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Did God Know Us Prior to Our Physical Conception?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tom Edwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have you ever wondered whether God actually knew of you before you were born or even conceived? Does He have that ability? Well, hear God\u2019s words to Jeremiah and wonder no more! \u201cNow the word of the LORD came to me saying, \u2018Before 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\u2019\u201d (Jer. 1:4,5). What an amazing foreknowledge of God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David also knew that God was well aware of him \u2014 and of all his days to come \u2014 before he was even born, and says of the Lord, \u201cFor You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother\u2019s 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. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!\u201d (Psa. 139:13-17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, the Lord has demonstrated His ability to know of what is to come, such as with the thirty pieces of silver that Jesus would be betrayed for, and where that betrayal money would end up (Zech. 11:12,13; Matt. 26:14-16; Matt. 27:3-10); that Jesus\u2019 death would not be by stoning, but would involve the piercing of the hands and feet (Psa. 22:16; Mk. 15:25; Luke 24:36-40); that the Lord\u2019s clothing would be gambled for (v. 18), and that He would be \u201cwith a rich man in His death\u201d (Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57-60) \u2014 to mention just a few of the prophecies concerning Christ that God knew far in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what about those who are named in prophecy even prior to their being born? Obviously, God knew of them before their conception. Consider, for instance, 1 Kings 13:1,2: \u201cNow behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, \u2018O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, \u201cBehold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josiah was born about 648 B.C. He became the 16th king of Judah, during the divided kingdom, and was one of its best kings. Some have placed the above prophecy, which was made during the reign of Jeroboam (the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, during the divided kingdom), about 326 years prior to Josiah\u2019s birth; and the fulfillment of it can be seen in 2 Kings 23:16-18: \u201cNow when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. Then he said, \u2018What is this monument that I see?\u2019 And the men of the city told him, \u2018It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.\u2019 He said, \u2018Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.\u2019 So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria\u201d (2 Kings 23:16-18). \u201cAll the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem\u201d (v. 20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the Lord knew of Josiah\u2019s name, of the lineage he would descend, and of these specific acts that he would perform \u2013 even prior to his having been born!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God also knew of John the Baptist prior to his being born to a childless couple who were \u201cboth advanced in years\u201d and \u201chad no child, because Elizabeth was barren\u201d (Luke 1:5-7). For an angel of the Lord had informed Zecharias that \u201c\u2026your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John\u201d (v. 13). And not only did God know that John would be born, but also that \u201cmany would rejoice at his birth\u201d; and that \u201che will be great in the sight of the Lord\u201d (vv. 14,15); that he would \u201cturn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God\u201d; and that he would be obedient to the Lord in being \u201ca forerunner\u201d for Christ. John would be called \u201cthe prophet of the Most High\u201d (v. 76). So God knew, in advance, all these things about John \u2014 including how his character would be, which is likened to that of the great prophet Elijah (v. 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what about the other barren women whom God sent an angel to inform them that they would conceive a child \u2014 and, specifically, a son?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consider Samson\u2019s mother, for example: \u201cThen the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, \u2018Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son (Jdg. 13:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And to Abraham and Sarah, who \u201cwere old, advanced in age,\u201d and \u201cSarah was past childbearing\u201d (Gen. 18:11), the Lord had promised that \u201cI will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son\u201d (v. 10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are more than our physical body. For we also have an eternal soul or spirit, which has been created in the image of God. But where does that soul or spirit come from? Is it also in our DNA? Zechariah refers to God as being the One who \u201cstretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him\u201d (Zech. 12:1). And Solomon tells us more of that spirit\u2019s journey: \u201c\u2026For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it\u201d (Eccl. 12:5-7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mention is also made about Ishmael, the son of Sarah\u2019s handmaid Hagar. God, in His omniscience, knew that Ishmael would \u201cbecome the father of twelve princes\u201d and \u201ca great nation\u201d (Gen. 17:20). And while Hagar was still pregnant with Ishmael, God also already knew what kind of person he would turn out to be. So the angel of the Lord told Hagar that Ishmael \u201cwill be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone\u2019s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers\u201d (Gen. 16:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must understand that though God knows all about the universe, its time, and all things therein, yet He Himself dwells in eternity, a totally different kind of dimension. Or can it even be called a dimension? For eternity is without limits. To us, however, time in our realm is linear, like a timeline. We have our past, our present, and our future; and we exist only in the present or the now. But notice how Jesus expresses His eternal nature when some \u201c\u2026Jews said to Him, \u2018You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?\u2019 Jesus said to them, \u2018Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am\u201d (John 8:57,58). Our minds cannot fully grasp what experiencing eternity must be like for God \u2014 anymore than trying to imagine all of infinity. For both go way beyond our mental ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God\u2019s eternal nature is also seen in Psalm 90:2: \u201cBefore the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, YOU ARE GOD.\u201d Notice that this last part does not say, \u201cYou WERE God\u201d or \u201cyou WILL BE God\u201d \u2014 but, rather, \u201cYou ARE God!\u201d God is not waiting to get to the \u201cend\u201d any more than He needed to get to the \u201cbeginning.\u201d For He has eternally been. And though we cannot fathom it all, yet His eternal nature is indicated by His creation: \u201cFor since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His ETERNAL POWER and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse\u201d (Rom. 1:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No wonder God has no trouble at all in \u201cDeclaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, \u2018My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’\u201d (Isa. 46:9,10). For to the Lord, as Timothy M. Willis has stated, \u201cthe future is always present to the Omniscient One.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After considering these above passages, surely we can see of God\u2019s ability to have known each one of us, and what we would turn out to be, even prior to our birth. He does have a watchful eye on us \u2014 and desires for us to look to Him as well! That we might enjoy a relationship with God, which begins here in time and continues throughout eternity in heaven! And how much better one can know the Lord there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(All Scripture from NASB and emphases mine.)
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1) Hear<\/strong> the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31). Tebeau Street \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations\u2026teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 Contents: 1) Did God Know Us Prior to Our Physical Conception? (Tom Edwards)\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 -1- Did God Know Us Prior to Our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":621,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions\/621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2) Believe<\/strong> in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent<\/strong> of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith<\/strong> in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized<\/strong> in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith<\/strong>, living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA\u00a0 31501
Sunday<\/strong> services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 5 PM (worship)
Wednesday: <\/strong>7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist\/editor:<\/strong> Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/go<\/a> (Older version of Gospel Observer website without pictures, but back to March 1990)
http:\/\/tebeaustreetchurchofchrist.org\/<\/a>
http:\/\/ThomasTEdwards.com\/audioser.html<\/a> (audio sermons)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"