“The prescience of the founding fathers continues to astonish me. They were freedom fighters. They made America. They gave us this magical country. They were also slave owners – which is confusing to their legacy. How could such brilliant men have only secured freedom for themselves, but not their wives or their slaves?” – Andy Dunn – American Businessman
PRESCIENCE (pronounced ‘preSHeans) is the fact of knowing something before it takes place or exists; foreknowledge. Some people would pronounce it ‘pre-science’ which is actually a good way to think about this word. Science is the intellectual and practical activity that studies, observes, and experiments with the structure or behavior of someone or something that exists. Prescience is the ability to know about something BEFORE it exists and can be studied. It is a divine element found in the spiritual gift of prophecy. Romans 8:28 is a very familiar passage of Scripture. Before that verse, Paul speaks about our adoption as sons and daughters of God the Father. He discusses the fact that the earth is groaning and experiencing labor pains waiting for the revealing of the Sons of God. Did you know that world is waiting for us to show
up? Though we experience suffering in the present; as we obediently walk in the ways of God and represent Christ in the earth, we can look forward to a future in Heaven with unspeakable glory. Paul reassures us that even when we’re weak, in pain, or frustrated with life, the Holy Spirit will compensate for our weakness and intercede for us with groans that are too deep for words. We may not know what to pray, but He searches what’s in our hearts. He knows the mind of the Father and will pray and make moves for us according to the will of God. 28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.Prescience, this idea of God ‘knowing us beforehand,’ is best explained by the prophet’s call in Jeremiah 1:5. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” God’s foreknowledge applies both to people and to situations. Have you experienced the phenomenon of knowing what someone will do or say without interfering with their right or choice to do or say it, or knowing that something will take place
without meddling in the inevitable train of events? I have. Theologian Gleason Archer describes foreknowledge as, “God pre-knowing all choices – and doing so without predetermining (requiring) them.” It is comforting to know that I am a person whom God knew beforehand, in a situation that God knew about beforehand. The circumstance might not feel good right now, but He is working everything together for my good because He loves me!
