The Triune God's Plan Before Creation

THE BEGINNING

John 1

• 1 In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
• 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God
• 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him
• 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity

Colossians 1:16 God created the whole universe through him and for him

THE CREATION OF HUMAN BEINGS

Genesis 1

• 6 Then God said, "And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us"
• 27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female.

Who is we and us? God (Eli), the Word (Logos) and his Spirit (Ru'ach)

Genesis 2

• 7 Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it, he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live
• 21 Then the LORD God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh
• 22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him

THE TRIUNE GOD'S PLAN BEFORE CREATION

We find in the book of Revelation there is a book of the living which belongs to the Lamb.

Revelation 13:8 except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

The Lamb that was killed is our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on the cross and died for our sins. Now we don't know these names! But we know before creation there was a book of the living, in it the names of those who were to live and belong to the Lamb. The book of Psalms also tells us this book exist.

Psalms 69:28 May their names be erased from the book of the living, may they not be included in the list of your people.

Ephesians 1:4 Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him

Now God is 3 in 1, Eli, Logos and Ru'ach. His Spirit (Ru'ach) makes us Holy. In order to receive his Spirit, we must first have faith in Jesus, the very same one whom we exist because of and for. Then be in union with him, and God will give us his Spirit as a stamp and a guarantee of his ownership in us.

Ephesians 1:13 You believed in Christ and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit.

Once we receive the Holy Spirit we become able to live a Holy life.

THE SEPARATION

I know it seems like the separation was between us and God, but I say the separation was between us and the LORD who we belong to and created through and for. This made us God's enemies. For we were not in union with Christ, who is the Word. We were not for God, but God decided to make us his before creation in union with the Word. This shows God's love, first for the Word, then for us. This tells us that God was loving from the beginning, righteous and Holy.

God's First Law
Genesis 2 NIV Bible

• 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
• 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Human Disobedience

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. -TEV

This disobedience, this sin brought not only knowledge of good and evil, death tagged along but also separation from the LORD and made us God's enemies!

In the past it used to be like this: God☞LORD☞ chosen leader or priest☞ people. The people would complain: people☞ priests or chosen leader☞LORD☞ God eg Moses, Aaron, Samuel, David, Elijah and so on, until it all stopped when Jesus Christ came.
The Spirit of the LORD God was only on those who were chosen.

THE CURTAIN REPRESENTING THE SEPARATION

Exodus 26

• 1 "Make the interior of the sacred Tent, the Tent of my presence, out of ten pieces of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Embroider them with figures of winged creatures. 
• 32 Hang it in four posts of acacia-wood covered with gold, fitted with hooks and set in four silver bases. 
• 33 Place the curtain under the row of hooks of the Tent, and behind the curtain put the Covenant Box containing the two stone tablets. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. 

Leviticus 16:2 He said, "Tell your brother Aaron that only at the proper time is he to go behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place, because that is where I appear in a cloud above the lid on the Covenant Box."

TO THE LORD WAS THROUGH OFFERING AND SACRIFICE

Exodus 29

• 38 "Every day for all time to come sacrifice on the altar two one-year-old lamps
• 39 Sacrifice one of the lambs in the morning and the other in the evening
• 40 With the first lamb offer one kilogramme of fine wheat flour mixed with one litre of pure olive oil. Pour out one one litre of wine as an offering.
• 41 Sacrifice the second lamb in the same amounts of flour, olive oil, and wine as in the morning. This is a food-offering to me, the LORD and its odour pleases me
• 42 For all time to come, this burnt-offering is to be offered in my presence at the entrance of the Tent of my presence. That is where I will meet my people and speak to you.
• 43 There I will meet the people of Israel, and the dazzling light of my presence will make the place Holy
• 44 I will make the Tent and the altar holy, and I will set Aaron and his sons apart to serve me as priests. 

GOD SENT THE WORD BECAME FLESH

John1:14 The Word became a human being, full of grace and truth, lived among us.

Why Did He Become Flesh?
Hebrews 10

• 5 For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God: "You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me
• 6 You are not pleased with animal burnt whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins
• 9 Then he said, "Here I am, O God, to do your will." So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. 

Because the separation was never their plan before creation, and the only one who was to take away sin once and for all was Jesus Christ, the Word that became flesh and Lamb on the cross for our sins.

JESUS TO TEAR DOWN THE TEMPLE AND REBUILD IT IN 3 DAYS

John 2

• 18 The Jewish authorities replied with a question, "What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?"
• 19 Jesus answered, "Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again."
• 20 "Are you going to build it again in three days?" they asked him. "It has taken us fourty six years to build this temple!"
• 21 But the temple Jesus was speaking about was his body
• 22 So when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered that he had said this.

THE CURTAIN TORE IN TWO- Separation defeated on the cross

Luke 23:46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father! In your hands I place my spirit!" He said this and died

Mark 15:38 The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom

The separation between us and the LORD got defeated on the cross, by the LORD who became the Lamb and died for all sins once and for all, forever. We no longer God's enemies anymore one of the reasons God is pleased with Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners in order to lead you to God.
Roman 7:8 Sin is a dead thing


JESUS RISED FROM THE DEAD TO GIVE US A NEW CREATION IN HIM

Like Jesus said he completed rebuilding his temple in three days.
Like 24

• 1 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb
• 2 They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb
• 3 so they went in, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus
• 5 He is not there he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee:
• 7 "The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life."

Luke 24

• 36 While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
• 37 They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. 
• 38 But he said to them, "Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds?
• 39 Look at my hands and feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones, as you can see I have."
• 40 He said this and showed them his hands and his feet.
• 41 They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder, so he asked then, "Have you anything here to eat? "
• 42 They gave him a piece cooked fish,
• 43 which he took and ate in their presence. 
• 51 As he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up into heaven.

NEW CREATION IN CHRIST JESUS

1 Corinthians 1

• 30 But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom.

Not wisdom from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that brings death, but wisdom that is Christ whom God gives us his Spirit who gives a free gift of God's wisdom that brings life forever.

• 30 By him we are put right with God we become God's Holy people and are set free.

God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to free us from being God's enemies.
He gives his Spirit in union with Christ Jesus to live a Holy life without fault in his eyes because of Christ, and his Spirit that lives in us.

2 Corinthians 5

• 15 He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for their sake
• 17 Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being, the old is gone, the new has come
• 18 All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.

THE TRIUNE GOD'S PLAN STILL ESTABLISHED

Ephesians 1

• 4 Because of his love
• 5 God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his sons and daughters - this was his pleasure and purpose. 
• 6 Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son! 

• 7 For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God
• 8 which he gave in such large measure! In all his wisdom and insight
• 9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ
• 10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head

Remember all were created through him and for him

• 11 All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning. 

Philippians 3:21 He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Listen to this secret truth : we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.