Before the World Was

Jesus prayed for God the Father, Yahweh, the God of Israel, to glorify Him (Jn 17:1–5). The request itself is absurd unless we seriously consider the true identity of Jesus, who claimed to be the Christ, the Messiah of God (Jn 17:3). Ordinary men do not ask deity to glorify them. The Son of God, who is equal with the Father (Jn 10:30), sent from the Father (Jn 3:16), is obviously to be glorified.

The reason to glorify Jesus, the Son of God, who became the Son of man (Jn 1:14), is that in His titled position He warrants our worship. He does the work He was sent to do; and He did it all to perfection. The work of redemption was accomplished, to the effect that Jesus loses none of those whom the Father gave to Him before the world was created (Jn 10:28–29).

It is this group of people that dominates Jesus’ prayer on the night of His arrest. He mentions the transfer of the elect from the Father to Him, multiple times in this 17th chapter of John’s gospel (Jn 17:2, 6, 9, 24). The hour for His penal substitutionary atonement, for the benefit of those whose names God wrote in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 13:8; 17:8, 21:27), had come. This hour was appointed by God, along with the location, the means of execution, and the resulting benefits.

The only begotten Son of God suffered death by crucifixion at the hands of evil men (Acts 2:33; 5:30). The God-man left the glory of heaven to become like us, yet He was without sin (Heb 4:15). He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that the wrath of God would be redirected from His beloved, to be absorbed by Him on our behalf (Rom 3:25; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 2:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10).

The propitiation for our sins has set us free from the guilt and shame of our crimes against divinity. The cancellation of our debt of sin assures us of our forgiveness (Heb 9:22; 10:18). In addition, there is now therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, our shelter from the storm of God’s wrath against sinners (Rom 8:1).

All glory and honor belong to our God for so great a salvation (Heb 2:3). He saved us (Titus 3:5). His mercy upon His elect, redeemed, regenerate people is entirely by His sovereign free will (Jn 1:13), for He has mercy upon those whom He has mercy (Rom 9:15–16). This free act of God came at an infinite cost, however. The price tag was the precious blood of Christ our Savior (1 Pet 1:19), the Son of God, who shared glory with the Father before the world was.

The Bible does not argue for the existence of God. It presents our thrice Holy God in three Persons, having one substance. The existence of God as three living Persons also includes the eternality of all three. We know God in this because He has chosen to reveal Himself through both general and special revelation. We need to know God because God has made it to mean eternal life to those who know Him (Jn 17:3).

True knowledge of the only true God is grace granted to God’s children. The Holy Spirit, who is our Teacher (Jn 14:26), granted us the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18), who is Himself, the Truth (Jn 14:6). It is in knowing Jesus that we learn God the Father (Jn 14:7, 9). Knowing the true God invites true worship of Him (Jn 4:23–24), who exists eternally in majestic glory.

The world began (Gen 1:1). The beginning meant time. Space and time would occupy, nay dominate, man’s existence. God made us, male and female, and in Him we have our very being. We live and move; and apart from Christ we can do nothing of any spiritual value (Jn 15:5). Further, what do we have that we did not receive from Him (1 Cor 4:7)?

From the eternal counsel of God came the eternal Gospel of our eternal redemption (Heb 9:12; Rev 14:6), which is our eternal salvation from eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Mt 25:46; Heb 5:9). Before the world was, our God was glorified by the angels, who were created by Him to worship Him and do His bidding. In the pre-cosmic fall, one third of the angels rebelled against Almighty God (Rev 12:4). In this, some of these rebel spirits are held in pits of darkness (2 Pet 2:4), being reserved for Judgment Day. There is no salvation for Satan and his demons.

Fiery hell was created for these reprobate angels; and when man joined in this act of rebellion (Gen 3), he, too, secured his place in the torment of outer darkness, forever this is the second death (Rev 20:14). Eternity is the origin for whatever comes to pass. God has predestined a people of His choosing (Rom 11:5–6; 2 Thess 2:13). He has written their names in the Lamb’s book of life, even as He gave them to His Son. All that God does for these beloved ones is to the praise of His glorious grace, for these are vessels of mercy prepared for glory (Rom 9:23).

Just as the Father glorifies His Son, so all who are in Christ are destined to enter and dwell in mansions of glory, forever (Jn 14:2–3). The glory that God will not share with another, He will share with His children, who are heirs of an eternal inheritance, reserved for us in heaven (1 Pet 1:4).

On the day when King Jesus returns in glory with all the saints and angels, He will raise our mortal bodies to immortality (Rom 8:30; 1 Cor 15). We will be like Him with glorified bodies and souls. The gift of God, eternal life, will be everlasting.

All that is space in the new heavens and the new earth will prosper without corruption. Time will be no more because there is no sun, no night, no darkness at all. We will dwell in eternal light as children of light. This is the light of His glory, the glory He had with the Father before the world was.

Finally, we will be witnesses to His majestic glory, the light of the new world, where there will be nothing but His glory. Hence, we have the blessed hope of His coming and the new creation…planned before the world was.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

November 24, 2024

John 17:5