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| Diagram describing the doctrine of the Trinity |
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by Lita Cosner
The Bible teaches
us that God existed before the universe, and that He is outside the universe
and beyond the physical laws that govern it.
In Psalm 90:2,
Moses says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed
the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God”.
Instead, God is
‘timeless’ — God created time itself — yet He is also able to enter time and
space to intervene in events at any point.
It is natural for
us to ask: what was God doing in eternity past before He created the universe?
Augustine cited one
person’s answer: “He was preparing hell for those who pry too deep.”
However, Augustine
rejected such a flippant response.
While we obviously
cannot fully comprehend what God was doing ‘before’ creation, God did reveal
some details about His pre-creation activity in Scripture.
This helps us to
understand His nature, as well as His relationship with and His plans for
creation.
The fellowship of the Trinity
Before the universe
existed, there was only God — but He was not alone.
This aspect of
God’s nature was not fully revealed in the Old Testament, but there are some
intriguing hints of plurality in the Godhead in the Old Testament.
For instance, while
contemplating the incomprehensibility of God, Agur, the author of Proverbs 30,
says:
“Who has ascended
to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has
wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the
earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!” (Proverbs 30:4,
emphasis added).
Agur laments his
ignorance (Proverbs 30:1 ff).
The knowledge of
eternal truths and power over the creation implied in the first questions is
only possessed by God.
So, when Agur asks “What
is his name?” every good Jew would answer, “Yahweh”.
But then he goes on
to ask, “and what is his son’s name?”
But Christians
living in light of the revelation of Jesus can see a clear reference to Jesus,
the Son of God, in this proverb, long before God explicitly revealed the
doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament.
Because God is a
Trinity, He enjoyed perfect companionship within Himself before He created the
world.
The Persons of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved each other, shared in the divine glory, and
had a perfect relationship to each other.
A few places in
Scripture give us hints of what this was like.
In Jesus’ prayer,
often called the ‘High Priestly Prayer’ because of His intercession for
believers, Jesus asks, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence
with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5).
When God the Son
became incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ, He took on a human body and
nature.
During His earthly
ministry, He set aside His divine glory and independent use of His divine
powers which were rightfully His (Philippians 2:7).
This is also a
passage which clearly teaches Jesus’ pre-existence and deity.
Jesus’ whole
ministry glorified the Father by doing His will, and in this prayer, Jesus
anticipated when the Father would glorify Him in turn, just like they had done
for eternity before the creation of the universe.
Planned redemption and glorification
Jesus not only
wanted to be glorified again and to be with the Father, but for His disciples
to see His glorification as well.
His expression of
this desire shows the close relationship between Jesus and the Father.
In John 17:24,
Jesus says, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be
with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me
before the foundation of the world.”
Because God is a Trinity, He enjoyed
perfect companionship within Himself before He created the world.
The whole reason
for Jesus’ incarnation, ministry, and death was to save a people for Himself.
He wants His people
to be with Him, and that must be the Father’s will too, because it is the
Father who gave them to Him (John 10:27–30).
And just as the
pre-creation fellowship was characterized by love, love grounds the Son’s
request here. “The ultimate hope of Jesus’ followers thus turns on the love
of the Father for the Son.”
God already had
perfect, complete fellowship within Himself.
Also, the
intra-Trinitarian love of God is a uniquely Christian doctrine, and makes it
possible for love to be an essential trait of God’s
personality (1 John 4:8) — God does not need anyone outside Himself to love,
because the members of the Trinity love each other.
Further, Ephesians 1:4 teaches
that God “chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and blameless before him.”
This shows that God
was not taken by surprise by the Fall, and had planned for it even before He
created.
He had already
determined that Jesus would die for our sins and rise again.
So, this passage
sweeps through all of salvation history, from the work of God in eternity past,
to the believer’s present salvation and destiny in eternity future.
Planning His kingdom
A good architect
does not start building before he considers the overall layout of the building.
So, it should not
surprise us that God was planning His kingdom before He created the universe.
God did not ‘light
the fuse’ of any sort of ‘big bang’ and hope for the best — He created
intentionally with a specific end in mind, and this end was pre-determined
beforehand.
For example, Matthew 25:34 tells
us, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.’”
This reveals God
had planned for His kingdom before creation, and that He always meant for
believers to be co-heirs with Christ.
It is important to
note how closely love is connected with God’s plan for His kingdom. God didn’t
need a kingdom — He already had everything He needed within Himself before
creation.
Rather, He created
the Kingdom for His Son, but also for His people, whom He wanted to bless.
The ultimate
purpose of salvation is to glorify God — but it also results in our
glorification when we trust in Jesus.
The Christian’s destiny — fellowship with the Trinity
So it should not surprise us that God
was planning His kingdom before He created the universe.
In John’s gospel,
the believer’s destiny is seen to be close fellowship with the Trinity.
Unlike some false
religions, the Bible does not teach that we will actually become gods;
rather, in the Resurrection we will reflect the image of God as He intended us
to.
The sort of
fellowship we will have with God is shown most clearly in Jesus’ high priestly
prayer for all those who believe in Him:
“The glory that you
have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I
in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world
may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:22–23).
In His prayer for
believers in all ages, Jesus is speaking about an intimate level of fellowship
with the Trinity, including sharing in love and even glory.
So, in our
resurrection bodies, the Christian will participate in the fellowship of the
Trinity in the closest relationship possible for a mere creature. So, the
foundation for the doctrine of Creation is in the good God who loves, and who
exists in fellowship within Himself and with His creation, and who created out
of the abundance of His love.
God did not need to
create the universe, and He owes nothing to any of His creation.
Yet He is shown
again and again as a gracious Provider and Sustainer who blesses us even though
we do not deserve it.
Uniquely, Genesis
presents God as fundamentally relational, and this affects our understanding of
everything He does.
Lita
Cosner,
B.A., M.A.
Biblical
studies, New Testament (USA)
Lita
Cosner became a Christian in 2002, partially as a result of creation materials
she found through CMI which answered her questions about the Bible and Christianity
(see her own
account). She joined CMI as Information Officer in 2010, and is a prolific
contributor to the website, Creation magazine, and our in-depth Journal
of Creation. She is well-known for her gracious, yet challenging responses to
questioners and often detractors who contact CREATION.com
Lita
is a specialist in New Testament studies and obtained a B.A. (summa cum laude)
in Biblical Studies from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in 2008. She received an
M.A. (cum laude) in New Testament from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in
2012. Her thesis is titled Jesus the Honorable Broker: A Social-Scientific
Efxegesis of Matthew 15:21–28.
Her
passion is interpreting the New Testament in a way that is understandable to
the average Christian, as well as showing how the New Testament authors used
the teachings of the Old Testament as the foundation for their theology,
particularly in the area of Creation. She is the co-author of the
booklets How
Did We Get Our Bible? and Gay Marriage: Right
or Wrong?. Her talk, Creation in the New
Testament and Why it Matters, is available as a video download.
Lita
is available to speak at conferences, seminars, and specialist women’s events.
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