… who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…
In our post titled, “God’s Eye” we discussed how God’s view of time is different than our own. In today’s passage, Peter affirms the idea that God knows the future. He uses the word, “foreknowledge” to describe how God chooses us.
Perhaps you have had a sense of “deja vu” now and then? It is the feeling that you have already been someplace or done something before you have actually experienced it. To be clear, that is not anything like foreknowledge.
The word foreknowledge is derived from the Greek word, prognōsis. The Greek prognōsis is the word that became prognosis in English. When a doctor tells someone that they have six months to live, they are offering a prognosis. To prognosticate is to predict the future in more general terms. If you have seen the movie “Groundhog Day” you remember “Punxsutawney Phil.” He was the groundhog who was dubbed, “Prognosticator of Prognosticators” for his ability to predict six more weeks of winter.
In translating the Greek prognōsis into English for the Bible, the English “prognosis” wasn’t good enough. When a doctor gives their patient a prognosis, there is a chance that they could be wrong. There is a bit of uncertainty that does not measure up to God’s standard. The literal sense of the word is better represented by a word that means knowing what happens before it happens: foreknowledge.
Foreknowledge does not allow for any uncertainty. Foreknowledge is knowing what happens because God has already seen it happen. That is one of his amazing attributes. While we stumble through life from one minute to the next, God sees all the minutes of our lives. He knows.
Application: What would you do with foreknowledge? How does that compare with what God does with it?
Food for Thought: If God were bound to one moment of time after another like we are, how would that affect his ability to be God?
Jesus became a man so that as our high priest, He could offer Himself for our sins and be our example of overcoming temptation and living in faith, humble obedience to the Father.
John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
John 1:14, And the Word became flesh, and lived among us; and we saw His glory, glory as belongs to the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Hebrews 2:16-18, For, as we all know, He does not take hold of angels, but He does take hold of descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was essential that He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things related to God, to make atonement for the people’s sins. 18 Because He Himself has suffered in being tempted, He is able to help and provide immediate assistance to those who are being tempted and exposed to suffering.
Thank you for the verses Ron. Well done.
If God we’re bound by time He would not have created time and He would not transcend time. He wouldn’t be the God of the Bible. But He does transcend time because it is His nature to do so. It is who He is. All things were created by Him and for Him – including time. This is true of Jesus, which to me makes the miracle of the Incarnation all that much more incredible. Colossians 1: 15 – 17; John 1: 1 – 9; Hebrews 1: 1 – 3.
Hebrews 1:1-3 is powerful. Thanks Rich
Thank you both for your comments today! I was rather startled by the implications of my own question. If God didn’t transcend time he wouldn’t be God. Yet, people question God’s ability to know what will happen in our future. It’s an interesting conundrum. And then, as Ron points out, God / Jesus did submit to time when he was born human, all while retaining his oneness with the Father. (John 10: 30)
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