The Gift That Can’t Be Denied

December 16, 2024

1 PETER 1:20 - He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross wasn't improvised. God didn't make it up in response to the unfolding events of history. Peter writes that Christ was known before the world was founded. 

As God, Jesus existed in eternity past as the one whose blood would cover the sins of all who receive salvation. Jesus' birth, life, death, resurrection, and return to the Father were always God's plan to save us. Always. 

Jesus was always the answer to the questions asked by the prophets and the angels investigating what the Holy Spirit's Old Testament prophecies were pointing to (1 Peter 1:10–12).

Finally, in Peter's lifetime and those of his readers—the beginning of what Peter calls the "last times"—God revealed the mystery. He showed Himself and His plan to the world by coming to earth as a baby, a man, God in flesh, the final sacrifice for sin. Why? For our sake. God's great gift of mercy, and the timing of that gift in human history, demonstrates God's great love for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

 

SCRIPTURE READING

1 JOHN 1:2

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Christmas is the day that holds all time together.