So, does God really see…everything?
Q: Does God know all things?
A: Yes. Nothing can be hidden from God.
(1 Chronicles 28:9; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Luke 12:6, 7; Romans 2:16)
The question of God’s knowledge is closely related to his sight. Since God “searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (1 Chronicles 28:9), truly nothing can be hidden from him. He peers beyond the outward appearance and sees. His sight is true, and it is accompanied by understanding. We can’t fake it before God, we must be fully devoted to him from the heart because he sees into our hearts. We must then trust in him to change our hearts, and we must tend our hearts as well.
Asa is a good example of a failure to tend to your heart. God blessed the king as he trusted in the Lord, but over time, as his strength grew, so did his self-reliance. He relied on his strength and the strength of others to secure victory for Judah, rather than upon the Lord. From outward appearances, how could one know that Asa’s doings with Syria were rooted in a lack of trust in God? From the outside, you couldn’t. But God knew because, “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God knows not only what you do, like a careful human observer, but he knows why you did it, down to the smallest detail.
No matter how insignificant you think you, or the details of your life are, God knows. He knows and will never forget small birds, or the number of hairs on your head. The Lord Jesus himself believed this ought to cause us to look on God with the sort of fear that drives out every other fear (Luke 12:6-7). Jesus here offers the same sort of comfort for the believer that Paul does in Romans 8:31. The comfort of “if God is for us, who can be against us” depends on us trusting in a God that is not only all powerful, but all knowing.
Time for some more vocabulary. Just as we have looked at the omnipresence of God, we now discuss his omniscience. Again, omni means “all or every.” Science means “knowledge” So, to say God is omniscient is to say that he has all knowledge, he knows absolutely everything. That includes everything about you, and me. He knows everything that we think we have kept secret, and he will judge us accordingly.
In fact, as we see in Romans 2:16, among the Trinity it is specifically the Son, the Lord Christ who will judge the secrets men have buried deep in their hearts. Again, this is both blessing and curse. How terrible to have a judge who knows your every crime, and himself is without fault or failure, but has suffered as though he were a common criminal. This same judge offered to pay your penalty, but you stubbornly refused. I would expect no mercy in judgement is such a situation. At the same time, what a blessing for those who have trusted in Christ. How comforting to know that the judge is the very one who willingly paid for your lawbreaking with his own life! What greater comfort could come to one facing judgement?
Yours in Christ,