WHAT DOES GOD
KNOW ANYWAY?
Kurt Dahlin,
How long ago did God know what I
would do today? How long ago did God
know what he would do today? Does God
ever not know what he will do?
God knows what I will do every
day. God knows what he will do every
day. This kind of knowledge is called foreknowledge. Foreknowledge means, “to
know in advance.” Predestination means, “to decide, decree, foreordain,
predetermine or appoint beforehand.” Predestination is not synonymous with
foreknowledge. Predestination is what
God does. Foreknowledge is what God knows. Predestination is only one aspect of
God’s total knowledge. God knows infinitely more than he does. The
predestination of earthly affairs represents but a small finite drop of God’s
infinite knowledge. God knows immeasurably more than he foreordains. If God
only knows what he predestines he is not omniscient. Even humans know more than
what they do. Therefore, foreknowledge is not equivalent to predestination. God
knows what will be as well as what could be.
God know all contingencies. This is called middle knowledge.
Everything that God does must be,
by nature, predetermined. God is never
truly spontaneous. Everything that God
does is predestined. Could God ever do something he didn’t know he was going to
do? God’s omniscience prohibits spontaneity. God has perfect knowledge of
everything he would do from before the dawn of time. God must know all, before he can determine
anything he will do. Foreknowledge must always precede predestination. Foreknowledge,
as a part of omniscience, is an attribute of God. Predestination is something
God does based on his foreknowledge. God does not do anything thoughtlessly,
capriciously, arbitrarily or on whim.
God not only knows what is, but
also what could be and what should be.
He is infinite in the range of his knowing. If God only knows what he foreordains, God is
not omniscient. To believe that God knows all things, even things that could
be, does not mean that he is a harried bookkeeper. God is not a harried
bookkeeper. God is omniscient and
omnipotent. He is not stressed about
anything.
God knows all my choices from
before the foundation of the world and as such has prepared and provided for
all my choices from before the foundation of the world. He has determined his
eternal plan with me in mind. Yet, he has not determined my choices. My God is so
powerful that he can allow real choice and still be sovereign.
Would God have known, before the
foundation of the Earth, that I would receive his offer of saving grace? Sure!
God’s knowledge of my choice doesn’t make my choice an irresistible
necessity. God’s knowledge of my choice does not violate my free will. God has
established choice as the vehicle to receive his saving grace. Choice is the
hand that reaches out to God’s grace. God’s knowledge of my choice for Jesus
doesn’t have anything to do with any argument against freewill.
Calvinists say that freewill can
negate God’s sovereignty. Calvinists are afraid of freewill. Calvinists think
if man has freewill then God is not sovereign. Therefore, freewill is the chink
in God’s armor. However, God’s knowledge of my choices does not render him less
than sovereign. God is so omniscient
that he would know my choices even if I had freewill. Freewill does not negate God’s sovereign
knowledge of all things. Freewill cannot possibly negate God’s sovereignty.
Nothing can negate God’s sovereignty. Adam had freewill before the fall in the
Garden of Eden. God is still sovereign. Adam’s freewill did not negate God’s
sovereignty before or after the fall. God has omnipotently prepared for all
man’s choices from eternity past. It’s
not a big deal. It’s not too hard for
God. Really! God’s purposes are
everlasting (Isa.
God does not need to take away the
power of will and dictate my choices in order to “know” what I will do. As far as God is concerned, all my choices
have already been made from before the foundation of the world. God does not
wait to see what I will do before he knows and reacts to what I do. God is not in the dark about my choices. God
has already, sovereignly and omnipotently, incorporated every choice of every
human being into his purposes. My God is
big enough to do this. God will use my choices for me or against me. God will
use my choices to complete his eternal purposes. So then, all choices become a
part of his predetermined plan. Our future is open. We truly script our own
lives. Yet God is certain about all of it. God knows for certain what I will do
without mandating what I do. Therefore, my actions have virtue or vice and I
can make a real contribution to the world.
God superintends all events and
nothing can prevent his omnipotent purposes.
No one can prevent the events he has predicted (Pro.
God knows from before the
foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) that man will sin. Therefore, “the Christ”
is also known as the Messiah, from before the foundation of the world (Rev.
13:8). Before there was one sin, God
made provision for sin (1 Peter
Christ represents our provision. Therefore,
provision had been made for sin, atonement and redemption before any of it ever
actually happened. The only thing left
to do is to live out all that God has provided for. Every event or decision is therefore an
unfolding of the purpose of God. God has
an eternal sovereign plan that will come to pass. God’s plan is big enough to incorporate the
puny choices allowed to his dusty, earthly image (Gen. 2:27).
The omnipotent God is not merely an
onlooker or observer of future events.
God foreknows all things simply because he cannot help but foreknow all
things. God even knows what he has not
foreordained. There is an infinite range
of things God knows beyond what he has determined. If I author a book . . . I know more than I
put in the book. God’s knowledge is not
limited to those things he has predestined.
Foreknowledge does not wait to see what will happen. God’s knowledge is not restricted to his
finite and temporal plans with Earth. God eternally knows all man’s
choices. As far as God is concerned, all
man’s choices have already been made from the foundation of the Earth. The outcome of every choice is foreknown from
eternity. My God is big enough to do this.
God does not guess what choices men
will make and then spontaneously adjust when he is wrong. God does not wish
certain things would happen or guess that certain things would happen. God does
not wish and guess like a finite human being. God uses his infinite knowledge
to his advantage, purpose and plan. If I knew every roll of the dice or every
turn of a card, I could put
God’s knowledge of the choices of every person is already foreknown by him as a completed action. God’s purpose and strategy now incorporate all volition so that our choices become a necessary part of his plan. There is no chasm between sovereignty and freedom. God sovereignly allows freedom and sovereignly incorporates our foreknown decisions into his sovereign goals. Our freedom now becomes necessary to the fulfillment of God’s sovereign purposes. Since God foreknows all our choices with certainty, his absolute decrees and prophetic pronouncements will occur infallibly. Predestination of divine acts is consistent with human freedom. God does not predetermine our choices but our choices have already been determined by foreknowledge. God’s knowledge of the choices of mankind does not force or decree those choices one way or the other. The results of our choices are foreknown not predetermined or predestined. God’s foreknowledge of our free choices is not the cause of our choices. However, God knows the outcome of our choices infallibly. If I turn to the right, God knows. I could have turned to the left. The decision was mine to make. Our human world is open to endless possibilities. We are free only limited by our conditions and circumstances. We don’t cease to be free to construct our destinies if God has foreknowledge of our choices. Our individual futures do not cease to be open if God has foreknowledge of all our choices. God’s foreknowledge, our free choices and predestination all work together as one cohesive unit: 3 in 1. Our futures are open and seem to us to be open to endless possibilities. Yet God knows the future as certain. God does not need to be ignorant of my future in order for my future to be open or free. God is not ignorant of anything.
There is a big difference between
foreknowledge and predestination. Since
our choices are foreknown, they necessarily and certainly become a vital part
of God’s overall plan. However, our
choices are not of necessity by divine decree.
If divine necessity or sovereign decree makes my choices, then I have
not really made a choice. If God determined all my choices as a puppeteer, he
would be responsible for my choices to sin. If my choices are made by divine
necessity, then any choice I make for evil, by necessity, would be a choice made
by God for me. Calvinism makes God the author of evil by
making God the cause of all effects. Calvinism creates a God with limited
knowledge and powerless against choice.
My God is omniscient and omnipotent. My God is not weakened or thwarted
by freewill like the Calvinist God. My God is not thwarted by anything.
CONCLUSION
God knows all things from all
eternity. Since God knows all things, including every decision that every
person will make, God has planned from all eternity to complete his will and purpose,
which includes man’s free choices. God
has integrated his foreknowledge of man’s decisions into his will and purpose.
1. Satan will rebel--but God
will crush his head.
2. Adam will fall--but God
will redeem.
3. Pharaoh will harden his
heart--but
4. Judas will betray
Christ--but Christ will rise again.
5. Man will sin--but God
will judge.
Nothing surprises God. God is not
frantically scrambling about to pick up the pieces of man’s choices. Since God
knows all things before the foundation of the world--he has planned for all
things before the foundation of the world. So that all things, even all our
choices, are now become a part of his overall strategy. God does not wait to
observe what man will do and then adjust and react spontaneously. God knows all
and as such foreknows all. Therefore, God’s plan unfolds perfectly since he has
anticipated the human element and integrated all of man’s decisions into his complete
strategy. God even uses the decisions of man to further his agenda, i.e., Adam,
Pharaoh, Pilate, Mary, Judas, Kurt, Mark. I find great comfort in knowing that
God has foreseen and provided grace for all my choices. If I turn to the right
or left, God is already there. No matter what happens to me in my life God has
already supplied everything I need for that moment. Nothing I do comes as a
surprise to God. I am also challenged to pray more, give more and do more for
the
God knows
every hair on our heads and every sparrow that falls to the ground. God holds
the world together by his word. Man’s power of choice is a part of God’s will,
purpose and predetermined plan from before the foundation of the world. Therefore,
man’s choices become a part of his eternal established plan. All of God’s
actions are predetermined. Moreover, God has predetermined to choose those who
choose him (Proverbs
those who believe do His will agreeably to their own choice, and as, [also] agreeably to their own choice, the disobedient do not consent to His doctrine; it is manifest that His Father has made all in a like condition, each person having a choice of his own, and a free understanding; and that He has regard to all things, and exercises a providence over all, “making His sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, and sending rain upon the just and unjust.”[1]
God has given us all the power of choice. Yet God remains sovereign exercising providence over all things.
Prov 16:1
The plans of the mind belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. RSV
· A man’s plans belong to him. He is empowered to plan
· But the Lord has the final answer
Prov 16:9
A man's mind plans his way,
but the LORD directs his steps. RSV
· A man makes his plans according to his own mind
· But the Lord is sovereign over all
Prov 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good. RSV
· The Lord watches in every place both evil and good
Prov 17:3
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the LORD tries hearts. RSV
· The Lord tests the heart
Prov 19:21
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established. RSV
· A man is free and open to plan many things
· But those choices are incorporated into the established purpose of God
Prov 21:30
30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel,
can avail against the LORD. RSV
· Man can make his plans freely utilizing counsel, understanding and wisdom
· But no plan of any man can upset, usurp or avail against the plan of God
Prov 21:31
1 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the LORD. RSV
· Man makes his preparation skillfully
· But the ultimate outcome belongs to the Lord
Prov 20:24
4 A man's steps are ordered by the LORD;
how then can man understand his way? RSV
· No matter how free and open is the path before man
· The order of the Lord is sovereign
Acts 2:22-24
22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. NIV
· The sovereign purpose of God was established by his exhaustive foreknowledge of future events
· The free human activity was incorporated into the set purpose of God
· God foreknew the acts of men to crucify Jesus and made the provision of resurrection
· Humans are held responsible for their own actions
The resurrection of Jesus was predicted through David as he spoke moved by the Holy Spirit. The resurrection was not a spontaneous reaction on God’s part when his plan to make Jesus the messiah was foiled by the Jews.
Acts 2:25-33
25 David said about him:
"'I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.'
29 "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. NIV
As I noted before: Nothing catches God by surprise. God is not frantically scrambling about to pick up the pieces of man’s choices. Since God knows all things before the foundation of the world--he has planned for all things before the foundation of the world. As a result all things, even all our bad choices, are now become a part of his overall strategy and purpose. God does not wait to observe what man will do and then adjust and react spontaneously. God knows all and as such foreknows all. Therefore, God’s plan unfolds perfectly since he has anticipated the human element and integrated all of man’s free and open decisions into his complete strategy. Man’s choices are now become an integral part of his determined plan.
[1]Irenaeus. Against Heresies 5.27.1. Roberts,
Alexander and Donaldson, James, Ante-Nicene
Fathers: Volume I, 556 (