GOD'S PLAN IS WISE

Romans 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

Romans 11:34

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His Counselor?

1. Definition

   God's plan is wise because it is based upon His omniscience. It helps to understand some of the basic features of the wisdom of God.

God's Knowledge Is Not Limited by Time

   We often say that hindsight is better than foresight. Since the past is the only portion of time, we know it is of greater value to us. We can go back and evaluate what happened to us in the past, see our failures, and make some adjustments, which will give us a better future. We can see our successes and ponder how to continue to sustain them. We can speculate about the future and make pretty accurate guesses on how some things will turn out, but none of us know what tomorrow will bring. We are creatures of time, and time limits our knowledge.

   God has no problems with time, for He is the Creator of it. He brought time into existence by causing something to begin, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Space and time began with creation. However, our God existed before the creation of the Universe. He is eternal and, therefore, not subject to time. In the mind of God, there is no such thing as past, present, or future. God uses concepts of time to accommodate us because we are creatures of time.

God's Knowledge Is Not Progressing or Growing

  God knows all things at once in their totality. He does not need a teacher. Who has been The Lord's counselor? We, on the other hand, must learn. Our knowledge grows, but God never had to learn anything. He has known all things perfectly, wholly, and eternally. Everything that can be known is known by God. 

God Knows the Actual as Well As The Possible

  How often have you asked, "I wonder what my life would be like if this occurred instead of that."  It could be about a vocation. What if I was a plumber instead of an electrician? God knows! He knows all the possibilities and alternatives to every decision and in every case.

Illustration

   Let's take a young lady who has dated three different men who all want to marry her.  After some time, she chooses Charley, and they get married and live happily ever after. This is what actually occurs. However, God knows all the possibilities. He knows what her life would be like if she chose Abel or Baker. He knew what her life would be like if she married Abel. He knew what her life would be like if she married Baker. He not only saw in His omniscient mind her life with Charley but the possibilities as well. Let me stretch you even more. She only knew about three men who were interested in marriage, but there were others she did not know about, but God did. God knows all the repercussions of every possibility, as well as what actually occurs. This is what is meant by all-knowledge.

Summary

   God knows everything. He knows the actual (what will occur) and the possibilities (what possibility could occur).

   God knows every minute detail of both the angelic and human history, completely, perfectly, and it is in His mind at all times.

   God knows what would have happened in every case where a person's decision might have been different. God knows every thought, every decision, every act of every individual, how all these relate to one another, and how they relate to all the possibilities and alternatives.

2. Documentation

   David's writing on the omniscience of God is found in Psalm 139. What does God know?

Psalm 139:1

O Jehovah, You have searched me, and you have known me.

   The past tense points to the eternal past. Before you were you, God knew you. What
does God know?

Psalm 139:2

You have known me when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought afar of (that is before he had the thoughts).

Psalm 139:3

You have computed my journey (through life).

   God knows every thought and every deed. He put it all in the computer of divine decrees. God took cognizance of free will. He knows every thought and every deed and guarantees your thoughts and actions by decreeing them. What does God know? 

“and my lying down,”

      How much of your life is spent sleeping? God knows. 

“In fact, you are intimately acquainted with all my ways.”

     Take the matter of personal sin. God had to know all of your sins for Jesus Christ to die for them.

Hebrews 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Psalm 139:4 

Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold O Lord You know it all.

   Take prayer as an illustration. God knows what we will pray before we pray. What does God know?

  Jesus said about prayer:

Matthew 6:8

Therefore, do not be like them; for your, Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

   Your prayers and your needs are known to God.

Psalm 139:5

Thou hast enclosed me behind and before, And laid Thy hand upon me.

Psalm 139.6

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

  David says such knowledge is incapable of being fully understood.

Isaiah 46:9

Remember the former things long past, For I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is no one like Me,

Isaiah 46:10

Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, My purpose will be established And I will accomplish all My good pleasure;

3. Meditation

   God's plan is wise, and therefore, everything has a reason, God's reason.

   God's perfect and eternal knowledge is not subject to development, omissions, additions, or improvement.

   God programs everything in the computer of divine decrees because He knows everything. He knows your decisions, actions, the causes and effects, the means and results of every action.

4. The Drill: Discipline yourself to godliness

1st:  Claiming the promises

   I turn to God. I bring Him into the picture by claiming the promise in Romans 8:28. From
that promise, I recognize that God is at work. God has a plan, and all the problems in my life are related to that plan. God is in the trouble.

2nd: Concentrating on the rationale

   What do I know about the plan of God? God's plan is wise, being based upon His perfect
knowledge. There is a reason for everything. You may not always know the reason. Jesus said to Peter:

John 13:1

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

John 13:2

And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

John 13:3

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, 

John 13:4

rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.

John 13:5

Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

John 13:6

And so He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You Wash my feet?"

John 13:7

Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter."

   This is Jesus' encouragement to Peter and a promise to us.  As Jesus was in the Upper Room washing the feet of the disciples, He came to Peter. Peter, at first, refused to allow the Lord to wash his feet. He did not understand this action of the Lord. He couldn't reason it out. Jesus said, "What I do, you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter."  There is a reasonable explanation.  Even though we might not understand, God does.  God understands His own plan, even when we don't.