God does not decide on His plans on the spur of the moment, devising extra parts to His purpose as human history unfolds. God had a complete plan formulated right from the beginning of creation (John 1:1). His desire to have a Son was therefore in His plan from the beginning. The whole of the Old Testament reveals different aspects of God’s plan of salvation in Christ.
We have frequently demonstrated that through the promises, the prophecies of the prophets, and the types of the Law of Moses, the Old Testament is constantly revealing God’s purpose in Christ. It was on account of God’s knowledge that He would have a Son that He brought creation into existence (Hebrews 1:1-2).1 It was on account of Christ that the ages of human history were allowed by God (Hebrews 1:2). It follows that God’s revelation to man down through the years, as recorded in the Old Testament, is full of references to Christ.
The supremacy of Christ and his huge and fundamental importance to God is difficult for us to fully comprehend. It is therefore true to say that Christ existed in God’s mind and purpose from the beginning, although he only came into existence physically through his birth of Mary. Hebrews 1:4-7, 13-14, stress that Christ was not an angel; whilst in his mortal life he was less than angels (Hebrews 2:7), he was exalted to a far greater honour than them seeing he was God’s “only begotten Son” (John 3:16). 1 Peter 1:20 sums up the position: Christ “was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times”.
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Author: Duncan Heaster
Keywords: Foreknew, Foreknown, Foreknowledge, Predestinated, Predestinate, Preexistence, Pre-existence, Preexisted, Pre-existed
Bible reference(s): Gen. 15:18, Gen. 17:5, Isaiah 45:1, Jer. 1:5, Luke 1:70, John 8:58, Romans 1:2, Rom. 4:17, Romans 8:29-30, Eph. 1:4-5, Ephesians 1:11, 2 Tim. 1:9, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 7:9-10, 1 Peter 1:20, Rev. 13:8
Source: Bible Basics.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.