February 1, 2019 – Click here to listen
I’ve had some friends who cannot get over the fact that God knows what is going to happen before it happens. They insist that it somehow diminishes free will.
C.S. Lewis famed intellectual and former atheist and agnostic addressed this in his powerful book, Mere Christianity.
“Everyone who believes in God at all believes that He knows what you and I are going to do tomorrow. But if He knows I am going to do so-and-so, how can I be free to do otherwise? Well, here once again, the difficulty comes from thinking that God is progressing along the Timeline like us: the only difference being that He can see ahead and we cannot. Well, if that were true, if God foresaw our acts, it would be very hard to understand how we could be free not to do them. But suppose God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case, what we call ‘tomorrow’ is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call ‘today’. All the days are ‘Now’ for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; He simply sees you doing them, because, though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not ‘foresee’ you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him. You never supposed that your actions at this moment were any less free because God knows what you are doing. Well, He knows your tomorrow’s actions in just the same way—because He is already in tomorrow and can simply watch you. In a sense, He does not know your action till you have done it: but then the moment at which you have done it is already ‘Now’ for Him.”
Huh?
I get some of this but admittedly it takes some careful reading and deep thought to get the gist of what he is saying. (That’s what I like about his writing.) Basically, God is not hindered by time. He has no beginning or end. Heaven will be like that everything will be considered NOW. Many of you are aware that I prerecord football games for my favorite teams. Later if I learn my team happened to win, I will watch the game and enjoy it to the hilt, even if at times it looks like they might lose, because I already know the final outcome. It is a very good non-stressful way to watch the game. If they lose, I simply delete it without going through the agony of watching my team go down to defeat.
My foreknowledge of the final outcome does not affect the game whatsoever. I think this is analogous to how God sees us and our lives. You might ask why we should pray then. Just because God knows that you and perhaps others will pray, and He will answer those prayers doesn’t mean we should forego prayer. We must do the right thing in the now.
Yes, God knows who will end up eternally separated from Him forever and who will join Him in heaven, but our efforts are what determines that outcome and not merely His foreknowledge. You must believe and live your life for the Lord.
John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!