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In the two preceding messages we covered the believers’ life and nature. Now in this message we shall consider the believers’ past both in eternity and in time.
As believers, we have a very long history. In fact, we have an eternal history, for our history began in eternity past. In eternity we were foreknown by God, chosen by God, and predestinated by God.
Romans 8:29a refers to the believers as those whom God foreknew. In eternity God foreknew us according to His foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:2a). In the New Testament the root of the words “foreknowledge” and “foreknow” is “know.” To this root a prefix is attached. The Greek prefix pro means before or beforehand. In New Testament Greek, words such as foreknow and foreknowledge imply more than what we would understand from the English translations. The Greek root for these words includes the meaning of appreciation, approval, and possession. If we approve something, we shall appreciate it. Then we shall want to take possession of it and own it. The foreknowledge of God spoken of in 1 Peter 1:2 implies that in eternity past God approved us and appreciated us. It also implies that in eternity past He took us over, possessed us, owned us. We may even say that as Joseph married Mary, God in His foreknowledge “married” us in eternity past. (There is no time element with God.) All this is included in the connotation of the word foreknowledge.
God’s foreknowledge also includes His foreordination. In his expanded translation of the New Testament, Kenneth S. Wuest uses the word “foreordination” in 1:2, saying that the believers are “chosen-out ones, this choice having been determined by the foreordination of God the Father.” God’s foreknowledge, therefore, means not only that He knew us in eternity past; it also means that He ordained us. We all were ordained by God the Father in eternity past.
b. According to God’s Good Pleasure
Which He Purposed in Himself
In eternity past we were foreknown by God “according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself” (Eph. 1:9). God’s good pleasure is the desire of His heart. The book of Ephesians speaks from the standpoint of God’s good pleasure, the desire of God’s heart. According to 1:9, God’s good pleasure is what He has purposed in Himself. In human terms, God’s good pleasure is what makes Him happy. There is something in God’s heart that pleases Him and makes Him happy. This is God’s good pleasure.
God’s good pleasure has been purposed by God in Himself. This means that God Himself is the initiation, origin, and sphere of His purpose. God has a plan, a desire, and according to His plan He has a purpose. The existence of the universe is according to God’s purpose. Heaven, earth, millions of items, and the human race are all according to God’s purposed desire. Eventually all these things will issue in God’s desire. In the universe there is a desire, God’s desire. Because this desire has been purposed by God, no one and nothing can overthrow it. Everything that takes place on earth is for this purpose. We, the believers in Christ, are the focal point of His purpose, and everything is working for us. God has purposed this desire in Himself. He did not take counsel with anyone else regarding it.
In eternity past we were chosen by God the Father. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before Him, in love” (Eph. 1:4). God’s choosing is His selection. From among innumerable people God selected us. The word “chosen” implies that some were selected and that others were not selected. We praise the Lord that we are among the chosen ones.
The fact that we were chosen in eternity means that our salvation began in eternity, that it began before creation and before time. If we turn to our spirit and contact the Lord regarding this matter, we shall realize that just as God is eternal, so His choosing of us is also related to eternity. We all need to thank God the Father for His eternal selection, the selection made in eternity past for eternity future.
We were chosen by God the Father before the foundation of the world. God chose us according to His infinite foresight before He created us. The expression, “before the foundation of the world,” implies the entire universe, not only the earth. This indicates that the universe was founded for man’s existence to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. Without such a universe, it would be impossible for man to exist. Man’s existence is for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, the universe was founded so that man could exist to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. God chose us before the foundation of the world, that is, before the creation of the universe. This indicates that God’s selection was made not in time but in eternity. God foresaw us before we were born and selected us before the foundation of the world.
In Ephesians 1:4 we also see that God in eternity chose us in Christ. Christ was the sphere in which we were selected by God. Outside of Christ we are not God’s choice.
God chose us so that we should be holy and without blemish before Him. To be holy is to be separated from everything other than God. It means to be distinct, different, from all that is not God. In the universe God alone is holy. He is different from everything else and is distinct. Therefore, to be holy means to be one with God.
In order for us to be holy, we first need to be separated unto God positionally. Normally, once a person is saved, he should also be separated. This is the reason a believer is called a saint. To be holy in the sense of being separated unto God is a matter of position. As believers in Christ, we are separated unto God by the redeeming blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14), by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 15:16), and in the name of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 6:11).
To be holy means not only to be separated unto God positionally but also to be saturated with God dispositionally. This is deeper and more subjective than positional sanctification. In subjective sanctification we are saturated with God dispositionally. Separation can take place rather easily and in a very short time, but it takes a long time to be saturated with God dispositionally. God intends to saturate us with Himself, a process that requires time. He chose us in eternity for the purpose of saturating us with Himself. He wants to work Himself into our being so that we may be holy, just as He is.
All believers have been chosen by God the Father to be holy. First, we are separated unto God; second, we are saturated with God; and eventually we become one with God. One day, we shall be just like Him. That will mark the completion of our sanctification, the process that begins with separation, continues with saturation, and is completed with the full redemption of our body. At that time, from within to without, we shall be the same as He is. We shall be holy. It is for this purpose that we were chosen by God the Father before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1:4 also says that we were chosen by God to be without blemish. A blemish is like a foreign particle in a precious gem. God’s chosen ones should be saturated only with God Himself and have no foreign particles, such as the fallen natural human element, the flesh, the self, or worldly things. This is to be without blemish, to be without mixture, to have no element other than God’s holy nature. God has chosen us to be so holy and so pure that we shall be without blemish, without any foreign particles, having only the divine element.
We shall be holy and without blemish “before Him.” This means that we shall be holy and without blemish in the sight of God according to His standard. This qualifies us to remain in His presence and to enjoy His presence. We shall be holy and without blemish not according to our standard or in our own sight, but according to God’s standard and in His sight.
In eternity we were also predestinated by God the Father (Rom. 8:29b; Eph. 1:4b, 5). The Greek word translated “predestinated” in Ephesians 1:5 can also be rendered “marked out beforehand.” Marking out beforehand is the process, whereas predestination is the purpose to determine a destiny beforehand. God first selected us and then marked us out beforehand, that is, before the foundation of the world, unto a certain destiny.
We all need to have the realization that we have been marked out by God for the accomplishment of His economy. Because God has put His mark on us, we cannot run away from Him. We were marked out by God before we were born, even before the foundation of the world. Since we have been pre-marked, we have no choice except to give ourselves to the Lord for His recovery and even to be beside ourselves for the church life.
Other human beings cannot see God’s mark on us, but all the beings in the spiritual world can see it. The angels, the demons, and Satan himself know that we have been marked out by God. This mark is not merely outward but something very inward. We are a selected and marked-out people. This was accomplished by God in eternity past.
Because we were marked out by God in eternity, we have been saved. One day we believed in the Lord Jesus. It may have been that seemingly we believed in Him for no reason. The reason we came to believe in Christ is that we were predestinated, marked out beforehand, by God the Father.
“In love” in Ephesians 1:4 may modify “having predestinated” in verse 5. God the Father predestinated us in love that we may be His many sons. The divine love is His motive to have many sons for the fulfillment of His divine economy.
Ephesians 1:5 reveals that God predestinated us unto sonship. This means that the goal of God’s predestination is sonship. Because we were predestinated to be sons of God even before we were created, we, as God’s creatures, need to be regenerated by Him so that we may share in His life to be His sons. Sonship implies both life and the position of a son. God’s marked-out ones have the life to be His sons and also the position to inherit Him.
According to Ephesians 1:4, God chose us to be holy. However, to be holy is the procedure, not the goal. The goal is sonship. God has chosen us to be holy so that we may be His sons. Therefore, to be holy is the process, the procedure, whereas to be sons of God is the goal. God does not merely want a group of holy people; He desires many sons. God has chosen us to be holy for a purpose, and this purpose is that we may be sons of God.
Ephesians 1:5 also tells us that we have been predestinated unto sonship through Jesus Christ. “Through Jesus Christ” means through the Redeemer, who is the Son of God. Through Him we were redeemed to be the sons of God with the life and position of God’s sons.
Finally, we were predestinated unto sonship by God the Father according to the good pleasure of His will. God has a will in which is His good pleasure. God predestinated us to be His sons according to this pleasure, according to His heart’s delight.
After we were foreknown, chosen, and predestinated by God in eternity, we were created by Him in time. Acts 17:26a says, “He made from one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.”
Zechariah 12:1 says that God stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him. This indicates that in the universe there are three important matters: the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man has a spirit for God. Therefore, man is the center of the universe, and the center of man is his spirit. As far as God is concerned, if there were no spirit within man, man would be an empty shell. If there were no man on earth, the earth would be void and the heavens would be useless. In God’s creation, the heavens serve the earth, the earth serves man, and man has a spirit to receive God.
We were created by God through Christ (John 1:3). All believers realize that we have been saved through Christ. We also need to see that we were created through Christ. Christ is the active instrument through which the creation of mankind was processed.
Through Christ we were created by God in His image (Rom. 5:14b; 2 Cor. 4:4b). Strictly speaking, the image of God is Christ. Second Corinthians 4:4 speaks of Christ as the image of God. For man to be created in God’s image, which is Christ, means that we were created not only through Christ but according to Christ. God’s intention in creating us in this way was that one day Christ, according to whom we were created and through whom we were created, would come into our being. This means that, having been created in the image of God, we were created as vessels to contain Christ. Hence, we were created through Christ and according to Christ that we might contain Christ.
In time we were not only created but also became fallen. Romans 5:12 says, “As through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin; and so death passed to all men because all have sinned.”
Within every fallen person there are two striking things. The first is that we are in Adam and have the Adamic nature. In the sight of God there are only two men — Adam and Christ. All fallen ones are in Adam. Furthermore, those who are in Adam are part of Adam.
In Adam there are three main things: sin, death, and being constituted sinners (Rom. 5:19). In Adam we inherited death, we were under the reign of death (Rom. 5:12, 14), and we were constituted sinners.
The second striking matter concerning mankind in the fall is that all fallen people are of sin. Through the disobedience of Adam, sin, the evil nature of Satan, entered into mankind. After entering into the human race, sin made its dwelling place in the fallen body of man (Rom. 7:17, 18, 21, 23). Because the element of sin was injected into man, fallen man is now of sin, that is, a constitution of sin. For this reason fallen people are sinners by constitution. This means that in the fall we are sinners by nature.
In time we were not only created by God and then became fallen; we also became dead in offenses and sins. Ephesians 2:1 reveals that in the past we were dead in our offenses and sins, and 2:5 says that “we were dead in offenses.” Furthermore, Colossians 2:13 says that we were dead in the offenses and the uncircumcision of our flesh. Offenses are acts which overstep the limit of right, and sins are evil doings. Before we were saved, we were dead in such offenses and sins. The word “dead” in Ephesians 2:1 and 5 and Colossians 2:13 refers to the death of our spirit that pervades our entire being. Through Adam’s transgression sin entered into the world and death through sin. Now death reigns over all men (Rom. 5:14, 17). Therefore, “in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22).
In eternity we were foreknown, chosen, and predestinated by God. Then in time we were created by God. However, we became fallen and eventually became dead in offenses and sins. This was our situation in the past.
By being dead in offenses and sins, we lost the function that enables us to contact God. Spiritual death has annulled the function of our spirit. No matter how active we were in our body and soul, we were deadened in our spirit, unable to contact God.
