“…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.)
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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:
“…in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise; and again, ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children who God has given Me.'” (Heb 2:11-13 nasb)
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Readers,
Do you need a refreshing from heaven? Why not take time to listen to Dallas Holm, as he sings, ‘Here We are.’ Or, you may wish to simply click on the video to listen while you continue reading the rest of my journal entry. Whatever your preference just relax and let the Lord fill your heart with His love.
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Did you notice the bold portion of the above Scriptures? It is where we hear Jesus say, ‘Behold, I and the children who God has given Me.'”
This statement is rich in its prophetic emphasis. It draws on a redemption promise that God gives through the prophet Isaiah. Note the following:
“And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.”(Isa 8:17-18)
The signs and wonders reach forward into the covenant of Christ. Also note,
“Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: ‘Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will sanctify My name; indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.”(Isa 29:22-23)
When Paul writes about God’s new creation family in Christ, he is drawing on Isaiah, as well as on other prophets. Paul says that we are God’s workmanship in Christ.
Now listen carefully to Jesus:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds [looks to] the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (Joh 6:37-40)
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What about the security of God’s children?
God doesn’t want his children to be afraid. Did you know that one day the Lord Jesus will actually say to the Father, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”
Believers who lack knowledge in how salvation works will always battle insecurities. But the problem isn’t simply with the believer. It is a problem of the pulpit. Jesus Christ is being presented in a manner that is not in full accord with the gospel message.
The work of salvation is God’s work from alpha to omega. No one is accidentally born into the kingdom of God. Every birth is planned. The apostle said he was convinced the good work that God began in us, He would perfect until the day of Jesus Christ. God is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the perfector of His work. God began the work and God finishes the work
Here is a brief testimony to help put a face on my first step in realizing what the security of the believer means:
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It was 1974.
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I had just resigned from my former church affiliation. The following morning at my office it was like a dark cloud had settled over me. I felt an aloneness that I was not accustomed to. What will I do? Where do I go?
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Falling to my knees, I instinctively reached for my Bible. The pages fell open to Philippians 1:6, where I read,
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“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”The ‘Sun of righteousness’ had risen over me. The cloud vanished. No more fear. No more uncertainty. I knew in my heart everything was alright. The Spirit of the Lord came to my aid. My future was well cared for. Hallelujah!
Of course I’m not telling you something that you don’t know. Jesus has come to my aid untold myriads of times on my pilgrim journey. But He does the same for all who belong to Him. Did He not say, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” That, dear friend, is an unconditional promise.
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This is where we need to understand Biblical promises.
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Conditional promises are based upon some action on our part. Unconditional promises are based upon something God has promised with no aid from us. These are the “I will” promises of God.
There are many conditional promises. A good example is Luke 6:38, where the Lord says, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”Notice that it is ‘our’ standard of measure that is the gauge for the ‘pressed down’ blessings.
However, unconditional promises are different. Unconditional promises are generally summed up as redemption promises. These kinds of promises are ‘from God, through God, and to God’ promises. They cannot be broken by believers simply because we have no role to play in them. They are based entirely on the sovereignty of God.
These ‘never-ever’ promises serve as the bedrock of our walk with the Lord. One of the very last things Jesus said to the disciples was, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt28:20)
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Another one that some folk try to unwind is the John 10:27,28 promise, where the Lord said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
Many Christians see the strength of their walk in how strong their grip is on God. This is not what Jesus is saying. The safety for a child of God does not depend on his or her grip. It rests entirely in the hands of the Lord. Jesus said, “No one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Here are a few more of these ‘never-ever’ promises:
“…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
“…everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:26)
“[God’s] Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.” (1Co13:8)
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“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39)
Each of the afore promises has its own doctrinal platform.
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The point being that these promises are based upon something God says He will do. These unconditional promises actually relate to God’s redemption plan in Christ, a plan that was set forth before the beginning of time. To try to even understand it is beyond our grasp. To say that God is unjust or unfair is not true in the least. It is merely that we are unable to understand things that are finite. God is perfectly just in all His ways.
Paul gave some insight into this area, when he said, “We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to [God’s] purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” (Eph1:11)
Notice that Paul said our will does not figure in the picture. It is God’s will that is at work. This is why you can be sure that nothing happens in a believer’s life by chance. The apostle John certainly agrees. He said that our birth from heaven was not a thing of our will. He says, “[We] were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13)
When we were born again, it is because God opened our ears to hear, and placed in our heart to respond. We see this being worked out in a lady named Lydia. It says, “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshipper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
We also see this being worked out in the life of a man called Peter. If you recall, Peter actually denied the Lord three times. Was that the end of the story? No indeed. Jesus sought him out, restored him fully, and gave him the privilege of preaching the gospel at the very place where Peter became fearful of his life.
Recall what the Lord said to the 70 who returned and were rejoicing over all the miracles that took place through the name of Jesus. What was the Lord’s response? He said, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are recorded in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)
Have you caught the point in all this?
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— Regardless of how well we think we understand the mystery of our salvation, the fact remains that God’s unconditional promises do not rest upon how well we are able to perform or how much we understand. They are not performance promises. Each of these promises rest upon God Himself. When He says that He will never desert us or forsake us, that promise cannot be broken.
Yes, we all struggle over this. How can God give such promises? After all, I am such a bummer of a person. There is no good in me. So we ask, “Why me, Lord?” Wish I could answer that. About the best any of us can do is write songs about all this.
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We write:
“I don’t know why Jesus loved me. I don’t know why He cared. I don’t know why He gave His life for me. Oh, but I’m glad. So glad He did.”
Or,
“Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong.”
Or,
‘All hail the power of Jesus name! Let angels prostrate fall…”
Or,
“I am weak but Thou art strong, Jesus keep me from all wrong…”
Or,
“So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, … Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.”
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Well, it is songs without end. And we will continue to write them.
But the message from heaven never changes. While we love the Lord with a love that cannot be measured, John wants us to understand something very special when he writes, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1Jn4:10)
Think about it.
Don’t you just love Dallas Holm’s song, ‘Here we are.’
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