If God Knows Everything, What Does He Think About?

I was asked recently, "If God is omniscient, what does he think about?" I didn't have the presence of mind to ask, "What do you mean?" I'm not exactly sure what the inquirer had in mind, but let's speculate. If he meant, "He already knows everything; what more is there to learn or know if he already knows it all?" then he's just shown that he believes that the purpose of thought is strictly the pursuit of knowledge and nothing more. This seems to me a deficient view of the purpose of thought.

As a means to knowledge, Yes, thought is invaluable, indispensable, suitable, and constructive. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that knowledge is got by rational, and not irrational, methods. Whether, as Christians, we say that this rational pursuit of knowing things must necessarily remain subservient to the Scriptures, or, as Atheists, we say that this rational pursuit of knowing things is, itself, our criteria for discovering what "is" in the world, the point remains: irrational pursuit of what "is", of Truth, of Reality, is an oxymoron. So, in the end, discovery, learning, knowing, etc. require us to think.

But that's not the question. The question is, "Once you've learned all there is to learn, to what purpose now does one put one's thinking?" It brings to mind an image of an antique collector who's set out to acquire one of every original antique that's ever existed (I know, it's ridiculous; just stay with me), and now that they've succeeded, there they are, sitting, eternally looking at all their finds. Now what? This, I think, is not the situation in which we find our omniscient God. What, then, is he doing? It seems to me that he's rejoicing, delighting, loving, thrilling, exulting, basking, and any other suitable "-ing" that involves the divine affections. God knows everything, and he's not indifferent to what he knows; his affections are employed and engaged with respect to what he knows, both with respect to himself and with respect to creation.

When Jesus prays for his Father to restore him to the glory that he shared with his Father before the world began and the incarnation, I don't think he had in mind going back to heaven in order to share glory like you share peanut butter; I think he had in mind sharing glory like one shares joy: you participate in it as well as enjoy it. And this, I think, reveals an essential quality of the Triune God: he not only knows all things, but he's not indifferent to what he knows; his knowledge is not merely a rational acquisition of facts, data, info, etc. He knows things not merely intellectually, but affectively, emotionally, heartily, passionately. It's one thing to "know" algebra; it's another to "know" that as you're driving across the bridge constructed on the right calculation of algebra that you're not falling into a rubble heap below, and to like that fact. God, in his omniscience, knows things most fully, most penetratingly, most soundly, most usefully, which is to say that he knows nothing merely in its "abstractness" (i.e. like algebraic symbols on the page), but that everything he knows, he knows in relation to himself and to all things, and in these things he knows he rejoices (or rages, or laughs, as the case may be, Psalm 2).

Thought, whether human or divine, is necessary in the pursuit (or, as in the case of God, the act) of knowing things, but once we know this or that, the point is not "there, I've learned it, now I can put it down, forget it, never use it, etc." The point is, "What kind of response does this knowledge call for from me?" And if the point of the Bible is that we are meant to do everything in such a way as to display the glory and greatness of God, this would include the affective manner in which we regard what we know, whether of God or of anything else. Yes, in the eternal state, we will ever and always be encountering fresh discoveries of the glory of our Savior that were unknown to us before, but he will always be full of the knowledge of God and of all things: what will he be doing while we're learning? I think, among other things, he'll be smiling, and (similar to the way we delight in watching children make fresh discoveries) saying, "Nice" -and he'll mean it.

How Parenting is Like Marriage

When my wife and I began having children, we believed that training them to obey us was the main goal. It wasn't until much later (our oldest was about 8) that we began to see obedience as a very poor end in itself. When we stopped believing that our children are "in training" for life till they're 18 or graduated, and started believing that they, just like every other person on the planet, is playing a role now in God's drama of redemption, our style of parenting changed a little, but the mood in our home changed a lot - and we began to enjoy each other more.

If perfect obedience is the goal, you'll be frustrated and angry every day - and I was for many years, it seemed. When loyalty (not perfection) becomes the goal (but only insofar as it's an end in a greater Goal - God's reputation in your home), set-backs and disappointments won't capsize the happiness of your home every night at dinner or bedtime, even though they still come almost just as frequently. You may also recognize that, as a parent, it's not all about you (or even your children or their future): it's about what God is showing the world about himself in your child's obedience or disobedience, and your response to it.

It was then that raising kids became fun and a joy for me.

The same can be said of marriage. The world needs more than obedient children, and it needs more than marriages that work: it needs to hear what marriage has to say about God, to see the greatness, beauty, and glory of God's covenantal love for his people. When marriage begins to take on Divine significance, it becomes interesting and meaningful, to say the least. When we begin to believe that our marriage, or children, or the yard, or neighbors, or puzzles on Saturday afternoons, or visiting invalids in nursing homes are all part of a larger move of God to say something to the world about himself and his glory and our place in it, things that formerly seemed insignificant, meaningless, or negligible begin to take on greater signficance and meaning, and are now worth the time and effort to do them well (i.e. diapers, groceries, neighborly chat, or a phone call).

The remarkable thing in all this is that by thinking less of obedience or marriage in themselves, they take on greater meaning and significance. When they cease to be the "end all", they begin to serve as ends to Christ as all in all. The meaning and significance we so much long for in the nitty-gritty of kids and marriage and work and friends will not appear until we see that, in themselves, they are nothing; but as they are players God's drama to display his glory as King and Judge and Lover of the world, they take on an eternal, incomparable, and wonderful significance.

Mind you, I don't hope for dirty diapers, dishes, or disobedience when I'm at home any more than I used to, but as they appear, the glory of God is not far away - and believing that makes all the difference.