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.