Unlimited: God Foreknew His People

May 9, 2023 678

God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew (Romans 11:2a).

How could God have rejected his people, since he had foreknown them from the start? He had loved them before he had even brought them into existence. He had bathed them in his loving kindness from their very beginnings.

The whole idea of God’s eternal foreknowledge is a difficult one for our finite, human minds to consider. An important principle that we must understand is that God’s foreknowledge does not affect his dealings with humanity.

God foreknew who would be his people.

God knew that Israel would reject his Son, yet he didn’t reject them. It was they who rejected him. Despite his foreknowledge of their rejection, he dealt with them with perfect kindness and perfect love. This is the entire story of the Old Testament.

There is a deeper sense here also in which Paul’s statement that “God did not reject his people” refers to his people, and not to a nation. God has always had his people in the nation of Israel, just as he has always had his people among those who were not Israelites. As the Gospel went to the Gentiles, God foreknew who would be his people. They would never be rejected.

God also has his people today, whom he will never reject. You can be part of his people.

Spiritual Application

The words of the Lord to Jeremiah apply to you as well:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you (Jer. 1:5.)

Meditate on the Lord’s foreknowledge of you and your life, and how he has,

…loved you with an everlasting love… (Jer. 31:3.)

– Eliezer Gonzalez

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