(3) The Predestination and Election of Christ Before Creation

 

(3) The Predestination and Election of Christ Before Creation

 

The part regarding the predestination of Christ before the creation of the world can be understood through the content of John 1:1-2. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." There is a difference in translation between the Greek Bible and the Revised Korean Version. Translated again,

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

 

"And in Him who was first was Christ the Word, and Christ the Word was with God, and God became Christ the Word." (Greek translation)

Chapter 1, verses 1-2 are divided into three parts.

First, in "In Him who was first was Christ the Word," the First One is God the Father.

And in the third part, "God became Christ the Word"—in other words, it means that God became Christ. This is also evidenced in Philippians 2:6: "He, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped."

Among the first and third parts, the second part is the core. "Christ the Word was with God." Christ, in accordance with the will of the Father, created the world and the first man; conceived by the Holy Spirit, born through a human body as Jesus Christ, and died on the cross.

Christ’s creation of the world is mentioned in John 1:3. "For all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that has been made."

God raised Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, in spirit, clothed Him in a heavenly body, and caused Him to appear in the form of resurrection. He acknowledges all who believe in Him and enter into Him as having died on the cross, and He resurrects them likewise with Jesus Christ, bringing them back to their original places. Next is the message concerning those who are chosen in Christ. In Ephesians 1:4, it says, "He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us according to His good pleasure to be His sons through Jesus Christ."

καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ

“ἐν The part “αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου” must be interpreted independently. “Just as He (the Father) chose Christ before the foundation of the world.” Therefore, looking at it as a whole,

 

“Just as He (the Father) chose Christ before the foundation of the world, He chose us in love to be holy and blameless before Him.”

Most churches state that because God is omniscient and omnipotent, and because Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptation after creation, fell into sin, and became evil, leading to a state where God would inevitably have to destroy the world at the end, God knew all of this and predestined before the foundation of the world to save only the chosen ones in Christ.

However, this means that first, the Father chose Christ before the foundation of the world, and then He chose the saints in Christ. God predestined Christ to save sinners and caused them to be chosen in Christ; while being chosen in Christ is God's providence, regarding the order of salvation, it is accomplished in the sequence of Christ's predestination and being chosen in Christ.

Ephesians 3:11 states, "It was done according to the purpose of the plan He had predestined in Christ Jesus our Lord from eternity." Being chosen in Christ was predetermined before the foundation of the world, and the object of this choice is one who enters into Christ (the Messiah). Before Jesus Christ came into the world, they would be those who looked forward to the Christ who was to come.

For example, they are the prophets of the Old Testament or the fathers of faith. However, after Jesus Christ came into the world, they become those who are united with His death and resurrection. Acts 13:48 states: "When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and praised the word of God (ton logon), and all who were appointed (tetagmenoi: the base form is tasso) to eternal life believed." Tetagmenoi carries the meanings of to arrange, appoint, command, decide, and determine. Those whom God has appointed to eternal life become those who enter into Jesus Christ.

This means that anyone who desires to enter into Jesus Christ can obtain eternal life. While the Jews rejected Jesus, the Gentiles accepted Jesus as their Savior.

To enter into Jesus Christ is to believe that Jesus's cross signifies an atoning death, and that those united with Him are also dead to sin. Furthermore, Jesus resurrected three days after dying on the cross. Those who believe that they have resurrected in union with His resurrection are those who enter into Christ.

To summarize, God predestined Christ before the creation of the world, and accordingly, Christ came to be with God the Father. Christ created the world, became human himself, and came into the world as the first man; he died (expressed as having fallen asleep) when male and female were separated, and thereafter was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary.

Furthermore, regarding the condition of salvation, God the Father planned in advance before the creation of the world that "God the Father would save those who enter into Christ." Those who enter into Christ become those who believe that they died with Him on the cross and resurrected with Him. The sincerity of faith is determined by God through the temptation of Satan, and He chooses them as His people.