If we look back into the depths of eternity, before the foundation of the world, God was occupied with the very thought that the Holy Ghost is speaking to our souls in this portion of Scripture. Yes, here we go back before our conversion; before the death of the Lord Jesus; before His incarnation; before all God’s dealings with men for four thousand years; before Satan stepped into paradise; before Eve sinned.
We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. What can alter the purposes of God? Before all time began, God chose us in Him, that we should be holy, and without blame before Him in love.
Yes, He purposed to bring us into this wondrous place of acceptance: “Before Him in love.” Such was the love of the Father to us, in, and from, eternity.
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”
What a place to be before Him according to the love of His heart— “in love,” — “accepted in the Beloved.” Then, “holy and without blame.” And so certain, that nothing can set aside the eternal purpose of God. Nay, it is even now accomplished, “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” He has thus blessed us in Christ. It is as true that we are accepted, that He has made us so, as that He chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world.
And now let us dwell a moment on the relationship He predestined to have us in, “Unto the adoption of CHILDREN by Jesus Christ.” O! how far nearer to Him than the creature place that Adam stood in, even in Paradise. Far nearer than Israel stood in, as a nation, Nearer than Abraham, as the friend of God. Nearer far than angels now enjoy—they stand around His throne; but Jesus is gone to prepare a place for us, where we shall sit on thrones in the unclouded light of the glory of God; so near, that the angelic myriads shall stand around that place of nearness.
Yes, we are predestined to enjoy that wondrous place of oneness with the Son of His love, as children—“To the praise of the glory of His grace.”
And, now, if we pass on from this to 1 John 3, what joy to our hearts that nothing could satisfy the Father’s love, nothing less perfect than our being like the holy One for whom we wait. Presented to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. God could have no pleasure in those sacrifices which never took away sins. But now the eternal purpose, the dearest desire of His heart, is attained in our perfect acceptance in Christ, and likeness to Him.
If we turn to Daniel 7:99I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9), we see there the Ancient of Days, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. So in Revelation 1, we behold the Lord Jesus, and “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.” The same emblem of spotless purity may be observed on the “mount of transfiguration.”
“His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.”
But you may say, Can we, who have been such sinners, become like that: like Him, as He is? Yes, the very same figures are used by the Spirit when He brings us to Christ, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
It is well for our hearts to rest in the absolute purposes of God. The redemption we have is the result of those purposes. “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” “As He is, so are we in this world.”
Let us then look down from on high, and see the church as God sees it, as He beholds it without spot, accepted in the Beloved. Our hearts cannot enter into the thought of being like Him, unless they now understand how He looks upon us—in the same whiteness and likeness. Satan may rage. Man may arise speaking perverse things. Unbelief may say, All is going to pieces. Billows may swell mountains high. Let us never forget, in spite of these things, that we were chosen in Christ before them all.
May we be kept waiting for Him!