Nevertheless, those are good thoughts that were brought out of it.

God and time? What about when time shall be no more?

We are creatures which exist in time. By "time will be no more," do you mean "eternity"?

Tom,

If refusing to drink the cup was a possibility, and if God didn’t know what kind of character Christ would develop, in what way are the words “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world” a description of Christ’s character?

Considering the character of a sinner, is it possible to save a sinner?

Rosangela, the words are descriptive of Christ's character because Christ was (and is) agape. Agape gives of itself, regardless of the cost, even unto the death of the cross.

Satan disputed there was such a thing as unselfishness with God, that He requires things of His creatures He is not willing to do. This question was forever put to rest by Christ.

Christ's struggle was real. The danger was real. The risk was real. The love was real.

Let us take this another step further.

Does God foreknow whether a person will ultimately be saved or lost?

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

This reminds me of what you said a couple of posts back. Was Jesus of Nazareth always agape, or did He become agape?



Let's back up from the Incarnation. Did Christ put the question to rest by displaying how unselfish God has always been? Or how unselfish He had become?

Yes, but in Christ. That is, God foreknows what will happen to an individual, in Christ.



God did not foreknow certain individuals to be saved or lost, but he foreknew everyone to be saved in Christ (or lost outside of Him).

Regarding our actual decision, that remains for us. God knows the end from the beginning, so whichever route we choose to begin (the one with Christ, or the one without), God knows the end. But there isn't just one route, so God foreknows both. There's no reason to foreknow only one, since both are possible.

So if we were to ask God, "Will [plug in name] be ultimately saved or lost?" God's answer (providing the person has not committed the unpardonable sin) will always be, "If (X) chooses Christ" (if the person isn't already saved) or "If (X) chooses to remain faithful" (if the person is) "then (s)he will be saved."

God cannot foreknow an event as having only one possible outcome, if in reality there is more than one possible outcome for the event. This is a point I've been trying to make clear. If there's only one possible outcome for an event, then the future is determined (which is to say, already set in stone). It's just ignorance on our part that we don't know what it is. God could tell us what will happen (if we'll be saved or not), if He wanted to. This would be the logical result of such an hypothesis. But in such a case, our future would be not open, to be determined by us. Obviously if the future is already set in stone, it can't be open to be determined by us. It just remains for us to live out what is already certain to happen.