"the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation:13:8b
When was our forgiveness and salvation truly accomplished?
Before the great God , the Holy Trinity ,brought into being all creation, even before Heaven and Earth was, our God made a sovereign decision to enlarge the perfect Holy relationship that he has within himself.
The Holy Trinity is an eternally perfect ,eternally Holy Communion within our God. This Holy relationship is founded , motivated and perpetually perfect in mutual perfect love that can not be contained, but by it's nature is expansive and pursuent. This perfect divine holy love defines who God is.
"God is love" 1Jhn:4:8
This is a love that will not ever remain static or stagnate . This love motivated, for a lack of a better way to describe it, our God to create and admit others into this holy relationship that he has within himself.
God wanted us to know and understand that he loves us. Motivated by this love, God brought into being the Heavens and the Earth and brought forth life upon the Earth and created our first parents Adam and Eve. We can read of this creation in the creation epic of the first two chapters of the book of Genesis.
God manifested himself in a way which Adam and Eve could understand and relate to him. He gave them everything which they would need and instructed them and offered them the Tree of Life which they could eat of freely, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they were not to take.
They and We Sinned
The narrative of the Genesis account tells us that Adam and Eve were then enticed by Satan, in the guise or form of a serpent , to take and eat what God had told them not to eat. In that moment their idyllic life in the garden was altered and their minds were then focused upon themselves. In short they sinned ,creating a riff between they and their creator.
St.Paul writes of this to the Roman Christians two thousand years and to believers thru out the ages.
"Therefore,
just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—" Rm:5:12
This sin caused a riff which passed to all their decedents bringing forth every hardship that has come forth upon the Earth and in the lives of humanity.
"Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses,"(14a)
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Rm:3:23
Even the most pious of humanity has sinned and fallen short of the holiness of God, that is, each and all of us have fallowed suite with Adam.
Israel's Purpose
God called and chose a nation, the nation of Israel. many see Israel as the chosen nation, but what was Israel chosen by God to do? One of the purposes of Israel was to demonstrate that even a nation that found itself in a "Covenant" relationship with God could not save themselves. Speaking of the Law, which was the bear minimum of what God would ask of them, which formed the very heart of the "Covenant" that was enjoined between God and Israel, the assembled Disciples at Jerusalem determined:
"putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?"Act:15:10
This realization tells us, that even a "Covenant nation" could not bear it, even though they had been in a relationship with God, in fact having this Law enjoined upon Israel exposed their very inability to keep it. In fact this Holy Law of God was so inditing that it intensified Israel and all humanities limits and inability to save our selves.
"and the power of sin is the law"1Crth:15:56b.
A Culture Prepared
As God worked in human history and made ready for the introduction of the Messiah, the one who could and would save humanity, would of necessity need to arise out of a culture, it was in God's purpose to prepare a given culture for this Messiah. That culture would again be that of Israel.
"for salvation is from the Jews."Jhn:4:22
Israel would be that nation conduit through which the Messiah would enter human history
Sin Dealt With
Sin Dealt With
When did God, the Holy Trinity then deal with sin? It was clear that Adam and Eve and we all have sinned as St. Paul has written. The great God obviously was not caught off guard , he knew and understood who and what Adam and Eve, and all of us are .
God would have had provision to deal with this situation. When then, did our God truly act to deal with the sin which issues from our flesh, that is, when did forgiveness become a reality?
God would have had provision to deal with this situation. When then, did our God truly act to deal with the sin which issues from our flesh, that is, when did forgiveness become a reality?
In the Book of Revelation St. John the Apostle makes this reference, which says far more than we might first realize. St. John says that Jesus is;
"the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world." Rev:13:8b
What is this truly telling us?
Forgiven Preveniently
St. John uses a cultural axiom often spoken in the ancient world; "from the foundation of the world". This axiom was used to mean in the conversations of the ancient world that something "has always been". It means that, "as far back as you go this condition has been in existed". It speaks not just from the dawn of creation but even from before it into eternity.
That means that the power of the forgiveness of God was already at work "preveniently" before the inauguration of the creation of the of all things , even before Adam and Eve and all of us ever sinned.
How are we then to understand this?
The Scriptures are written in the Language of Accommodation, this means that our God speaks to us in human languages thru the Holy Bible in a way that helps us to understand things eternal.
From God's divine vantage point in Heaven, there is not future or past only an "eternal ever present now" . This is why our God is able to "declare the end from the beginning" . He is outside of time, so God's sovereign decision to "preveniently" forgive us can be a reality even before we ever are aware of it or experience it personally even though it be reality.
When we grasp this "prevenient forgiveness " , we can come to understand that our God as Holy and righteous as he is , has never truly held sin against us. We can see this enacted in the very Garden of Eden, that even after Adam and Eve sinned it is God who comes to them in spite of their sin , and it is they who hide from God. Gen:3:8-10.
God has, from the very beginning reached out to humanity, and it is humanity who hides in the bushes.
Holy Scriptures
If God has "preveniently forgiven" us, then we are to ask then why do we read the accounts in the Holy Scripture written as they are? What was the purpose of Israel's experiences and the Biblical personalities which we read of in the Old Testament, what then is the purpose of the Old Testament?
It is important to bare in mind that the Old Testament Scripture were written at a particular point in the history of salvation in a particular cultural and before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament, had more than one purpose. These holy writings look forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus making the Scriptures the Incarnation Anticipated.
From the very Garden of Eden we see the promise of the incarnation, in the verse which are at times called the "Proto-Evangeliuem" meaning the first preaching of the Gospel.
"And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your seed
and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.” Gen:3:15
This set the theme for all the Scriptures and the outworking of the purpose of God which has from eternity been decreed by God and is now realized in the life of humanity when the message of the Gospel is heard and is accepted. This means what has been true from eternity is experienced by faith, when we hear the message about Jesus and come to believe in that message. This means that all which we encounter with in the Holy Word of God is preserved there as an eternal record to dramatize humanities inability to save our selves and to starkly lay bear our individual and collective need for a Savior.
"Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did."1Crth:10:6
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."Heb:4:12-13
Humanities' Hostility
The problem is with humanity, not God. It is due to a hostility toward God within humanity.This hostility in humanity manifest it's self in subtle and overt ways. It is God who has from eternity done everything needed for humanity to have a relationship with him, yet it is on the human side that there is a problem.
St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Colossians Christians of this problem which is found within the mind of humanity, and all of us before we came to believe in Jesus.
"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior." Cols:1:21
Thru Jesus
In the person of Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, assumed up our humanity and entered into the history of salvation all so that we might see the eternal perfect love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.
Thru Jesus Christ we see the love of God perfectly displayed toward and for all of us. In Jesus we see the love of the Trinity expressed toward us and for us all thru Jesus.
If we could understand that our God is truly for us it would invigorate our spiritual life,yet many deeply sincere genuine Christians have a latent fear of our God' fatherly heart toward and for us.
A Misconception
Over a century ago Rev. John McLeod Campbell who was a pastor of the Church of Scotland thought deeply upon this very subject. Rev.Campbell witnessed that many of the members of his congregation held a view of God which kept their spiritual life in check and banked down any vibrancy in the Christian life.
Rev.Campbell found that deep within the hearts of his congregation was a misconception regarding the Father's heart toward and for, they ,and all humanity.This misconception which was ingrained within Campbell's parishioners sprang out of a misunderstanding of the atoning work and of reason of the Cross and work of Jesus. Rev.Campbell found that his congregants and many Christians see the Cross of Jesus as something which is Godward , meaning that, the Cross , in the minds of many Christians was ,and is, a forensic act undertaken to satisfy the Father's need to deal with sin and bring to pass a punishment of sorts , this punishment was accepted and bore by Jesus to accomplish humanities forgiveness.
This misconception and view of God in the minds of some Christians created an uncertainty as to how they believed God felt about them seeing that in view God acted out God a necessity rather than love. This conception about God acted as a repression upon the hearts of many Christians causing a lessening of the Christian life.
Rev.Campbell searched the Scriptures, he found in Scripture that the heart of the Father has even from the depths of eternity been ever been inclined toward each and all of us even before the creation of all things or any of humanity drew breath upon the Earth.
Rev.Campbell wrote of his quest to understand the Cross and atonement of Jesus and it's meaning for each and all of us in his book "the Nature of the Atonement".
This speaks to us all that God's love was unmeasurable and out flowing toward and for us , his forgiveness was not a reaction, rather, God has always forgiveness us.This changes the way we see the Cross of Jesus, and how we see God.
This means that the Cross, rather than directed to God, was, and is, in realty directed toward humanity, to each and all of us to show us the love inspired forgiveness of the Father's heart has always ,from eternity, has always had toward us all.
The Cross shows us the length that our God would go that we might come to see and know him. This was demonstrated to us all thru Jesus, the incarnate of the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity ,who is the object and expression of the love of the Father.
The Cross Shows Forgiveness
This means, that when we properly understand the Father's heart toward and for us all, we can now see the Cross as being directed toward us as an expression of love toward and for us, not an expression of wrath or anger, that the Cross is then seen as the outworking in history of what has ,and is, eternally true, that we all are loved and forgiven, not just of what we have done or said thought or attitudes of the heart but rather of who and what we are.
This is what the Cross is there to declare to all for all time and eternity. Jesus came that we know this truth and see it expressed in way that shows us the love of God and his desire to have each and all of us with him for eternity.
That means that we are not forgiven because of the Cross but rather the Cross is because we are forgiven.
This forgiveness which is revealed at the Cross is what St. John was, and is telling us in his statement found in Revelation.
"the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation:13:8b
This forgiveness is experienced when we come to see and believe in Jesus who is the perfect revelation of the heart of the Father, showing us that God loves us more than he loves himself. The whole Gospel is the proclamation and invitation for each and all to come and receive this forgiveness which is our's thru Jesus.
When we see it sets us free to experience our God's unwavering love knowing that he holds nothing against us or makes us to be responsible for the accomplishing of our own Salvation but rather has done so thru Jesus all on our account. This should liberate us to worship our God with eternal graduate and praise him unending.
The Father loves us and want each and all to know that we have been and are loved by Him in spite of our weakness and even our failures. The Father's love know no limits and it is toward and for us all.
This is what St.Paul was trying to tell us about God's unwavering love toward each and all of us.
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rm:8:37-39
Our God will let nothing keep us from eternal life but our own unwillingness ti receive it this has by the Father;s own divine appointment of his beloved Son to do what none of us could ever do, Jesus has saved us even before the dawn of creation,God created us to experience this decreed salvation.
"He has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time",1Tim:2:9
All thru God's eternal love, before the stars burned in the vacuum of space, before we have even before we drew breath and walked the Earth our Lord God had forgiven us all and has sent his Holy Son that we might experience this forgiveness which has been from the Foundation of the World.
Benediction: May we each and all ever give glory and thanks to our God for the forgiveness which is our's thru God's Holy Son Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore.Amen
The Fountain of life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
2101 Old National Pike
Washington, Pa. 15301 www.gcfountainoflife.org
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