Just who is God, really? That’s a question we started looking at last week. If we’re going to place our eternity in God’s hands, and if we’re going to pattern our lives around his teachings, then we should know as much about him as possible. God has revealed to us everything we need to know about him, but sometimes in the busy-ness of life we tend to forget just how powerful, how majestic, how good, how loving God is.
In the previous post, we began looking at some of the “natural” characteristics of God. By “natural” I mean the facts about God that have nothing to do with him being good or bad, moral or immoral, they are simply truths about him. We saw that God is spirit, he’s alive, and he’s a person.
God is also omniscient, which is a fancy theological term meaning that God is all-knowing. God knows all that there is to know. There is nothing that God does not know. Look at these verses:
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (Psalm 147:5)
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matt 10:29-30)
Now that is a little personal to me. I’m not sure why I have fewer hairs on my head than other people have, but whatever number of hairs I have, God knows!
God is not in the process of learning. He is not growing wiser. There is no secret knowledge that is hidden from him. There is nothing that God has not yet discovered. God doesn’t look down at our technology and think, “Wow, why didn’t I think of that?” He created that, whatever it is. No scientist will ever learn anything that God doesn’t already know. No matter how smart and advanced we think we are, we are nothing compared to God.
Since God created all things, he also created truth. There are no secrets from God. There is no hiding from God.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)
That means we can’t keep our actions a secret. Whatever you know, he knows. That’s a little bit intimidating, but it’s true. God’s love for us despite these things is for a later post, but we can certainly pause and thank him for his forgiveness.
Part of God being all-knowing is his knowledge of the future. This is God’s “foreknowledge.” He knows all things, and he is not limited by time, so there are no surprises that come to God out of the future. God never thinks to himself, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming!”
You will never experience anything in your life, good or bad, that God does not already know. Nothing in your life has taken God by surprise, and nothing ever will.
God’s foreknowledge is connected to his providence and sovereignty over all creation, which we will explore later. By sovereignty, I mean God’s complete control over all creation, and by providence, I mean his purpose and plan within his sovereignty.
What that means is that God knows how all events, past, present, and future, are connected to all other events, and what impact each event will have on all other events at all times. Not only does he know all of this, but he is working out his purpose through all of these events so that his will is accomplished.
Not only is God omniscient, but he is also omnipresent. That’s another theological word that simply means that God is everywhere all the time. When you were a teenager trying to get away with things you shouldn’t have been doing, it may have seemed like your parents were everywhere all the time, but they weren’t. They just had other eyes and ears in the community keeping an eye on you.
But God is in all places at all times. God is not subject to the limitations of space or time. He created them both. Neither space nor time existed until he willed them into being, so he’s beyond them both.
Remember the famous words of Christ that we know as the Great Commission?
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Did you catch that last phrase? He’s telling his followers to go throughout the world sharing his truth, and he promises to be with each one of them, no matter where they are. How is that possible? It’s because God can be with every single person on the earth at the same time.
It isn’t a situation where God can zoom from place to place at lightning speed like the Flash or Superman. He’s actually in all places at all times. There is no place where God is not.
Listen to the words of God recorded by Jeremiah.
“Am I a God at hand,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)
God fills heaven and earth. It isn’t that part of God is in one place while another part of him is in another. It’s not that part of God is in Ohio today while another part of him is in India and a third part of him is in Nigeria dealing with something there. All of God is present in every place at all times. His presence fills heaven and earth.
That means that when you need God, he doesn’t have part of his mind on you and another part of his focus on someone else. You have all of God with you at all times. So do I. Because all of God is in all places all the time. That’s how he can say to each of us, “I am with you always.” This is why David writes:
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139:6-12)
God created space, so he is not limited by space. He also created time, so time does not apply to him either. God was before time began.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)
To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 25)
Time simply does not apply to God. He was before time began. He also doesn’t age. God is not older now than he was in 2015 or than he was in 1000 BC. God is, God has always been, God will always be. He is not limited by space or time.
Omnipresence doesn’t mean, though, that we experience his presence all the time. You can face any trial, any hardship, any pain, and you will never have to go through it without God’s presence and strength with you. Sometimes, though, it sure doesn’t feel like God is anywhere near us. That’s because we all have habits that make us numb to God’s presence.
There’s a pharmacist in Cartersville, Georgia, named Larry Holt. He was our pharmacist for the 29 years that we lived there. When our children were teething, Larry made us a concoction he called “Dr. Starr’s Ointment.” I don’t know what was in it, but it was magic. We would rub that ointment on the kids’ gums, and the pain would instantly go away. Whatever that ointment touched would instantly go numb.
One day Kim had rubbed some Dr. Starr’s on our daughter Tori’s gums, and a little while later, Tori gave me a big kiss right on the cheek. A couple of minutes after that, I went to Kim and told her I thought I might be having some kind of stroke. I told her that I couldn’t feel the whole left side of my face. She asked, “Has Tori kissed you? Because I just put Dr. Starr’s on her gums, and she probably got some on her lips.”
I’m telling you that stuff works!
There are things we can do that make us numb to God’s presence with us. Sin makes us numb. Busy-ness makes us numb. Constantly choosing our way and putting our wants and needs above what God may be calling us to do, will make us numb.
But regardless of whether or not we can feel God’s presence, the truth is that he is always with us. If you’ve grown numb to that, try to take some time each day to talk to God. Spend time in the Bible and allow him to speak to you through it. Surrender your wants and your desires to his leadership every day, throughout the day. And lean hard into the truth that, no matter how it feels, God is present. He knows everything about you. He knows how you’re feeling and what you’re facing. And he’s there with you. Always.