Creation, predestination and the eternal purpose of God

Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good… – Genesis 2:31

While I have being going through Genesis on this blog I have also being meeting with some friends on a Thursday night and going through 1 John. Something that really stands out in John’s letter is how often the word ‘abide’ pops up. We often say that the 66 books that make up the bible are all about Christ but I do not think that we fully comprehend the depths of that statement. I want to tie that statement up with Genesis 2:31 by asking a question which is; what is the purpose of creation? While I won't pretend to be God's spokesperson on the subject or suggest that it all boils down to this one thing, I would like to share an insight on the subject as I see it.

In general, people tend to view scripture as the story of the fall of man and Gods plan of redemption through Christ. Kind of like the record of the problem and solution to humanities fall. While that is a massive part of the story, I think that it is still only a part of something even larger which is revealed in the bible. The story does not start with the fall and end with redemption. As wonderful as that is there are glimpses in the canon before and beyond that part of the story. Some have referred to this larger picture as the eternal purpose of God, a phrase taken from Ephesians 3:11 where Paul speaks about the finished work of Christ. While it has been written about in great detail by a few authors, I think the best way I can sum it up here in with the word glorification.

The salvation message covers one element which is the glorification of the children of God (Romans 8:23) and Paul encourages us to seek this glory* (as well as honor and immortality) he also warns us not to be self-seeking. Even Jesus in John 8:50 said that he did not seek his own glory, yet in the same book John tells us that “we beheld his glory”** and therein lies the answer to where salvation fits in to this as John continues, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”. 

Why did God create? At least in part we can answer that it was because creation reveals the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) and mankind being a part of that creation was meant to reflect that in this world as we carried the likeness of the godhead. Of course Adam messed up as we all know and left it to the second Adam, the only begotten son, to reveal to us what a life fully submitted to the Father looks like and in his obedience, He was raised from the dead and glorified by the Father (1 Peter 1:21). Now, in Christ, it is the believers privilege to be invited into the fellowship of the Godhead, not that we become gods ourselves, but that through Him we become partakers of the divine nature. Consider the following verses:-

He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ – 2 Thessalonians 2:14

When He comes, in that day, to be glorified in His saints… - 2 Thessalonians 1:10

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. – Hebrews 2:10

I am convinced that we have looked at predestination wrongly and that it is not so much about who God chooses to send to heaven and hell but rather that it reveals the eternal purpose of God in Christ to glorify Himself in creation through Christ and the New Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10-16, 12:22-24,13:14).

Consider Romans 8:16-30 when approached from this perspective:-

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body…

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Let us abide in the vine and in so doing shine His light into a world that has walked away from it.

Peace

*Romans 2:7

**John 1:14

Genesis 1:16 and other serious understatements in the Bible

In my last post I said that next up I would be sharing about the creation of man. But something else in Genesis 1 caught my eye and so I decided to point it out and have some fun with it as well with a lighthearted post before moving on to Genesis 2. The portion of scripture that I am speaking of is in chapter 1 verse 16 where it says of God and creation that “…He also made the stars”. The author of Genesis only used 2 Hebrew words to casually add this detail into the story. It is estimated that there are at least 170 billion galaxies in the universe with trillions of stars therein so one might consider this to be a bit of an understatement. But it is not the only one to be found in scripture. Here are a few others that I managed to dig up.

Judges 4:21

In gruesome detail we read about Jael, the wife of Heber, who drove a tent peg through the head of Sisera pinning him to the ground . The verse ends with a simple three word sentence, “So he died”….

Matthew 4:2

After Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the wilderness scripture tells us that “…he was hungry”.

Acts 15:31

At first the early church was not really sure what to do with all of the new Gentile converts. There was a big debate about whether they needed to be circumcised or not. After some deliberation it was decided by the Jerusalem council that circumcision was not necessary among the Gentiles believers. Upon delivering the news in Antioch it says that “…when the people read it (the letter), they were delighted…”.

Matthew 5:14

“A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden”. Yip.

Genesis 34:25

After Jacob tricked Shechem and his father Hamor into having every male within their city walls circumcised. The verse mentioned above, in describing their physical state after getting the snip, states that "they were sore”.

You don’t say…

Are there any other understatements that you can recall from the bible? I would love to hear them.

Peace