a) The Omniscience of God.
God Is a Spirit, and as such has knowledge. He is a perfect Spirit,
and as such has perfect knowledge. By Omniscience is meant that
God knows all things and is absolutely perfect in knowledge.
(1) Scriptures setting forth the fact of God's Omniscience.
_In general:_ Job 11:7, 8--"Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" Job's
friends professed to have discovered the reason for his affliction,
for, forsooth, had they not found out the secrets of the divine
wisdom unto perfection. No, such is beyond their human, finite ken.
Isa. 40:28--"There is no searching of his understanding." Jacob's
captive condition might lead him to lose trust and faith in God.
But Jacob has not seen all God's plans--no man has. Job, 37:16--"The
wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge." Could Job
explain the wonders of the natural phenomena around him? Much less
the purposes and judgments of God. Psa. 147:5--"His understanding
is infinite." Of His understanding there is no number, no computation.
Israel is not lost sight of. He who can number and name and call
the stars is able also to call each of them by name even out of
their captivity. His knowledge is not to be measured by ours. 1 John
3:20--"God knoweth all things." Our hearts may pass over certain
things, and fail to see some things that should be confessed. God,
however, sees all things. Rom. 11:33--"How unsearchable are his
judgments and his ways past finding out." The mysterious purposes
and decrees of God touching man and his salvation are beyond all
human comprehension.
_In detail, and by way of illustration:_
_aa) His knowledge is absolutely comprehensive:_
Prov. 15:3--"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping
watch upon the evil and the good." How could He reward and punish
otherwise? Not one single thing occurring in any place escapes His
knowledge. 5:21--"For the ways of man are before the eyes of the
Lord, and he pondereth all his goings." We may have habits hidden
from our fellow creatures, but not from God.
_ bb) God has a perfect knowledge of all that is in nature:_
Psa. 147:4--"He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them
all by their names." Man cannot (Gen. 15:5). How, then, can Israel
say, "My way is hid from the Lord?" Cf. Isa. 40:26, 27. Matt.
10:29--"One ... sparrow shall not fall to the ground without your
Father." Much less would one of His children who perchance might
be killed for His name's sake, fall without His knowledge.
_cc) God has a perfect knowledge of all that transpires in human
experience:_
Prov. 5:21--"For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he pondereth all his goings." All a man's doings are weighed
by God. How this should affect his conduct! Psa. 139:2, 3--"Thou
knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my
thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and
art acquainted with all my ways." Before our thoughts are fully
developed, our unspoken sentences, the rising feeling in our hearts,
our activity, our resting, all that we do from day to day is known
and sifted by God. v. 4--"There is not a word in my tongue, but
lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether." Not only thoughts and
purposes, but words spoken, idle, good, or bad. Exod. 3:7--"I
have seen the affliction....heard the cry: know the sorrows of my
people which are in Egypt." The tears and grief which they dared
not show to their taskmasters, God saw and noted. Did God know
of their trouble in Egypt? It seemed to them as though He did not.
But He did. Matt. 10:29, 30--"But the very hairs of your head are
all numbered." What minute knowledge is this! Exod 3:19--"And I am
sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty
hand." Here is intimate knowledge as to what a single individual
will do. Isa. 48:18--"O that thou hadst harkened to my commandments!
then had thy peace have been as a river," etc. God knows what our
lives would have been if only we had acted and decided differently.
_dd) God has a perfect knowledge of all that transpires in human
history._
With what precision are national changes and destinies foretold
and depicted in Dan. 2 and 8! Acts 15:18--"Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning of the world (ages)." In the context
surrounding this verse are clearly set forth the religious changes
that were to characterize the generations to come, the which have
been so far literally, though not fully, fulfilled.
_ee) God knows--from, all eternity to all eternity what will take
place._
The ominiscience of God is abduced as the proof that He alone is
God, especially as contrasted with the gods (idols) of the heathen:
Isa. 48:5-8--"I have even from the beinning declared it unto thee;
before it came to pass I showed it thee.....I have showed thee
new things from this time, even hidden things," etc. 46:9, 10--"I
am God....declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Here God is announcing to
His prophets things that are to occur in the future which it is
impossible for the human understanding to know or reach. There is
no past, present, future with God. Everything is one great living
present. We are like a man standing by a river in a low place, and
who, consequently, can see that part of the river only that passes
by him; but he who is aloof in the air may see the whole course of
the river, how it rises, and how it runs. Thus is it with God.
(2) Certain problems in connection with the doctrine of the Omniscienc
of God.
How the divine intelligence can comprehend so vast and multitudinous
and exhaustless a number of things must forever surpass our
comprehension. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his
ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33). "There is no searching of
his understanding; it is beyond human computation." We must expect,
therefore, to stand amazed in the presence of such matchless wisdom,
and find problems in connection therewith which must for the time,
at least, remain unsolved.
Again, we must not confound the foreknowledge of God with
His foreordination. The two things are, in a sense, distinct. The
fact that God foreknows a thing makes that thing certain but not
necessary. His foreordination is based upon His foreknowledge.
Pharaoh was responsible for the hardening of his heart even though
that hardening process was foreknown and foretold by God. The
actions of men are considered certain but not necessary by reason
of the divine foreknowledge.
b) The Omnipotence of God.
The Omnipotence of God is that attribute by which He can bring to
pass everything which He wills. God's power admits of no bounds
or limitations. God's declaration of His intention is the pledge
of the thing intended being carried out. "Hath he said, and shall
he not do it?"
(1) Scriptural declarations of the fact; In general:
Job 42:2.(R. V.)--"I know that thou canst do everything (all things),
and that no purpose of thine can be restrained." The mighty review
of all God's works as it passes before Job (context) brings forth
this confession: "There is no resisting thy might, and there is no
purpose thou canst not carry out." Gen. 18:14--"Is anything too
hard for the Lord?" What had ceased to be possible by natural means
comes to pass by supernatural means.
(2) Scriptural declaration of the fact; In detail:
_aa) In the world of nature:_
Gen. 1:1-3--"God created the heaven and the earth. And God said,
Let there be light, and there was light." Thus "he spake and it was
done. He commanded and it stood fast." He does not need even to give
His hand to the work; His word is sufficient. Psa. 107:25-29--"He
raiseth the stormy wind ... he maketh the storm calm." "Even the
winds and the sea obey him." God's slightest word, once uttered, is
a standing law to which all nature must absolutely conform. Nahum
1:5, 6--"The mountains quake at him ... the hills melt ... the
earth is burned at his presence ... the rocks are thrown down by
him." If such is His power how shall Assyria withstand it? This is
God's comforting message to Israel. Everything in the sky, in sea,
on earth is absolutely subject to His control.
_bb) In the experience of mankind:_
How wonderfully this is illustrated in the experience of Nebuchadnezzar,
Dan. 4; and in the conversion of Saul, Acts 9; as well as in the
case of Pharaoh, Exod. 4:11. James 4:12-15--" ... For that ye ought
to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that." All
human actions, whether present or future, are dependent upon the
will and power of God. These things are in God's, not in man's,
power. See also the parable of the Rich Fool, Luke 12:16-21.
_cc) The heavenly inhabitants are subject to His will and word:_
Dan. 4:35 (R. V.)--"He doeth according to his will in the army of
heaven." Heb. 1:14--"Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
It has been said that angels are beings created by the power of
God for some specific act of service, and that after that act of
service is rendered they pass out of existence.
_dd) Even Satan is under the control of God_
Satan has no power over any of God's children saving as God permits
him to have. This fact is clearly established in the case of Job
(1:12 and 2:6). and Peter (Luke 22:31,32), in which we are told
that Satan had petitioned God that he might sift the self-righteous
patriarch and the impulsive apostle. Finally Satan is to be forever
bound with a great chain (Rev. 20:2). God can set a bar to the
malignity of Satan just as he can set a bar to the waves of the
sea.
c) The Omnipresence of God.
By the Omnipresence of God is meant that God is everywhere
present. This attribute is closely connected with the omniscience
and omnipotence of God, for if God is everywhere present He is
everywhere active and possesses full knowledge of all that transpires
in every place.
This does not mean that God is everywhere present in a bodily sense,
nor even in the same sense; for there is a sense in which He may
be in heaven, His dwelling place, in which He cannot be said to be
elsewhere. We must guard against the pantheistic idea which claims
that God _is_ everything, while maintaining the Scriptural
doctrine that He is everywhere present in all things. Pantheism
emphasizes the omnipresent activity of God, but denies His
personality. Those holding the doctrine of pantheism make loud
claims to philosophic ability and high intellectual training, but
is it not remarkable that it is in connection with this very phase
of the doctrine of God that the Apostle Paul says "they became
fools"? (Rom. 1.) God is everywhere and in every place; His center
is everywhere; His circumference nowhere. But this presence is a
spiritual and not a material presence; yet it is a real presence.
(1) Scriptural statement of the fact.
Jer. 23:23, 24-"Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God
afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not
see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith
the Lord." Did the false prophets think that they could hide their
secret crimes from God? Or that He could not pursue them into
foreign countries? Or that He knew what was transpiring in heaven
only and not upon the earth, and even in its most distant corners?
It was false for them to thus delude themselves--their sins would
be detected and punished (Psa. 10:1-14).
Psa. 139:7-12--"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall
I flee from thy presence," etc. How wondrously the attributes of
God are grouped in this psalm. In vv. 1-6 the psalmist speaks of
the omniscience of God: God knows him through and through. In vv.
13-19 it is the omnipotence of God which overwhelms the psalmist.
The omnipresence of God is set forth in vv. 7-12. The psalmist
realizes that he is never out of the sight of God any more than
he is outside of the range of His knowledge and power. God is in
heaven; "Hell is naked before Him"; souls in the intermediate state
are fully known to Him (cf. Job 26:2; Jonah 2:2); the darkness is
as the light to Him. Job 22:12-14--"Is not God in the height of
heaven? . . . . Can he judge through the dark cloud? Thick clouds
are a covering to him that he seeth not," etc. All agreed that God
displayed His presence in the heaven, but Job had inferred from this
that God could not know and did not take notice of such actions of
men as were hidden behind the intervening clouds. Not that Job
was atheistic; no, but probably denied to God the attribute of
omnipresence and omniscience. Acts 17:24-28--"For in him we live,
and move, and have our being." Without His upholding hand we must
perish; God is our nearest environment. From these and many other
scriptures we are clearly taught that God is everywhere present
and acting; there is no place where God is not.
This does not mean that God is everywhere present in the same sense.
For we are told that He is in heaven, His dwelling-place (1 Kings
8:30); that Christ is at His right hand in heaven (Eph. 1:20);
that God's throne is in heaven (Rev. 21:2; Isa. 66:1).
We may summarize the doctrine of the Trinity thus: God the Father
is specially manifested in heaven; God the Son has been specially
manifested on the earth; God the Spirit is manifested everywhere.
Just as the soul is present in every part of the body so God is
present in every part of the world.
(2) Some practical inferences from this doctrine.
First, _of Comfort:_ The nearness of God to the believer.
"Speak to Him then for He listens. And spirit with spirit can meet;
Closer is He than breathing, And nearer than hands or feet."
"God is never so far off, As even to be near; He is within. Our
spirit is the home He holds most dear. To think of Him as by our
side is almost as untrue, As to remove His shrine beyond those
skies of starry blue."--_Faber._ The omnipresence is not only
a detective truth--it is protective also. After dwelling on this
great and awful attribute in Psalm 139, the psalmist, in vv. 17,
18, exclaims: "How precious are thy thoughts to me..... When I
awake I am still with thee." By this is meant that God stands by
our side to help, and as One who loves and understands us (Matt.
28:20).
Second, _of Warning:_ "As in the Roman empire the whole world
was one great prison to a malefactor, and in his flight to the most
distant lands the emperor could track him, so under the government
of God no sinner can escape the eye of the judge." Thus the
omnipresence of God is detective as well as protective. "Thou God
seest me," should serve as warning to keep us from sin.
d) The Eternity and Immutability of God.
The word _eternal_ is used in two senses in the Bible:
figuratively, as denoting existence which may have a beginning,
but will have no end, e. g., angels, the human soul; literally,
denoting an existence which has neither beginning nor ending,
like that of God. Time has past, present, future; eternity has
not. Eternity is infinite duration without any beginning, end, or
limit--an ever abiding present. We can conceive of it only as duration
indefinitely extended from the present moment in two directions--as
to the past and as to the future. "One of the deaf and dumb pupils
in the institution of Paris, being desired to express his idea
of the eternity of the Deity, replied: 'It is duration, without
beginning or end; existence, without bounds or dimension; present,
without past or future. His eternity is youth, without infancy or
old age; life, without birth or death; today, without yesterday or
tomorrow.'"
By the Immutability of God is meant that God's nature is absolute|y
unchangeable. It is not possible that He should possess one attribute
at one time that He does not possess at another. Nor can there be
any change in the Deity for better or for worse. God remains forever
the same. He is without beginning and without end; the self-existent
"I am"; He remains forever the same, and unchangeable.
(1) Scriptural statement of the fact: The Eternity of God
Hab. 1:12--"Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy
One?" Chaldea had threatened to annihilate Israel. The prophet
cannot believe it possible, for has not God _eternal_ purposes
for Israel? Is He not holy? How, then, can evil triumph? Psa.
90:2--"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God." Short and transitory is the life of man; with God
it is otherwise. The perishable nature of man is here compared with
the imperishable nature of God. Psa. 102:24-27--"I said, O my God,
take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout
all generations. Of old thou hast laid the foundations of the earth:
and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but
thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment;
as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." With
the perishable nature of the whole material creation the psalmist
contrasts the imperishable nature of God. Exod. 3:14--"And God
said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM." The past, present and future lies
in these words for the name of Jehovah. Rev. 1:8--"I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
(2) Scriptural statement of the Immutability of God:
Mal 3:6--"1 am the Lord, I change not." Man's hope lies in that
fact, as the context here shows Man had changed in his life and
purpose toward God, and if God, like man, had changed, man would
have been destroyed. James 1:17--"The Father of lights, with whom is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning." There is no change--in
the sense of the degree or intensity of light such as is manifested
in the heavenly bodies. Such lights are constantly varying
and changing; not so with God. There is no inherent, indwelling,
possible change in God. 1 Sam. 15:29.--"And also the Strength of
Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should
repent." From these scriptures we assert that God, in His nature
and character, is absolutely without change.
Does God Repent?
What, then, shall we say with regard to such scriptures as Jonah
3:10 and Gen. 6:6--"And God repented of the evil, that he said he
would do unto them." "And it repented the Lord that he had made
man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." In reply we may
say that God does not change, but threatens that men may change.
"The repentent attitude in God does not involve any real change in
the character and purposes of God. He ever hates the sin and ever
pities and loves the sinner; that is so both before and after
the sinner's repentance. Divine repentance is therefore the same
principle acting differently in altered circumstances. If the
prospect of punishment answers the same purpose as that intended
by the punishment itself, then there is no inconsistency in
its remission, for punishment is not an end, it is only a means
to goodness, to the reign of the law of righteousness." When God
appears to be displeased with anything, or orders it differently
from what we expected, we say, after the manner of men, that
He repents. God's attitude towards the Ninevites had not changed,
but they had changed; and because they had changed from sin unto
righteousness, God's attitude towards them and His intended dealings
with them as sinners must of necessity change, while, of course,
God's character had in no wise changed with respect to these
people, although His dealings with them had. So that we may say
that God's _character_ never changes, but His _dealings_
with men change as they change from ungodliness to godliness and
from disobedience unto obedience. "God's immutability is not that
of the stone, that has no internal experience, but rather that of
the column of mercury that rises and falls with every change in
the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. When a man bicycling
against the wind turns about and goes with the wind instead of going
against it, the wind seems to change, although it is blowing just
as it was before." --_Strong_.