Pre-Destination?

Dear Victorious,

I don't really understand this concept called pre-destination. A friend has tried to explain it to me but it makes no sense. I mean, how could I have existed before I existed? How did God have a plan for me before I existed? Isn't this just a bunch of religious foolishness?

Mackori T. - Traverse City, MI

Dear Mackori,

No, it's not a bunch of religious nonsense. It's Biblical truth. You must remember that there are many Biblical truths which make no sense to mankind. But that doesn't make them any less true.

Ephesians 1:4-5 says, "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world ... In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ ..." So what this means is that God knew about you before He even created the world. He knew when you would be conceived as a human, how you would live your life, etc. And He decided then how He wanted you to turn out.

This goes back to the simple truth that we are first and foremost spiritual beings who were put on this earth to have a human experience. We don't know for sure, but it is entirely possible that we existed as spiritual beings well before the world was created and well before we were born as human beings.

Genesis 1:26 tells us, "Then God said, 'Let us make man(kind) in our own image, in our likeness ..." What this means is that the Trinity of God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) decided to create mankind in His own image. Keep in mind that at that point in time, God have never taken a human form (such as He did in Jesus). At that time, His image was only that of a spiritual being.

So He created us as spiritual beings --- in His own image. Thereafter He determined that we would have a human experience. And He planned out that human experience for each of us. It's what pre-destination really is.