Eternity Before Time
A curious skeptic asked a believer, “What was God doing before He made heaven and earth?” His friend replied, “He was preparing hell for those who pry into mysteries” (Augustine, Confessions, 11.12).
Yet the Bible does tell us about God “before” He made the world. Jesus the Lamb of God “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (I Pet. 1:20). God didn’t have to figure out whether He would make the world and send His Son. The plan to send Jesus into the world was always in the mind of God.
Paul wrote that God “saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (II Tim. 1:9). This was and is “the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11).
It is impossible for us to fathom the knowledge of God, especially His knowledge of the future. But we don’t have to. We just need to believe it. There is more than enough proof that God exists and the Bible is His Word. The problem is that sometimes we don’t have enough faith.
Just as God knew what would happen before He made the world, He knows what will happen in the world and to the world in the end. If we could only remember this and trust in it! God knows the future of nations and individuals. The Bible says He “calls those things which do not exist a though they did” (Rom. 4:17). He told Abraham what would happen with the Egyptians, the Canaanites, and Abraham’s descendants over the course of four hundred years (Gen. 15:13-16). At that time he didn’t have a single child. In the book of Isaiah God foretold Jesus’ virgin birth (Isa. 7:14), the establishment of the church (Isa. 2:1-4) and the suffering of Jesus in great detail (Isa. 53:1-12). In the book of Daniel He foretold the coming of Alexander the Great (Dan. 8:5-8, 20-22) and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Dan. 9:24-27). All of this happened exactly as God said.
How can we hesitate to believe what God says about the future? God promises real and peace beyond our comprehension to those who trust and obey Him. He assures Christians of “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (I Pet. 1:4). We are just pilgrims here for a short while. We should live with confidence, peace and contentment.
Kerry
West End church of Christ • December 21, 2025