Can God . . .

The last question we posed, "Can God make a rock bigger than He can lift", is one that cannot be answered with a yes or no. It is what is known as a dilemma. Often times skeptics use such questions in an attempt to discredit arguments of faith. The dilemma can be a useful tool in some cases. A good come-back to the skeptic that asks such a question is "Well did you quit beating your wife yet?" To answer this question with a yes or no would be to admit something which you may have never done. The person who has never, ever, beat his wife would instinctively answer no because he had never started. But without explanation a no answer implies that he still does it. You get the idea.

The new "Batman" movie is out. I happened to see a review on the news the other night and it looked to be somewhat interesting. It has been getting a lot of time on the local talk shows. Seems that some think it is perhaps a satire on the war in Iraq or a commentary on the battle of good and evil.

One show that I rarely get to hear all of is the one with Steve Deace on WHO in the late afternoon. I heard bits and pieces of his show on Monday. I have grown to appreciate a good deal of what Steve says on several subjects. However he frequently presents his "Christian world view" of the nature of man. In his view, man is absolutely, totally depraved. I have never heard him defend this position from the scriptures, only imply that all thinking Christians share this view. Now he may have defended this position on some occasion that I was not a part of the audience.

Your new question then is "Is man totally depraved from birth?" Please defend your position.

How did God accomplish this?

God's plan was perfect. Because He knew what man would do He was able to plan accordingly.

Oftentimes we play "what if". "what if man does this, what will I do?" God did not play "what if". His foreknowledge is so great it is not a case if but when! By knowing perfectly what man is going to do, God does not have to manipulate nor micro manage people's lives to accomplish His purpose.
In this way man is still a "free moral agent" with the freedom and power to choose.

God then accomplished His will and His plan by knowing exactly what man would do and planning accordingly. No second guessing, no coercion, no mistakes.

So far we have been dealing with some very serious questions. I wish now to pose one that is serious yet somewhat lighter. This question requires a yes or no answer, and then a defense of that answer. Here goes. "Can God who is all powerful make a rock bigger than he can lift?"

God's Plan According To Foreknowledge

In light of the fact that it is difficult for us to know what will happen in the next 15 minutes, the foreknowledge of God is nearly incomprehensible. How can He know what will happen1000 years from now? The comforting thing in this is that we don't necessarily need to understand fully, only to realize it is true. The scriptures make it unmistakably clear that His plan was formulated before the world was created. II Timothy 1:9

We tend to understand things in light of the human experience. Man does things by trial and error. Ever hear of someone with a "plan B" to use when plan A fails? God is not like that! Since He is all-knowing He knows that His plans will work. He does not need a "Plan B".

Consider that God made His plan before He made the world. Therefore at the appropriate time God gave the Law to Moses. Then when time was full God sent His son to fulfill the law and die on the cross for us. At the proper time Christ will come again! Sounds rather simple doesn't it. Yet that is the plan of God in a nutshell. Because God knew that man would sin of his own free will He made provisions to redeem and reconcile man to Himself.

Thought question: How did God accomplish this?
Happy pondering.

More Foreknowledge

The foreknowledge of God is a perplexing subject. On the one hand it is easily stated. Yet it is difficult when we try to get our finite minds around it.

It has been established that God is omniscient or all knowing. He knows what lies ahead a hundred or even a thousand years. In fact God knows what will happen from now until eternity! This we know but have difficulty comprehending because of our own limitations.

As already stated in these posts and comments God has a plan. Some would have us believe that everything, even to the minutest detail, happens according to God's plan. Such cannot be established from the scriptures. What can be shown is that God formulated His plan according to his foreknowledge

Consider the following question in this regard.
Which of the following statements is true?
God planned on Adam and Eve sinning therefore they sinned according to the plan of God.
He knew that they would sin therefore He planned accordingly.

Let us know what you think. Happy pondering.

The Foreknowlege of God

The scriptures are filled with evidence of the omniscience of God. In everyday vernacular we are talking about the all-knowing nature of God. Consider the following verse: Acts 2:23 him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay:. Here Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost and tells the people that the crucifixion of Jesus was foreknown by God.

A reasonable question arises. How long before it happened did God know that it would take place? It would have been long enough had He known a week or a month before it happened. However consider Isaiah 53 which prophetically describes the crucifixion more than 700 years before it took place. We also see from Psalm 22 another description of this event spoken of by David more than 1000 years prior to the event. If more proof is needed we can go back to Genesis 3 and read of the prediction of this event when man was cast out of the garden.

We said all that to show from the scriptures the foreknowledge of God. Because God knew before creation that man would sin He made a plan for man's redemption. Jesus was crucified to make redemption available to us according to the foreknowledge of God. Praise God!

God's Will - 2

We previously asked the question "Is everything that happens on a daily basis God's will?" Some immediately said "NO" and others responded with the affirmative.

I would suggest to you that it is much easier to demonstrate from the scriptures the negative than the affirmative. Consider the following scriptures: 2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Ephesians 6:6 not in the way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 1Peter 4:2 that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

In each of the above scriptures it is clear that there are choices which man must make. He must choose to do sin or the will of God. So when I sin is it the will of God? Absolutely not!! Why? Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and God does not will that any should perish but serve Him, see the above scriptures again.

Our next question is "Does the fact that God knows a thing will happen mean that He wills it to happen?

What think ye? Happy pondering.

God's Will

A rather thought provoking question come to my mind as a result of a comment about God ruling in the kingdoms of men. Here is the statement made by "anonymous" "what I do know is that it is God's will and He knows what He is doing." Let me say that the last part of the statement is a no brainer, God knows what He is doing.

The thought provoking part of the statement is "it is God's will". Is every thing that happens to us or anyone else at any given moment "God's will"? Interesting question!

This statement was made in reference to the war on Iraq in the context of God ruling in the kingdoms of men. I am unsure what the overall position of the commenter is about the statement. There are some who believe that everything that happens is God's will. So here is our question.

Is everything that happens on a daily basis "God's will"?

If not why not?

If so how can we know?

Happy pondering!