Wouldn’t you love to know everything that will happen in the future? We often guess and even forecast as if we know the future. But truth be known, we do not have that ability. If we did, we would probably be very unhappy.
I do not want to know the day and circumstances of my death. Nor do I want to see the horrors of future wars, loss of family members, and illnesses I might go through before they happen. I will leave all that up to God, who is all powerful and knows all that will happen down life’s winding road.
The Bible tells us that God is “All Powerful”, meaning he is unlimited is everything. He can see all things, knows all things, and cannot be overthrown or stopped in what he does. God also, because he is “All Powerful”, can know the future before it happens. We call this “Foreknowledge, or knowing before.
Some folks do not believe that God can see the future. They say that man cannot have “Free Will” unless God puts blinders on and does not see the events of our tomorrows. This viewpoint goes against other scripture that say God is omniscient, which means he is fully present in every place at every time or moment.
It would be silly to think that God is present everywhere but closes his eyes to what is going on because it is in our future. God does not change or diminish his authority or power in any way. Malachi 3:6 supports this, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
James 1:17 also tells us that there is no shadow of turning with God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
I will list a few scriptures that show the foreknowledge of God in action.
Romans 8:29-30
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
God predetermined the destination of all who would believe in Christ. That destination was to be like his only begotten Son, Jesus. Verse 29 tells us that all those folks were known by God beforehand and were predestined. This is a clear reference to God’s foreknowledge in action.
Notice that God’s action was based upon his foreknowledge of man’s free will. They did not violate each other. God’s sovereignty and man’s free will were allowed to operate independently from each other, but flowed together in perfect harmony.
In Revelation 13:8, the apostle John writes, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world”
The apostle John, writer of the book of Revelation, tells us that Jesus was known as the “Slain Lamb” of God before the foundation of the world. If this is true, which I believe it is, God knew even before creation that Jesus would die for the sins of the world. This is again a clear picture of God’s foreknowledge in action. God knew he would have to sacrifice his only begotten Son to redeem humanity before man was even created.
Acts 2:23 tells us more about God’s foreknowledge.
”Him, (Jesus) being delivered by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken,
and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”
It is obvious that God delivered Jesus into the hands of evil men so they could crucify him and he decided this by his knowing ahead of time (Foreknowledge) that those evil men would kill him. Why did he do that? Because he was chosen before the foundation of the world to be the slain Lamb (Sacrifice) of God for the remission of sin to all who would believe.
The apostle Peter starts his first letter off by referring to the saints as “Elect of God.”
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” I Peter 1:2
Election by God unto eternal life is not a choice of God to save some and damn others. It is through his knowing before it happens that he calls them unto eternal life. The Bible says “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
The few that are chosen are referred to by Jesus as the “Whosoevers” of John 3:16-17. Here is what it says.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
If you are a “Whosoever” you were called of God to eternal life by God, the Father, through the blood of Jesus Christ. He was and still is the only sacrifice that satisfies God’s justice. Jesus is God’s plan of salvation for all of humanity.
All of this is “Foreknowledge” and it affects every human being and everyone’s destiny. Let me now discuss the benefits of God knowing the future. Here is what I see:
Because he is fully God in the future and fully God with us now, we can rest in his love and grace. He knows what is ahead and can direct us away from harm. Did not Jesus, in the Lord’s prayer, say, “Lead us not into temptation?” How does God know when and where we might be confronted with temptation? Because he is “All Powerful” he knows and has the power to be fully God in every place at every moment.
In the 23rd psalm, written by king David, his faith in God knowing and his ability to rule over our coming and going, caused him to pen these words, “He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies” God knows your enemies and offers you a table full of blessings. He does it openly right in front of those who hate you.
We are saved by his grace, called unto eternal life by his foreknowledge that we would receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and sealed until the day of redemption by his own Spirit. This means there is no reason to fear the future. God is there as well as here with us now.
If we deny the foreknowledge of God, we attack the sovereignty of God. How can God be a sovereign God without knowing the future? God’s sovereignty says he rules over everything and he rules everywhere. His omnipresence says he is fully God in every moment in every place, including the future. This is why he can rule as our Sovereign, because he is there.
Did not the psalmist say, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” Psalm 139:8. We cannot get away from God. He is everywhere.
Much of God’s counsel is based upon foreknowledge. There are many examples in the prophets’ writings, such as Isaiah 30:21. Here is what God said in times past. “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” How can God know the way unless he has seen it firsthand and knows that his way will be the best for us? Again, this is foreknowledge in action.
“I AM” There,
At the end of your broken dreams,
Before the sun rises over your day,
Prior to those tear-filled streams.
“I AM” There,
Down that road of despair,
When all seems to be lost,
And no one seems to care.
“I AM” There,
Over life’s twists and turns,
When tomorrow is all but gone,
And when you are full of concerns.
“I AM” There,
Sayeth the Lord of Host,
To bring you hope and peace,
And the power of my Holy Ghost.
“I AM” There,
To be sure you make it through,
In the midst of every trial,
To bless your life and deliver you.
“I AM” There
Written by
John Marinelli
This is what God says about himself: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8
It all begins with God and ends with God. He is the “Almighty.” He does not change or turn from one way to another. He is God, and he rules with grace and majesty over his creation.
Join me in praising God for being with us as we go through life and give thanks that he knows what we will face in our tomorrows.
Use this link to download my new book, “Being Born Again.” It is free.
www.marinellichristianbooks.com/free-ebook
Until next time
John Marinelli, Author & Poet
MarinelliChristianBooks.com