Devotional Guide
For the week of February 1, 2004
GOD'S PROVIDENCE
How to handle God's future plans
To Read: 1 Thessalonians 4,5
To Know:
"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer. who frustrates the omens of liars, and
makes fools of diviners; who turns wise men back, and makes their knowledge
foolish; who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of
his messengers."
(Is.44: 24-26)
What does God foreknow? The drafters of the Savoy Declaration labored to
express exactly the nature of God's foreknowledge. They wrote, "God the
great creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all
creatures, actions and things from the greatest even to the least by his
most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge,
and free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory
of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness and mercy."
Foreknowledge makes us think of foretelling. Today soothsaying is back in
fashion. It is a rare edition of the supermarket tabloids that does not
include one or more articles predicting future events. Divine foreknowledge
is not foreknowing events authored by created free agents. Divine
foreknowledge is God's certain knowledge regarding his future plans.
Foreknowledge is God knowing with certainty what he will do in future times.
When the writers at Savoy said of God that he "doth.dispose and govern all
creatures, actions and things from the greatest even to the least by his
most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible knowledge," they
were echoing Isaiah 44. God knows what he will do in future times. The
actions of free beings are included in his planning. Infallible
foreknowledge is the sure and certain knowledge of God regarding what he
will do in future times.
To Do:
The study of divine providence pushes our minds to their outer limits. We do
not easily reconcile being free with God's sovereign reign, yet this is the
teaching of the Bible. We are wise to believe what God has revealed, for the
day will dawn when what we accept by faith will be seen.
02114$-02114
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