majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Galatians 1:15-16a,
"But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among
the Gentiles..."
Here Paul tells us God had set him apart from birth, ("from my
mother's womb") for the purpose of preaching the gospel to the
Gentiles. Because of my love of God, I seek to know all I can of him
and this tells me a few things about my God.
This comment by Paul tells me that God plans things out. He has his
own agenda and he does what he intends to do. I may have my own
agenda, my own purposes, but God has his. Paul had his own agenda and
that was to persecute the infant church in his misguided zeal. But God
had set this particular man apart for himself for a specific purpose -
to serve the very church he persecuted. He was to be God's hand-picked
emissary to take the gospel to the Gentiles.
This speaks to me of God's foreknowledge. He knew ahead of time what
he wanted to do. He knew Paul before he was born and had tapped him
for his own purposes. This also speaks to me of God's foreordination.
There are those things God has predestined to take place beforehand. I
am reminded of God's intention with his Son to be a propitiation for
our sins before the world was even created, "For you know that it was
not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were
redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your
forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without
blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but
was revealed in these last times for your sake." 1 Peter 1:18-20.
Paul was not the only person God foreordained before their birth. John
the Baptist and Ezekiel are among others that are specifically
mentioned as those hand-picked by God before their birth for specific
purposes. I realize there are those who look at these examples, and
though well-intentioned, they mistakenly attempt to ascribe these as
God's design for how he saves each individual. While I reject such a
misunderstanding, I never want the beauty and grandeur of God to be
robbed of the brilliance of its full glory and I marvel at the
incredible aspects of God's foreknowledge, foreordination and
purposeful agenda. When God, who harbors a divine-sized love of us has
an agenda for us, that has to be a wonderful thing!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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