WHAT
DO YOU KNOW
ABOUT
THE PURPOSE OF GOD?
Whenever you read, or quote,
or even think of Romans 8:28, be sure you do not leave out those last four
words. You will never understand anything in this Book, you will never
understand anything God does, you will never understand the mystery and wonder
of Divine Providence until you understand that God does everything “according to his purpose”.
When I read those four
words, the first thing that comes to my mind, the first thing I want to know is
this: “What is his purpose?” You may
think, “It is impossible for us to know the purpose of God.” In a sense that is
certainly true. It is written, “Secret
things belong unto the Lord” (Deut. 29:29). We must never attempt to pry
into the future. What God has purposed for us is God’s business. Our business
is to trust him. However, the very next line of that text reads, “but those things which are revealed belong
unto us and to our children for ever.”
I want to show you that which is plainly revealed in Holy Scripture about
the purpose of our God. The reason why these things are revealed is, according
to Deuteronomy 29:29, “that we may do all
the words of this law;” that is to say, That we may learn to trust the Lord our God. The purpose of God by which all providence is ruled is
written in unmistakable words in Romans 8:29-30.
The
opening word of verse 29, “for”,
links what we read in verses 29 and 30 to what was just stated in verse 28. In
other words, Paul is saying, “Let me explain what I mean by those words, according to his purpose.” Then, he
explains himself in the rest of the chapter, beginning in verse 29.
Foreknowledge
“Whom he did foreknow...” All that God designed for our eternal happiness and
glory he has graciously decreed and shall infallibly accomplish for us in
Christ, because he foreknew us. The word “foreknowledge,”
as it is in the Scriptures does not mean what men generally think it means.
Foreknowledge with God is not merely a prescience, or knowledge beforehand. The
counsels, decrees and works of our great God are not caused, do not depend
upon, and never bow to the frail and fickle will of men. If foreknowledge does
not merely mean knowledge beforehand, what does it mean? The Word of God tells
us.
The word
translated foreknowledge is the word
from which we get our English word prognosis.
You know what a prognosis is. It is commonly used as a medical term. A
doctor first makes a diagnosis of a patient’s disease. Then he makes a
prognosis. His prognosis is the direction and course he expects the disease to
take. But the doctor’s prognosis is really a very fickle thing. It depends on
many variables.
With God,
foreknowledge is much, much more than a prognosis! There are no variables with
the Almighty! With him, there are no unexplainable turns for better or worse.
God’s foreknowledge is much, much more than a mere knowledge beforehand of what
we will be or do. I repeat myself deliberately. The counsel and decree of God
does not depend, even slightly, upon the frail, fickle, will of man. Contrary
to popular opinion, God’s eternal purpose of grace in Christ was not the result
of him foreseeing man’s repentance and faith.
Everlasting Love
God’s
foreknowledge of his people is his
everlasting love wherewith he loved
us from eternity (Jer. 31:3). As Adam knew his wife Eve, in a special,
distinct, loving way, so the Lord God knew his elect in Christ from eternity
(Gen. 4:1). When our Lord says to many in the day of judgment, “I never knew you”, his meaning will not
be I do not know who you are and what you
have done. His meaning will be I
never knew you like I know these my elect, whom I knew and loved from
everlasting Matt. 7:23)
Approval
When the
Scriptures speak about God knowing his people the meaning is that he owns and approves of us as his people. The Lord’s
foreknowledge of us implies his election and ownership of us (Ps. 1:6; Jn.
10:14; 2 Tim. 2:19; Rom. 11:2.).
Foreordination
God’s
foreknowledge of his elect in Christ is his foreordination of his chosen unto
salvation and eternal life in him. It is in this sense that Peter uses the word
in 1 Peter 1:2, where he says we are “Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” The word translated foreknowledge in verse two is exactly the same word used in verse twenty
There it is translated foreordained
where the Holy Spirit describes the Lord Jesus Christ as the crucified Lamb of
God by whose precious blood we are redeemed. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ died
at Calvary by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge (foreordination) of God
the Father (Acts 2:23), all God’s elect are saved by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge (foreordination) of God. So foreknowledge is God’s sovereign, free
love determining from eternity the salvation of his elect.
Security
God’s
foreknowledge necessarily implies the infallible, everlasting security of his
elect as well. If the Lord God knows me all is well. That means he loves me,
owns me as his, and approves of me. If he foreknew me from eternity, as our
text declares, that means that all is well for me from everlasting to
everlasting. His knowledge of me is my security!
If you are a believer, a child of God, you are known of
God from eternity! You are one of those “whom
he did foreknow!” God almighty, in amazing grace and infinite love,
determined to save you before the worlds were made! This is God’s foreknowledge - He loved you, he owned you, he chose
you, he foreordained you, he approved of you, and he secured you in Christ
before he created the universe! Thus, he predestinated you to salvation in
Christ and declared you to be justified, called and glorified in Christ before
the world began! That is the purpose of our God by which all providence is
ruled.
Amen.
Grace Baptist Church of
Danville - Grace For Today Radio Message #703-704
2734 Old Stanford Road - Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor -Telephone
606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net