Real God 2: All Knowing, All Present, All Powerful, Unchanging
World – does not know who God is. Church – does not teach fullness God (Ms Rachel)
God’s attributes
1. Self-revealed perfection about Himself (not our guess). =trait, characteristic, quality
2. Unshared & Shared (today we look at final 4 of 7)
3. “omni” means ALL (knowing, present, powerful)
You
- No person, family, or culture can rise above their view of God (karma, controlling)
- You cannot be emotionally, mentally, or spiritually healthy w/a wrong view God.
- You need a “mystery” bucket
- A little prophetic imagination goes a long way (“appearance” “like”; “as”)
All Knowing (Omniscience) #1-1 slide
God has complete and perfect knowledge of all things, including the past, present, future, and everything actual or potential.
Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
Isaiah 40:12-14 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?
Hebrews 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
ESPN vs ESPN Classics
The following are all lower third
God knows the past, present, and future Isaiah 46:9–10 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
God knows every bird and beast Psalm 50:11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.
God knows every star Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
God knows light and darkness Psalm 139:12 [NLT] even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
God knew you before birth Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you…”
God knows your heart and mind Jeremiah 11:20 O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them…
God knows everything about you Psalm 139:1-4 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.
God knows the day Jesus is returning Acts 17:31 he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Comforting: Future NOT open
The all-knowing “mind” of God 1 slide
Psalm 110:4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind…
Romans 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord…
1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”
The foreknowledge and predestination of God lower third
Romans 8:29 those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…
Ephesians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
-God made us knowing – 1. We’d sin 2. Jesus would come
All sins forgiven (future, cannot lose salvation). God knows ur worst. God sees ur BEST
Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
Acts 2:22-24 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God [divine sovereignty], you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men [human responsibility]. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
CRUISE SHIP – Captain (sovereignty/knowledge) Passengers (personal responsibility)
Summary of God’s All-Knowing Omniscience
- God does not learn new things. God does not forget old things.
- God does not study, read, or analyze.
- God is never wrong. God has no plan B. Plan A right (Gen. 1-2 = Kingdom)
- God is relational & responds to our prayers and repentance (conditional commands) e.g. Gen 6:6; 1 Sam. 15:11; 2 Sam 24:6; Jonah 3:10; Joel 2:13)
- God never changes His mind 1 slide
I Samuel 15:29 [HCSB] …the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not man who changes his mind.
Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Concerning
· AI is an attempt at omniscience & easily weaponized by demonic for anti-Christ
Comforting
· If we don’t trust God as all knowing we try = fear/anxiety WE KNOW TOO MUCH
All Present (Omnipresence) #2 these can be on 1 slide
God is Spirit, and everywhere at all times.
1 Kings 8:2 [Solomon’s dedication of the Temple] “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built !
Psalm 139:7-12 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you.
Jeremiah 23:24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
God’s All Present “eye” on 1 slide
Genesis 6:8 Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
1 Peter 3:12 the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous…
God is Near (Imminence) and Far (Transcendence) one slide
1. Atheism – God is not imminent or transcendent. There is no God and all that we have is a material universe absent of God, Satan, angels, demons, and the human soul.
2. Pantheism –God is imminent, not transcendent. There is no personal God but rather an impersonal force in us and in all the world (Star Wars, Avatar, Wicca, New Age, Native American spirituality, Radical Environmentalism, personal auras and energy, Feng Shui).
3. Deism – God is transcendent, not imminent. If there is a personal God, that God lives separate from our world and does not get involved in our affairs and cannot be known.
4. Creationism – God is transcendent, and imminent. God is the Creator who is separate from His creation but is actively involved connecting the heavenly/spiritual and earthly/physical realms into one reality and we exist to worship the Creator and exercise dominion over creation. God chooses thin places to connect the seen and unseen realms.
Concerning: Technology =attempt omnipresence (gossip/busybody; social media)
Comforting:
1. God connects seen/unseen “thin places” (bush, ladder, temple, Jesus, HS, worship)
2. God =present feel/don’t. Healed/die. Divorced/married. Candidate win/lose
God’s Presence is the cure to fear and anxiety on 1 slide
Isaiah 43:1–5 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you…“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…Fear not, for I am with you…”
- You can sin in God’s presence (Satan/Demons) if you have proud heart
- We’re not all knowing – future brings fear, anxiety present
- #1 command “fear not” – “for I am with you” = presence
Haiti relief trip. Kid shot. Delivering supplies. Armed security forces arrived
All Powerful (Omnipotence) #3 one slide
God is all-powerful and able to do all that He wills.
Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
Jeremiah 32:17,27 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you…“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
Matthew 19:26 Jesus…said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…
2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception
God’s all powerful “arm” one slide
Exodus 6:6 ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm…
Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him…
John 12:38 …to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Concerning
- Satan Commands Jesus to perform miracles. God’s power is free.
- Government seeks to remove & replace God & be all knowing, powerful, present
Comforting
God made the world, parted Red Sea, leveled Sodom/Gomorrah
God will lift the curse…remove evildoers…imprison Satan/demons…raise dead…rule!
God is only relationship never changes & you can count on!
Unchanging (Immutable) #4 one slide
God does not change in his essence, character, purpose, or knowledge but does respond to people and their prayers.
Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Malachi 3:6 “For I the Lord do not change…”
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
God has conditional commands – you decide, He responds accordingly
God’s Word is Unchanging one slide
Psalm 119:89 Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words,lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
1. God is not a changing old man.
2. God wants us to change, unrepentant sinners are trying to be immutable
Does Jesus Christ have all the divine attributes? Lower third
Hebrews 2:17–18 “He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
- God tempted? Growing? Traveling? Overpowered?
= Jesus not faking – Clark Kent
Philippians 2:5–8 “…Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself…”
1. God became a man, and did not lose divine attributes)
2. Jesus is God humbling Himself (set aside continual use divine attributes)
Shooting blindfolded
3. = God gave up his glory/rights/use attributes to come down to be w/for us.
4. NOT BECAUSE He could not live w/o us. Because He is good. God v Man center