God's Knowledge

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:1–6, ESV)

God Knows

It’s powerful to realize God knows all things. As Psalm 139 says, he knows when we will sit down and when we will get up. He knows our thoughts. He knows what we’re going to say before it’s on our tongue. 

God’s knowledge extends even deeper. He doesn’t just know things about us; he knows us—down to our very essence. He also knows himself fully.  

Clearly in Scripture

Herman Bavinck decisively says, “God’s knowledge both of himself and of the universe is so decisively and clearly taught in Scripture that it has at all times been recognized within the Christian church.” (Reformed Dogmatics, 192). He lists 73 instances from God’s Word that point us to the fact that God knows everything. 

Jesus mentions this to us regarding our prayer life. He tells us not to pray by repeating words and phrases, trying to convince God to do what we want him to do. You don’t need to do that because, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8, ESV). 

Jesus also told us that God knows some “mundane” details about our lives. He says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:29–30, ESV). God even knows how many hairs are on your head. 

In 1 John we have a very decisive statement on this topic. He says, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” (1 John 3:19–20, ESV). How much does God know? EVERYTHING. Not much to argue with, right?

Open Theism

Yet, even though Scripture is very clear on this topic, there are still some who want to argue. The teaching is called Open Theism. They believe God can’t know the future. They teach that humans MUST have a free will. If God knows the future—if he knows everything—then those future events must happen, which means our will isn’t free. 

So, because of this belief, they teach that God doesn’t know the future. He knows all the POSSIBLE futures, but the future is still Open (hence the name Open Theism). 

Starting At The Wrong Point

There are many issues with Open Theism. The main issue is that they start at the wrong point. They make a claim about life and reality, then force that claim upon God’s Word—trying to fit God’s Word into their own mold. That’s not how this works. 

God gave us His Word to shape us into His image—not so we can shape God’s Word into our own image. That’s called an idol. We must always start with God’s Word and work from there. That is our starting point. 

So, when God’s Word repeatedly teaches us God knows the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:8–10), we believe what it says. Then we shape our own lives/thinking to match what God says.

God’s Knowledge & Ours

Since this is a communicable attribute, we share this trait with God—yet in a limited way. God knows all things. We know some things.

This also reminds us that knowledge isn’t an evil or bad thing. It’s actually an attribute we share with our God. We should work to grow in our knowledge and refine our knowledge.

Yet, as I’ve already mentioned, our knowledge MUST be shaped by God’s knowledge. It makes sense for us to submit our limited knowledge to God’s unlimited knowledge. So, when our “knowledge” contradicts God. God wins every time. He knows better than we do.