"This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 'I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.'" Matthew 13:35"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" Matthew 25:34"so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation," Luke 11:50"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." John 17:24"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love" Ephesians 1:4"For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, 'AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,' although His works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrews 4:3"Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Hebrews 9:26"For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you" 1 Peter 1:20"All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." Revelation 13:8"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come." Revelation 17:8
Jesus was loved by God the Father before the foundation of the world (John 17:24). His purpose was foreknown before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20). His works were finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3). Jesus spoke in parables to reveal things hidden since the foundation of the world (Mathew 13:35). The blood of God's prophets has been shed since the foundation of the world (Luke 11:50). We were chosen in Jesus from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). The kingdom of God was prepared for us from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). Those individuals who do not have their names written in the Lamb's book of life were not written in it from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8; 17:8).
Before God ever embarked on the creation of the universe, these things were already predetermined and decreed. Time just had to catch up. Humans need to quit trying to measure God by our standards and trying to understand Him with our finite and fallible minds. If we are going to claim to read the Bible literally, then we might start doing so with passages like these and those where Jesus speaks of those whom have been given to Him (John 6:37, 39; 17:1-2, 6, 9, 24; 18:9). Those who leave us were never part of us to begin with (1 John 2:19). The sooner we learn this and accept it, the better off we will be. There is no such thing as a "backslidden Christian" as he/she has never slid forward in the first place.
Before God ever embarked on the creation of the universe, these things were already predetermined and decreed. Time just had to catch up. Humans need to quit trying to measure God by our standards and trying to understand Him with our finite and fallible minds. If we are going to claim to read the Bible literally, then we might start doing so with passages like these and those where Jesus speaks of those whom have been given to Him (John 6:37, 39; 17:1-2, 6, 9, 24; 18:9). Those who leave us were never part of us to begin with (1 John 2:19). The sooner we learn this and accept it, the better off we will be. There is no such thing as a "backslidden Christian" as he/she has never slid forward in the first place.