Chapter 30: God [was] Reconciling the World to Himself from All Eternity, Explained
has made peace with his blood. Look upon Christ as sitting at the right hand of the Father, making intercession.
This is how you should exercise your faith in God through Christ when you are seeking peace with God. The reason why many people lie under a spirit of bondage for many years is that they look upon God merely as he is in himself and do not look upon God through Christ. Therefore, they fail to sanctify the name of God in this great work of reconciliation.
Chapter 30 God [was] Reconciling the World to Himself from All Eternity, Explained And thus we have completed the point of God's being reconciled to us in Christ. There is another aspect; namely, the sixth matter proposed in the first chapter, which is that God [was] reconciling the world to himself in his Son. The work of our reconciliation is not a recent matter; it is a work that God has been engaged in from all eternity. This is emphasised by the phrase that he [was] doing this work; for God to reconcile us to himself in his Son has occupied the heart of God from all eternity.
The passage in Titus 1:2 is most remarkable for this: "In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began." He did not only promise it now but promised it before the
world began. Who was there before the world began to whom God made this promise? It was his Son, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the meaning is that when it says God [was] reconciling himself to the world, it implies that there was, from all eternity, a transaction between God the Father and God the Son concerning our reconciliation. There was not merely an intention from eternity that he would reconcile the world to himself, but there was an actual transaction, an agreement between God the Father and God the Son about it.
Firstly, God's wisdom was exercised from all eternity to find a way.
Secondly, God's purpose was from all eternity to accomplish it.
Thirdly, there was a transaction between God the Father and God the Son from all eternity to achieve it; they covenanted with one another.
God the Father told his Son what he required of him, and God the Son promised to fulfil it. This is why Scripture says it was promised before the world began. God the Father promised his Son what he would do for those for whom he would die. It is as if he said, "Are you willing to lay down your life and shed your blood?" "Yes," replies the Son. "Well," says the Father, "I will be reconciled to them, and I will save their souls; they shall have eternal life for their portion. This I promise you." Thus, the promise was made to Christ first.
It is true that the promises of the Gospel are sweet and should bring joy to our hearts. As David said, "I had perished in my affliction had I not taken heed of your word." Nothing is sweeter to a soul than the promises, but even though the promises made to us in the Gospel are sweet, the promise made to the Son of God is infinitely sweeter.
What I ought to show you is not only how this promise was made to Christ but also the profound comfort it brings to the saints. They are
to look upon all that is done for them and all the works of God's grace to them not as something new or accidental.
For example, if we were to have peace here in the nation, it would be precious to us, and we would all rejoice greatly at any safe and lasting peace. But our peace with God is not achieved as if we were perishing and then God's providence suddenly turned things around. No, our peace with God was planned from all eternity. God contrived it in heaven before the world was made. God thought of reconciling himself to the world, even to you in particular if you are a believer, a contrite sinner, before the heavens or the earth were made. God had you in mind all along, and there was a covenant between God the Father and the Son concerning your soul in particular.
Although God foresaw that you would sin against him and turn into an enemy, there was a consultation between the Father and the Son from all eternity to bring your soul back to God and to pardon your sin. Therefore, you should see all the works of God's grace towards you in bringing you to his Son, and all the comforts you receive from his Son, as the fruit of God's eternal plan, of God's eternal counsel with his Son. Although it only manifests now, it was in the heart of the Father and the Son from all eternity, and this truly sweetens our reconciliation with God and all the means leading to it.
For example, does God send the word of reconciliation to draw you to Christ? This was part of what was conceived in the heart of God from all eternity—that at a specific time, a certain person would live in a particular place, that a certain minister would be sent among them, and that a particular text of Scripture would be preached, and that God would bring these truths to your soul. Know that this is the fruit of that eternal counsel between the Father and the Son before
the world began, and a branch of the promise that God made to his Son from all eternity.
When you come to the word, and you begin to feel your mind enlightened to know Jesus Christ, when your heart begins to melt, and your soul is drawn towards Christ, do not regard this as a mere accident. Do not merely say, "What a providence of God it was that led me to such a sermon!" Instead, understand that this very work of God towards you is the fruit of the promise that God made to his Son before the world began. God promised his Son that it should be arranged that at such a time there would be such a text and sermon, and that you would be there.
Likewise, any peace of conscience or work of grace whatsoever is a fruit of this promise. Therefore, rejoice in this: that God's heart has been opened to you, and that which was in his heart from all eternity is now made known to you.
Those men who are not converted until they are old have cause to be sorrowful and troubled about it. It is true that I have cause to bless
God that, at last, He has been pleased to open His heart to me. But what a misery it is that I lived so long before I came to know God the Father's purpose for my heart! Had I embraced the Gospel earlier, I would have been made acquainted with God's counsel concerning me from all eternity.
It is a great encouragement for young people to bless God for beginning His work in them early; it is a sign that God's heart is full when He starts with someone at a young age. For the truth is, God's heart has been set on you from everlasting, and His purposes have been unfolding from eternity. With some, although God's heart is inclined toward them, He keeps it hidden for a long time, only
breaking it open when they reach middle age or even old age. Then, at length, He reveals Himself.
Just as Joseph did not reveal his heart to his brothers for many days, there are many people whom God allows to continue for a long time in the ways of sin. He withholds Himself and refrains from revealing
His heart to them, but eventually, He does. However, how much better it is when God opens His heart to a person early on! Would not Joseph's brothers have been glad if he had revealed himself to them and opened his heart at their first meeting?
So, for those of you who are beginning to experience the day of grace dawning in your understanding, and for whom God is revealing
Himself early, showing you those things that were in His heart before the world's beginning—rejoice! It is as if God cannot, so to speak with reverence, wait any longer. As soon as you are able to comprehend the thoughts of God's heart, He reveals them to you. O!
Bless God for this. It will prevent much sin and sorrow and allow you to walk in comfort all your days.
This truth should also be a tremendous comfort to God's people: their peace with God does not rest so much on the covenant that God has made with them but rather on the covenant that God made with Jesus Christ from all eternity. That is the root and foundation of their peace and reconciliation with God. Alas, if it depended on the covenant between us and God and what He requires of us, we could not have firm peace. But when we know that the root and ground of our peace and happiness rest upon that transaction that took place between the Father and the Son from all eternity, and upon the covenant made between them, O! This should bring great joy to the hearts of the saints. It should be a mighty foundation of their faith,