Overview
Isaiah 46 has God declaring the end from the beginning, which means the conclusion was known at the moment of creation. That is a difficult thought to hold and a comforting one. Jeremiah was known before he was formed, and the word carries the sense of prolonged acquaintance, like a parent leaning over a crib rather than a passing glance. Psalm 139 extends it: our sitting down and rising up are known, and there is nowhere the knowledge does not reach. Because an issue was foreseen, the answer to it was provided in advance.
Transcript
Why Foreknowledge Increases Trust
Isaiah 46, please, if we want to increase our capacity to trust in the Lord, understanding God’s foreknowledge is paramount. There’s many records in the Word where God impressed upon certain people his foreknowledge. And I don’t think a day should go by where we don’t recognize his foreknowledge. He’ll keep us out of anxious thoughts and it is intrinsically tied to trust. It says in Isaiah 46, verse 9, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there’s none else. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times of things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure.
It’s
God Knows the End From the Beginning
difficult for us to comprehend and wrap our minds around at times that God already knows the end of everything. But it is a comforting thought. Look at Jeremiah chapter 1. See God knows the end from the beginning of everything. The beginning, the best we can reckon is in Genesis 1.1. So when he initiated, however he did it, creating the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1.1, he already knew the conclusion of the entire drama of humanity. He knew the conclusion of Lucifer and the third of the angels that would fall with him.
He knew it. Yet he still loves us, guides us, strengthens us, and he knows everything about us. See God also knows how we fit into the grand scheme of things. Sometimes we wonder that. And certainly with many things that we have on our plate these days, we oftentimes wonder as well. So here in Jeremiah chapter 1 is a staggering and amazing truth in verse 5. But I formed thee, God said to Jeremiah, in the belly. I knew thee. The word new here is interesting because in the Greek, in the Greek Old Testament, it means to stand upon.
And it’s referring to gaining knowledge by
What It Means That God Knew You
prolonged acquaintance, like a sustained personal effort. The best way I could describe it is hovering over someone like a dad or a mom would look into a crib over a baby and stare at it. That describes this word. It was used in ancient antiquity to reflect a skilled handicraft because it referred to prolonged practice. In other words, God doesn’t hover over you or didn’t hover over you before you were born for a second. You know, looked at you and then went to the next one.
It says prolonged. He had prolonged knowledge of you personally. He’s telling to Jeremiah, and before thou came as forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. That means he knew the capacity that Jeremiah had, how Jeremiah fit into the scheme of the nation of Israel and what he would accomplish. Look at
Psalm 139 and Being Fully Known
Psalm 139, please. Once foreknowledge is something we should reference, employ in our thinking. As an issue comes up, we understand he already knew it was going to come up. So that means he already has provided the solution and the answer.
Psalm 139, the great David, understood this very well, along with Isaiah, along with Jeremiah and many others. It says in Psalm 139, Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. The word known in the Greek is also a significant word. It’s the Greek word genosco. It means he experienced David beforehand. How does God do that? How does God experience a person that isn’t even born yet because he has foreknowledge? I know this is a lofty thought. I know that. But it’s in the word, and it’s something that we should engage in our thinking and our dialogue in ministering to people on a daily basis because it relieves the pressure.
God already has the solution. Thou knowest my down-sitting and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off before you even think it. And he still loves you. Thou comest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there’s not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. That means he’s experienced it. He’s already heard it. Thou hast beset me behind and before, so he surrounds us. And laid thine hand upon me. God hasn’t left, so whatever venture is before us, whatever adventure he has inspired within us, he already knows the conclusion.
We can be at rest. Such knowledge, experientially, is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto it. Yeah, your sense knowledge cannot handle it. It will not compute. You need spirit to begin to understand and have God unveil it unto you. Whether shall I go from my spirit or whether shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideeth not from thee, but the night shineth at the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. God fears nothing. He fears nothing. For thou hast possessed my reigns. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous all thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. See, people fall into being defined by the world, and sometimes it leads people into self-doubt or unworthy thoughts about themselves.
God didn’t make you that way. He didn’t create you that way. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in the secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect, and in my book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them. That’s a difficult translation. There’s many good ones. I’m going to read one of them. This is from the Passion translation of verses 15 and 16. You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place.
Carefully, skillfully, you shaped me from nothing to something. You saw who you created me to be before I became me, before I’d ever see the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book. We know this intellectually. I’m talking about reaching deep here. I’m talking about something on a daily basis that influences you and heads off the anxiety, heads off the fear before it goes anywhere. This is a powerful lever in our lives to understand his foreknowledge. People quote it and say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
How is it affecting your decision, your thoughts, your actions? That’s what God is interested in. Why does he take the time to tell us this if it isn’t significant? It’s very significant. That’s why all the plans that we make, we don’t need to be anxious about what’s going to happen in the future. He has it. He’s got it. Relax. David goes on to say in verse 17, how precious also are like thoughts unto me. Oh, God, how great is the sum of them to really put this in context, it’s just off the charts.
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with me. Look at Psalm 69. God’s foreknowledge is a powerful lever to bring us up and out in challenging situations. But also, it’s a great tool to use in ministering to people. Psalm 69, verse 5, oh, God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from me. He knows we still mess up. It doesn’t matter to him. He loves you anyway because he called you from before the foundation of the world.
Look at
Naked and Open Before Him
Hebrews 4.13. He called you before. There was even a thing called time. He knew. And he’s guided your path in light of the decisions that we’ve made because we’ve made decisions. He hasn’t made them. We’ve made them. But he’s guided our path and worked with us where we were at. This type of understanding can truly set you free. Hebrews 4, verse 13, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
That’s talking about we are naked before God. There’s nothing to hide. See, that was one of Adam and Eve’s first mistakes besides disobedience, is they hid. They hid. You can’t hide from God. When you minister to people, one of the key points to ministering to people is help them get honest. If you can’t get people honest or if they won’t allow it, you can’t help them or you can only help them a little bit. They are naked before God. So are you. What this is talking about is we must give God an account for nothing within me is hidden from you to whom we must give an account.
Foreknown and Called in Romans 8
Look at Romans 8. So I’m only picking out a few places. There’s so much that could be taught on this. But it would deliver people because it feeds into trust. Why do you trust him? Because he already knows. And he loves you anyway, even when we make mistakes. He is not going to rescind his call. He is not going to recall you as a faulty whatever. He won’t do it because the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. Romans 8, for we know that all things, verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are decalled according to his purpose.
Now this verse makes a little bit more sense because look at verse 29, for whom he did for know. That means to experience ahead of time. He made no mistake in his calling. It’s impossible for God to make a mistake. You are with him and in him. That’s a done deal. For whom he did for know, experienced beforehand, he did predestinate, which means to decide or set boundaries beforehand. He bases his decisions on yours. He knows the decisions you’re going to make. So he’ll work with you in those decisions as much as possible to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the first born among many brethren.
And specifically, it’s talking about the new birth. He knew you would confess Jesus as Lord. He knew you would accept his son. And this opens up a whole new world for us. There’s many Christians out there that don’t realize they’re born again, but they don’t realize that he’s called them already. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom he called, then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified. These are all completed actions by God. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
We’re not out to conquer the world. Jesus Christ already did that. He already won. We don’t want to fall into victimization. Like we’re a victim. We’re more than a conqueror because God is with us. He has spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And let’s close in
An Inheritance Reserved in Heaven
1 Peter. See, God wants to freely give us all things that we need. That’s part of his plan, part of how in his experiential knowledge of us, before we were even born, he’s laid out a course, a path for you and for me.
And as we partner with him, we will follow that path. 1 Peter, chapter one, verse two. Elect, Peter writes, to the elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the experiential knowledge beforehand. Here it’s in the noun form. Through the sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you in peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fainteth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
It’s reserved in heaven for you. Why? Because you’re a citizen of heaven. You’re not gonna get kicked out of heaven. You’re a citizen of heaven. It’s permanent. We’re just waiting for our new bodies to fully experience it. That’s it. Who are kept by the power of God through faith? That’s the faith of Jesus Christ unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. God’s foreknowledge is very integral to our capacity to trust him. Even if something is unknown, you can still trust him because he’s already experienced it and he will provide the solutions that we need as we partner with him.
Key Takeaways
- Isaiah 46 has God declaring the end from the beginning, so the conclusion was known at creation.
- The word used of God knowing Jeremiah implies prolonged acquaintance rather than a passing glance.
- Psalm 139 says our sitting down and rising up are known, and darkness hides nothing.
- If a difficulty was foreseen, then the provision for it was already made.
- Foreknowledge is meant to be referenced in daily thinking rather than treated as abstract doctrine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that God knows the end from the beginning?
Isaiah 46 has God declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things not yet done. The conclusion of the whole account was known at the moment of creation.
What does it mean that God knew Jeremiah before he was formed?
The word carries the sense of gaining knowledge through prolonged acquaintance, closer to a parent leaning over a crib and studying a child than to a passing glance.
How should foreknowledge affect daily life?
If a difficulty was foreseen, the provision for it was already made. That turns foreknowledge into something to reference when an issue arises rather than an abstract doctrine.
Scripture References
Isaiah 46; Genesis 1; Psalm 139; Psalm 69; Hebrews 4; Romans 8
This text was prepared from the teaching audio and notes. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
