From Before the Foundation of the World

Eph 1:3-6  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  (4)  just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.  (5)  He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,  (6)  to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

This is a passage that gives insight that predates Genesis chapter one. There is another such passage in the New Testament and it is found in John's gospel; it was the very first thing he wrote. Joh 1:1-5 NASB  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  (4)  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  (5)  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Both of these passage relate to incidents before creation, that is before the world was created, and is why I say that it predates Genesis chapter one. These two passage explain the how and why of creation. One of the questions that has always been in my mind since I was a teen or before is why do we, and why does anything exist?  In the Ephesians passage you see the why. In the John passage you see the how. God created by His Word, that is the how, and it was done to the praise of his glorious grace, that is the why?

Now that we clearly know the how and why, let's ponder the implications of this knowledge. What should it mean to us today? Well first off, It is ultra important to realize that God's Word is Jesus of Nazareth. John says this: Joh 1:14 NASB  "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." He is the one who Paul says is responsible for us having every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Further to the point, He is full of grace and truth. And not only that but John also says in the same passage that the law was given through Moses but, grace and truth came through Jesus. This tells us that the law was not really grace or truth. Paul explains that the law was a pedagogue/teacher/tutor to drive us to Jesus.

Now that we know for sure that Jesus was in fact the creator of everything that exists, and that there is nothing that exists that was not made by him. It is instructive to see what Paul says about this: Col 1:16-17 NASB "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  (17)  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Paul and John are in perfect agreement but, Paul adds some revelation knowledge. The universe and everything in it is held together by the Word of God. I hope you are seeing just how majestic Jesus really is. However, keep this in mind as we move along. It is to bring praise to His glorious grace. The glorious grace of who? The Father, however His Word is full of grace and truth. In fact, the Son/Word is the source of the Father's grace.

So then, looking at the implications of this and what it means today. This should immediately come to mind. God's purpose in creation was redemption. Yes, you did not misread what I have just written. God created the universe and humanity to redeem them. If God's purpose in creation was redemption, and it is quite obvious that it was, then how likely is it that God would create the universe and humanity if He thought that most of the humans who ever lived would be destined to spend eternity in torture. It is interesting that Paul writes this in the middle of his letter to the Romans; Rom 5:18  Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. No matter what version you choose to read it indeed says justification leading to life for ALL. Now that is good news! And, I can see that it would definitely lead to the praise of God's glorious grace.

The thing that I want to emphasize in this post is that if God had redemption as his purpose in creation then does it not make sense that He will do exactly what is necessary to redeem humanity? He certainly did. At the ripe time in history, He had his word take on human flesh to redeem humanity. Now, think about this... if God purposed to redeem humanity before creation, created with this as the purpose, when Jesus told him "it was finished," then what part was left undone?