Foreknowledge - Predestination - Foreordination -
Time - Panentheism Defined

Article by Kenneth Uptegrove

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Before God created our universe He already had foreknowledge of every human and bird and flower that would exist on Earth during human history. Because He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient in space and time, He was perfectly able to foreknow before the creation that Adam would fall, and that every human would fall short of the glory of God. This also explains how He was able to write all those names in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21: 27). Isn’t it wonderful that He made provision for our salvation through Jesus Christ before creating our universe?

But what is foreknowledge?

God’s foreknowledge comes out of His being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent in all of time and space. By virtue of being omnipresent in time, God was able to predetermine world history and the culmination of all things eons before He created the universe.

Time is God’s will in motion. To God there is no future or past. He is the mighty I AM who lives in the eternal present tense. For God the present was, the present is, and the present will always be — simultaneously. Therefore, the mighty I AM was able to predetermine history and the culmination of all things by virtue of being present in all of time at the same time. That is why the Bible calls God "the Alpha and the Omega."

That is why He was able to have the great patriarchs record in the Bible all that will ever happen on earth. To us that is prophecy of future events. But for God, He is already there and has already done that—present tense. So, for Him, foreknowledge is (as He told Moses) summed up in His name —I AM THAT I AM.

But what is time?

God resides outside of time and is aware of all that is in time. He is not subject to time, but we are. God's omnipresence is His awareness of all of His creation but he does not indwell mass and matter. The Bible says His Holy Spirit indwells true Christians and nothing else.

This idea of God being omnipresent in time did not originate with me. In Einstein's Relativity Theory he said the past and future are entwined and form a fourth dimensional fabric called space-time. He said, "...the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one."

Einstein was an atheist until he developed his theory of relativity. As Einstein was working on his mathematical equations to search for the starting point of the universe, it began to come home to him that all mass came into existence in an instant, and before that instant there was no mass. In our attempt to understand "first cause," we have to conclude that either mass or a supreme creator being had to always exist. Einstein’s math demonstrated that it is not logical that lifeless, mindless mass always existed, but that an all-powerful creator did exist.

At that moment of discovery, Einstein became a deist…a Panenthesist. His testimony shows that it takes more than genius and high math to know God.

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Panentheism Defined

Panentheists hold that God is present in and throughout nature and humans, but also transcends them and is much greater than them. By contrast Pantheists consider that "God" is identical with Nature and the wider Universe, and use the term (if at all) primarily to express their own feelings towards Nature.

Basically Panentheism is a form of belief in a creator God, while Pantheism is not. Simply put, in pantheism, God is the whole; however, in panentheism, the whole is in God. This means that the universe in the first formulation is practically the whole itself. In the second formulation, the universe and God are not ontologically equivalent. In panentheism, God is viewed as the eternal animating force behind the universe. Some versions suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifest part of God. In some forms of panentheism, the cosmos exists within God, who in turn "pervades" or is "in" the cosmos. While pantheism asserts that God and the universe are coextensive, panentheism claims that God is greater than the universe. In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within God.

Clearly this is not a Biblical view.

(Borrowed from Wikipedia and other websites)

Is God Omnipresent?

[Quote taken from from http://www.cogwriter.com/god-omnipotent-omniscient-omnipresent.htm written By Wallace Smith (extracted from God and the "Three 'O's in the Living Church News, Sep-Dec 2007)]

"Correctly understood, the question of God’s omnipotence has historically caused little controversy. The term omnipresent, however, has caused more trouble. Basically, being omnipresent means being present everywhere at the same time. Can this term be applied to God? What does Scripture tell us?

Ask yourself: is there any physical location in this universe where we can hide from the presence of God? The answer, according to Scripture, is a resounding “No!” In fact, King David posed this question directly, asking: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell [the grave], behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:7–10).

David answers the question beautifully: it is futile to search for a place to hide from the presence of God (and it is unwise to try—just ask Jonah!). In this sense, God’s infallible word shows that He is omnipresent—within His vast creation, there is no place where you can hide from His presence.

Still, we must be careful with our terms! Many have tried to twist God’s omnipresence to portray Him as some kind of shapeless “blob”—even though the Bible clearly shows that God has a body and a shape—and it is a shape like ours! Consider Genesis 1:26, which tells us that man is made in God’s image and likeness—words that do convey a sense of shape. We do not use human philosophies to avoid the clear statements of Scripture! Consider, as well, the passage in which God says unambiguously that He has a face, a hand and a back (Exodus 33:18–23)! The only way to understand this passage from Exodus without making a mockery of God’s word is to agree that God has a shape and a body!

So, how is God “everywhere”? We already read the answer, in David’s words: “Where can I go from your Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7). It is by their Spirit that the Father and the glorified Christ have complete access to their creation! Through His Spirit, God’s reach extends to every nook and cranny of the universe, and there is—as David wrote—no place to flee from His presence. Yet He still retains a shape—a body—ruling in glory from His throne in heaven. It is from there that “His eyes behold” the sons of men (Psalm 11:4).

We must also note that although God is omnipresent through His Spirit, we can become separated from Him. In fact, we are warned, “your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Jesus Christ experienced this horrible separation during His crucifixion, when on our behalf He took upon Himself the full penalty of our sins (cf. Mark 15:34; Isaiah 53:4–5).

The world’s scholars and theologians often have a wrong idea about God’s omnipresence. But if we let God’s flawless word teach us what God’s omnipresence truly means, our footing is made sure."

If anything is of God, God has to do it. The Holy Spirit of God seeks us out, convicts us of our sins, and leads us to Jesus. He created the universe so that He could create us, and He created us so that He could love us, commune with us, and give us eternal life in His presence (Genises 1:26-27). He planed and provided and promised all before He created anything. Bigger yet, He SAW it all. He EXPERIENCED all of time before time began. That is why Jesus could say, "I am the Alpha and the Omega."

So, God’s foreknowledge comes out of His omnipresence in all of time. And with this divine foreknowledge comes His ability to hold the future in His absolute, omniscient power to predetermine the culmination of all things. God’s foreknowledge, as defined here, also demonstrates beyond all doubt that God never changes, never is in doubt, and His Word (the Bible) never changes. And God also set absolutes in place, which is only logical for an omniscient God who is omnipresent in time. He is THE epitome, THE definition of "absolute victory."

When someone talks about God doing "a quick work," we must remember that He knew before the foundation of the world the exact day that He would do that "quick work." All that He will ever do is as much an established fact in His mind as the fall of Adam was before the foundation of the world.

That means He is precisely on time and is absolutely in control, and never has to rush. He may release some events in rapid succession, but He is never pressured or persuaded because He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient in space and time, He was perfectly able to foreknow before the creation that Adam would fall, and that every human would fall short of the glory of God. This also explains how He was able to write all those names in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21: 27). Isn’t it wonderful that He made provision for our salvation through Jesus Christ before creating our universe?

Perhaps this understanding of God’s omnipresence in time will help dispel the poorly thought out Deist notion that says, "God doesn't have foreknowledge of everything, but is dependent, in part, upon our choices and actions."

When we take a second look at the Jonah epic we can see that Jonah still could have chosen to not deliver God’s message to Nineveh even after being belched up by that "great fish." God allowed both Jonah’s will and His will to be fulfilled. But if Jonah had lain on that beach, reeking of vomit, and still refused to go, God would have sent another prophet. God chooses whom He chooses, but His will is inevitably done.

Omnipresence in time is beyond our comprehension, but maybe a chess game scenario will help our human perspective. Consider what would happen if you could look into the future and watch the next game with your chess opponent. Even if you lost that future game, you then know in advance what your opponents moves will be, and you can prepare to counter them before the game is played in the present tense.

However, your opponent may be able to counter your new strategy. So you would have to replay that scene over and over again so as to see every possible move of your opponent before allowing the future to evolve into the present and past tense.

When we add God’s omnipotence to His omnipresence we can see that His ways are far above our ways. In fact, they are so far above our ways that even our best explanations of how He is able to write history in advance is beyond our comprehension.

As one commentator put it, "History is His Story—prophecy is history in the making."

Now we can see why God never has to try to remember what He did yesterday, because He is there. And He never has to wonder what He will do tomorrow, because He is there. God is in our future and past, and all at the same time. No one can stop a thing that has already taken place, and from God’s perspective it has.

This concept of God as omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient in space and time leads me to suspect that this I AM’ness of God transcends all human theologies. Specifically, this concept transcends Calvinism and Arminianism. This concept of God even transcends our concept of "the sovereignty of God." God is always beyond our definitions.

And, most profound of all, God is supernatural, and our relationship with Him is supernatural. Christianity was and is, and will always be a supernatural religion. We must guard against reducing Christianity to a love letter—the bible—from God.

But before someone has decided that I have invented a new school of theology, and names it Uptegrove-ism, let me point out that I don’t understand what I just said. This concept transcends human thinking. But man never ceases to endeavor to place God in a box. That is what doctrines and theologies are all about. But Christianity is bigger than just doctrines, isn’t it? When my sons were three years old they were not capable of understanding their father, but they loved me nonetheless. And I loved them passionately, despite their immaturity. We can have that relationship with our Heavenly father, can’t we?

Does this help you gain a larger concept of God?

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Foreknowledge - Predestination - Foreordination - Time - Panentheism Defined

Article by Kenneth Uptegrove

Foreknowledge - Predestination - Foreordination -
Time - Panentheism Defined