Have you been watching the Olympics? On NBC, the producers include personal bios of some of the participants, especially those who began their competitive careers when they were very young. Some were only five years old when they started practicing and competing in gymnastics or swimming. And they knew they wanted to focus on the sport for their adult careers. I didn’t know what I wanted to focus on as an adult until I was a sophomore in college—I was basically clueless. However, after I became a Christian, I realized that God had been working in me and in my life to prepare me to be a teacher and administrator. (I’m still trying to figure out if he means for me to be a writer.) The gospel was completely new to me when I started reading the New Testament before I knew Christ—as those in Jesus’s day probably perceived it. After I became a Christian, I realized that God had been preparing his people to receive the Messiah long before Christ appeared on the scene. I agree with Nancy Guthrie and other theologians who say that the entire Bible is about Jesus Christ. Guthrie’s studies entitled “Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament” have been quite valuable in my understanding of God’s master plan. (1) God’s plan for salvation through Jesus Christ for his elect was decided before the world was created for the sake of his glory and praise among the nations. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were working even before he created the Garden of Eden to create a Covenant of Redemption. I hope that your understanding of his pre-creation work will enhance your appreciation of the gospel, as it has mine over the past two weeks. And, that we will demonstrate this by reflecting God’s holiness with loving, holy conduct and heartfelt mercy toward others.
Grace Before the Ages Began
Some Olympic athletes began or had to restart their physical discipline with a medical crisis. They had to overcome or push to develop and build the strength, flexibility, and confidence they needed—and are now incredibly skilled. I am certain that those who had God’s help had more motivation than those who were trusting in their own strength. Likewise, when we study God’s Word for increased knowledge about his ways and works, we grow in our theological and hermeneutical skills. Then we are more able to lean on our living Lord and his power to move through our trials, as Paul advised Timothy. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” (2 Timothy 1:8-9) “There is a salvation previous to calling: there is a temporal salvation; a special providence attends the elect of God, as soon as born…they are kept from many imminent dangers, and some of them from the grosser immoralities of life; and there is a chain of providences, as the fixing of their habitations, bringing to such a place, and under such a ministry, with various other things, ways and methods, which lead on to the effectual calling: and there is a preservation of them in Christ Jesus…this was resolved upon from eternity; a council of peace was formed…all according to an eternal purpose. Salvation was not only resolved upon, but the scheme of it was contrived from eternity, in a way agreeable to all the divine perfections…[and] in pursuance of this resolution, he set up Christ as the Mediator…The time of his coming was fixed, called the fulness of time; and his sufferings and death, with all the circumstances of them, were determined by God…which was ‘given us in Christ Jesus before the world began’; it is a gift, and a free gift, not at all depending upon any conditions in the creature, and entirely proceeding from the sovereign will of God; and it was a gift from eternity.” (2)
First, The Covenant of Redemption
“We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7) The more we submerge ourselves in God’s historical, eternal ways, the more we can reflect his holiness with loving conduct and heartfelt mercy toward others. “The covenant of redemption (sometimes called the covenant of peace) is an arrangement between the Father and the Son in which the Son promises to act in the place of sinners, becoming a security for His people, obeying and suffering in their behalf, and by His obedience to the law and its penalties, gaining forgiveness and redemption for His people…Failing to hold to a covenantal understanding of God’s redemptive work leads to distortions of key biblical concepts: Without it we have a distorted view of God….Without it we cannot make sense of the Bible as a whole. We then cannot understand the flow of history—from Genesis to Revelation—or understand why Jesus would Himself take discouraged disciples on a walking tour through Moses and the Prophets to underline their consistent message as culminating in Him (Luke 24:27)…As we look at Scripture through the lens of the covenant, we gain a clearer understanding of God and of the outworking of His eternal plan..Truly the Godhead is the greatest and holiest mystery that can be conceived.” (3)
The Holy Spirit’s Application of the Gospel
“The Holy Spirit is the chief promise of the Father in the Covenant of Redemption…’It is by partaking in the Holy Spirit, that [we] have communion with Christ [and His Father] in [their] fullness.’ When did the Father and Son agree to these commands, curses and promises? In eternity past. This was God’s predestined and predetermined plan (Acts 4:27-28). Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world and decreed for our glory before the ages began… ‘I was beside him, like a master workman’ (Proverbs 8:30)…The ‘I’ here is the pre-incarnate Christ. Look at vs. 22-24 ‘The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth.’ Solomon is speaking about the eternal begotten-ness of the Son. He is…Wisdom…personified. The NT clearly tells us that Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). [‘Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.’]…Wilhelmus A Brakel…says ‘this covenant reveals a love which is unparalleled, exceeding all comprehension. How blessed and what a wonder it is to have been considered and known in this covenant, to have been given by the Father to the Son, by the Son to have been written in His book, and to have been the object of the eternal, mutual delight of the Father and the Son to save you!…Oh, how blessed is he who is incorporated in this covenant and, being enveloped and irradiated by this eternal love, is stirred up to love in return, exclaiming, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).'” (4) When we are appropriately awed by this truth, we will reflect God’s holiness with loving, holy conduct and heartfelt mercy toward others.
“The gospel was announced in promise form in the biblically recorded preaching of the prophets, in which the apostolic presentation of the gospel is rooted.” (5) Paul knew this and shared his godly wisdom for our sake. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:1-6) Athletes who accomplish their goals at the Olympics will, no doubt, speak readily and joyfully about their success in Paris. our gospel success is meant to bring praise not to us, but to God. And, “Your understanding of the gospel is reflected in how much you speak of being God’s child.” (6) The pre-incarnate Christ never failed in his desire to do the Father’s will and assures us that we may have the same passion and power. Of this, Paul was sure. “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” (Romans 26:25-27)
Related Scripture: Isaiah 60:21-22; Amos 3:7; Habakkuk 1:1-3; Mark 8:38; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 1:3-6; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:20.
Notes:
1. Guthrie, Nancy, “Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament”, https://www.nancyguthrie.com/books-video.
2. Gill, John, John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible, 2 Timothy 1:9, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/geb/2-timothy-1.html.
3. The Reformation Study Bible, Article on ‘Covenant Theology’, Reformation Trust Publishing (Ligonier Ministries), Sanford, Fl., 2015.
4. “The Covenant of Redemption: the Intra-Trinitarian Covenant—John 6:37-39; 17:4-6,” The Well Reformed Church, March 21st, 2021— https://www.thewellboise.com/wp-content/uploads/sermons/2021/03/The-Covenant-of-Redemption.The-Intra-Trinitarian-Covenant.pdf.
5. Reformation Study Bible Notes, Romans 1:2-3, Ibid.
6. Witten, Kevin, Sermon on 1 Peter1:17-21, “Hopeful Holiness, August 3, 2024, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Boerne, TX.
August 8, 2024
Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin 