The Children of Eternity…

“…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which HeContinue reading →

“…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”(Eph 1:4-6 NASB)

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Journal,

Have you heard the story about heaven’s gate? It goes like this – When we get to heaven we will see a great gate, and over the great gate a sign will read, “Whosoever Will, Let Him Come and Drink Freely.” When we pass through the gate, and look back, the sign over the great gate will read, “Saved from the Foundation of the World.” Of course this is just a story. But what a wonderful mystery is this our salvation.

Yet the question remains – Is there anything to the matter of a believer having been saved from the foundation of the world? Oh yes indeed. Whereas God is God, and we are limited in our understanding of divine things, this wonder of our salvation has to remain in the realm of the divine mystery.

Actually the Scriptures do have a dual focus on salvation. The Bible teaches both the free will of man, but it also teaches predestination by God. Where we get in trouble is trying to concentrate on one aspect at the expense of the other. Both disclosures have to go hand in hand.

Yet the Bible does speak of things that took place from the foundation of the world This expression is used several times in the new covenant writings.

Let’s look them over:

(1) Concerning Messiah, it says, “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matt13:35)

(2) As to one phase of the kingdom of God, the King says 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.” (Matt25:34)

(3) Of the Christ-rejecting leadership, the Lord said, “The blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged to this generation.” (Luke11:50)

(4) When Jesus prayed, He said, “Father….You loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John17:24)

(5) Paul says of all believers, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love.” (Eph1:4)

(6) The book of Hebrews speaks of God’s rest in the Messiah, in saying that, “His works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Heb4:3)

(7) Of Christ’s pre-existence in eternity, and with regard to our salvation, it says, “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.” (Heb9:26)

(8) Peter says the Christ, “Was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God…” (1Pet1:20,21)

(9 and 10) Both Rev13:7 and Rev17:8, speak of the names of the saved written in the Lamb’s book of life, “from the foundation of the world.”

All these Scriptures involve the eternity of God. They are hard for our finite minds to grasp. But in the eternity of God, time is of no essence. This is why the Lord could say of Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…” (Jer1:5)

Could it be that what was said of Jeremiah could be said of us all? I think so. David thought so. He wrote, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” (Ps139:16 – Take time to read the whole of Psalm 139.)

"Behold the Lamb" Printx

What is the issue in all this?

The issue is that believers need to have their conscious life filled with assurances of their salvation. This is what moves our salvation out of the emotional realm into the very heart of new covenant salvation.

The old timers referred to this continual witness of salvation as, ‘the divine assurance.’ But to our loss, some religions have managed to equate salvation with an emotional experience. Salvation is much deeper than the emotions. Peter spoke of it as our partaking of the divine nature. (2Pet1:4) Paul said, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rm8:16)

In the born-from-above experience there is an actual change of nature, along with a spiritual imprint upon the heart of a believer. This imprint cannot be denied. The Bible speaks of it as the seal of redemption.

Jesus Himself said that His sheep walked with in in a ‘knowing‘ relationship. He actually leaped for joy in expressing the wonder of our salvation. Listen to what He said; “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” (Matt11:25)

Paul said the new covenant experience is based upon a believer’s conscious relationship with the Father. This relationship is activated by the Spirit of God. In another place Paul says, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!.'”

The Abba Father cry is not our cry, though we feel it deep in our inward life. It is the cry of Sonship. It the birthing cry made by the Spirit of Jesus. This cry speaks of a conscious call to the Father of eternity. It is the cry of eternities children to their heavenly Father.

This is why new covenant children of God cannot simply feed on the trappings of religion. Their hunger is too deep. It is a God hunger. Every true believer has eternity written in their heart. Paul spoke of this, when he said, “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Co4:18)

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The cry of redemption.

This cry of sonship speaks of God’s eternal redemption that was set in place from the foundation of the world. We are the children of eternity. We carry in our hearts an eternal seal. We have a longing for eternal things. We realize eternal affairs with our hearts.

Yes we are the children of eternity. We are the children of the cross. We are the children of the resurrection. And this is just the way we are.

Can we explain it? Afraid not. All this remains a great mystery even to the children of God.

Take time to listen to this song, ‘Who Am I,’ by Casting Growns:

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In love with Jesus,

Buddy

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Posted by Buddy

Lawrence "Buddy" Martin and his wife Betty are co-founders of Christian Challenge International. They have served the Lord in the ministry since the mid-1960s. They began Christian Challenge in 1976 with a stewardship from the Lord. The ministry began as a ‘School for Christian Workers’. It was Brother Buddy’s vision for ministry and missions that has led graduates of the school to enter the ministry as pastors or missionaries. Multiplied hundreds of disciples have been trained under the auspices of Christian Challenge.

2 comments

richard Spurgeon

What a great way in the song of saying “watch me rise again” which is another way of saying i have fallen again. a father never stops loving his sons. a great way to end the day. thank you bro. Buddy for the lesson.

You are welcome Richard. You nailed it right, ‘A father never stops loving his sons (or his daughters).’

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