Pastoral Letter 19 May 2019

My dear readers,

Omniscience – The Blessed God-Fearing Truth (Prov 15:3)

The concept of a localised god is common. It is an evidence of the blindness of sinful man. Every nation and people believes in their own god or pantheon of gods. For sinful man to know God, God has to reveal Himself to mankind. Thank God He did. From creation we see that God exists. He is also a very powerful God. The greatness and goodness of God can be easily seen all around us, night and day. When we consider the sun, and the rain, these speak of God's graciousness and mercies. When we explore the vastness of space and the deepest oceans we see clearly the power of His might and glory! Absolutely nothing is hidden from Him.

But the world cannot see His glory and greatness. For this reason they cannot see His omniscience. The omniscience and omnipresence of God cannot be separated. If one is true, the other is true as well. The world cannot see because the world is spiritually blind and dead in sin. Furthermore, the god of this world (i.e. the devil) has blinded the minds of all the ones who refuse to believe in Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Without the light of the gospel to shine through and heal their blindness, the greatness of the omnipotence of the one living and true God will remain a hidden open reality!

But the children of God must see because they have had their eyes opened to see. If one still cannot see the goodness of God's omniscience then he is not born again in Christ! The omniscience of God means that “God knows all things all at the same time.” God who is omniscient is also immutable in His omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. With this in mind all children of God must thank God for this amazing and God-revealed attribute of Himself to His children!

Omniscience a Reality - "The eyes of the LORD are in every place" (Prov 15:3a) means that there is no place on earth that is hidden from the God of the Bible. Man can climb to the highest mountain, and the LORD sees him because He is there. Man can sink and hide in the deepest ocean or a bunker that he has dug for himself, and the LORD sees him as He is there. Man can fly to the furthest star and the LORD is there to see all things. The LORD is also able to see into the hearts and minds of all of mankind. Being able to see the actions or deeds of every man is not enough because the motive and thinking could be sinful and wrong even though the deed might look good outwardly. That is why the fact that the LORD’s eyes are in every place has to include the hidden recesses of our hearts and minds!

This means that all children of God must endeavour to ensure that their mind and heart are acceptable to God. When God saves a sinner, He gives him a new mind and a new heart instantly, and the mind of Christ (cf. Phil 2:1-11). This enables the saved sinner to think like Christ who is God! He has a godly mind. He is now able to understand the Bible. He now begins to fill his mind with God's perfect Word of life. This will push out and replace all the sinful and wrong philosophies that once filled his mind before salvation. Little by little when he studies the Word of God, his mind will be filled with the knowledge of Christ!

God sees behind every believer’s actions. God has also given to all believers the godly motive of the love of God or Christ (cf. Rom 5:5). This new motive ensures that every godly thought and deed is righteous and holy. The believer remembers how much the Lord Jesus loved him when He died for him. This enables the child of God to sacrifice his all unconditionally for his Lord’s sake. Even when the world rejects him, he will still serve and live for his Saviour and Lord, expecting nothing in return simply because of the love of Christ in his heart compelling him.

This reality of God’s omniscience is experienced by every child of God, especially when he prays, serves and worships!

God Sees All Things – However, if God is only able to see the good and not the evil then the comfort derived from the truth of His omniscience is weak and transient. The fact that the LORD beholds the evil and the good provides a deep and comforting peace that the world cannot give or understand. The word “behold” means to lean forward to make sure one sees. This means that nothing escapes the sight of the LORD! The child of God knows that there will be sufferings for Christ he has to endure. The evil and wickedness that these enemies of God and Christians have planned and plotted to do to believers are littered throughout the history of mankind from the time of the fall. To know that the LORD knows every evil deed, motive and thought of the enemy is very comforting. This means if the LORD wants to stop them He can easily do so. The fact that the evil afflicts the child of God means that the LORD has permitted it to happen for the purpose of strengthening his faith (cf. James 1:2-4) or of disciplining him when he strays from the truth (cf. Heb 12:7-13). Either way, it is good for the child of God and he must not murmur or complain because he knows his LORD beholds both the evil and the good.

The child of God knows that the only good persons on earth are children of God. He must do good all the time according to Scriptures. When these good deeds are done with the right mind and heart, the LORD beholds. That is all that matters. He does not do good to be seen of man. He desires to be “invisible” in all that he does. He knows that Christ must increase and he must decrease in his life. He also has nothing to fear when evil men plot and plan against him to destroy him and his loved ones. As long as he knows that his LORD beholds all things, he will keep praying and trusting his LORD to do what is best in his life. He knows his LORD will never fail him.

Conclusion – Be very comforted by this truth that the LORD of all believers beholds both the good and the evil. His eyes are in every place. Children of God must live righteously according to Scriptures all the time and when they sin they must repent at once. Their LORD sees! When evil men plot and plan to destroy, they can rest in their LORD who beholds all things. Nothing can happen to the children of God without their heavenly Father's knowledge. That is why Romans 8:28 is so very true and comforting to all children of God, “ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Thank God for who He is!