“[who are chosen] according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father….” (1 Peter 1:2a, NASB95)
In this and the next verse we will see one of the many
pictures of the fullness of our one God manifest in three persons—Father, Son,
and Spirit. First, we read of God the Father having chosen those who are His
elect or His saved ones according to His own foreknowledge. The Greek word here
for foreknowledge is “prognosis” and it most simply has the meaning of before
(pro) knowing (ginosko). The Bible is full of passages referring to His full
and intimate knowledge not only of every single one of us, but of every detail
of absolutely everything.
We have an English word that comes from this Greek word and
it is one upon which many people are often found anxiously awaiting an answer.
This is what doctors are expected to give every day when they give their
prognosis concerning a disease or ailment. It is what economists do when the
give their forecast for the future, whether it be immediate or long term. It is
what weather persons do when they give us the nightly weather outlook for the
next week. We all live based upon educated guesses based upon past patterns or
presenting conditions. For us today, a prognosis
is simply nothing more than a forecast of the likely outcome of a situation.
Sometimes that prognosis is more difficult to make than others, and sometimes
it is completely wrong in its outcome. What makes it wrong is not the outcome,
but the lack of full knowledge leading to the prediction and even the integrity
or motives of the one making that forecast.
In 1 Peter (and elsewhere) we read that we are chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Therefore, it seems logical
to look to look to what we can know about His knowing, and what we can be
assured of His telling us the truth about what He knows. First let’s look to
His integrity, and in doing this we will quickly look to a couple of things.
The first is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He staked His life on the
truthfulness of the Father. As the Son, He humbled Himself to take on the form
of man to go to a cross and lay down His life for us so that we might be given
forgiveness and life in His. Repeatedly in the gospels we read of His own words
saying that He came to do the will of the Father and that He and the Father
were one. He put His life on the line before us to evidence this truth. And the
historical result was that He rose from the dead on the third day just as the
Scriptures had said.
Just as the Scripture had said is the second aspect of this
that we will quickly look at. Scripture is full of prophecies of the coming of
a Savior and many other things, and except for those we are still waiting to
see fulfilled every single one of them has been fulfilled without fail. Everything
God has said that He would do He has done. He has proven Himself infinitely trustworthy.
His prognosis on everything has been absolutely perfect, and not one bit of
this has been because He is just a good guesser based upon past experience or observed
trends.
God made an active decision to choose us before we were ever
conceived. This was not a matter of Him looking down the road of time and
observing those who would turn to Him. Of the prophet Jeremiah we read, “Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated
you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, NASB95) Jeremiah
was God’s choice to be this special prophet to the nations. He formed Jeremiah
in his mother’s womb. He was set apart for this work before he was born, and he
was appointed by God. God’s hand was powerfully at work in every aspect of
Jeremiah being who He called Jeremiah to be. Upon hearing this form God,
Jeremiah responded, ““Alas, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me [Jeremiah], “Do not say,
‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I
command you, you shall speak. “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to
deliver you,” declares the Lord.”
(Jeremiah 1:6–8, NASB95) Jeremiah would have a difficult task being God’s
prophet, but in this Jeremiah was able to stand, not because He was doing good
for God but because God was doing what He intended in him.
David wrote in Psalm 139, “For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully
wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
and in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, when as
yet there was not one of them.” (Psalm 139:13–16, NASB95)
Clearly these Old Testament men knew that God not only had knowledge
of what was going to happen, but that we had worked with purpose in that
happening. He was in full control of His intent and His outcomes. And yes, He
knew without failing every single sin we would commit or failing that we might
have and He still made His choice. David said earlier in the same Psalm, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from
afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted
with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed
me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.” (Psalm 139:1–5, NASB95) And
his response to this in verse 6 is, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it
is too high, I cannot attain to it.” (Psalm 139:6, NASB95)
God’s foreknowledge is before deciding based upon infinite
knowledge and all wisdom, and it is for that reason that many translations will
use synonymously the word “foreordain.” God from before makes a choice to choose
and to set apart a people for Himself. There was no educated guessing going on.
It is all about His perfect act shown to us through His perfect Son who, as we
read in 1 Peter 1:20 was foreknown before the foundation of the world to bring
salvation to us. The incredible freedom in this is knowing that God does not
make mistakes, and this means us.
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” (Romans 8:29, NASB95)
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” (Romans 8:29, NASB95)
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