Before The Beginning" (Audio) - Sep 19, 2004 Text: Selected Scriptures
“Before the Beginning” Text: Selected
September 19, 2004 Larry Kirk
BEFORE THE BEGINNING
When I was little, my two older sisters used to tell me that before I was born they prayed and prayed for a little brother. Every now and then they still remind me of that. I remember thinking I must be pretty special if I'm an answer to prayer. I also remember being impressed with how quickly they must have gotten bored with me. They may have prayed for me before I was born, but once I showed up it wasn't long before the sweet "come heres" turned into sour "keep outs." But still, I've always thought that it was nice that before I was born I was wanted.
The Bible tells us a lot of amazing things, but one of the most amazing is that to be a Christian is to believe that no matter who you are or think you are, before you were ever born you were known, really wanted, planned for, and loved with a love that will never diminish. The Christian Scriptures tell us that to be a Christian is to discover you are involved in a story unfolding in human history.
This story, when rightly understood, is like a key that unlocks the meaning and purpose of life itself. It's a story that matters, and it matters every day of your life. When you understand this story, and choose to step into the story in the sense of living in the light of it, it shapes you, sustains you, and strengthens you. That story is our focus in this series.
One of the most interesting things about the Bible's story is that it actually begins before the beginning of creation. The Scriptures teach that . . .
Before the Beginning of Creation There Was Amazing Love in the Heart of God
In John 17:24, Jesus prays to God the Father as He draws near to His own death, saying, "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” In the same prayer, in John 17:5, He says, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” What Christ is telling us is that back before the creation of this world, He already existed and that there was love and glory before the beginning.
We must begin with the understanding that . . .
God Has Always Existed
Psalm 90:1-2 reads: “A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” God has always existed. That concept is difficult to grasp. But the fact that it is difficult to grasp does not mean that it is untrue or unimportant.
Most of us can barely imagine the size of our solar system--the sun and its planets. We know it’s large by every conceivable human standard, and space probes that we have sent out to explore the solar system have made its boundaries seem somehow less mysterious. But imagine going beyond our solar system to try to measure the universe.
If you could climb into a spaceship and travel at the speed of light,
• You would circle the earth seven times in one second,
• You would pass the moon in two seconds.
• You would pass Mars in four minutes
• You would pass Pluto in five hours
From there you are off into our galaxy, the Milky Way. The band of stars you see in the night sky is part of a huge family of stars called the Milky Way Galaxy. Our star, the sun, is near the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. So back to our space trip.
• At the speed of light you would be traveling about 186,000 miles a second and at that speed would shoot out to the closest star in 4.3 years.
• It would take you another 100,000 years just to cross the Milky Way Galaxy.
• It would take another 2,000,000 years to reach the next closest galaxy.
• It would take another 20,000,000 to reach the next closest cluster of galaxies, and at that point you would have only just begun to travel the universe. (Facts taken from Stranger on the Road to Emmaus)
There are approximately 100,000 million galaxies in the universe, each comprising billions of stars. Galaxies come in clusters and super-clusters. There are about twenty galaxies in our cluster and thousands of galaxies in our super-cluster. It's hard to grasp the size of the universe, yet that size is undeniably real.
It's also hard to grasp the immensity of eternity, something beyond time and space that is everlasting, unending and immeasurable. But the Bible is emphatic that eternity is real and that God is both infinite and eternal. He has always existed. Before the beginning of time He was.
The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:8 that God is love. Now if God is eternal, then love is eternal.
Love Has Always Existed
Who was there for God to love in a timeless eternity? In John 17 Jesus prays to God the Father, saying, "You loved me before the creation of the world.”
One of the most beautiful and distinctive teachings of the Bible is the teaching, or doctrine, of the Trinity. The word Trinity was first used in its Greek form by an early Christian leader and writer named Theophilus. He was the leader of the church in Antioch around 180 a.d. He was the first to use this word to describe something that permeates the story of the Bible.
The teaching is that there is only one God but that one God exists as three distinct persons who are ultimately inseparable and who share the same glory and power. These three persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
In Deuteronomy 6 the Bible says there is one God, yet it also speaks of all three persons as God. The Trinity is reflected in John 1:1-3, where we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
“The Word” is Jesus Christ, God the Son. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The Word, God the Son, Jesus Christ, was with God and the Word was God. There is a distinction between these two persons that allows for love and relationship and communication. Yet there is a deep unity of nature and essence that makes Them, together with the Spirit, one God and not three Gods. Like the concept of eternity, we may not comprehend the Trinity, but it's part of the story from before the beginning.
The beauty of this teaching is breath-taking. What it means is that in all of infinity and eternity, nothing is older, nothing more ancient, than love. There was never a time when love was not and then love began. Love was present in the heart of God before the beginning.
Love and communication and relationship were not an afterthought. God did not create the world because He was bored or lonely and wanted someone to love and maybe someone He could get to do the chores He didn't want to do. He already had love and relationship in the eternal community, the circle of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But God chose to share His love and invite us into relationship with Himself.
In the book The Sacred Romance, the authors write:
You've heard that children care more that their parents love each other than that they love them and this is the reason why. It's the assurance that there is something grand and good going on that doesn't rest on your shoulders, something that doesn't even culminate in you, but rather invites you up into it.
And so it is with God's story. Before any of our complex and sometimes overwhelming smaller stories began, there was something wonderful already going on: Once upon a time were Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- the kind of home we've been looking for all our life. From the beginning, we know that God is a lover at heart from all eternity. (P. 75)
The desire that every human being has for love and relationship is a reflection of the image of God Himself. It's an echo of response to the love that has existed from all eternity.
Don't think that your desire for love is a sign of weakness that is just going to get you into trouble. It's a gift from God and a reflection of His image in you. Don't try to deny or destroy that desire for love, but don't try to satisfy it apart from God either. Ultimately only in the heart of God will you find the love you are longing for. That's part of the story that began before the beginning of creation.
Before the Beginning of Creation There Was a Gracious Plan to Redeem Our World
In 1 Peter 1:18-20 the apostle Peter writes: “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
To redeem is to set someone free by paying the price for his deliverance, or redemption. Peter says Christ, in His death on the cross, was like a perfect and innocent lamb offered in sacrifice to pay for our sins so that we could be redeemed. Then notice, in verse 20, he says that Christ was chosen to be the sacrifice before the creation of the world. Before God ever began the work of creation, there was already a plan of redemption.
What Makes Redemption Necessary Is Our Rebellion Against God
This rebellion did not begin with mankind; it began with the angels.
Angels are spirit beings who were created to worship and serve God. We are not told all that we might like to know about angels, but we do know they were present at the creation of the world so they were created before this world began. In the book of Job (38:4-7), God questions Job, asking, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone--while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” Before God created the world He created the angels.
At some point before or near the beginning of creation there was a rebellion in heaven, led by the angel who is now called Satan. Not all of the angels rebelled, but many did. These fallen, rebellious spirit beings became what the Bible calls the demons.
Listen to how Revelation 12 describes what happened. “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
Isn't that an incredible picture of a reality we can only vaguely imagine? Part of understanding the real story in which we are living is realizing that this war between God and Satan, and therefore between good and evil, is ongoing beyond our physical vision, but that it affects and involves all of us until the end of the story and the final victory of God.
The Bible traces all human sin and evil back to Satan. In John 8 Jesus called him the first liar, the father of all lies and falsehoods. Before his evil choice to rebel against God, there was only truth and harmony and goodness.
Now, God's story is not going to be subverted by the evil choices of angels or human beings. His plan includes even those choices, and He uses them to accomplish His higher purposes. We can only speculate as to why God would have included the certainty of evil in the story of creation. Maybe that's the necessary painful price of creating spirit beings and human beings who can make true choices that have real consequences.
What we do know is that through the rebellion of Satan a poisonous question was dropped into the heart of creation, a question that would never have been there otherwise. The question was: “Can you really trust the heart of God?” “Can you really trust the goodness of God?” No matter what shape temptation assumes, that question is at the heart of it. When Satan tempted the first man and woman in the garden, this is the question behind the temptation. It's the question behind your temptations. That question introduced to mankind a doubt about the goodness of God. To this day, that doubt drifts through the story and our stories like smoke from a distant fire.
In the first moral and spiritual test of humanity, Adam and Eve believed the lie suggested by Satan's question, they doubted God's goodness, and as a result they disobeyed His commandments. All of us in our own ways have done the same thing. Sin has not only corrupted the world of the angels but our world as well.
What makes redemption necessary is our rebellion against God.
What Makes Redemption Possible Is the Grace That Comes from the Heart of God
Before the world began, God determined that He would not allow all of mankind to be deceived and to be destroyed. Listen to some of the Scriptures that talk about what happened before the beginning of time, or creation.
Titus 1:1-2 : “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.” Before the world began, God made our redemption His promise. How can a promise be made before the world began? To whom was the promise made? The best answer seems to be that there is a plan that involves choices and promises that are shared between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:4: “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Before the world began, God chose a people to be made holy and blameless in Christ. Some people look at verses like this, of which there are many, and they say. “Well, what does that do to human choice?” The Bible says human choice is real and important also. We are not just robots. We are responsible people making real choices that do matter. There is a mystery here that is probably beyond our comprehension. We don't fully understand how God's choice of us and our choice of Him flow together. But the Bible tells us that they do, and when you choose God, behind your choice of God is His choice of you before the creation of the world.
When I think about this, I remember the story of a missionary who had been teaching the Bible to a tribal people and came to this issue. He knew how much some people wrestle with the doctrine, so he was hesitant to teach it. But he decided it wasn't his job to censor the Scripture, so he just taught it.
The next day one of the men in the tribe came to him and said, “Ever since that teaching yesterday I haven't been able to stop thinking about what you taught us. I stayed up all night thinking about what you said.” The missionary was worried that he had really upset this simple man. But then the man explained. He hadn't slept the whole night thinking of how wonderful it was that God had known him and loved him from before he was even born and thatGod had been the one who had sought him and drawn him to faith in Christ.
Do you understand that God's grace is no less wonderful for you? Think about this. There was never a time in all eternity when God did not hold you in His heart. As believers in Christ, we are to live our lives strengthened by the truth that from long before the world began we have belonged to a loving God who is working out His story in human history and bringing His people to eternal glory.
In 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul writes from prison to his friend and disciple Timothy. He gives Timothy very practical encouragement for Christian living that is tied right back into this deep understanding of God's eternal plan.
Paul writes: “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who 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, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
The Scripture is saying that Christians belong to a community of people who have been saved and called to a holy life not because of anything we have done but because of God's own purpose and grace. And this grace was given to us in Christ--when? Before the beginning of time. Before the world began, God gave His people His grace in Christ Jesus.
There was amazing love and there was a gracious plan before the beginning of this earthly creation.
What Difference Should All of This Make?
In the same verses in which Paul talks about the grace that has been given to us in Christ before the beginning of time, he tells us the difference that this can and should make in our lives. We can sum up his application with two statements.
First, live with courage. He says, “Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord” (verse 8). Don't be ashamed to tell the story and to be a witness for Jesus Christ in the world. You have been given amazing grace; share it with wisdom and winsomeness, but share it boldly.
Paul also says, “Do not be ashamed of me his prisoner.” Paul was writing at this time as a prisoner of the emperor, Nero. He was chained up like a common criminal, according to 2 Timothy 1:16. The temptation for Timothy was to be ashamed that his leader and mentor looked so powerless and unimpressive. So Paul is saying not to be ashamed in the face of difficult setbacks and embarrassing circumstances. God is working out His purposes in all of life's challenges. All of history is moving forward according to God's purposes, and we have been drawn into this story and given our places in it (verse 9), not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace.
“Do not be ashamed,” Paul says. Then he says, “Join me in suffering for the gospel.” This doesn't mean God wants you go out and look for suffering, but it does mean He wants you to be willing to suffer for the gospel if need be. He is saying through Paul to Timothy and to us: “When choosing to follow Me will cost you something or cause you to suffer in some way, learn to say, ‘Lord, I'm willing to pay this price, take this loss, because I know that the most valuable thing in all of eternity is already mine. You've drawn me into Your story of redemption. I've been on Your heart from before the beginning of time, and I can trust You to bring me through whatever I face as I depend on You and follow You with faith and courage.
Second, live your calling. In verse 9, talking about God, Paul says, “Who 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.”
Before the Milky Way Galaxy was created by God, you were called to be holy. If Christ is your Lord and your Savior, that is not because of anything you have done to deserve it. It is because of His grace and His purpose. But that grace that has been given to you contains within it a call to live a dramatically changed life.
A holy Life simply means life that is truly God-centered, bathed in God's presence, and drenched in devotion to Him, because of His great love for you. It means a life distinguished by love for God, faith in Christ, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and obedience to Holy Scripture.
May God give you an ever-deepening, ever-increasing vision of the beauty and power of His story of grace, and the holiness of life to which He has called you from before the beginning of creation.