Five Miracles God Works for All Christians, Part 1 of 5

Has God worked any miracles in your life? Maybe “miracle” makes us think of healing from illness or being delivered from a natural disaster or providing financially in times of economic stress.

But there are miracles even greater than these, and God has already performed them in the lives of every believer in Jesus.

I did a short series of posts on the promise of Romans 8:28. (Click for part 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5). The verses that immediately follow that great promise summarize the miracles God has performed for every believer. Here are the verses in the ESV, and I’ve highlighted the miracle words:

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:28-30

I’d like to take a closer look at each of the five over the course of the next few posts.

Miracle #1: God Set His Affection Upon Us. Those whom he foreknew… To “foreknow” means that God, before time began, before we were ever born, “knew” us with the knowledge of intimacy and affection.

Some people assume that “foreknew” just means “knows ahead of time.” And that might make you think, “Well, God knows everybody ahead of time, right?” But “foreknew” means a lot more than that, and you can see why in the immediate context.

Out of all the people who have ever lived, God “foreknew” some, and what happened to them? Those he foreknew…[the same ones] he also predestined…[the same ones] he also called…[the same ones] he also justified…[the same ones] he also glorified.

Don’t miss this: the very same ones who are foreknown end up glorified. That’s why it can’t just mean, “known ahead of time.” Because the Bible is clear that not everyone ends up in glory. (And for that matter, not everyone is justified, not everyone is called, not everyone is predestined.)

The Bible uses the word “know” (and “foreknow) to speak of a special, intimate kind of knowing. For example, God said to His people Israel, through the prophet Hosea: But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought (Hosea 13:4-5).

You get the same idea in Amos 3:1-2: Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth..." Obviously the Lord "knew" information, everything there was to know, about all the families of the earth. But He “knew” with the knowledge of intimacy, only Israel.

One more, from 1 Peter 1:20: For He [Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. Jesus was not just “known ahead of time.” Foreknown is the knowledge of special love and intimacy.

It helps me to understand the miracle of foreknowledge by thinking of my grandchildren. I have six, and I “set my affection upon them” long before they were born. Actually, long before my two sons were ever married, I prayed for the women they would marry, and for the children they would have.

Many years before they were ever conceived, I tried to envision my grandchildren. It’s no exaggeration to say that I "knew" them and loved them long before they were born, more than any other children on the planet. I like children generally, but my affection is set upon Macie, Tobin, McKenna, Chloe, Madalyn, and Justin.

Our great God saw us in His mind, long before He invented time or matter, long before He created the universe or our solar system or the planet we call earth. Long before He fashioned a perfect Garden or the first man and woman, He “knew” us, set His affection upon us, loved us as His own. Yes, He knew (and knows) everything about us. The sins we would commit, our selfish acts, our failures, secrets and heartaches. But the miracle is, even though He has always known these things about us, He loved us anyway.

For next time: Miracle #2 – God Chose Us to Be His.

(By the way, if you’re reading this and you’re not sure if you are a Christian, or you’re still considering becoming one, I hope this post will encourage you to follow Christ. If you’d like a good summary of what that means, click here.)