Originally Posted by Pilgrim
Originally Posted by Lynda
Does God look into the future or is it really that He has already planned it? Can you give me some verses?
1) Well, let's first look at the proposition that "God peers down the corridors of time, aka: looks into the future." {My students should be doing the responding to these questions since we covered these things thoroughly in some of our recent classes.} [Linked Image]

Alrighty...
  1. With God there is no time and thus no future.
  2. But, IF this were possible for God to peer into the future, where did this alleged future originate? Did God create it? or did it just happen on its own, which is a denial of God's Omnipotence.
  3. If God has to look into an alleged future, then this implies that there exists a place or something which He is not part of, which is a denial of God's Omnipresence.
  4. All events are inextricably bound to other events so whatever God would have seen would have also been created and controlled by Him, or they are simply random events that happen by chance, aka: Atheism.
  5. If God had to look into the future to observe what men would do before He could ordain them, which is then "postdestination" vs. predestination, then it must be that God was lacking in all knowledge at some point in His existence, which is a denial of God's Omniscience.

God KNOWS all things inherently, aka: "Foreknowledge" because He has foreordained all things. Put another way, God knows all things because He has determined all things. This isn't such a difficult concept to grasp because it is also true in the earthly realm. An architect could easily take you to a vacant lot and describe in great detail how a huge skyscraper is going to look, how many rooms it will have, the color of the carpet, etc. And how would he know that information? Simply because he is the one who has designed it. He doesn't have to look into some alleged "future" to see what might happen and on that basis draw his blueprints. [Linked Image]

Lastly, IF man has a "free-will" as defined by the Arminians/semi-Pelagians, i.e., fallen man is capable of choosing that which is contrary to his nature, then it would be absolutely impossible for even God to know the future since there is no way to know how a man will choose. There are those who are 'logically consistent Arminians' who admit this. Their heresy is known as "Open Theism" or "Middle Knowledge". They unabashedly admit that God does not know all things because since man is "free" it is impossible for God to know what any man will do even if all the secondary causes and circumstances are known to Him.

Well, hopefully you won't choke on that mouthful of information. [Linked Image]

Robin's response taking you to the crucifixion of Christ is the classic illustration of God's absolute sovereignty of all men and events AND how men had the freedom to do their evil deed; murder the Son of God.

2) Oh yeh... one other little thought. IF God has not ordained all things according to His eternal counsel, then there would be no guarantee that any prophesy would have taken place.

3) Passages to consider: Isa 43:10-13; 44:7; 45:21; 46:9,10; 55:10,11; Ps 135:6; Prov 19:21; 21:30; Dan 4:35; Eph 1:9-11; Col 1:12-17; Jam 1:18; Rom 11:33-36; et al.

In His grace,

That's awesome! I'm glad I asked the question. Thank you for taking the time to reply!