Dear Explorer,
Read John 11:45-53
What was the statement that Caiaphas made in John 11:49-50?
Was the high priest a follower of Jesus?
John 11:51 indicates that because he was the high priest, God gave him the prophecy concerning Jesus. How do you explain this if he does not have the Holy Spirit inside of him to guide him?
God can speak through anyone He chooses because He is the Creator of all. He spoke through a donkey in the Old Testament. (Numbers 22:22-32). God can use empty people to speak His truth. We also see that in the Old Testament, God directed pagan Kings to carry out His plans.
Now, that brings us to the current discussion. Do you see how God is using the Chief Priests and Pharisees to plan to crucify Jesus? Yet, I believe in free will. I believe that God did not place these murderous thoughts in their minds. I believe that they, themselves, came up with the plan to kill Jesus – but God knew that they would. I believe that God could have stopped it (just as He stopped several earlier attempts to harm Jesus) if it were not going according to His plan. But I also believe that God in His wisdom had Jesus born at just this exact time so that these leaders of the Jews would do exactly what He knew that would do.
What does the word omniscient mean?
How does that affect you and me? Greatly. Many people say that God has a wonderful plan for your life. And if you mess up, He has a plan B. I disagree. I believe in a God who is so great and Omniscient that He already knows what we will and won't do in our entire lifetime. I believe that His plan A is already based on our weaknesses and our tendencies to not obey. Could I accomplish more if I were more obedient? Yes, certainly – but my God is so big – He already knew that that would be the desire of my heart. God knows everything about me. Much, much more than I know about myself!
God is not time linear. That is very, very hard for humans to comprehend because we are totally time linear. We cannot see tomorrow and sometimes have a hard time remembering the past!
So, when we mess up and fall flat on our face – it makes God sad, yes, but it doesn't surprise Him the way it surprises us! (Psalms 139:16)
We'll continue this discussion tomorrow.
In His service, dale
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