GOD KNOWS…

by Pastor Gary Ritchie of One Way Ministries.

For the past month, we have enjoyed studying Ephesians in our Wednesday night Bible Study. As I prepared for the lesson a few weeks ago, my eyes were drawn to verse 4-5 in Ephesians 1. As I pondered the scripture, I was reminded of many discussions related to predestination. This blog is not really about that thought today, but I have heard many theories about what God meant by that word. To give context to my random thoughts this morning, take a moment to meditate upon this scripture and ask Holy Spirit to reveal himself to you.   

Ephesians 1:  3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.[b] 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Consider verse 4 for a moment. The New Living Translation gives us such simple and concise language to fully understand this verse. My revelation as I meditated upon this verse offered additional proof of God’s omniscience (all knowing) and omnipotence (all powerful).  Even before he made the world … I was on his mind. And so were you!  God had a plan for us before the earth was ever created – even before Adam and Eve.  And God chose us to be holy and without fault. The great reveal comes in verse 5. God already knew before the foundations of the world, before creation, that “he would adopt us by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.” God knew even before Adam and Eve that we would need a Savior.   Why would Adam and Eve need a Savior? The very same reason we all need a Savior.  Because we are all flawed and have a sin condition. For Adam and Eve, I believe God already knew that the fall would come. And yet he still created Adam. Oh, what love!    

Here is just a thought that may be too far out there to consider: If God knows all from the beginning to the end, does man have choice? Of course, we all have choice. We have choice to sin, to choose God, or to reject him. Every decision we make is our choice. God never planned to create puppets on a string. He gives us freewill. Yet still, if God knows all, he knows our beginning until our end. With that thought in mind, what does the theory of predestination mean to you? To me, it is pretty simple – God chose us even before creation because he knew our sin condition. He predestined us to salvation. It is easy for me to believe that he already knows our every choice we will ever make. Yet it does require our own freewill to choose God’s plan for us. The promise of salvation is offered to every man.   It was God’s plan that we all receive his free gift of Heaven everlasting. Oh what a Savior!

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