WEEK 30

GOD BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD

[L]ong ere the day-star knew its place, before God had spoken existence out of nothing, before angel’s wing had stirred the unnavigated ether, before a solitary song had disturbed the solemnity of the silence in which God reigned supreme, He had entered into solemn council with Himself, His Son, and His Spirit and had in that council decreed, determined, proposed, and predestinated the salvation of His people.¹

“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun” (Rom 8:29-30 MSG).

“God chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world according to the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:3-5 ESV).

“God’s great love has been manifested in what He has done for us in and through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”² “God created the world so we could share in the joy of knowing him.”³

“It is a superlative honor that Christ is the channel through which all the grace and glory we have, or shall have, flows to us, and was set up as such from the beginning.”⁴

“[T]he mystery hidden for ages and generations [is] now revealed to his saints. [T]his mystery is Christ in you”(Col 1:26-27 ESV).

To make sure that the FATHER had a people to shower His love on, He selected His elect before He created them, cementing all His purposes in stone before He set up the world—making sure the ones He purchased would not (could not) fall away from Him.  Through His Son’s work and drawing His people to accept His plan in faith, He will always have a people to love. 

God is able to work out his sovereign will within the distinctive characteristics of what he has created. He moves a rock as a rock, and moves a human heart as a human heart. He does not turn a person into a thing when he brings about his sovereign intentions in a person’s life. Paul describes sanctification as the result of both human effort and ultimate divine enabling. He sees no conflict between divine and human activity. Rather, God is uniquely able to bring about his purposes within human beings so that they are fully engaged as persons and responsible for their own decisions, attitudes, and actions.⁵

ENDNOTES

(30) To GOD Be Glory Forevermore

            1. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Covenant in Eternity,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 5.

            2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 517.

            3. Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008) 176.

            4. A.W. Pink, “The Mediator Chosen,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 27.

            5. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2529.

            6. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Covenant in Eternity,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 5.

            7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2529.