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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christ was Foreordained to be the Perfect Sacrifice For Mankind

(I Peter 1:19-20) "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."

This past month I've been writing a series of posts entitled, "Jesus Was Born Into This World to Die For the Sins of Mankind."  As I was writing these posts I was thinking about the scripture from I Peter 1:19, 20.  I presented a historical background from the second and third chapters from the book of Genesis.  I was giving the example of Adam and Eve who partook of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  In order to understand why Jesus came into this world to die for the sins of mankind, you must go to the very beginning in the book of Genesis.  It was the sin of Adam that plunged the whole human race into sin.  As a result, there was the need for a Savior to come into this world to be the perfect, spotless sacrifice to die upon Calvary's cross in order that man might be redeemed.

When I was reading this verse of scripture several days ago, I was thinking about the love of God that was manifested to man.  One thing you will never be able to explain is the love of God towards mankind.  Why would God, in his foreknowledge, choose for Christ to be the perfect, spotless sacrifice to die upon Calvary's cross for the sins of mankind prior to the creation of man?  Why would God do that?  That's a mystery that the most keen intellect will never be able to comprehend.  One could understand God creating Adam and then Adam, unbeknowst to God, sin and God making the decision to send the Lamb of God from Heaven to atone for the sins of mankind.  You could see God making the decision after the fact to one day send Jesus to this world to redeem makind.  However, one cannot fathom with his own mortal mind God, in his infinite wisdom, deciding before the foundation of the earth was laid to send Christ to be the perfect sacrifice for man.  That doesn't make sense.  Who in their right mind would ever create something if they knew ahead of time that creation would be more costly than it ever would be profitable?  In the business realm what entrepreneur would create a product to place on the market if they knew it would generate no sales?  Nobody would.  Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple who died recently was known for creating such technological devices as the Apple Mac, the i-pad, the i-pod, etc.  They've all been successful on the market.  Would Steve Jobs have created those products if he knew prior to inventing them that they would never sell?  Would Steve Jobs have created those products if he knew he would spend far more money and time into creating those products than what the dividends would generate?  No, he wouldn't.  No entrepreneur in their right mind would invest money into something if they knew it would fail.  Would Thomas Edison have created the light bulb if he knew he wouldn't make a profit from it?  I highly doubt it.  In the business world, you invest money into things that you believe will make you profitable.  In the business world, you have to think in terms of what will make money.  The purpose of a business is to make money.  Any type of endeavor that doesn't generate a profit is money lost.

When we ponder the fact that God had foreordained Christ to one day come to this earth to die on Calvary's cross, that should cause us to rejoice.  I'm very thankful that God didn't have the mindset of a businessman when he made the decision in his infinite wisdom to choose Christ to be that perfect sacrifice.  God knew that Adam would sin and plunge the whole human race into sin.  God knew the heartache that man would cause him.  God knew the price Jesus would pay for the sins of mankind on Calvary.  God was not looking into the numbers game when he created man.  The creation of man wasn't profitable to God.  What was profitable about the creation of man when God knew that man would one day reject God and live according to his own will.  The Bible says that God's angry with the wicked every day.  Why would God create man that would one day choose the path of sin and mock his creator?  That doesn't make sense to the human mind.  God doesn't need man.  God doesn't need us.  He has both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to fellowship with.  God also has the angels he can fellowship with.  To top it all off God could've annihilated man and created another race to worship and serve him.  What's so special about man to God, other than the fact he created man in his likeness?  When you consider the depths of the love of God toward man, you can't explain it.  There was nothing profitable about the creation of mankind to God.  It caused Jesus everything upon Calvary's cross to redeem man.  Just for depraved man.  God even knew that only a few would ever accept the free gift given by God.  Matthew 7:13, 14 speaks of the strait and narrow gate and only a few would ever find eternal life.  Most people on this earth will choose the broad path instead of the strait path that leads to eternal life.  In the midst of that God still foreordained Christ before the foundation of the earth was laid to be the perfect sacrifice for mankind.  That's a mystery man will never understand.  It doesn't make sense to man that Jesus would've died if only one person got saved.  It doesn't make sense to mortal man because we think of things in terms of numbers.  God was thinking in terms of numbers when he sent Christ to this earth.  We have so much to thank him for and rejoice in. 

When you consider the fact that God doesn't need man, it should cause us to desire to worship and serve him.  He went out of his way for us so that one day we could inherit eternal life.  Of all people he chose for Christ to die for sinful man.  That's love one can't begin to comprehend.  I'm thankful that God doesn't value man in the way mankind values people.  God didn't think in terms of utilitarianism, or that which is profitable when creating man.  The creation of mankind wasn't profitable to God.  Not only those that choose to reject Christ, but even those that are his children.  Those of us that are saved have been a disappointment to God.  Read about the men in the Bible who loved God but yet disappointed him at times such as Samson, Lot, or King David, who was a man after God's own heart.  King David disappointed God when he had ordered Uriah the Hittite to be killed and committed adultery with Bathsheba.  David also sinned when he numbered the people of Israel.  God's people at time go astray and that brings heartache to God.  When you considered how disappointing God's people are to him at times, it's amazing he would've sent Jesus to Calvary.  According to man's thinking, it would've been natural for God to decide to not create man at all because of man's rejection toward God throughout the ages as well as the fact even God's children have disappointed God.  In spite of the fact that God knew before the creation of man that man would choose the path of sin and that even those that are redeemed would disappoint him at times, he made the choice to send Christ to this earth to redeem man before the foundation of this earth was laid.  We can't even begin to comprehend the love of God towards man.  I'm glad he loves us in spite of us or he would've destroyed man a long time ago.  The love of God should compel us to desire to serve him.  God's good.  You'll never be able to explain or comprehend the love of God in a thousand lifetimes. 

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