Introduction. While the Bible begins with “in the beginning,” it is only our beginning. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:1-2). Though our knowledge of God begins with the creation, God has lived for all eternity in His own home. While these are “the secret things” that “belong to God,” a few things have been revealed. When Jesus prayed: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was,” we thus learn that before this world, Jesus (as the Word) was with God and was God in glory. (Jn. 1:1-3; 17:5).
God wanted us to know that in eternity, He was making plans and creating an eternal purpose for us. God perfectly planned the material creation and created man in His image and after His likeness. With perfect foresight, God could anticipate all the problems that would arise and make the necessary plans to deal with them. God foresaw all terrible consequences that would occur after Adam sinned. Thus He warned Adam, “in the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” After Adam and Eve did eat, all the terrible consequences God had foreseen came into existence. But God was fully prepared. His plans for physical death, cursing the material creation, the woman’s pain, Adam’s sweat, and a seed to crush the serpent were all revealed at that time (Gen 3).
But God’s plans were far more extensive than what He revealed then. The entire gospel plan of salvation was actually the “revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” The gospel reveals all the plans, purposes and choices God had made in eternity. He had foreseen and planned for the Word to become flesh, dwell among us and die for our sins. He had designed all the plans for the church and everything revealed about the church in the New Testament Scriptures was foreordained in eternity. He had already made the promise of eternal life to those He redeemed long ages before “in the beginning” occurred (Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:9-11; Titus 1:2).
God wanted us to know that in eternity, He was making plans and creating an eternal purpose for us. God perfectly planned the material creation and created man in His image and after His likeness. With perfect foresight, God could anticipate all the problems that would arise and make the necessary plans to deal with them. God foresaw all terrible consequences that would occur after Adam sinned. Thus He warned Adam, “in the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” After Adam and Eve did eat, all the terrible consequences God had foreseen came into existence. But God was fully prepared. His plans for physical death, cursing the material creation, the woman’s pain, Adam’s sweat, and a seed to crush the serpent were all revealed at that time (Gen 3).
But God’s plans were far more extensive than what He revealed then. The entire gospel plan of salvation was actually the “revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” The gospel reveals all the plans, purposes and choices God had made in eternity. He had foreseen and planned for the Word to become flesh, dwell among us and die for our sins. He had designed all the plans for the church and everything revealed about the church in the New Testament Scriptures was foreordained in eternity. He had already made the promise of eternal life to those He redeemed long ages before “in the beginning” occurred (Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:9-11; Titus 1:2).
God’s Choices (part 2)
Introduction. While the Bible begins with “in the beginning,” it is only our beginning. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:1-2). Though our knowledge of God begins with the creation, God has lived for all eternity in His own home. While these are “the secret things” that “belong to God,” a few things have been revealed. When Jesus prayed: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was,” we thus learn that before this world, Jesus (as the Word) was with God and was God in glory. (Jn. 1:1-3; 17:5).
God wanted us to know that in eternity, He was making plans and creating an eternal purpose for us. God perfectly planned the material creation and created man in His image and after His likeness. With perfect foresight, God could anticipate all the problems that would arise and make the necessary plans to deal with them. God foresaw all terrible consequences that would occur after Adam sinned. Thus He warned Adam, “in the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” After Adam and Eve did eat, all the terrible consequences God had foreseen came into existence. But God was fully prepared. His plans for physical death, cursing the material creation, the woman’s pain, Adam’s sweat, and a seed to crush the serpent were all revealed at that time (Gen 3).
But God’s plans were far more extensive than what He revealed then. The entire gospel plan of salvation was actually the “revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” The gospel reveals all the plans, purposes and choices God had made in eternity. He had foreseen and planned for the Word to become flesh, dwell among us and die for our sins. He had designed all the plans for the church and everything revealed about the church in the New Testament Scriptures was foreordained in eternity. He had already made the promise of eternal life to those He redeemed long ages before “in the beginning” occurred (Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:9-11; Titus 1:2)
Introduction. While the Bible begins with “in the beginning,” it is only our beginning. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:1-2). Though our knowledge of God begins with the creation, God has lived for all eternity in His own home. While these are “the secret things” that “belong to God,” a few things have been revealed. When Jesus prayed: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was,” we thus learn that before this world, Jesus (as the Word) was with God and was God in glory. (Jn. 1:1-3; 17:5).
God wanted us to know that in eternity, He was making plans and creating an eternal purpose for us. God perfectly planned the material creation and created man in His image and after His likeness. With perfect foresight, God could anticipate all the problems that would arise and make the necessary plans to deal with them. God foresaw all terrible consequences that would occur after Adam sinned. Thus He warned Adam, “in the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” After Adam and Eve did eat, all the terrible consequences God had foreseen came into existence. But God was fully prepared. His plans for physical death, cursing the material creation, the woman’s pain, Adam’s sweat, and a seed to crush the serpent were all revealed at that time (Gen 3).
But God’s plans were far more extensive than what He revealed then. The entire gospel plan of salvation was actually the “revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” The gospel reveals all the plans, purposes and choices God had made in eternity. He had foreseen and planned for the Word to become flesh, dwell among us and die for our sins. He had designed all the plans for the church and everything revealed about the church in the New Testament Scriptures was foreordained in eternity. He had already made the promise of eternal life to those He redeemed long ages before “in the beginning” occurred (Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:9-11; Titus 1:2)