What is God’s eternal plan? We can learn a lot about that by examining the texts that tell us what God did before the foundation of the world. Join us as we search the Scriptures to seek to discover God’s overarching plan to exalt His Son.
What Is God’s Eternal Plan?
This morning I want to step back and take a look at the forest, not the trees. I want to try to see the Big Picture from God’s vantage point. You know there is a huge difference when you are driving cross country than when you fly, right? When you drive, it takes a lot longer, and you see a whole lot more detail. When you fly, it’s a lot faster, and you only get the big picture.
Well, we are after the jet view of God’s eternal plan. The way I want to go about this study is to take a look at what the Bible says God was doing before the foundation of the world. In other words, before God created the universe, what did He do?
1. God Was Loving His Son
John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Before God created the universe, He was loving His Son! There was a rich, full, deep, and intimate fellowship between the members of the Trinity. I know that the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this place, but if the Holy Spirit is a Person, and if He is God, then He was also present, and He would be loving and loved by the other members of the Trinity as well. I can only imagine the joy and delight of each member of the Trinity as they communed together. Since the Father must have been absolutely satisfied and content with the fellowship He had with the Son and the Spirit, then He did not create the universe to meet some unfulfilled need that He had. He created the universe in order to put His glory on display.
2. God Chose The Son To Be The Redeemer
1 Peter 1:18-20 “…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you…”
What does it mean that Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world? Well, let’s take a look at how that word has been translated into English:
KJV, NKJV – foreordained
RSV – destined
NLT, NCV, NIV, HCSB – chosen
It’s clear that the translators of the Bible did not think the word simply meant that God knew in advance that Christ would become the Redeemer. God knew it in advance because He had planned it in advance! He chose Christ to be the Redeemer of sinners. He destined Christ to be the Redeemer. He foreordained that Christ would Save sinners.
We are told here that this choice of the Son to be the One who would redeem sinners by His blood was made before the foundation of the world. That tells us that the cross was not God’s Plan B. Well, man has really made a mess of things. If they had just obeyed me, the world would be perfect and they would never die. But now the whole world has fallen. I guess, I need to come up with a plan to rescue man from the mess he has made of things.
God chose Christ to be the Redeemer before He made the world. Therefore, the world was created in order to be the stage upon which the greatest drama ever would be acted out.
Remember, that God did not create out of a sense of need, but in order to magnify His own glory and worth. Therefore, God chose Christ to be the Redeemer, in order to magnify and glorify His own Son.
3. God Chose To Allow the Fall
If God chose Christ before the foundation of the world to bleed and die to redeem sinners, then God knew that the world would Fall and need redemption. Why do you suppose God would create a world in which everything could so easily go so wrong? The truth is that God had a wise purpose in mind in allowing (ordaining) the Fall.
Remember that God creates in order to demonstrate His glory. God’s glory is the display of His attributes. Two of those attributes are justice and mercy. Those are perfections of God. If there had been no Fall, there would be no justice or mercy displayed, and thus some of God’s perfections would not be displayed to His creation. Justice involves punishing the guilty. Well, if there is no one guilty, there is no justice to display. The same goes for mercy. If there is no one guilty, then no one needs mercy. We could say the same for God’s wrath. Without a Fall, there is no reason for God to display His wrath.
By allowing the Fall to take place, there is now a stage set for the ultimate drama to be played out resulting in the glory of God in its fulness.
So, what is taking place before the foundation of the world?
The Father, Son and Spirit are loving, and enjoying one another.
God decides to glorify His Son
God decides to allow the Fall to happen in order to glorify His Son
4. God Chose To Unite Certain People To Christ
Eph. 1:4 “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…”
Before God created the universe, not only did He ordain that the Fall would happen, and that Christ would be the Redeemer, but He also ordained who would be adopted as His sons. The Biblical term for this is election. God elected or chose who Christ would save.
Now, I know that idea is controversial and many disagree, but there is a lot of Biblical evidence for it.
2 Timothy 1:9 “…who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity”
This text tells us that our salvation and calling were not on account of our works, but instead on account of God’s purpose and grace. In other words, our salvation did not come to us because of what we did but because of what God decided to do. Not only that, this purpose and grace were granted us in Christ from all eternity. It was part of God’s eternal plan to save a chosen people.
Revelation 13:8; 17:8 “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain” “And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come”
In both of those passages in Revelation, we are told that certain people have had their name written in the book of life, not when they made their decision for Christ, but from the foundation of the world. The reason they made their decision was because God had already chosen for salvation before time.
One more text – Romans 9:22-23 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called”
There we are told that some people have been prepared beforehand for glory. They are called vessels of mercy in contrast to vessels of wrath. These are the ones God calls.
5. God Prepared a Kingdom for His Elect
Mt. 25:34 “Then the King will say 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.”
There is another thing we are told was done from the foundation of the world. God was preparing a kingdom for His elect, and they inherit it. Remember that God predestined us to be adopted as His sons. Well, because we are His sons, we have an inheritance. It does not come because of our performance, but because of our sonship. What is the inheritance? A kingdom! This is God’s eternal kingdom, the new heaven and new earth in which we will love, serve, and worship God and fellowship with one another. There will be no unbelievers, no Satan, no demons, no sickness, death, crime, or sin in this kingdom. Only holy people and angels.
Of course there is a sense in which we enter God’s kingdom when we repent and trust in Christ.
Col. 1:13 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
But there is also a sense in which we will inherit the kingdom in its fulness in the age to come after Christ returns. That’s what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 25.
6. God Chose To Bring Everything Together Under The Authority Of Christ
I think the best way for me to explain this concept is to give you Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:9-10 in the NLT:
Eph.1:9-11 “God has now revealed to us His mysterious will regarding Christ – which is to fulfill His own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.”
Notice the words “will”, and “plan” (2x). Verse 11 says, “we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Again we have words that speak of God’s eternal plan: “predestined”, “His purpose”, and “His will.” Here again we are shown something of God’s eternal plan. And what is that plan? “And this is the plan: at the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.”
God’s eternal plan is that at the right time He will bring everything together in His universe (heaven and earth), and place them all under the authority of Christ. Right now everything in God’s universe is not under the authority of Christ. Satan, demons, and unbelievers do not submit themselves to the authority of Christ. They are rebels. Satan has his own kingdom in opposition to Christ’s kingdom.
But when Christ returns, all that is going to change! Then, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Phil.1:10-11)
Rev.11:15 speaks about the time when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
Satan will no longer be the “god of this world” and the “ruler of this world.” Christ will exercise His authority by casting him into the lake of fire, along with the demons and all unbelievers.
Remember the very first aspect of God’s eternal plan. God decided that Christ would be the Redeemer in order to glorify His Son. This world is the stage upon which the greatest drama ever would be acted out. And the theme of the drama is The Glory Of The Son of God! Finally, when Christ returns, the drama is finished. Christ is the head over all things in His universe. He is lifted up and exalted by all of God’s creatures – believers by willingly bowing before Him in worship and confessing that He is Lord, and unbelievers by being made to bow down and confess that He is Lord.
Conclusion
What all this is telling us is that God’s eternal plan is not primarily about us. It is about Him. It is about Jesus Christ. It is a plan to exalt His Son as the Savior of sinners, and the Lord of all creation. Now, it just so happens that the way God glorifies His Son is by saving an innumerable company of sinners through him. That’s where you and I come into the picture. But the plan is not mainly about us. It is mainly about Him.
In fact the Bible is not mainly about us. It is mainly about God.
Therefore we need to stop thinking that we are the center of God’s universe. No! God is the center of God’s universe! God does all things to glorify Himself. He does them for His name’s sake. He does them to demonstrate His perfections to all of His creatures.
And in order to accomplish this, before the foundation of the world:
- God was loving the Son
- God chose the Son to be the Redeemer
- God chose to allow the Fall
- God chose to Unite certain people to Christ
- God prepared a kingdom for His elect
- God chose to bring everything together under the authority of Christ
- God had a plan since the world began.
- God is working out His plan in history in His dealings with people.
- God will continue to work out that plan until it is completely finished.
Since we have already entered the kingdom, and since we already understand God’s eternal plan, we can give ourselves to glorifying the Son, even now, before He returns. Then when He returns, we will just join the rest of the billions of His creatures to praise His holy name!
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