“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.  They will put you out of the synagogues.  Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.  And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.  But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

(John 16:1-4a ESV)

               

            This Sunday we will be looking at the Omniscience of God; the fact that He is all knowing.  This is another attribute that we don’t often understand or appreciate well, because we do not have this kind of knowledge.  We know what we know, but there is much we do not know.  God knows all things and there is nothing that He does not know.  It’s staggering when you think about it, but it should also bring us great comfort to understand that God knows all things.

            In the passage above, Jesus was telling His disciples things that were in the near future that would come to pass, and they were rather dramatically serious kinds of things.  He states then, “I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”  I’m convinced that this at least part of the purpose behind prophecy, is so that when we see things falling in line when what was predicted by God, that we can understand and appreciate that God possesses this kind of knowledge—that He knows what will happen in the future.

            For someone to be able to predict with exact certainty what will happen in the future and then bring it to pass means that not only do they possess such knowledge, but the power to change forces of nature if necessary to bring it to pass.

            His vast knowledge, (no not just vast knowledge, but omniscient wisdom) should also help us to have confidence in other things He has said.  When His Word states something that might seem difficult for us, or that doesn’t seem to line up with what our culture would suggest, do we assume that man has become so wise now, with degrees, and technology, and experience that God’s Word is put in doubt, or do we still hold to what God has said?

            It really comes down to our faith.  Do we have the faith to believe that though there are things in the Bible that seem physically impossible, (galaxies being breathed into existence, Red Sea parting, Jericho walls falling, fire consuming the sacrifice on Mt. Horeb, etc.,) that God is capable of making the impossible possible? 

            My prayer for you is that if you are not already there, that you will come to be able to trust and believe in the God of Scripture, that if God said it, if the Bible says that God did it, that you will be able to trust and believe that it is true.  Whether that statement is about something relating to us as humans, or to God, I pray that He will grant you the faith to believe it.

            When we come to the place where we can trust Him to that degree, it will bring with it a greater sense of peace in life in general as we can trust Him to know what lies before us, that He will care for us as only He can.  We will be able to trust Him even in the difficult times when things may seem out of control, out of our control, to trust that He is in control, and that He has our best interest in mind in the end. 

            “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.”  (Eph. 3:20-21)

By His Grace Alone,

Pastor Bruce Jacobsen