Now that we know that the Bible teaches us that God is unchanging, and have learned a bit about what that means, let’s consider what it means for God to be unchanging in knowledge and will. We’ll give thought to His knowledge today and will tomorrow.
Yesterday, I hinted at how God’s immutability directly relates to other attributes, such as goodness. The same can be said about knowledge. It’s impossible for God’s knowledge to change because God’s knowledge is exhaustive; God’s knowledge is exhaustive because God is the source of all knowledge. Just as God’s being is immutable, so is His knowledge. God never learns or forgets.
If God’s knowledge were not immutable but was susceptible to change, He wouldn’t be worth trusting. Why? Because as God grew or changed in His knowledge, this would prove some or all of his revelations to be untrue, or His promises to be based on a poor foundation. For example, if I tell my friend “We’ll eat outside tonight” and it starts raining, I won’t follow through on my plan. My lack of knowledge altered my trustworthiness (albeit, in a small and insignificant way).
Because God’s knowledge is unchanging, we can trust that His promises will all be fulfilled:
“God is not a 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?”
Num. 23:19
What trouble can befall us that is unknown to God? If all things are known by Him and we are His children, then even troubles do not take Him by surprise or alter His intentions for our redemption and ultimate good. Glory is the end of every Christian. Therefore, let us rest in the knowledge that God knows all things immutably.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- In what ways does God’s knowledge differ from ours?
- Why would it bad if God’s knowledge was not immutable?
- How is knowing that God’s knowledge is immutable a comfort to us?
Church Reading Plan: Isaiah 58; Matthew 6