I believe it's revelatory that the criminal at Jesus' side was deemed worthy of salvation (heaven) by Jesus at the crucifixion.
Here is a criminal deserving of his execution by his own admission, where scriptures give no indication that he had obtained any knowledge of Christ or his relation to the Father. Or if he had, it wasn't enough to compel him to change his ways and avoid being sentenced.
Yet he was saved (by his expression of humility on the cross and whatever else Christ saw in his heart). It's difficult to argue that he would be the one lone exception and everyone else must have an absolute understanding of the essence of God to be saved. If it is truly the case that God "desires that all should be saved" then he won't hold our lack of comprehension against us.