Today, we return to our study of 1 Peter where the Apostle Peter is giving us the where with all to maintaining a vital walk with God in the midst of a wicked world that does not like God. Today's passage proves that no man, woman, boy or girl has ever been an afterthought in the mind of God. It's not like you and I came along and God said, "Oh, yeah, what am I going to do with them?" No, we were never an afterthought; you and I were a forethought for God and this verse proves it.
It was not as if when man sinned that God was caught off guard. No, God is never surprised because He sees everything in the instantaneous now. It was not as if when Adam and Eve sinned that God said to Himself that He had to all of a sudden become our Redeemer. No, no, no. Today's verse iterates: "He was chosen before the creation of the world." In Revelation 13:8 the Lord Jesus Christ is called "the Lamb that was slain from the foundations of the world." It was decided before this world was even created that the Lord Jesus Christ would come to earth to redeem man from his wicked condition of sin. The Lord Jesus chose to do this in order to reorient fallen mankind into a possible relationship with God.
In John 1:1 we read: "In the beginning was the Word." Those words "in the beginning" in the Greek are identical to the first two words of the Bible: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." By using these words the Apostle John was saying that before there was any matter, before He made anything, the Lord Jesus was. "In the beginning was the Word." So, there at the beginning, when those things were brought into being, He was there already.
In John 1:3, we read, "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." Everything that was made was made through the Lord Jesus who was there as the Son of God before the beginning of time, space and matter. The Lord Jesus was there not only before matter; He was there before time and space. And, we know that without matter, there is no time and space.
So, when John says, "In the beginning was the Word," he was highlighting the fact that before anything else was, the Lord Jesus was. He did not come into being, He was there when the beginning of time began. This is difficult for the human mind to grasp because we are limited by time, space and matter. We lack the ability to view all things from the standpoint of eternity.
As we see throughout the Bible, God operates according to covenants. The covenant of redemption is called a “covenant” because it is a plan involving two parties. It is not a covenant between God and man, it is a covenant between God, the Father and God, the Son. God is one in essence and three in person from all eternity.
According to today's verse, the Lord Jesus Christ "was revealed in these last times," which means His coming to the earth was a historical event, to make it plain that God loves man. His life, death, burial and resurrection is the most documented event in all of human history. The New Testament provides accounts from multiple sources who witnessed the Lord Jesus firsthand after His resurrection. In fact, the Lord Jesus made ten separate appearances to His disciples between the resurrection and His ascension into heaven, over a period of 40 days. Some of those appearances were to individual disciples, some were to several disciples at the same time, and once even to 500 at one time.
Particularly noteworthy is that there were no accounts of witnesses who came forth and disputed these appearances or called it a “hoax.” Not a single one. Nor do we find any historical record of any witness accounts that were contradictory. While there are skeptics of the biblical account of the Lord Jesus, there’s actually far more reliable historical evidence for His life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection than for any other historical figure of ancient times.
The Lord Jesus willingly humbled Himself in order to embrace the plan of God the Father to redeem fallen mankind. And, the Lord Jesus agreed before the creation of the world to do the task. He was not forced by the Father to relinquish His glory and be subjected to humiliation. Rather, He willingly "made Himself of no reputation." The Father did not strip the Son of His eternal glory but the Son agreed to lay it aside temporarily for the sake of our salvation.
I have learned that when I lost all hope of being the perfect person of faith and I abandoned my hope in myself, it was then that I began to learn of the God-sized heart that the Lord Jesus has for me. When we have been granted such revelation, we enter into His joy and His joy keeps us in this massive fight of faith. You see, we arrive at this place of being declared winners by Him when we abandon the self life, even the self life that appears to be spiritual. The more His grace grips us the more we will recognize that which will not endure into eternity. We think that we are being spiritual when we seemingly make a name for ourselves through our determination to be perfect. When we do that we prove that we have failed to recognize the fact that all of our victories were earned by the Lord Jesus. And, it all began in eternity past.
