I did choose the Lord Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I'm speaking this morning from
Romans chapter 8, verse 29. I've entitled this message, Foreknowledge
and Predestination. In verse 29 of Romans chapter
8, we read, For whom he did foreknow. Notice what I did not say, or
what Paul did not say. He did not say what he did foreknow,
but whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn. among many brethren." Now, I
am well aware that what I am going to be attempting to preach
on, I don't so much understand, but I believe. I'm giving what
the scripture teaches regarding this subject of foreknowledge
and predestination. Last week we considered verse
28 where Paul said, and we know, that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to His purpose. God is a God of purpose. He has an end and a design and
a purpose in all that He does. He said, I've purposed it. I
will bring it to pass. God is a God of purpose. There is no such thing as good
luck. There's no such thing as bad
luck. God controls everything and he
has a purpose in all that he does. And God's purpose is to
glorify his son and to have a bunch of people
perfectly conformed to the image of his son. That's God's purpose.
His purpose is to glorify and exalt his only begotten and well-beloved
son, and to have a bunch more just like him. That is God's purpose. For, he said in verse 28, and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow. This is all a part of God's purpose. Whom he did foreknow. This is an explanation. of those
who are loved of God and those who are called according to His
purpose, for whom He did foreknow." When most people think of God's
foreknowledge, they think, well, God's God and He can see the
future. And he's kind of a time traveler who looks through the
telescope of time and sees what somebody's going to do, and then
he responds to what they're going to do. If he sees somebody's
going to believe, well, he gives them faith. Or he says, well,
I'm going to make them one of the elect. I'm going to choose
them. And if he sees someone's not going to believe and reject
him, he says, well, I'm not going to make them one of my chosen
because I see they're not going to be saved. That's the way most
people look at God's foreknowledge, him foreknowing what's going
to happen. Now understand, there's no way
of understanding how God is not a creature of time like you and
I are. There is no sequence of events
with God. Everything is in the here and
now. There's no yesterday, there's no tomorrow. It's all in the
now with God. Do I understand that? No, it
boggles my mind, but I know it's so. God is God. He's not subject
to time. And he sees everything that's
gonna happen because he ordained everything that's going to happen.
He's in control of everything that happens. After Paul had
been preaching in Acts chapter 13, when we're given his first
sermon that the Apostle Paul preached, Here was the response,
when the Gentiles heard this, this is Acts 13, verse 48, when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. Now notice it does not say as
many as believed were ordained to eternal life. It says as many
as were ordained to eternal life, way back before the foundation
of the world. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Now, whom he did foreknow. Notice it doesn't say whom he
did foresee would believe, but whom he did foreknow, not what
he foreknew, but whom he did foreknow. Now, this thing of
foreknowledge has to do with God loving you. He said to Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. It simply means that God's always
known you. It means that God has always
loved you. There was never a time when he
did not love you. That is beyond comprehension. It's not understood. It's believed. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. There's never been a time when
God did not know his people. Now when the Lord is going to
say to that one crowd on judgment day, depart from me, I never
knew you. He knew who they were and he
knew all about them and he knew everything they'd ever done or
thought, but he had never known them. The way Adam knew his wife
Eve, I never had an intimate relationship with you. I never
loved you is what that means. whom he did foreknow." Now, if
you're a Christian, it's because God has foreknown you. He's done
something for you. I think of that scripture in
1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, when the apostle Paul says, for who
maketh thee to differ from another? Well, if you're a believer, you've
been made to differ from the unbeliever. You love God, they
don't. You believe the gospel, they
don't. You have a new nature, they don't. He's made you to
differ. Your sins are forgiven, theirs are not. Now, who made
you to differ? Well, God the Father did in eternal
election when he chose you in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Christ Jesus the Lord made you
to differ. When he represented you and kept the law for you
and put away your sins and washed them away to where they are no
more, he made you to differ. God the Holy Spirit made you
to differ when he gave you a new nature and a new heart, a heart
to believe the gospel, a heart to rely and trust and come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the work of God's grace
in you. He made you to differ. Now, there are some, as I've
already stated, to whom Christ will say, depart from me. I never
knew you. I never loved you. Does that mean that he doesn't
love all men? I thought he loved everybody.
Well, you're not going to get that from the scripture. Psalm
5 says, thou hatest all workers of iniquity. That's a large group,
isn't it? Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. I know he didn't love Esau because
he said, Esau have I hated. That's God's testimony. No, God
does not love all men without exception. You can't get that
from the Bible. I know that's what most preachers have to say,
but that makes the love of God meaningless. If God can love
somebody and they wind up in hell, his love didn't do them
any good at all. Let me say this, there'll be
nobody in hell that God loves. Not a one. For whom he did for,
no. Here's a mysterious truth from
the Bible that is not so much understood as believed, is God's
choosing of us is in Christ, and His knowing of us is in Christ,
because of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. However long God
has known Christ is how long He has known all of His elect,
because they've always been in Him. according as He hath chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him." Christ is the first foreknown. God has always known the Beloved
Son. The Scripture says He was verily
foreordained before the foundation of the world, and that word foreordained
is the same word translated foreknown. The Father has always known the
Son. The Father has always loved the
Son. The Father has always delighted
in the Son. Oh, to think of the love that
exists between the Father and the Son. Christ be my first elect,
He said, then chose us in Him our living Head. Now, union with
the Lord Jesus Christ, that is so mysterious, but I'd like to
read some verses from Ephesians 5 that I think give us some light
as to what union with Christ is. Beginning in verse 25, Paul's
talking about marriage. He says, Love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh. and of his bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh." This is talking
about the intimate act between a man and a woman in the covenant
of marriage. They too shall be one flesh. Now Paul says this is a great
mystery. It's something we would have never known unless God was
pleased to make it known, but I speak concerning Christ and
the Church. All these things I'm saying about
marriage is because it's given to picture the relationship between
Christ and His Church. The two become one, united to
the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 29, when he said, Or verse 28, men ought to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. When Christ loved his wife, he
loved himself, because all believers are united to him, one with him. Both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Now, the reason I'm foreknown
or foreloved is because I've always been united to Christ. Now, I didn't always know it.
I didn't know it till the Lord saved me. But before I was ever
born, I've always been united to the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
that passage of scripture in 2 Timothy 2, verse 13, where
Paul says, If we believe not, he abideth faithful. He cannot
deny himself. For him to deny me would be for
him to deny himself. Now that all flows from union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know why he was delivered
by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God? because
all of His people were in Him, and He was going to pay for their
sins, and He was going to work out a perfect righteousness for
them. So He was delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. That means the forelove
of God. He was delivered for those that
God foreloved. That's why everything they did
to Christ on the cross, the crown of thorns, the nails in his hands
and feet. Listen to this scripture from
Acts chapter 4. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. whom he did foreknow, the elect,
those chosen in him and united to him in this everlasting, eternal
union, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. I know that people argue over
whether or not the Bible teaches predestination, but you can't
read the Bible and deny that it does. Of course the Bible
teaches predestination. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate. Do you believe everything's predestinated?
Yes, I do. Yes, I do. God controls everything,
every event, everything that's going through your mind right
now, He's in control of. If you're objecting to this,
He's in control of that. It could be His judgment against
you. If you're being brought to repentance, He's in control
of that. All of the thoughts going through
your mind right now, He's in control of. He predestinates
everything. Somebody says, well, that's making
everybody robots. Well, it is not. I don't understand how this
is so, but we do what we want to do. We do what we do uncoerced,
unforced. We do what we want to do, and
God controls everything we do. Now, that's just a matter of
faith. It's what the Bible teaches. Can I intellectually grasp that? Of course not. Do I believe it?
With all my heart. God predestinates everything. And I'm glad he does. I love
the God of predestination. I don't merely love the doctrine
of predestination. I love the God of predestination. That's who God is. Well, do you believe it? Everything
that happens is predestinated? Does that mean even if I want
to be saved, if I'm not predestinated, I can't be? No, I don't believe
that for a second. If you're predestinated, you
will want to be saved. If you're not predestinated by
God, you could care less about God. You're like Esau. You might
be religious, but you're like Esau. You'd sell your birthright
with God for a bowl of soup. But if you're predestinated,
you're somebody who wants to know the living God. Our Lord
put it this way in John 6, verse 37, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. Don't think predestination keeps
you from Christ. It doesn't. If you come to Him,
you'll be received, and you'll find out the reason you came
is because He predestinated you. But don't think that predestination
and election and God's purpose prevents men from being saved.
No, it brings people in who would have been damned. Thank God for
predestination. Now, everything that takes place
is all a part of God's providence, but this glorious word, predestination,
is used with reference to this. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate, predetermine. Mark this out for them to be
perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Now, God's purpose is to glorify
His Son and have a whole vast number of people who are conformed
to His image, that He might be the firstborn among these many
brethren. God took a look at His only begotten
and well-beloved Son, the Son of His love, and He said, I'm
going to have a bunch more just like Him. That is the purpose
of God in predestination. He is going to be the firstborn,
the one who has all the preeminence among many brethren who are perfectly
conformed to His image. That is the purpose of God in
predestination. All those whom He predestinated,
He predestinated them to be conformed to the image of His Son. Now that word conformed, it's
taken from the word we read in Philippians chapter 2 where it
says regarding Christ who being in the form of God, He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. He was in the form of God. Now that doesn't mean he looked
like God or acted like God or was like God. He was God. He was not like God at all. He
was God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Now the only one who is equal
with God is God Himself. Jesus Christ is God. God the Father said to God the
Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Jesus Christ is God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, the wonderful Counselor. He's
God. But it says He took upon Him
the form of a servant. Jesus Christ didn't look like
a servant. or act like a servant, he was
the servant. He was the true servant of God,
and he serves his people. When he washed his disciples'
feet, he did so in humility, being a servant to them. And
all of God's people are predestinated to be conformed to his image. You know what that means? That
means all of the elect, all who believe, were predestinated to
have the very nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1 verse
4 says we're made partakers of the divine nature. That's what happens when you're
born again. You're given the divine nature. You're born of
the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It can never be anything more than that. But that which
is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Partakers of the divine nature,
the Holy Seed, the new birth. We were predestinated to the
same relationship He has with His Father. He's the Son. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. We have God as our father. We
have God for us, just like he's for his son. If he's for his
son, he's for us. The scripture says, as he is,
so are we in this world. He's the son. We're sons of God,
having all of his fatherly protection. As a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. We are predestinated
to have His character. John said, We'll be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. We'll have His character. We
won't be sinners anymore. We won't even experience sin.
We won't even remember what it's like to be a sinner. Perfectly
conformed to His perfect character. We're predestinated to have his
inheritance. Whatever he inherits is ours. Romans 8, 17 says we're joint
heirs with Christ. Whatever Christ has coming to
him, everybody in him, all those united to him, all those foreknown
and in him have coming to them. And we have been predestinated
to have his glory. Scripture says, The glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even
as we are one. Now this was David's hope. He
said, Ask for me. I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. And this is every believer's
hope. John said, writing under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Beloved, it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. I don't have any idea what it
will be like to be without sin. My sin is ever before me while
in this life. And when John was speaking under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he still said, Beloved, it does
not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he
shall appear, there's such glory in his person. When he shall
appear, we'll be like him. For we shall see him as he is,
not as he was, but as he is. And that sight will conform us
into his very image. Now God does all of this for
the glory of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. You know, there's gonna be a
whole lot of people in heaven. Christ died for a whole lot of
people. And he's the firstborn among
many brethren. Now that word's not used very
often in the scripture. What's it mean? The firstborn
among many brethren. Well, Christ is going to be the
firstborn among many brethren because he gets all the glory
in their salvation. Now when I stand, perfectly conformed
to His image. You know who's going to get the
glory for that? Let me give you a hint, it's not me. He gets
all the glory for Him to take a sinful, weak man like me. or any of His people, and have
them perfectly conformed to His image so that we're just like
Him, oh, what glory He achieves from that. He is the firstborn. In Luke 2.7, He's called the
firstborn of the virgin. The child that was born was the
son that was given. You see, the son's always been. In Colossians 1.15, he's called
the image of God, the firstborn of every creature. That means
everything comes from him. It doesn't mean he's a created
being. It means everything comes from him. And in Colossians 1.18,
we read where he's the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. He gets all the glory and salvation
as the firstborn from the dead. And then in Hebrews 1.6 we read
of the firstborn whom the angels of God worship as God. And in Revelation 1.5 we read
of the first begotten from the dead, the faithful witness and
the prince of the kings of the earth. And then in our text,
we read that he's the firstborn that every believer was predestinated
to, to be conformed to his image, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Beloved God is a God of purpose,
and here's His purpose. He has purpose to glorify and
exalt His Son. And understand this, any doctrine
or any teaching that doesn't give him all the glory God hates,
because he has purposed to give all the glory to his son, that
he might be the firstborn among those many brethren, all of his
children. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. God has purposed to glorify his
son and to have a bunch more just like him. That's what foreknowledge is,
and that's what predestination is. Whom he did foreknow, them
he also did predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of His Son. And next week we're going to
consider the results of foreknowledge and predestination. We have this
message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, ride
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying God
will be pleased to make Himself known. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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