In eternity [past], God the Father authored the Decree, which is where He ordained every thing that would happen throughout history: eternity [past] - history - eternity [future].

God decreed in eternity [past] that we would be redeemed and glorified with Him forever. He also knew we would sin, and God demands a penalty for sin, which is death. To preserve our identity with Him, it was agreed in eternity [past] that the second Person of the Godhead would come down to this blip of a universe, become a man, and die for our sins.

Though God took it upon Himself to be the Substitute, His substitution is only valid for believers (those who trust in Messiah Jesus as their personal Savior):

There is a point in the believer's life when that individual trusts in Messiah Jesus as his/her Savior. However, from the moment that takes place, any believer can look back and recognize:

Let us follow the logic in that. Remember: the things that happen in this temporary, created universe cannot effect decisions made in the eternal state.

There is an unbroken chain from being foreknown of God the Father in eternity [past] to being glorified with Him in eternity future. Our eternal glory is all determined in the eternal state. Things that happen in this creation do not effect things that are determined in the eternal state.

That is why in the Book of Romans Paul says:

The words height and depth fascinate me. I believe Paul got those words from science (actually, philosophy at that time, which included everything — science, philosophy, theology, etc.). The word height means "zenith" — the highest point, and the word depth means "nadir" — the lowest point.

Did the people of Paul's day know about galaxies? No, they knew only of the physical universe. When Paul said height nor depth, he was referring to anything in the known universe; nothing can separate us from God. Why? Because this whole creation is just temporary, and our salvation is determined in the eternal state.

Let us retrace from the beginning, in that condition before time:

Think about this:

The psalmists seem to be particularly aware of this:

Also, they were aware of something else:

In fact, the psalmists (David and others) understood this difference thoroughly. They knew that God dwelt in eternity, and they saw this as an umbrella of safety — as a refuge place — for them to hide in the eternal state of God. David speaking of the Lord God says:

David was always looking up to the eternal God for his Refuge, and not to the things of this little blip of creation.

King David had problems [unlike modern day believers who do not have problems anymore since their problems disappear once they were redeemed…-sic!]. David had enemies, animosities, and adverse circumstances, but he recognized that these problems were a function of this little blip of creation set against eternity.

For example, in the next verse he says:

What is a besieged city? The enemy would surround a city, they would cut off all of its supply lines, and then they would attack or they would wait until those in the city either died or surrendered.

Most of us are not living in societies where that is happening to us, however, I believe we have something similar. We are besieged with forces from without — we have pressure that keeps coming in on us all of the time and without end.

What should we do when that happens? Let us look at what David says:

Though this creation is just a blip set against eternity, it sure seems real to David, and though this universe is just a tiny little spot in eternity, it seems like a long time to us.

Another problem is that the eternal state where God exists, which is a canopy over us, is not visible to our physical eyes. From our perspective, when we are being assaulted (when we feel like we are besieged with problems surrounding us), it seems like God does not see us nor is He where we are.

David understood that although he cannot visibly see that eternal state, it really exists and God is really there watching over him and hearing him:

David took great comfort in understanding the difference between this creation, which is bound by time and matter, and the eternal state of God, which was a refuge for David:

Why should we be strong and take courage? We have an Anchor in that eternal state!

I used to love to read the comic strip (a narrative series of cartoons) Superman, because nothing could hurt the cartoon character. For instance, Superman's enemies would point huge pistols and rifles, canons, tanks, or bazookas right at him and Superman would just laugh and say something like No problem, just bring them on! Nothing could hurt him, and do you know why? Superman was immortal and invincible, because he was anchored to a different dimension (he was from another planet).

Believers are somewhat like Superman, because they are immortal and, in the ultimate sense, they are invincible since their existence is tied to God's eternal state. And things in this creation cannot hurt believers because God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is on their side! Sometimes this is a difficult thing for me to get through my mind — even when believers do things He does not like, He is really on their side and He is not against them.

God guaranteed the immortality of believers in the eternal state. Remember that the things in this creation do not effect decisions made in the eternal state, so before the world began, God decided that those individuals would be glorified with Him forever.

Believers are better than Superman is. Though he had an immortal existence, he always was the mild-mannered Clark Kent wearing those dorky glasses, that stupid cape, and a silly costume. Our immortality is of a higher level, because we are not going to be trapped in bodies like this. [Editor's Note: That discussion will have to wait for now!]

Is God's focus on this created universe? To some degree it is, but God's principle focus is on the eternal state (He is equally present in the past - the present - the future), in which He has stored up and gift-wrapped blessings for believers.

What does God want for us now? He wants believers to enjoy those blessings in their lives — so we should enjoy them! Maybe I am being hedonistic (self-indulgent) about this, but if God says that He has a package of good things for me, then I want them.

Receiving blessings in our lives is based on our having a relationship with Him. Is that not amazing? God, who provided for our rebellion and our sin before we were born, wants us! And that is ALL He wants:

It seems to me that giving Him a relationship [with ourselves] is the one thing we are the most reluctant to give. I think we would rather give Him money in our pocket, time from our schedule, works "for Him", or even programs "on behalf of His name", because those are much easier to give than to give Him ourselves.

Does God want good behavior from them? Certainly, however, He knows that if believers give themselves to a relationship with Him, then good behavior will be the outflow of God's love within and through them.

Having said that, we do want to recognize that our sin does harm our relationship with God. What happens?

From God's Perspective: Sin CANNOT damage the relationship, because that is contingent on the Cross. When we sin, does God change or say You have been naughty so I will not speak to you? No! God has no problem with the believer, and He does not break fellowship with that person and their eternal relationship with Him is secure [forever].

From the Believer's Perspective: Sin robs a believer of the joy of his relationship with the Lord God. Though he knows for a fact that he is forgiven, because he has the Holy Spirit of truth within him, that individual is going to feel guilty and he will not feel comfortable about going into God's presence when he sins. The believer will shrink away and withdraw from God — when we sin, we change!

What do we do to restore a broken relationship with God? The obvious thing would be to stop sinning, which would be great if we could do that. However, we cannot because believers have inherited the same sin nature that every human being has, and that sin nature produces individual acts of sins.

We want to confess our sins, because confession of sins totally removes the guilt from a believer's consciousness. How? The Lord God cleans up the believer's consciousness, so he feels free to go into God's presence!

If we look through all of David's psalms, I believe we will find that his two most common themes are (1) praising God and 2) confessing his sin. In fact, it seems to me that David holds up a picture of his sins to God and says Wash them; clean this stuff off of me.

David hated that sin in his life, because the primary thing in his life was his relationship with God. Think of all the rebellious and sinful things David did, and yet God said he was:

Do you know why? Because David was always after God's heart — he was continually giving God a relationship with himself — and he was always confessing his sin:

We develop relationships with our family and friends by communicating with them. How would they respond to us if we just did things for them (for example, conduct programs on their behalf), but we did not talk to them or spend time with them? Obviously, there would not be a relationship.

To develop a relationship with the Lord God, we can pray and meditate on His word.

Unfortunately, we always have the tendency to approach our time with God legalistically: I have to read the Bible two hours today because, according to my schedule, I was off two minutes yesterday. No! Now it is great to read the Bible two hours every day if you can do that, but our focus should not be I have got to do this, but it should be Here is my loving God and I want to get to know Him better. See the difference? I believe the results are a lot better if we approach meditating on God's word and prayer on a relationship basis.

David and other psalmists spent a lot more time outdoors than modern man does, and they had cultivated this [healthy] habit of looking at the things of creation and saying:

• God made that!
• God created that!
• God did that!
• Wow, I cannot believe You made that!

David was always saying [to the Lord God]:

For David, what did saying that do? It developed a God consciousness in his mind, which you can see as you read through the Psalms. Whatever David saw throughout the world, he tied to God. That is what brought David peace and refuge, because he understood that God was in that eternal state.

Colossians 3 says:

Do you see why? God lives in that eternal state, an existence that is not [in any way] dependent upon this physical universe. The more we focus on that eternal state and the eternal God, the more we will be strengthened.

Father, thank You that before we were born, before You created anything, before there was even time, You knew us and You loved us. If You could love us before we were born, then it is obvious that Your love for us is not conditional on what we do or what we do not do.

Also, because of what You did for us even before we were born — provided for our sin, called us to Yourself through Your Son, Messiah Jesus, and guaranteed our eternal glorification with You — we know that what You want from us more than anything else is not money from our pockets, not our good behavior, or not programs in Your name, but You want us. I confess that for me, that is the one thing that I am most reluctant to give up.

Father, help us to understand that You are not an evil tyrant lording it over us and trying to whip us into shape. Yes, You want good behavior and so do we, but what You really want is for us to come to You and say I have a broken and contrite heart, because You said You will not despise that.

Thank You for this amazing creation You have made. Help us to develop a consciousness of You when we see the things of this world, and that we will remember that You made all things. Help us to cultivate that habit and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Father may we be aware of Your presence through Holy Spirit as we learn about You throughout this Creation series.

I pray this in Messiah Jesus' name. Amen.

Back To: Creation Series Page

© Worldnet Grace Ministries

This data file is the sole property of Worldnet Grace Ministries. It may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

This data file may not be copied in part, edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without the written permission of Worldnet Grace Ministries. Requests for permission should be made in writing and addressed to:

Worldnet Grace Ministries, PO Box 130006, The Woodlands, Texas 77393, USA