Wednesday, October 29, 2008

God - All-Powerful, All-Knowing

Omnipotence of God

Infinite in power, having all power.

Alexander Whyte in his "Exposition of the Shorter Catechism" comments as follows:

"God is often spoken of as the Almighty or the Omnipotent. The word Almighty conveys three ideas: that God is omnipotent, His dominion universal, and His essence infinite.

God’s power is limited only by the workings of His will. He doth not work all things that He might work.

God doth not show Himself omnipotent by doing all that He can do, but everything that He does do He shows an Almighty power in it."

Omniscience of God

"God possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to learn. But it is more: it is to say that God has never learned and cannot learn.

God perfectly knows Himself and, being the source of and author of all things, it follows that He knows all that can be known. And this He knows instantly and with a fullness of perfection that includes every possible item of knowledge concerning everything that exists or could have existed anywhere in the universe at any time in the past or that may exist in the centuries or ages yet unborn.

God knows instantly and effortlessly all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creature hood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every unuttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven and hell.

God is everywhere here, close to everything, next to everyone.

God is immanent in His creation, that there is no place in heaven or earth or hell where men may hide from His presence.

God is present, near him, next to him, and this God sees him and knows him through and through. At this point faith begins, and while it may go on to include a thousand other wonderful truths these all refer back to the truth that God is, and God is here."

The above quote was taken from A.W. Tozer's excellent book "Knowledge of the Holy."

Herbert Stevenson, in "Titles of the Triune God" made the following observations regarding the Omniscience of God and what that means to us personally.

"God knows us altogether; nothing is hid from the Lord.

“O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off." Psalms 139:1-2

While this is a sobering realization, it is also wonderously reassuring to His true children - God being such an One as He is!

“Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;" Psalms 33:18

He knows too all the inequalities and vicissitudes of life, and will vindicate righteousness and judge iniquity.

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." 1 Peter 3:12

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Psalm 32:8

Here, such an intimacy of relationship and constancy of fellowship with God is suggested, that the mere glance of His eye is enough to indicate the way in which He would have us to."