lot of things wrong.

God doesn't take lightly our sinful rebellion.

He didn't take Adam and Eve's rebellion lightly.

And many others throughout history can testify to this fact as well.

Now, I want us to think about the difference between our limited knowledge and God's unlimited knowledge.

And what knowledge we should seek and what we shouldn't seek in order to honor God and to find what's best for our lives according to God's word.

And to do that, I want to come back to Adam and Eve from the passage that we read just a moment ago.

There's some things that God wanted Adam and Eve to know.

And there's some things that God did not want Adam and Eve to know.

So, what are those things?

What did God want Adam and Eve to know?

He wanted them to know him.

God wanted to have a relationship with Adam and Eve.

In the garden, he talked with them.

And he knew them.

And they knew him.

And there was a relationship of intimacy there.

Of communion between God and man.

God wanted Adam and Eve to know his provision.

God put them in a garden.

There was fruit.

There was things to eat.

There was a temperate climate.

All their needs in life were provided for.

He wanted them to know.

He wants us to know that he provides for us.

And that he expresses his goodness and kindness to us in his provision.

God wanted Adam and Eve to know the benefits of work.

Some people think about paradise as a place where we'll never work.

But if we actually look at the account in the beginning of Genesis, in the garden of Eden, there was work.

But it wasn't poilsome work.

It wasn't work.

It wasn't back-breaking work.

It was work that they enjoyed.

They got into.

They saw the fruit of their labor.

And it wasn't burdensome to them.

They saw the fruit of what they did with their own hands.

God wants us to have and enjoy that.

God wanted Adam and Eve to have the joy of human companionship.

Right at the beginning, before Eve was created, God said it's not good for man to be alone.

Even though dog may be man's best friend, dog is still not good enough.

Not nearly as good as woman.

God wants us to be in relationship with other people.

To have friends.

For many people, that includes getting married and perhaps having children.

He wants us to have relationships with his people.

God wants us to know creativity.

God gave to Adam to name the animals.

There was a creative process that God was engaged in.

He wanted people to know that as well.

God wanted Adam and Eve to know the experience of exercising authority and wise management.

In Genesis 1.28, the Bible says,

God blessed them and said to them,

Be fruitful and increase in number.

Fill the earth and subdue it.

Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

Now, in the history of mankind, we haven't done very well in exercising dominion over the earth and caring for the earth and managing resources.

And those God has put into our care very well.

God wants us to exercise authority and stewardship and management rightly and properly for his honor and for the benefit of other people.

And God also wants us to know.

He wanted Adam and Eve to know.

And this is where Adam and Eve slipped up.

He wants us to know self-discipline and trust.

Right in the middle of this garden of abundant food and everything that they needed,

there was a tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And that was the only thing that God said,

Don't touch this.

This is not for you.

And Adam and Eve had not sinned yet,

but there was still a test to bring them further on in their perfection in order to be the people that God wanted them to grow into.

So they needed to exercise self-discipline.

He wanted them to know this.

And he wanted them to know what it was like to trust.

Because when God said no,

they needed to learn how to trust God.

That when God said,

You don't need to know this.

You don't need to know what comes from this tree.

Adam and Eve needed to be okay with that.

When God put that tree there and said,

Trust me,

it was in effect that God was saying,

There are some things I want you to know,

and some I don't want you to know.

And that's okay.

Not to know something.

I need you to trust me when I say to you,

You don't need to know some things.

Don't be afraid at not knowing.

Don't be afraid.

I'm taking care of you.

Trust me,

and be content with the knowledge of the things that I've given you.

God's saying,

The things I've given you to know,

this should be enough for you.

Don't look for more than I've given you.

But Adam and Eve sought forbidden knowledge.

Because they thought the limits God had put in them

constituted a denial of something good.

They thought,

There's something good out there.

There's something more that we could know

that will improve our lives

that God is keeping from us.

They wanted,

like many of us,

they wanted more power and control,

and God was willing to give them at that time.

Like Adam and Eve,

we too experience the temptation of forbidden knowledge.

In our own wisdom,

in our own wisdom,

we come up with reasons why we should,

why we need to have certain knowledge.

Maybe it's gossip.

Maybe it's a certain intimate or thrilling experience

that God's word is forbidden.

Maybe it's some sort of insider business information,

or maybe it's just some trivia on the internet

that has no practical and perhaps some harming effects upon us.

There's all sorts of things that we could know,

but it's really no benefit to us to know,

and that we shouldn't seek out.

But sometimes the temptation is not in the knowledge itself,

but in what the knowledge can do for us.

Why do we seek the knowledge we do?

Is it to be masters of our own destiny?

Is it because we don't trust God to take care of us?

Because if we have enough knowledge,

you don't really need to depend on God, do we?

We can control our own lives.

In our seeking after the knowledge that we do,

are we saying to God,

God, I am not content with the limits you have set for me,

so I'm going to seek this knowledge

and make a good life for myself,

because I know how to make a good life for myself

better than you know.

But why did God set limits on us?

Nobody likes limits.

We want to have as much as possible.

It's a sinful nature in us.

We're greedy.

We want to, we're selfish.

We want everything.

We want to be in control of everything

and have nothing that we don't know.

We're not comfortable with being limited.

We value freedom and independence or liberty,

and we're not content with being

in the place that God has for us.

There's some things that God doesn't want us to know,

didn't want Adam and Eve to know.

What was it that God did not want Adam and Eve to know?

What was he keeping from them?

He didn't want them to know shame, distrust,

embarrassment, conflict, revenge, suffering,

and the death that came from sin.

Those are all things that they learned about

after they took the fruit from that tree.

They knew nakedness.

Not physically being naked.

They had that.

They knew what it was like to be physically naked

before they eat that fruit.

But the nakedness that they experienced afterwards

was that sense of being exposed and vulnerable to harm.

They knew that.

We know that now.

We may go around fully clothed,

but sometimes we have that feeling of being exposed,

being vulnerable to harm.

God did not want them to know the burden of feeling

that seeking a good life

and figuring out how to have a good life

entirely rested on their shoulders.

Because if it's up to us to figure out

by our own knowledge and our own cleverness

how to have a good life,

we'll always be in a desperate search

for that one more thing,

that one more thing

that will help us improve our lives.

If you go to many bookstores,

there's a huge self-help

and self-improvement section.

People are looking for that one more thing

that will give them that little edge

to have a better life.

God didn't want Adam to know evil and wickedness.

Pain follows sin.

Sin always has consequences.

That's why the location of the forbidden fruit

was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God didn't want them to know evil.

Adam and Eve knew good already,

but they weren't ready for evil.

It's as if they were saying to God,

we're not content with you making the buying choices here.

We want to go to the store

and see all the options before us

and then choose what's the best for us.

But God is saying,

I've brought you what's good already.

Be content in that fact.

In a world that loves to have options,

are we content to let God make the choices?

It's a really good thing that God knows everything

and that we don't.

It's a good thing that God knows everything

because he can choose what's best for us

and he can steer us away from what's harmful.

He is knowledgeable and powerful to do this.

And it's a good thing that we don't know everything

because there's a lot of knowledge that we don't need.

It's too much for us.

It's too painful for us.

It's too overwhelming.

It's too confusing.

It's utterly unhelpful.

Now, at this point,

I want to stop for a moment and answer an objection

because to modern sensibilities,

it sounds very strange and even scary

to be told there's some things you don't need to know.

It sounds like a business or a government

that wants to oppress us and take advantage of us.

There's too many authorities in this world

that have abused people

who have withheld information,

they've withheld education,

they've withheld certain knowledge from people

in order to profit from them,

in order to oppress them,

in order to take advantage of them.

But God's not an authoritarian dictator

denying information in order to deny us good.

That's not God.

God is a loving Father.

He's looking out for us as children.

And He's sharing with us only the information

that we need to know,

what's helpful for us.

And He's asking us to trust Him

in the matters that He hasn't revealed.

And there's actually a lot of things

that we shouldn't concern ourselves with.

If we look in Scripture,

there's a number of things

that just are really not profitable

for us to inquire into.

Why am I experiencing more suffering

than my neighbor is?

Do we compare ourselves to other people?

Do we ask the why question?

Why is this happening to me and not them?

Why am I going through this?

Or the other side of that coin,

why did that person have that good thing,

that ability, that opportunity,

and I don't?

When we start playing the comparison game,

we try to delve into and scrutinize God's will,

why He gives something to one person

or why He withholds something.

We're going to enter into jealousy

and we're going to enter into bitterness

and a lot of things

that God doesn't want us to know.

When will Jesus return?

Many people have gone down that road.

They tried to figure out the time and the season,

the exact day that Jesus will return.

And nothing good has come to that.

Jesus said in His Word,

it's not for you to know.

Is a particular natural disaster or calamity

God's judgment upon us?

In the United States,

it seems like every time some disaster happens,

there's a preacher who gets on TV

and says it's God's judgment.

Maybe, maybe not.

Do we know this?

Jesus, in Luke chapter 13,

Luke 13 · chapter mention

actually spoke very specifically

to how we are to respond

to these kinds of questions

in the face of tragedy.

Luke chapter 13, verses 1 to 5.

Luke 13:1–5

Now there was some present at that time

who told Jesus about the Galileans

whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

Jesus answered,

Do you think that these Galileans

were worse sinners than all the other Galileans

because they suffered in this way?

I tell you no.

But unless you repent,

you too will all perish.

For those 18 who died

when the tower in Siloam fell on them,

do you think they were more guilty

than all the others living in Jerusalem?

I tell you no.

But unless you repent,

you too will all perish.

When there's a great disaster,

we shouldn't try to figure out

why did this disaster happen.

But Jesus says

what we should realize

is that unless we repent,

unless we're right with God,

that kind of disaster

or something works,

God's judgment will fall upon us.

That's the lesson

we're supposed to get out of disasters.

It's supposed to remind us

and humble us

before God's face

and remind us to repent

and turn away from our sin.

Not stand in judgment

over what people

who were caught up in disaster

may have done or not do.

When there's a disaster,

it's time to show compassion.

One of the fascinating verses,

I love this verse

because it really reminds us

of the limits of our knowledge

and God's wisdom and revelation.

It's in Deuteronomy 29.29.

It's nice that it's 29.29,

but it's easy to remember.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God,

but the things revealed belong to us

and to our children forever,

that we may follow all the words of this law.

Now, there's some things

that God has not revealed,

but there's a lot of things

that God has revealed.

He's given us a whole book

of things that he's revealed to us

and he wants us to know

and he wants us to respond to.

There's many people who agonize over,

you know,

what is God's will for my life?

What should I do?

But they hardly opened the Bible.

God's already given us

a lot that he wants us to know.

As we read this,

it builds our wisdom

and builds our understanding

of ourselves,

of God,

of the world around us.

And God builds us

in wisdom and understanding

as we study his word.

We need to be content

with what God has kept secret

and be content

and study diligently

and seek to know more

of what he has revealed to us.

Sometimes our hearts

will tell us to do something.

Sometimes the world around us

will tell us to do something.

But we need to be content

with the knowledge

that God has given us

and walk in that way

even though

other so-called knowledge

which conflicts with God's word

is saying to go

in a different direction.

Proverbs 3, 5-6 says,

Trust in the Lord

with all your heart

and lean not

on your own understanding.

In all your ways

submit to him

and he will make

your path straight.

We need to seek

appropriate knowledge

for the glory of God

and with trust in him

we need to try to make

wise decisions

about what we'll try

to find out,

what we'll try to know

and what we won't know.

Some people

might hear this

and say,

Well,

there's things

we're not supposed to know.

Does the Bible

want us to be

Luddites

and Ignoramuses?

Is the Bible

against progress?

Should we

lock ourselves down

at a certain point

in history

and just refuse

to know anything more?

No,

that's not what

the Bible is saying.

Proverbs 25, 2 says,

It is the glory of God

to conceal a matter.

To search out a matter

is the glory of kings.

We should learn.

We should do science.

We should seek to work,

make the world

a better place.

The Bible is not

against progress.

It's not against knowledge

or acquiring knowledge.

But we should

know the limits

of our knowledge

and be wise

in what knowledge

we gain

because there's a lot

out there we could know.

We should spend

more time

looking at scripture

and seeking out

useful knowledge.

Maybe gaining

a new skill

or studying a language

or investing time

in becoming

more knowledgeable

in our professional field.

Maybe spend more time

on things like that

and less time

clicking on those articles

about five amazing

bathing costume fails

or a quiz on

which haughty

Harry Potter character

we are.

Are those things

we need to know?

Maybe we spend

less time

on reading

about politics

and following

celebrity news

or movies

TVs

video games

and more time

in the Bible

and prayer

in building relationships

with the people

around us.

Instead of trying

to gain more

and more connections

with followers

maybe just spend

more time

with the people

that God has put

across the street

in our own church

community.

Because we're

in such

an information

rich age

and there's so much

out there

we could know

and so many of us

spend time

on the computer

on the internet

increasingly

with smartphones

we need to be

ever more discerning

about the knowledge

we've taken.

It's very easy

to quickly

just do a quick check

of email

or Facebook

or Instagram

or whatever

whatever internet

or social media site

that you like

just do a quick check

I'll take five minutes

behold

an hour and a half later

what have we done?

We've lost

half our day already

it's as if

we've overeaten

and we push back

from the table

and think

what have I done?

I've just wasted

so much time

I'm not against

social media

or entertainment

per se

but there's so much

there's such a thing

as too much

of a good thing

food is good

and necessary

but there is junk food

there is poison food

there is such a thing

as overeating

and that's called

greed and gluttony

we can be greedy

for knowledge

and knowledge

that really doesn't

benefit us

in any way

if we spend time

gaining useless knowledge

or even harmful knowledge

our minds are cluttered

our hearts are cluttered

with these things

and the stress

and distraction

that it brings

and so

the internet

especially

can be a massive

time suck

and consume

our hearts and minds

in gaining knowledge

that we think

might be useful

or helpful

now if it's clicking

on a link

about which Harry Potter

character we are

that's sort of

an easy target

it's like okay

well that's kind of useless

but what if it's

an article

vaguely related

to our field

or what if it's

about parenting

or what if it's

about health

we can easily justify

well this is a good

use of my time

is it

maybe it is

maybe it isn't

we need to

think carefully

about these things

because everything

we choose to spend

our time on

learning and knowing

it's less time

we can think

about other things

if our hearts

and minds

are consumed

with something

going on

out there

another part

of the world

something that

we really can't

affect change in

then we don't

have the time

or the capacity

to learn about

what we should

be doing in life

to think about

goals

to think about

the other people

around us

do we know

our neighbors

do we know

the other people

in our workplaces

or our schools

have we thought

about whether

we should spend

time trying to

get to know

them

that might be

useful knowledge

so that we

could bless them

we could speak

to them about

Christ

this is

and we also

need down time

to think

creatively

and to reflect

if we're

on a phone

consuming

consuming

consuming

taking an

infotainment

all the time

we don't have

that time

to stop

and think

well what

should I be

what knowledge

should I be

seeking

what should I

really be

seeking

we're just

go go go

and don't think

what should I

know

we just know

what we know

and just

flit on to

the next thing

trying to fill

every moment

of boredom

but when we

let ourselves

be consumed

by useless

knowledge

the world

the flesh

and the devil

gain the upper

hand

as we feast

on bread

and circuses

what then

should be

our approach

to knowledge

we should

read God's

word

we should

seek his

priorities

what are

what priorities

does God

have in this

world

what is God

trying to

accomplish

in this

world

and we

should seek

to know

those priorities

and seek

to bring

our priorities

into line

with his

and then

we'll have

a better

gauge

to know

what knowledge

we should

pursue

we only

have limited

time

we have

limited ability

to learn

and grow

and to know

things

so let's

rest in

what rest

in the fact

that God

knows us

and God

cares for us

who knows

that we

can't know

everything

he couldn't

possibly require

us to do

more than we

possibly could

in order to

gain safety

security

in this

world

so we

need to

learn what

we can

according to

God's

wisdom

and for

the rest

we need

to simply

abide

and rest

in the

knowledge

that God

knows us

and God

knows how

to take

care of

us

even if

we don't

know

everything

about health

or safety

or everything

we possibly

can in

our field

we need

to accept

our knowledge

is limited

and the

fact that

our knowledge

is limited

forces us

to call

out to

God

and to

trust

in God

and this

is where

knowing that

God is

omniscient

all knowing

is really

practical

because we

can't know

everything

and we

need to

trust in

the one

who does

know

everything

to be

able to

take care

of us

God has

put certain

processes

in place

in this

world

in creation

the Westminster

Shorter

Catechism

and I'm

going to

end on

this

the Westminster

Shorter

Catechism

says that

God rules

the world

through acts

of creation

and providence

he's put

certain orders

and prophecies

in place

in the natural

world

so that we'll

be provided

for

but he also

rules through

his acts

of providence

what are those

those are those

that's his

supernatural

guiding

and ordering

the world

the catechism

question 11

asks

what are God's

works of

providence

and the answer

is this

God's works

of providence

are

is most

holy

wise

and powerful

preserving

and governing

all his

creatures

and all

their actions

God didn't

create the

world

and wind

it up

like a

like a

like a

clock

and

for the

younger

people

clocks

he used

to be

to wind

them up

and wind

up a clock

and set

it to go

and say

okay you're

off on your

own

take care

of yourselves

no

God's hand

is actively

intervening

in our

affairs

in our

lives

and he is

preserving

helping us

and caring

for us

and he knows

what he's

doing

you be