Monday, July 9, 2012

"Anticipated Lives"

(a repeat from 2010)

    What passes through the mind of a being with perfect foreknowledge as He plans according to an "eternal purpose?" (Ephesians 3:11).

     "His understanding is infinite... Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of creation" (Psalm 147:5; Acts 15:18).

     We cannot know the answer to such a question because we have no frame of reference for how our Creator thinks.  We make our plans with uncertainty about the future, and ignorance of what will happen in the next moment. We may think we are certain of things to come, and of our plans. However, we know deep within our hearts that no real certainty exists concerning tomorrow.
 
    Conversely, God plans with perfect certainty and assurance concerning every outcome. No event surprises Him, He never has an unexpected moment, and nothing ever catches Him off guard. As David confessed, such things "are too high for me" (Psalm 131:1).

      Again, we have no frame of reference for such a sensibility. We simply cannot think in these terms, and attempts to analyze God's mode and measure of thought quickly crash upon the rocks of our ignorance. Therefore, rather than seeking understanding of God's understanding, we do better to take great assurance from the fact of His infinite knowledge. We live anticipated lives. God has perfectly foreseen every moment of our eternal existence.  Thus, He is prepared for every contingency. The One to whom we have entrusted both time and eternity is ready for the happenings of both realms, and every destination to which we will ever arrive finds Him awaiting us with the provision of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
    "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

    Few truths more confirm the reality that God is God, and we are not. Little wonder that Solomon commanded believers to "lean not upon thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). We lean rather upon the Understanding we cannot understand. We can trust it, however, and we can rejoice in the perfect preparation of the God who promises to be everything we will ever need Him to be.   The future so dark to us shines brightly to the Eyes that span the past, the present, and the future with perfect and infinite clarity.  Let us rest our hearts in the peace of such Truth, the peace of anticipated lives.

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?"
(Romans 11:33-34)

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