HF140 - God Knew You Then

To:  Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From:  "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Tue, June 14, 2005
Subject:  Bible Study HF140 - God Knew You Then

Hebraics,

Sorry for the delay in getting out a study. Since my mom's passing I haven't been up on my oats. (Sorry for being personal. You all have loved ones who have made the journey home. Like the song says, 'Our time will come'.)

If the study to follow seems a little familiar for some of you old timers, it is because it carries some reflections on an earlier study. (HF003 - From the Foundation of the World. June 2000.) But this study stands on its own.

Interspersed throughout the study are a few questions that are aids to discussion. Feel free to tap into any or all of them.

Paul said that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ Jesus Himself. This can only mean that these Christ-treasures were not intended to be hidden from us. They have been hidden for us. It is because of these hidden treasures that the apostle prayed, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him." (And thus: Cf. Eph1:15-23)

And this also is why we should learn to pray the prayer of David, when he said, "Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law." (Ps119:18)

In the study to follow we want to look at certain treasures hidden in Christ. In particular we will consider a truth that says God actually 'experienced' us long before we made an appearance in the world. It is in God's experience that we have our own experience of the Lord. Are you interested? Let's see.

This is Bible Study HF140 - God Knew You Then.

With regard to David's request in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law,” some translations have the word 'Wonderful' in caps. I think this is good. The term 'Wonderful' speaks of a Man whose name will be called Wonderful. Could it be that David knew Jesus first hand, though he may not have known the Lord by that name? (That thought is up for grabs. Could he have known Jesus by the name Jesus? Perhaps.)

When David ask the Lord to open his eyes so he could behold Wonderful things from His 'law', we need to understand that the Hebrew word for law does not merely speak of the Law of Moses alone. While it would include the Law of Moses, the word 'torah' in Hebrew is a feminine noun. It carries the ideas of instruction and direction. David is asking the Lord to open his eyes to divine instruction and to the divine things of God. This is a very personal request.

Of course this brings me to the subject at hand. How can anyone say that God knew him or her before they were even born? We can't say that. God can.

First let me share an interesting analogy that I heard some years ago. Someone said that when we enter the gate of heaven, the sign over the gate will read, 'Welcome. Whosoever will, let Him drink of the waters of life freely.' Yet after passing through the gate, and looking back, we will see a different sign, which says, 'Saved from the foundation of the world.'

There is much more to this truth than we realize. Our struggle comes in an attempt to reconcile certain Scriptures that seem to be in opposition to one another. We are helped a great deal when we realize that the Scriptures have a dual focus on salvation. The Bible teaches both the free will of man and the predeterminations of God. We get in trouble by holding to one view at the expense of the other. They actually go hand-in-hand.

Let's leave that be for now. The Bible has much to say about things that took place in eternity. The term "from the foundation of the world" is used several times in the new covenant writings to express the eternity of God. I shared some of this in the earlier study. Let's look at them again: (Caps are for emphasis only.)

(1) Concerning Messiah, it says, "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." (Matt13:35)

This reflects back on Deuteronomy 29:29; "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."

When we stop to consider that the Torah of Moses, that is, the first five books of the Bible, are filled with the 'secret' treasures of Christ, it gives us pause to consider just how rich the revelation of Jesus Christ is in the Old Testament writings. The fact is that the entire Bible wraps itself around Jesus as a cloak. He said, "In the scroll [volume] of the book it is written of Me." (Psa40:7)

Next:

(2) As to one phase of the kingdom of God, the King says to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed of my Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." (Matt25:34)

Did you catch it? The kingdom of the beloved Son was prepared long before the world was created. This would certainly mean that all of creation was planned for Christ and for the people of Christ.

Next:

(3) Of the Christ-rejecting leadership, the Lord said, "The blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged to this generation." (Luke11:50)

The Greek term ‘generation’ [genea] can express more than a meaning of time. It includes the idea of a multitude of contemporaries. Hence it speaks to an affinity of communion, or a grouping of people who share the sameness of character. We need to understand that there has always been a wicked element in the earth that has set itself against the Lord and against His Christ.

Moses spoke of this group; "They have acted corrupted toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect; but are a perverse and crooked generation." (Deu32:5) --- This is part of the song of Moses, which Revelation calls 'the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb." (Rev15:3 - Did Moses know about Jesus?)

Next:

(4) When Jesus prayed, He said, "Father....YOU LOVED ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." (John17:24)

This is a wonderful one. Jesus said that He experienced the Father before the world was. Can you think of a Scripture that speaks to this?

Next:

(5) Paul says of all believers, "HE CHOSE US IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love." (Eph1:4)

Well --- What is left to be said on this one. God determined to gives us His own holiness. All the guilt of our sins would be placed upon Jesus. Are there any Scriptures that speak to this?

Next:

(6) The book of Hebrews speaks of God's rest in the Messiah, in saying that, "HIS WORKS WERE FINISHED FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." (Heb4:3)

Sort of reflects back on (2).

Next:

(7) Of Christ's pre-existence in eternity, and with regard to our salvation, it says, "He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb9:26)

What does it mean, 'To put away sin?'

(8) Peter says the Christ, "Was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God..." (1Pet1:20,21)

I'll leave this open.

Next:

(9 and 10) Both Rev13:7 and Rev17:8, speak of the names of the saved written in the Lamb's book of life, "from the foundation of the world." Wow --- How did God know what your name was going to be? Have you ever considered just how deeply involved the Lord has been in your life from here to yon?

Next:

(11) The apostle said, "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, BECAUSE GOD CHOSE YOU FROM THE BEGINNING for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." (2Th2:13)

A young lady just asked me on our "Ask the Pastor" site what this Scripture meant. Her question had to do with what sanctification by the Spirit meant. I shared with her that this spoke of the Holy Spirit separating us and bringing us to Jesus. To sanctify means to set apart. We were chosen from the beginning for salvation.

Did you know that every believer has a seal of sanctification upon his or her heart? Satan knows it. The angels know it. The seal belongs to God. The seal means, 'This child is Mine.' It can only be broken by Him, and He won't do so.

That's enough on the 'foundation' Scriptures. (For now. Perhaps you have one to add.)

These Scriptures are difficult for us to grasp because of our limited understanding. This is why they have to be revealed by the Spirit. In the eternity of God, time has no essence. Thus we hear God say of Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I KNEW you, and before you were born I consecrated you..." (Jer.1:5)

The Hebrew word for 'knew' is quite interesting. Yada (yaw-dah') means to know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, and to experience. It carries more thoughts, but this gives an idea of the strength of what God is saying. He 'knew' and even 'experienced' Jeremiah before the prophet was formed in his mother's womb.

David talked about this very thing, and then confessed, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it." (Ps139:6)

How about you? Do you feel that such knowledge is too high for you? I certainly do. To say that God knew and experienced me before the foundation of the world is an awesome thing to say. This is a treasure hidden in Christ.

May I make a personal note here --- I get bored very easily when I hear a preacher preaching everything but Jesus. I could care less about prosperity messages, or the five-steps of whatever. Let's talk about Jesus. I will go so far as to say, if a man cannot preach the message of the cross, he cannot prove he has a call to the ministry. God only gave us one message. The message of the cross is like a diamond sparkling in the light. It extends from the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, glorification of Jesus Christ, what all things means, and how all this pertains to us.

What is the issue in all this? The issue is that all believers need to have their conscious life filled with assurances of their salvation. This is what moves our salvation out of the emotional realm, and even the intellectual realm, into the very heart of new covenant salvation. To our loss, some religious groups have managed to equate salvation with an emotional experience. Salvation is much deeper than the emotions. Peter spoke of it as our partaking of the divine nature. (2Pet1:4)

Jesus Himself said that His sheep walked with Him in a 'knowing' relationship. This can only mean that the people of the Lamb have an intuitive knowing about God that is far beyond anything this present world can offer. We have come to 'experience' God Himself in the deep of our inward man. We found Him in Christ.

It was Jesus who said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." (Matt11:25)

Paul said the new covenant experience is based upon a believer's conscious relationship with the Father. This relationship is brought into reality by the Spirit of God. He said, "The Spirit Himself testifies [bears witness] with our spirit that we are children of God." (Rom8:16)

In another place Paul says, "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!.'" The Abba Father cry is not merely our cry, even though we feel it deep in our spirit life. It is actually the cry of Sonship. It is our birthing cry made by the Spirit of Jesus. This cry speaks of a joining of our life to the Father of eternity. This is why in the new covenant, religion has to take a back seat. Religion comes from man. Relationship comes from God.

Every true believer has eternal life in his or her heart. Paul spoke of this, when he said, "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2Co4:18)

This cry of sonship speaks of God's eternal redemption that was set in place from the foundation of the world. The prophet heard God say it this way; "Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, 'Ask Me the things to come concerning My sons, and you will commit to Me the work of My hands." (Isa45:11)

We are the children of eternity. We are the work of His hands. We carry in our hearts an eternal perspective. We long for eternal things. We have a grasp of eternal things with our hearts, even when we are unable to put them down on paper. That is just the way we are. Yes, we are sinners saved by grace.

Well --- Will we look back at the gate and say, "Yes, Lord. You knew it all. You knew me then. And thank you Lord Jesus for saving me from the foundation of the world!"

It is wonderful to think about.

The study is open for discussion. Get your feet wet. : )

In Christ,

Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host 
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org

Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/

"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)

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