God Exists and He Knows (KT 2)

In our last session, we laid the foundation of Kinship Theology (KT), understanding it as a Christian theology centered on God's relationship with creation. KT emphasizes that God loves infinitely—his love does not waver, does not turn on and off at will, but is always and only active. This love is rooted in his divine essence, which is Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Furthermore, KT defines love as the giving of self for the benefit of relationship. With this framework in mind, we now turn to two essential concepts regarding God: his relationship with time and his omniscience.

GOD AND TIME

To understand how God relates to time, we must familiarize ourselves with two terms: temporal (existing within time) and atemporal (existing outside time).

Within our temporal condition, time consists of past, present, and future. The future is infinite, continuously unfolding with no endpoint. The present is a single moment, and the past, unlike the future, must have had a starting point. If the past had no beginning, there would be no way to progress to the present. Since we exist in the present, the past must have had an origin.

In our temporal state, we also experience change—movement, growth, and development occur over time. Learning, for example, involves transitioning from a lack of knowledge to an expanded understanding. However, change can take place only in a temporal framework where time progresses. In an atemporal condition, there is no sequence, and thus, no change.

So, is God temporal or atemporal?

THE CASE FOR GOD BEING ATEMPORAL

If God exists within time, then he must have had a starting point. However, biblical evidence contradicts this notion. Psalm 90:2 declares, "Before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Isaiah 57:15 affirms, "For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever . . ." The Hebrew phrase used here means "inhabits eternity." Similarly, Revelation 1:8 proclaims, "I am the Alpha and the Omega . . . who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." These passages suggest that God has always existed, which aligns with the atemporal view.

Furthermore, if God were temporal, He would undergo change. Yet, Scripture affirms his unchangeability. Psalm 102:25-27 states that while creation changes, God remains the same. Malachi 3:6 explicitly declares, "I the Lord do not change." Hebrews 13:8 and James 1:17 reinforce this idea. These verses suggest that if God were temporal, he would change—but the Bible insists that he does not.

THE CASE FOR GOD BEING TEMPORAL

While God does not change in essence or character, Scripture also shows that He does change in relationship and response. Isaiah 59:2 states, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God.” This implies that a relationship with God not exist. But Isaiah 55:6-7 says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found . . . let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them." Here, God moves from not having a relationship to granting one, which is a change.

John 1:12 affirms this relational shift: "Yet to all who did receive him . . . he gave the right to become children of God." Similarly, Jonah 3:10 recounts how God relented from destroying Nineveh when the people repented. Moreover, God is said to "remember sins no more" (Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 31:34, Psalm 103:12), showing that he responds dynamically to human actions.

RECONCILING THE TWO VIEWS

God cannot be both temporal and atemporal in the same way. However, the resolution is found in the distinction between God's existence before creation and after creation. Before creation, God was atemporal—there was no time, and he simply existed. But when he created the universe, he entered into time to engage in love relationship with his creation. While he remains unchanged in essence and purpose (always acting in love), he does change in relational and responsive ways.

Thus, God is atemporal in his eternal existence, but when creating time, he stepped into the temporal context so that he could embrace in love relationship with his creation.

GOD AND OMNISCIENCE

Scripture is clear: "God knows everything" (1 John 3:20). But what does "everything" include? Does it mean God knows impossibilities, such as the thoughts of a married bachelor or the color of a trumpet’s sound? Of course not. Omniscience means God knows everything that can be known—everything that is real.

God is a God of reason and order (Proverbs 1:7, Isaiah 1:18, Matthew 22:37, 1 Corinthians 14:33). This is why the common atheist challenge, "Can God create a rock so heavy He can’t lift it?  is nonsensical. It tries to force a contradiction, but omniscience does not extend to the logically absurd.

DOES GOD KNOW THE FUTURE

This question hinges on whether the future is something that can be known. Knowledge is based on reality—what has happened or is happening. The past can be known because it was once real. But the future? It has not yet occurred, so it is not real yet.

Consider an individual who will become a Christian next year. Right now, that person does not have a relationship with God. Since God knows everything real, and that relationship does not yet exist, he does not currently know it as real. The future is not an object of knowledge because it has not yet been experienced.

Biblical examples support this:

• Exodus 32: God planned to judge Israel but relented after Moses’ intercession. If God had a fixed knowledge of the future, how could he "change" his course?

• Jonah 3:10: God relented from judgment when Nineveh repented.

God’s Infinite Planning

Does this mean God is uncertain about the future? Not at all. While he does not know the future as an already established reality, he knows every possible outcome. God has planned responses for every contingency, ensuring that no event can occur for which he has not already accounted.

Rather than viewing God as watching a pre-scripted play, we see him as a master strategist, infinitely prepared for any possibility. This view does not diminish God’s omniscience—it magnifies it, showing him as an active, dynamic, and infinitely wise God who shapes the future through his infinite knowledge and power.

CONCLUSION

Through our study, we have seen that:

• God was atemporal before creation but became temporal in relation to us.

• God does not change in essence but does change in relationship and response.

• God knows everything that is real, and while the future is not real yet, he comprehensively knows all possibilities.

These truths deepen our understanding of God’s infinite love, wisdom, and relationship with us. They reveal a God who is not distant and deterministic but relational, engaged, and dynamically involved in His creation. Truly, God exists, and God knows everything.