From a 1690 sermon by Samuel Willard called The Decrees of God.
For men, the things his eyes see in the physical universe are really just the idea (or image) of the thing, corresponding vaguely to actual things. However, God's knowledge is the source of the idea itself and the physical things are simply the display of His idea [[thus the Heavens are meant to proclaim and illustrate God's Glory]]. Subsequent realities visible to us were first in God's mind before they ever had a material presence. Now this idea is a single thing to God, not many things, because He sees everything with one perfect and eternal view. He clearly sees everything that is to be. They all stand before Him at once.
Several people can look at the exact same thing, yet understand the same experience differently. [[Their perspectives are finite.]] This is one reason why the Bible refers to the one decree of God as the "manifold wisdom of God," (Eph 3:10). God's decree counts not only every drop of rain that will fall, but where and when it will fall as well. It includes every thought that comes to the mind of every creature, and nothing is too small to escape it, Psalm 139:2,3 "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways."
Let us adore the simplicity and infinite wisdom of God in Christ.
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