When we speak about the omniscience of God, I think we miss a lot. I know my Open Theist friends won’t agree with this post. That’s quite alright. They know I don’t agree with them either. My belief is that God possesses all knowledge for all time. He has no potential to gain knowledge. I also say that God is outside of space and time yet fills them both fully. He is everywhere in space and at each moment in time.
What difference do those make?
For the Christian, this can be an encouragement and a joy. It means that you were always on the mind of God. God does not switch from idea to idea as we do. God is thinking about all people at all times in all places. He is aware of all true statements in all times and all places.
So, when have you been on the mind of God? Answer: Always. There never was a time when you were not. God did not have to wait for you to come into being to know who you are. The Bible shows in many places that he knows us before we are born and our lives are watched over by his sovereign hand.
This means that whatever you are going through, God already knows about it and is already there. Whatever crisis you are dealing with, he saw it before you did and has already dealt with it. It might not be dealt with the way you like, but it is dealt with and if you are a follower of Christ, it will work to your good in the end. That doesn’t necessarily mean in this lifetime though.
It also means that he is always there. By being omnipresent, God does not have to move from one person to another. God is everywhere and is not divided in his essence. Wherever you may go, as an example, the laws of logic will apply. Wherever you go, God will be there.
It also means you are just as much the object of his attention as everyone else is. You can be sure when you pray, that the omniscient and omnipresent God is listening to you. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you get what you pray for, but it does mean that what you say is not falling on deaf ears.
Biblical doctrine matters and it matters on a number of levels. We need to argue for it from the texts and sound reasoning first. Then, we need to properly articulate it. However, we need to apply it last. Too often, it seems we take the beautiful doctrines of the Christian faith and never get to application. On the other hand, we take some passages of Scripture and only apply them and never get at the beautiful doctrines behind them.
A good and sound theology requires both. It requires orthodoxy in one’s thought and orthopraxy in one’s lifestyle.
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