Foreordained For The Sake Of..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Good evening, everyone. Once again, if you have your Bibles, and I know that you always do, please open them up to the first letter of Peter.

We should never take for granted the grace that the Lord gives us, that we can come together every Sunday and be with our brothers and sisters and listen to the preaching of the word. So if you please open to chapter number one this evening, by the help of the Spirit and by the grace of God, we are going to be attempting to study in the spirit verses 20 and verse 21 but as we've done last couple of times we're reading from chapter 1 from verse 10 going all the way to chapter 2 verse 12 because as i've said before this is a section in which the apostle is trying to prove that the salvation that was given to this church was promised in Holy Scripture. So we're going to be reading that section and paying much attention to the words that are contained in verses 20 and 21, which is the focus of our meditation this evening. This is the words of God. Concerning this salvation, The prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last time for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower False, but the word of the Lord remains forever, and this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So put away all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you might grow up into salvation. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good, As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be holy, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am lying in Zion, a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, They stumbled because they disobeyed the word as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct.

among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Amen. This is the word of God. Now, brothers and sisters, many times I've said already that this is a letter of encouragement that the apostle Peter, through the ministry and the power of the Holy Spirit, is trying to bring encouragement to the church. And just as the apostle Paul says to the Philippians in chapter three, that when he's finally arriving to the last portion of the letter, he says, rejoicing the Lord.

And he says, I will never be tired of writing the same things to you because it is safe for you. In the same way, I will not get tired of telling you that the letter that we have here is a letter of encouragement of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the Apostle Peter, the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter to the church, trying to encourage. Now, beloved, Biblical encouragement or the doctrine of biblical encouragement is necessary for us, is necessary for the church, is necessary for each one of your souls and for each one of your hearts. And the reason why biblical encouragement is needed for your soul is because the Bible is very clear that those who are in Christ will be persecuted. that those who are in Christ will go through trials, that those who are in Christ will go through suffering, that those who are in Christ will go through the testing of their faith.

So if the Bible promises, beloved, that each one of you, if you are in Christ, that you are going to go through tribulations and trials and persecutions and difficulties, then therefore, Biblical encouragement is needed for your soul, and the Holy Spirit has given to us, in this first letter of Peter, the doctrine of biblical encouragement. The Apostle Paul says that if you desire to live a godly life, that you will be persecuted. It's not an option. The apostle Paul says that if you live a godly life in Christ, that you will be persecuted. And then if we did not know what godly life means, then the same apostle in Titus 2 defines to us what a godly life in Christ is.

Because a godly life in Christ is not a moral life. It's not a life of principles. It's not a life that the world thinks that it's a good life. But a godly life in Christ Jesus is a life, as Paul would say in Titus 2, that we renounce to the passions of this world, that we renounce to this worldly passions of the scheme of the world and then he brings it to the being that we are self-controlled that not only that we renounce to the passions of the world but that we are self-controlled in Christ and being self-controlled that we are actively righteous not a judicial or a forensic righteousness, but rather a practical righteousness according to the law of God, according to who God is. So, beloved, if we live a godly life that renounces to the passions of this world, that it is self-controlled in Christ, and that our heart desires to be like our Savior, Just as our Savior was persecuted, just as our Savior was smoked, we will be persecuted and we will suffer and it will come by the providence of God.

We live in a country that we have many things and freedoms, but the soul of the Christian should be prepared for that which the Bible says, that if you desire to live a godly life, that we will be persecuted. It's been given to you not only to believe, but also to suffer. for the sake of Jesus Christ. This is what the Apostle says also to the Philippians. Beloved, trials, persecutions and difficulties.

And again, beloved, trials, persecutions, difficulties is a reality for the life of the Christian. If we want to live that godly life in Christ, we will be persecuted. And therefore, biblical encouragement is necessary for the soul of the Christian. We need to come to the book and see how the Spirit of Christ, how the Spirit of God provides for His people encouragement. Now, beloved, biblical encouragement is not an attempt to ignite your emotions temporarily.

Biblical encouragement is not coming to you and tell you something that temporarily is going to make you feel better about your life. The encouragement that is contained in scripture is not something that moves, that ignites your emotions and then passes and fades away, because that's human encouragement. The encouragement that is contained in the Bible, rather than attempting to reach your emotions, it tries to reach your entire being, your entire soul, your entire mind. And by the ministry of the Holy Spirit and through His Word, to point you to Jesus Christ, So then your emotions will not define your state, but rather your perception of your Savior. That's why James can say to the churches, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Or that's why Peter can say in the same book that you are to rejoice when you're in the midst of difficulties or trials. Because the type of encouragement that the Spirit of God has given to us is not human encouragement. It's not something that goes to your emotions. It's not the wisdom of God or the wisdom of men, rather, trying to solve temporarily your issues. is rather the Spirit of God trying to transform your heart so that in the midst of difficulties, so that in the midst of tribulations, that in the midst of sorrows, your soul and your entire being will always be directed to the Savior.

And because Peter knew this, the type of encouragement that is given to us in the Bible The type of encouragement that is given to us in scripture is not only a type of encouragement that tries to give you positive things and point you to things that will not bring you challenge, but rather biblical encouragement is one that moves you to practice. Think about this, beloved. These churches are going through persecution, through trials. Many of them were dying. If a human, humanly speaking, if a person comes to give them encouragement, he would have pointed to all the positive things and probably have said, don't worry, things are going to get better.

Everything will be fine. But yet the Apostle Peter, in the Spirit, he comes to encourage this church by exhorting them. to be holy, to be obedient children, not to be conformed to the passions of their former ignorance, to walk in this life, on this exile, with reverence. Why? Because biblical encouragement goes deep into the soul of the believer and not only affects the emotions of that person, but it transforms the whole heart so that in the midst of tribulation and difficulties, we can remain honoring our God by being like he is, holy as he is holy, and by living, keeping his commandments.

Many times we are going to be challenged, beloved, to break our conscience or the law of God because of the circumstances. But the Spirit of God has given us, through His Word, the means to keep our eyes focused on the person of Jesus Christ. Now, beloved, Peter knew all of these things and he knew that it was only through the Spirit of God and through the Word of God reaching the soul of people that they will be directed to Jesus Christ and that would be the only source of encouragement, biblical encouragement. So for that reason, the apostle, after exhorting and telling them that they should be holy, that they should walk in this age with fear to God, and after having explained to them that they had been purchased not with priceless or not with priceless gold or silver, but rather with the blood of Christ, with the precious blood of Christ, he's now going to come and he's going to build upon this theology and beloved. Pay attention to this.

He's going to encourage the church by pointing them through the spirit to the glorious reality of their salvation. He's going to give them a picture, a framework from eternity past onto what has happened to them by Jesus Christ of what the gospel is and what Jesus Christ is. So after saying all of that, beloved, The apostle, the way that is going to encourage the church, the way that is going to bring this biblical encouragement to the church is not saying, you're nice, you're good, everything is going to be fine. But rather, he says, the Christ, that is the lamb without spot and without blemish, whose blood was shed for you. This Jesus Christ was foreknown.

This Jesus Christ was foreordained. before the foundation of the world. This Jesus Christ was manifested in these last days. This Jesus Christ was resurrected by God the Father from the dead and this Jesus Christ was given glory the way that the soul beloved The way that your soul, the way that your heart is encouraged is by pointing you to the reality of salvation in Jesus Christ. If I come to you and you're going through trials and difficulties, and if you hear from my mouth words that are not pointing to Christ, then my encouragement is not biblical.

Your soul needs Christ because Christ is the one that helps you to go through every trial or difficulty or tribulation. Of course, we're not to leave human wisdom to decide, but Christ is the substance of our Christian living. So the more that the soul and the mind of the person goes deep into this, which we call redemption, the closer that we will be to Jesus Christ and the stronger that our soul will be attached to his. So in the same way that he endured trials, in the same way that our savior endured persecution, We will because we know that He already went through those things. He had victory over those things.

He triumphed over that. He triumphed over all of those things and that He has promised that in Him, we will never be separated from His love and that we will be taken up too. the eternity that is yet to come. So, beloved, the text that we have here in front of us is the attempt of the apostle Peter to give us by the Spirit an insight, a glimpse in this story of redemption from eternity past into that which is coming. So I want you to put your eyes in the text and let's just see those four things that I mentioned to you.

Verse 20 and verse 21, the apostle, after he has said all the things that he said, beloved, he is going to say, this Jesus Christ, he has said, you are to be obedient, you're to be holy as God is holy, you're to have fear as you walk through this exile, because you have been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, who is like a lamb, without blemish or without spot. So go to your Bible. I still see someone looking for the passage. Go to verse 20. Pay attention to what the Apostle is going to say now.

He says, He, that is Jesus Christ, He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God. And this God is who raised him from the dead and gave him, that is Christ, he gave to Christ, so he gave Christ glory so that your faith, the faith of those who are in Christ, and hope are in God. Beloved, I want you to see how these four things that the Apostle is speaking here are applied from God the Father to God the Son. We know that it's God the Father because in chapter one he said God and Father for Lord Jesus Christ, the God who chose us according to his abundant mercy, according to his foreknowledge. So God the Father is the one that is applying these four things to God the Son.

He's God the Father Jesus Christ was foreknown by God the Father, or he was foreordained, other translations will say, by God the Father. Jesus Christ was manifested, or was made manifest by God the Father. God the Father was the one that resurrected or raised up Jesus Christ, and then God is the one that gives Jesus Christ the glory that he deserves. But he starts saying something very important, beloved. that this Jesus Christ, and therefore the salvation that we have in Him, that this Jesus Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world.

before we even existed, before we even committed our first sin, before there was a need of our salvation. Jesus Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world, before evil entering into the world, before sin entering into the world, before disobedience entered to the world. Jesus Christ was foreknown by the Father. Oh, the word means ordained for day. And this is before the foundation of the world.

This is, this is what the apostle Peter had already preached. If you remember 30 years before this to the audience, when he was giving his first sermon is speaking of Jesus Christ and then saying, guys, this Jesus Christ, he was attested before you with mighty works and wonders that God performed through him among you in the midst of you. And you kill him. You kill him. You took him to the cross.

But that was according to the definite plan and to the foreknowledge of God the Father. So even before they existed and even before they had in their mind the intention to kill our savior, Jesus Christ had already been foreknown. He had already been foreordained to come and to enter into this world to accomplish the task that God the Father had given Him. Beloved, this is the clear testimony of Scripture. When you go through the prophets, you might remember when you're going through Isaiah, he's speaking of this humble servant.

A humble servant that is chosen by God, that is precious in the sight of God. This humble servant that contains the fullness of the Spirit, in whom God is completely pleased. This humble servant of chapter 42 in Isaiah is the servant that is the man of sorrows in Isaiah 53. The one that dies for the transgressions of the people of Israel, or for the people of God. These, the prophets, knew.

Beloved, that the Messiah was foreknown, that He was foreordained before the foundation of the world. And if the Messiah who came to this world to save us was foreknown before the foundation of the world, then those who are in Him were also foreknown before the foundation of the world. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul will say to the Ephesians. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ, in him. And then he says before the foundation of the world, just as Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters and friends.

Just as Jesus Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world, those who are aware, united in him, were also chosen and foreknown. Beloved, this union, this glorious union that we have in him would have had no place if the foreknowing of Christ, or if the foreknowledge of Christ, or if the foreordination of Christ, if that word exists, He's not made a reality in time. So that's why when the apostle progresses with the text, he says that he was foreknown before the foundation of the world. And one would expect that he says and. He was made manifest.

But rather, the apostle says, but he was manifest because that which existed in the mind of God and that which was foreknown in the mind of God would have had no place if it did not come to happen. So he says, but he was manifested in this last day, teaching us that that which God foreordains defines the present reality that we see and not rather the reality that we have in this present time defines somehow the eternal decree of God. That doesn't even make sense. He says, then he moves on to the next argument, beloved. He says that this Jesus Christ who was foreknown and who was foreordained that He was manifested in this last time.

These are things that you know. These are things that you've heard. But please keep your attention and your heart as much as you can with the words that I'm going to say, beloved. Our God in eternity past decided to foreordain and to foreknow his beloved son, Jesus Christ. Before the foundation of the world, he was foreknown by him.

And then this Jesus Christ was manifested in the last time. Apostle Paul will say in Galatians chapter 4, that when due time, or when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son in the likeness of men. that when the fullness of time arrived, that the Son of God was manifested among us in the likeness of men, that the Word of God that was dwelling with Him in eternity past became flesh and dwelt among us, a tabernacle with us, full of grace and full of truth. He came and dwelt among us. Beloved, this is the mystery of godliness.

This is the mystery of godliness that God became flesh. He became like one of us. He was manifested in the flesh, not only manifested in the flesh, but that he was vindicated in the spirit. This is the great mystery of godliness that Paul speaks to Timothy. This servant, this servant that was prophesied by Isaiah, he was not only foreknowned in eternity past, But the decree of God came to happen by his providence in the fact that he was manifested in this time, beloved.

And the reason why he was manifested among us was to accomplish the purpose for which he was sent. Jesus Christ, our Savior, brothers, our Redeemer, the lover of our souls, as we've just sang. the one who gave his life for us. He did not grasp the fact or he did not apprehend to hold the fact that he was God, that he was divine, but rather he humbled himself as a servant and he made himself like one of us. And he became obedient, obedient even to the point of death and death of a cross.

Beloved, this speaks that what happened in eternity past between God the Father and God the Son was covenantal in nature. It was covenantal in nature. That which God the Father ordained Jesus Christ unto, or that which God the Father foreknew Jesus Christ unto, was accepted by God the Son, and therefore He was manifested in time. Eternal life was promised before the ages began. And before the ages began, there was nobody else but God.

God the Father promised to Christ that he was going to save a people for himself. And Christ, as a humble servant, he accepted the mission, not because, not that there are two different wills, one for the son and one for the father, but being the same being, being of the same will and in the same mind, he accepted this covenant mission to rescue a people. And as a humble servant, he did not grasp the fact that he was God, but he came and entered into this world, beloved, and he was obedient. not only obedient to the law, pay attention to this, not only obedient to the law of Moses, because he was under the law, And Jesus Christ was entirely obedient to the law of Moses and to all the requirements that men are subject to. But Jesus Christ was also obedient to the covenantal agreement that he had with God.

So he was actively obedient to the law. And then once a person is actively and perfectly obedient to the law, that person does not deserve death. Because death is the wages of sin. And if there is no sin, there should not be death. And there was no sin in Jesus Christ, but yet he died.

Why did he die? Because he was passively obeying the covenantal agreement that he had in eternity past with his father. So he humbled himself. He did not grasp the fact that he was God. He made himself one of us in the likeness of our flesh.

He lived the perfect life that we cannot live under the law. But beyond that, He obeyed the request of His Father from eternity past in saying, You will save the people. And He went to the cross, beloved. And in His manifestation, He died upon the cross. That's why the Apostle Peter moves on to the next clause that was applied by God the Father to God the Son.

And that is that this Jesus Christ who was foreordained before the foundation of the world and this Jesus Christ who was manifested in the fullness of time or when due time came, this Jesus Christ was also raised up by God. He was resurrected God the Father gave life or resurrected our Lord Jesus Christ. Death had no power over him because Christ killed death by his death. That was the end of death by the death of our lord jesus christ and by the death of our lord jesus christ We are given life and dead eternal dead has no power on him anymore Because now the life that he lives he lives unto god and those who have been baptized by the spirit into christ The life that they live they do not live unto death as if we were going to die But rather we live it unto god just as christ lives his life unto life. That's why beloved, the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 1 will say that by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He was declared to be the Son of God.

He was declared to be the one that was promised in the Old Testament. He was the one that was promised by the prophets. He is the one that was foreknown from eternity past. He was powerfully resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. But now pay attention to the text, what it says in verse 21, our believers who raised him from the dead and gave him glory.

I don't know if it comes to your mind, but when I was reading and going through this, it came to my mind when our Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, when our Lord Jesus Christ in John 17, He's just about to give his life for his people. He's about to receive the wrath of God on behalf of the people that he came to save. He was foreknown. He was foreordained to come and he was manifested to save these people. And then once before he was about to go through the trials and the difficulties and the wrath of God pouring him upon the cross.

He says, Father, I have glorified you by completing the work that you sent me to do. And now he says, glorify me with the glory that I had before. Glorify me with the glory that I had from before. Why? Because Jesus Christ was God and he was with the Father in the glorious glory of the divinity.

He humbled himself. He came to this world and did not take anything of him. He emptied himself to become a servant. And now the glory that he received was not only the glory of God, but was also the glory of Thy glorified men, that He might be the first one among many brothers. The Apostle Paul, when he's given the purpose of our election, he says that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

And he's the first one among many brothers. And then he speaks of our redemption, that we were foreknown, that we were called, that we were justified, and that we are glorified, just as Christ was glorified. Also those who are in him. are also glorified. But now, beloved, this is not what Paul, or better, Peter, was trying to reach in the heart of those who were reading this letter.

Because we've skipped a very important part. And that is in verse 20, that he says, beloved, that all of these things, all of these things were for the sake of you. The full ordination of Jesus Christ the manifestation of Jesus Christ. He says that this was for the sake of you. And then when the apostle speaks of the resurrected Jesus Christ and the Christ who received glory, he says so that your faith and your hope might be in God.

Beloved, think about all the theology that you have in your mind. When you think about the glorious work of redemption and salvation, Words such as the glory of God comes into our mind. Why? What was Christ for ordained before and for known before the foundation of the world? And what was he manifested in these last times?

For the glory of God, the mind of some will say. Oh, as John says in first John, to destroy the works of the devil. All of these things are true for the glory of God and to destroy the works of the devil. But it's also true. And it's also in a scripture that God, the father for you, for ordained Jesus Christ to manifest him in this time for the sake of you, for the sake of those who are in Jesus Christ.

If by grace, through faith, you are in Christ, even before you existed, before the foundation of the world, God had foreknew or foreordained his beloved son. So he will be manifested in this time, beloved, for the sake of the church. He became a humble servant. He emptied himself so that he will obey and obedience unto death. He will go to that cross.

He will receive the glory as the one of the Father to accomplish a glory that we do not deserve. Why was Jesus sent into the world? Yes, because God loved us. And it's easy. I don't know why, but in the Spanish we have in this verse, the way that we've translated this verse, for the sake of you, is for the love of you.

When we quote this verse in Spanish, we realize it's for the love of you. And that is not unbiblical, beloved, because John speaks of this, of this type of salvation. Go to 1 John, and I will show it to you. 1 John. chapter 4 look what the apostle says 1st john chapter 4 verse 9 and 10 and pay attention reverently to each one of those words he says In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, or as Paul would say, that Christ was manifested in due time when the fullness of time came, so that we may live through Him.

In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins, or for our sins. When Christ was foreknown, when He was foreordained in order to be manifested, to live the life of a humble servant, a servant that will die upon a cross, and when He was publicly resurrected, and when He was given glory, that was for the sake of the Church. That was for the sake of those who have a real, a truly real relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. For those whose desires are not in this world, for those whose eyes are not set in the pride of this life or in the pride of the flesh, for those whose hearts are not set upon temporary things, for those whose hearts have been taken entirely by the love of God through the work of Jesus Christ. And that work that only happens through grace and by faith in Him.

That's what Paul says in Romans 5. He says, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's the way that He shows. This is the way that He manifests. This is the way that He displays the love towards His people, and that He sent His beloved Son.

Not only He sent Him, but He foreordained Him before you existed, and before you had committed all the sins that you have, that you are, and that you will commit. He sent His beloved Son. He foreordained Him. He chose Him, just as He chose you, to manifest Him in this time for the sake of you. Now, beloved, but do not miss what the apostle says in verse 21, because for the sake of you has a qualifier.

Christ was foreordained and Christ was manifested in these last times for the sake of you, but that you has a qualifier in verse 21. And then he says, who are believers, because Jesus Christ is only of benefit for the soul if the soul has by grace faith in him. If the soul does not have faith in Christ, then Christ Jesus is not of benefit for him, but rather is for condemnation. Faith is the only instrument that gives us access to God. Therefore, since you have been justified by faith, the Apostle Paul will say in Romans 5, You have peace with God.

You have peace with God. If you have faith, you have been justified. And if you have been justified, you have peace with God. So if you do not have faith, you have not been justified and you are under the wrath of God. So the apostle Peter says that the ordination of Christ and the manifestation of Christ is for the sake or is for the benefit of those who believe.

No one can know God apart from faith and no one can receive the blessings that are bestowed upon or after justification apart from believing in Jesus Christ. Beloved, I said to you that there are two ways in which I could encourage your church, your soul, And that is through my human words and telling you that everything is going to be okay tomorrow or in a week or in two weeks or that something is going to happen that's going to fix your trials or your situations or your difficulties. But that which the soul of the Christian, that which the heart of the Christian needs is to take the eyes and to set them upon Jesus Christ, the One who saved us, and to know that what Christ did is something that was foreordained and foreknown before the foundation of the world, and that God the Father sent His beloved Son to die upon a cross, like a lamb without blemish and without a spot, to shed His blood for the sake of those who believe. for the sake of those who are united to Him by faith? What is then the trials and the tribulations of this world?

What is then the difficulties and the sorrows of this present evil age? They are nothing but temporary means by which our faith is strengthened and by which we are conformed to the image our beloved Savior Jesus Christ. It doesn't feel good, and there's sorrow in our hearts when we go through tribulations and trials. But what peace the soul of the Christian has in knowing that we are going through that sorrow, trial, or difficulty in light of a sovereign God that is not only in control of the things that are happening, but is also in control of our lives. He foreknew us.

He predestined us. He decreed that we were going to be in Christ. And if we are in Christ, nothing of this world is of value compared to our great and glorious Savior. May the Lord give us grace. Amen.