From Eternity to Eternity (Romans 8:29)

Paul continues his walk along the summit of the Christian mountain range that is Romans 8, which many have regarded as the Alps of Christian experience possible in this world. The apostle is like a guide pointing out to his party several amazing sights that they would not otherwise observe without his direction. At each sight he gives time for them to stop and take in what is before the eyes of their souls. So here he invites us to take in a spiritual vista that stretches from eternity past to eternity future. And we can begin where he points to first with his heavenly marker.

The past

Paul mentions two details about what God did for his people in the past eternity before time commenced, before the creation appeared. The first detail is that he foreknew his people and the second detail is that he predestined his people for a particular goal.

First, we must ask, what does the word ‘foreknow’ mean? There is a common idea connected to the word that suggests it means that God could see ahead and on the basis of looking ahead he knew what people would do with the gospel. It is rather like him having a very powerful telescope through which he can see everything that will ever occur. In response to this interpretation we can say that we agree with the fact that God knows the future, but that we disagree that this is what the word ‘foreknow’ means.

So what does the word mean? We should observe that Paul does not say God foreknew what people would do. Instead he says that God foreknew people, so the word describes those with whom God has a relationship of some kind even although they do not yet exist. This idea of a relationship is strengthened when we recall that the word ‘know’ in the Bible usually refers to intimate knowledge between lovers, which of course means that ‘know’ is another word for love. And when we note that the prefix ‘fore’ points to when he loved them, we will see that Paul is using the word to say that God loved a certain number of people before time began.

This raises other questions, and I only want to mention two. The first is: when did God begin to love them? In answering this question, we step beyond the realms of human understanding because the answer is that he has always loved them. There never was a moment when he did not love them. Throughout the beginningless eternity God loved and thought about those he regarded as his people. The second question is: in what way did God fore-love them? We can answer this question by noting that his love was expressed in the form of a covenant. In this covenant known as the covenant of redemption, the triune God agreed to perform distinct activities with regard to the people that they loved in order to deliver them out of the dangerous condition they would be in because of the sins they would commit against God. This means that there has been in existence an eternal covenant in which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit engaged to bring great spiritual blessings to those they eternally loved.

Then Paul says that God predestined those whom had fore-loved. Predestination is a word that is sometimes used carelessly. It means that the destiny of someone or something is fixed beforehand. In itself, the word does not state what the basis of the predestined result is. In this verse, it is based on the fact that God loved certain people and determined to do something for them. The fact that it is connected to love means it is not clinical and detached. Instead we can say that the decision was based on divine love, on divine grace, on divine wisdom and on the divine desire to do what is best.

A common response to predestination is for a person to assume that God has not predestined him. This presumption is not based any evidence that the individual can use to prove that his assumption is correct. God has nowhere revealed who the individuals are concerning whom he has planned to give this important destiny. Instead of trying to deduce our personal status from what God has hidden, we are to deduce it from what he has revealed. In the Bible he has made it very clear that any sinner will be saved if they turn to him in repentance and ask him to forgive them for the sake of Jesus. In any case, going back to the illustration of viewpoints on the summits of the Alps of spiritual experience, it is impossible to have a clear view of this sight in eternity past until we stand on the right viewing spot. The correct viewing location is only found after a person trusts in Christ for salvation.

The love

We now turn round on our viewpoint and gaze in the other direction. When we do, we discover that those whom God has fore-loved have a wonderful destiny. Each of them is going to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. Such a destiny is wonderful obviously, although the wonder is increased when we recall where God found those whom he loved and began to work on them. He did not find them in a state of perfection, which is where we would probably have expected them to be found in order for them to give pleasure to God. Instead they were in a state of imperfection, having rebelled against him, and were deserving of his punishment. If we were allowed to, we could look far down from our lofty viewpoint and observe those whom God loved living all kinds of sinful lives, with some of them behaving very badly, such as the individual who wrote this letter and some of those to whom he sent it in the city of Rome.

Something else makes this destiny amazing, and this aspect involves what the Son would do on behalf of those loved eternally by God. He would freely come into the world that they had marred by their sins, and come into it by becoming a man. He would become like them in the world dominated by sin so that they could become like him in the world where sin is unknown. The reason why he came to live in the world was not to live in it permanently. Instead he came into it in order to die in it, so that by his death he would pay the penalty for the sins that they deserved to have to pay themselves in a lost eternity. This he did while nailed to the cross of Calvary, where he endured the punishment that their sins deserved.

And there is another feature that makes this destiny amazing and that is the role of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. We must remember that he has the same degree and kind of love for his people that the Son has. In expressing their love, they engaged in different roles. The role of the Son was to pay the penalty, the role of the Spirit is to give foretastes in this life of what will be their full experience in the next as in the here and now he gradually conforms them increasingly but not perfectly to the image of Jesus.

The future

What will it mean to be fully conformed to the image of Jesus in the world to come? No doubt, there are many answers that could be given to this question. The first is that all of them will be sinless, without a trace of sin. That will be an amazing transformation, to be without sin inwardly and outwardly, to have pure affections and thoughts as well as actions. Never again will they confess sins, although in the new world where they will be perfectly conformed to the image of the Son they will never forget that once they were sinners in this world that is passing away.

Second, when they are perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus they will be shining with glory. We can think of the majestic description of Jesus glorified in heaven that is given in Revelation 1. We know that Jesus will always remain unique, far above his people. Yet he does say in Matthew 13:43 that his people will shine as the sun in the kingdom of the Father. That is an amazing description. Think of the effects of the shining of the sun in the sky. It changes everything for the better, makes life more pleasant and enjoyable. The people of God will stand out among the entire restored creation of God, not because of anything they are in themselves, but because of the great blessings that will be given to them graciously in the world to come.

Third, the people of God in that wonderful future experience will share the kingdom. Gone will be the petty jealousies and infantile remarks that are often found among them in this world. Instead they will be competent, through the work of God in them, to share the kingdom that has been prepared for them. As they share in the blessings of the eternal world they will discover the full meaning of fellowship. And as they share, they will discover that what they possess does not decrease because they are now in the place where nothing is lost.

Fourth, the people of God, when that great occasion comes, will be sons of God in the fullness of what that status will mean. Of course, there will remain an eternal difference between the divine Son and the forgiven sons. Yet although that distinction will always remain, it will also be the case that each of the sons will now find themselves in their inheritance, and discovering that, now that they have been conformed to Jesus, the creation has ceased to groan and instead is now the suitable location in which Jesus and his people can dwell together forever.

We can see the distinction that will remain between Jesus and his people in the title that he is given in this verse. Jesus is the firstborn, which is a royal title rather than a title that suggests age. When we say that someone is the firstborn we mean that he is the oldest child. It is the case that Jesus is the eternal Son, without a beginning to his existence. In contrast to him, all the forgiven sons had a beginning. True although that is, it is not what Paul is highlighting here. Instead his focus is on the royal dignity of King Jesus. The reason why his people will have everything is because he has everything. He is the heir of all things, the ruler of the universe, and through their union with him his people share in the privileges and blessings of that status. But although they are sons of God, they will always remain the servants of Jesus. He will always be the firstborn.

Paul mentions another marvellous truth in this verse when he describes the number of people that will be conformed to the image of Jesus. He says that there will be many of them. Perhaps our minds go to the statement that Jesus made when he said that many would come from the east and from the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom (Matt. 8:11). Or maybe we think of the statement in Revelation 7 concerning the great crowd that the apostle John saw gathered round the throne and described them as being a number that no one could count. And then there is the writer of Hebrews who says that God is bringing many sons to glory through the work of Jesus (Heb. 2:10). Paul here adds his contribution to the wonderful fact that at the end of the day there will be many brothers in the heavenly family. Often we hear people comment about the size of families today and say that they are not as big as they used to be. Well here is a family that is unique as far as its number is concerned, and it is in great encouragement for us to know that they will be many members in the heavenly family. It will be a wonderful sight to see when it happens, but here in this chapter of Romans Paul invites to take a look at what is coming and rejoice in the certainty of it.