Before the Foundation of the World

Annie

Scriptures: Genesis 1:1 Revelation 13:8 Matthew 27:45-55

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void and darkness covered the face of the deep”

Before anything came into being, whilst everything was void, without form, in pitch darkness, the Word existed, the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of this world existed. It is truly astounding. Calvary had been planned for and had taken 1000s of years to be accomplished, yet scripture is so clear. The Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world.

We have called this series of reflections that we are doing throughout April “Calvary and Beyond”. Yet, I keep thinking about the unequivocal fact that Jesus the Christ was the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. And from what I have heard and read lately, I am not alone in this. In effect, everything that Christ bought with His precious blood, had always been bought, but was beyond our reach. Then, at the time appointed by our Father God, His Son, our Saviour, stepped into this broken world so that He could fulfil all that the law demanded as payment for our sin. And the whole of creation held its breath as Jesus, the perfect Lamb, went through physical death and glorious resurrection.

Let us take a moment to look at “before Calvary”. Beyond Calvary is the realisation that the Lamb was slain solely that we might be forgiven once and for all. Then, on that glorious Resurrection day He defeated death itself. But prior to Calvary for all those 1000s of years God, who lives outside of time, had already seen this come to pass. Calvary was the evidence that the Lamb was slain and beyond Calvary is the assurance that we are saved solely by the slaughter of the innocent Lamb and His world changing resurrection.

I find it overwhelming to try and understand this. We live in a world that is governed, ruled, restricted by time, a state which has been created by God. He said “let there be light” and the light was separated from the darkness. He created the planets to travel around the sun in their seasons, as a place for us to live in. It’s no wonder that our minds grapple with the concept that we have been loved since before time itself existed, and that we were saved by the slaughtered, perfect Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world.

Then, there is the 30 foot (9metres) high veil in the temple being torn from top to bottom as Christ breathed His last. That veil was woven specifically so that it could not be torn, it's not thin. flimsy fabric, it was woven so that no person could get a glimpse of what was the other side in the Holy of Holies. Yet, as Jesus breathed His final breath, it was miraculously torn from top to bottom, signifying that now was the culmination of all that had already gone before. We could now, on our knees, in repentance and in the fear of God, approach Him in the full assurance that our salvation has been bought and paid for by the slaughtered Lamb of God, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Over this special time of remembrance, I have been learning to stop trying to understand how this happened and simply believe it. Do any of us really scientifically understand what God has done in all of His Creation? Do we understand how you can plant a seed, a single tiny seed in the ground, cover it up with earth and wait as that seed will sprout a shoot that will grow and force its way through the soil, and then produce so many seeds of its own kind? One sunflower plant will amazingly produce around 1000 new seeds, and science can come up with ideas and reasoning, but there is never an answer to that one ultimate question. Where does the spark of life come from? How does that happen?

So it is with Calvary, both before and beyond, how can the shed blood of one man grant all who turn to Him, forgiveness for their sin and the gift of eternal Life with Him, forever. We can reason and attempt to understand and dissect this. But there is no need for us to try, not when God is holding out His Hand and inviting us to go beyond the torn veil, to step into the Holy of Holies, Not when, on Calvary’s tree, the Blood of the Lamb has made this way for us all.

Prayer: Oh Father God, Your infinite, limitless Love has been pouring out to us since before the foundation of this world. Just as the precious Blood of Christ was poured out at Calvary, cleansing us, forgiving us, restoring us to true fellowship with You. Thank you Abba Father, Amen