The Statue of Liberty was made in a day before airplanes and helicopters. The sculptor must have realized that no one would ever see the top of Lady Liberty's head. Yet, he spent the same kind of detail and care and painstaking craftsmanship with the hair and crown on the top of her head as he did down at the feet and everywhere else that people could see. Little did he know that someday people could take helicopter tours of New York harbor and look down at all that he had done.
That's the way it is with our lives. Someone, a spiritual being whom we call God, looks down from above and sees what we do. As the Belgic Confession tells us, God is "completely wise" — He is all-knowing and all-seeing; in theological terms we say that God is omniscient.
I God's Wisdom: He Knows Me
A We all have something to hide. We hide from our spouses, our parents, our friends, our fellow church members. Although we may have one or two close friends with whom we discuss some of our deepest, darkest secrets, none of us reveals everything. If everything were known about anyone of us we would instantly lose any good name we may have. So we cover up. We try to present our best side to the world. We want people to know us for our virtues, not our vices.
B Try as we may like, we can't hide our true nature from God. God knows us better than we ourselves do. You see, God knows all things and sees all things. God is omniscient.
God is perfect in knowledge (Job 37:16). He isn't fooled by outward appearances because He looks into the heart and knows what is really there. Remember the time the prophet Samuel was commanded to go to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse's sons as king. Samuel was impressed when he saw Jesse's son Eliab and thought "Surely the LORD'S anointed stands here." But the LORD said to Samuel,
(1 Sam 16:7) "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
God knows and sees everything. He knows the number of the days of our lives before we are even born (Ps 139:16). He knows where we live and what we do. He knows our deeds, He knows our words, He knows our thoughts.
David learned this about God. From his palace he spied on a neighbor lady as she took a bath. He slept with her and got her pregnant. He had her husband killed to cover up his adultery. David thought he had covered all the bases, that he was safe and secure. But God knew what David did and sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sin. It was sometime after this that David composed the beautiful words of Psalm 139:
(Ps 139:1-4) O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. (2) You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. (3) You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. (4) Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
"God knows me," says David. "He knows my words and my thoughts. He knows where I am and what I am doing. He is familiar with all of my habits. He is aware of all of my sins and shortcomings."
God is completely wise. He is omniscient.
C The Biblical message is that someday our all-knowing, all- seeing God will call on every person to account for everything in his or her life:
(2 Cor 5:10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
We must account for our deeds:
(Rev 20:12) And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
We must account for our words:
(Matt 12:36) But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
We will even be held accountable for our thoughts:
(1 Cor 4:5) Wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
D Every person has one of two different reactions to this omniscient judgment of our all-knowing, all-seeing God. The first reaction is fear. Think of Adam and Eve in the garden. When first put there by God they were both naked and unashamed. After the fall into sin, however, they both tried to cover up. They were naked and ashamed and tried to hide from God. With sin came fear of our all-knowing, all-seeing God.
For unbelievers nothing is more dreadful than the thought of being completely known by God. The pagan does not want God to look at him; he wants God to overlook him. He spends all his life looking over his shoulder, scared and afraid. In one of his proverbs King Solomon says, "The wicked man flees though no one pursues" (Prov 28:1a). Martin Luther puts it another way: "The pagan trembles at the rustling of a leaf." What is he afraid of? He is afraid of God; he's afraid of an omniscient God Who knows and sees everything; he's afraid of an omniscient God Who calls man to account for every deed, every word, and every thought.
The second reaction is that of the believer. Unlike the unbeliever, the believer does not fear that everything is known by God. Yes, God knows us as we really are; He knows the wickedness of our deeds and words and thoughts; yet, God still loves and accepts us in Jesus Christ. What comfort and solace. I doubt if any person would accept us if they really knew everything about us. But God, He knows everything and still loves and accepts us in Christ. You see, God looks at us poor, miserable sinners through the cloak of Christ's righteousness. In and through and because of Christ God sees us as being righteous and pure and holy. And, in the Final Judgment God will reveal everything there is to know about me, all my filth and dirt He will lay out in the open for everyone to see; but even that doesn't scare me because this will all be revealed as FORGIVEN SINS, as sins covered by the blood of Christ.
Once we realize that God in Christ is for us and not against us, then our natural fear of His all-knowing, all-seeing gaze is lessened. Once we realize that God is for us and not against us, then we, with David, will invite God's scrutiny:
(Ps 139:23-24) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (24) See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David asked God to search him out, to put him under the divine searchlight. David did not do this arrogantly, daring God to find anything wrong. On the contrary, David knew that God would find wicked ways in his heart. But David wanted to be washed and cleansed not only of sins he was aware of but also of secret, unknown sins within the depth of his heart. David welcomed the gaze of God because he knew God's children are cleansed when they experience God's scrutiny.
E If you think about it, I think you will agree that to be known by God is our highest privilege. And our greatest folly is to try and flee from God. As Jonah found out, it just cannot be done. There is no adequate hiding place. We can call for the mountains to fall on us and the hills to cover us, but the eye of God can see through mountains and hills. Again we listen to David in Psalm 139:
(Ps 139:7-12) Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? (8) If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. (9) If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, (10) even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (11) If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," (12) even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
There is no escape from God.
God, then, is completely wise. He is omniscient. He sees all things and knows all things about me and you and every other person.
II God's Wisdom: All Knowledge Stems from Him
A Today there is conflict between science and religion. Right now the greatest battle of this conflict is in the area of creation and evolution.
God is wise. He is omniscient. He is the source of all knowledge and truth stems from Him. This means that all knowledge in science — whether that knowledge be in biology, geology, astronomy, physics, economics, archaeology, or whatever — comes from God and tells us something about Him.
Ultimately, this means there can be and should be no conflict between genuine science and the truth of God. Christians may have something to fear from certain scientists, but they have nothing to fear from authentic science. How tragic it is, then, that some believers divorce science from faith. When this occurs, science becomes the province for reason, and religion becomes the arena of blind faith, and the two can never mix.
If God is omniscient and completely wise and all truth comes from Him, how come science and religion have conflict at times? The reason is simple: none of us are like God; none of us are omniscient, none of us are infallible. Yes, we can gain in knowledge, we can grow in understanding, but we do not have all knowledge and all understanding; and, unlike God our knowledge and understanding can be in error.
God is omniscient, He is completely wise. This means that God's Word is truth. This further means that the scientist who teaches contrary to the Bible is wrong. A fallible person can never correct our infallible God; and, an omniscient God can never be corrected by men with limited knowledge. If science ever teaches something which flat-out contradicts the Bible we know science is wrong because God is omniscient.
On the other side of the coin we must also admit that our understanding and interpretation of the Bible can be wrong. Perhaps you have heard of Nicolaus Copernicus, the famous Polish astronomer born in 1473. In 1543 he proposed that the earth moves, that it is not the center of the universe, and that the sun, moon, and stars do not revolve around the earth. About 100 years later when his views were proven by Kepler the controversies began when some churchmen argued on Biblical grounds that the earth was the center of the universe and that Kepler and Copernicus were wrong. Those churchmen should have allowed their faulty interpretation of Scripture to be corrected with the knowledge made available from science.
God is omniscient and completely wise. This means that all truth is coherent and non-contradictory. So, if there is conflict between science and religion either scientists are reading the facts wrong or the theologians are reading the Bible wrong. In other words, theologians may correct scientists and scientists may correct theologians; but no one may ever correct God for God is omniscient and completely wise.
B God is omniscient and completely wise. He is the source of all truth and all knowledge. The Psalmist says, "In your light we see light" (Ps 36:9). There is knowledge only because God is omniscient. Therefore all learning and all education must stem from Him and acknowledge Him.
Christian parents, do you realize what this means? This means that any education or school that fails to acknowledge God is lacking. Yes, apart from God we may gain knowledge and learn facts, but because God is left out, the education is inadequate and we cannot live and work to our full potential.
C God is omniscient and completely wise. Do you realize what this says about the Bible? It means that in the Bible God knows what He is talking about.
In a remote Swiss village stood a beautiful church with high pillars and magnificent stained glass windows. It also had the most beautiful pipe organ in the whole region. People would come from miles away--even from far off lands--to hear the lovely tones of this organ.
But there was a problem. The organ broke down. Musicians and experts from around the world tried to repair it but all that they could get from the organ was sounds of disharmony--awful penetrating sounds which polluted the air.
One day an old man appeared at the church door. He spoke with the janitor and said he had built the organ 50 years before and knew how to fix it. After a time the janitor reluctantly agreed to let the old man in. For two days the old man directed the experts inside to loosen and tighten and shorten and move. Then on the third day--at high noon--the mountain valley was once again filled with glorious music. Farmers stopped their work, merchants closed their stores--everyone in town stopped what they were doing and headed for the church.
The old man could fix the organ because he knew what he was talking about.
God is omniscient and completely wise. He knows what He is talking about.
Take the issue of premarital or extra-marital sex. In His Word God says,
(Eph 5:3) But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
The Bible is completely out of step with modern theory and practice here. Some psychiatrists say that under certain conditions premarital or extra-marital sex is not only permissible but also healthy. They are joined by a chorus of educators and even some clergy. We add to this the results of sexual surveys which reveal that many Americans — both inside and outside the church — have practiced premarital and extra-marital sex.
Is the Bible giving bad advice here? We can't say that. Remember, God is omniscient. He knows what He is talking about.
God is omniscient. He knows what He is talking about. Wall Street trumpets the benefit of greed. Chase after the dollar, it says; strive for riches, it says. Most Americans seem to agree with this. But what does God say? He says,
(Lk 12:15) "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
(Mt 6:19-20) "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth ... (20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven ..."
God is omniscient. He knows what He is talking about. The philosophy today is to look after number 1, to step on those in front of you in your climb for the top. Ours is a self-centered culture. But what does God say? He says,
(Mt 5:5-7) Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (7) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God is omniscient. He knows what He is talking about. We can absolutely trust His Word. God knows more than educators, more than the American Psychiatric Association, more than a symposium of learned churchmen, more than newspaper columnists or TV talk show hosts. If every scholar in the world agreed that premarital or extra-marital sex was good, it is still bad because God says it is bad. If every businessman says greed is good and necessary, it is still evil because God says it is. If every counselor says the best thing you can do is put yourself first, it is still the wrong thing to do because God says it is the wrong thing to do.