Predestination

In our study of the "covenant of redemption" which is set forth in Rom.
8:28 30, the second action of God listed in verse 29 is "predestinate."

The five actions of God listed in v. 29 and 30 are foreknow,
predestinate, called, justified, and glorified. According to Vines the
Greek word "proorizo," which is translated four times into
"predestinate," once "ordained before," and once "determined before,"
means to "mark out or determine beforehand." Thus the English word
predestinate means to determine the final destiny beforehand. The four
times predestinate is used in the scriptures it is used to denote the
final destiny of those that God "foreknew" (Rom. 8:29) or "chose before
the world began" (Eph. 1:4). It is never used in connection with anyone
other than those whom God foreknew or chose!

We will begin our discussion of God's predestination of the "elect" by
considering to what God predestinated them. That is what do the
scriptures say is the final destiny of the elect? Rom. 8:29 reads, "For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Now when the verse says we will be "conformed to the image of His Son"
it is not saying we will be "clones" of Christ. When Adam brought forth
a son he was born in Adams image as Gen. 5:3 reads, "And Adam lived an
hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his
image; and called his name Seth." Now Seth was in the image of Adam but
was not a clone of Adam. He possessed the same characteristics,
qualities, and nature of Adam (a fallen nature) and thus was in the
image of Adam. By nature we are all in the fallen image of Adam. Part
of the final destiny of the elect is to be in the image of Christ.

To understand what that image is we need to look at the characteristics,
qualities, and nature of Christ that is different from our characteristics, qualities, and nature. In Heb. 7:26 we read, "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners..." In contrast by nature we are unholy, harmful, defiled, and sinners. Also the scriptures describe God to be "love" (I John 4:8), "a spirit" (John 4:24), and "light" (John 1:4) and this light is defined as eternal life. By nature we are completely selfish, having not the spirit of God, and absent of eternal life. In addition, the
Lord is incorruptible, immortal, powerful, and glorious (I Cor. 15).

Again, by contrast our natural being is corruptible, mortal, weak and
dishonorable. In contrast to what we are now, our final destiny will see us conformed to the image of Christ. At that time in body, soul, and spirit we will be holy, harmless, undefiled, righteous, love, spiritual, possessed of
eternal life, incorruptible, immortal, powerful and glorious. It is in
keeping with God's predestination that our final destiny will be
conformity with the image of His Son. Next, we read in Eph. 1:4, 5 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will..."

Now we are according to birth right in the family of Adam as we are all the off spring of Adam. However, God has declared that those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world will have as a final destiny membership in the family of God. To accomplish this God has predestinated to adopt us into his family by Jesus Christ to himself. Adoption involves taking a person out of one family and placing that person in another family. We will discuss the mechanics of adoption in a later issue.

At this point we note that God has predestinated us unto the adoption of children, thus it is our final destiny to be children of God not only in spirit, but also in body. This brings us to the third thing God has predestinated the elect unto. In Eph. 1:11 we read, "In whom also we (the elect VJ) have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of
him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Thus
being the legal heirs of God by spiritual birth, adoption, marriage, and
will we have an inheritance from God. In nature, the only lasting
inheritance we have is a grave. Yet according to God's predestination
we have an eternal inheritance.

According to Rom. 8:16, 17 we read, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ..." Thus our final destiny is to be a
joint heir with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we will have by inheritance
all that our elder brother has. This is absolutely amazing to consider
that we won't be possessors of just a little corner of the glory world,
but will be possessors of all that Jesus Christ is a possessor of! In
our next issue we will consider those things about God that imminently
qualify him as the only one who can predestinate.
 

Jesus, the Church's Husband

In Is. 54:5 we read, "For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of
hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of
the whole earth shall he be called." As we have before shown Jesus is
our Maker, our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, and the God of the
whole earth. Thus he is our husband. In Ephesians chapter 5 we are
taught that the relationship between a husband and wife is to be
patterned after the relationship between Jesus and his bride, the
church: "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it."

According to the scriptures, the Lord's ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts, but as the heavens are high above the earth so are his ways above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts. According to man's ways, man seeks out the most beautiful and desirable woman he can find who will have him and selects her to be his bride. When the Lord selected his bride (church) he did not select one that was perfect, but rather as Israel of old when the Lord entered into the law covenant with her, she was polluted in her own blood, so also the church and her members are sinners which have no righteousness of their own.

According to Rom. 3:9 18 God describes the whole mass of humanity as having no righteousness, no understanding, no profitableness, no goodness, no fear of God, as none seeking after God and not knowing the way of peace. Out of this mass of humanity, the Lord chose his bride. Furthermore, we did not choose the Lord to enter into covenant with him, but rather he chose us.

According to Eph. 1:4 he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and according to Rom. 9:11 this choice of a people is according to the "election of grace." In addition the Lord's people were under a curse as stated in Gal. 3:10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

In the next few essays we will explore the covenant the Lord entered
into with the church, how the Lord groomed his bride, the wedding feast,
and the daily marriage relationship he has with the church. We will
examine this, not so much on a subject matter basis, but by examining
several passages of scripture that speak specifically to the Lord as the
Church's bridegroom.

 

The Lord's Marriage Covenant

In the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel, the Lord spoke of his marriage to
Israel thusly: "Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold,
thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and
covered thy nakedness: yea I sware unto thee, and I entered into a
covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine." Thus
we see that the Lord entered into a marriage covenant with Israel. The
description in Ezek. 16:9 13 identifies the time of that marriage
covenant as the time of the making of the law covenant with Israel.
Thus the "marriage covenant" was the "law covenant."

The following passages show that Israel willingly entered into that
"marriage" or "law" covenant with God:

1. Ex. 19:5, 6, 8, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed,
and keep my covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me above
all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be a kingdom of
priests, and an holy nation...And all the people answered together, and
said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do."

2. Ex. 24:3, "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the
Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice,
and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do."

3. Ex. 24:7, "And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the
audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will
we do, and be obedient."

4. Deut. 5:27 29, "Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God
shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak
unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. And the Lord heard the voice
of your words, when he spake unto me; and the Lord said unto me, I have
heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto
thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there was
such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my
commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their
children forever!"

Next, we see that this marriage covenant was sealed with blood: Ex.
24:6 8, "And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and
half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of
the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All
that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the
blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the
covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words."
Subsequently, we read in Ezek. 16:15 59 of the harlotry, fornications,
and adulteries that Israel committed with the nations of the world and
their false idol gods.

Notwithstanding, we read in verses 60 62, "Nevertheless, I will
remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will
establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember
thy ways, and be ashamed...and I will give unto thee for daughters, but
not by thy covenant. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and
thou shalt know that I am the Lord."

Jeremiah spoke of this new covenant in Jer. 31:31 34 which is quoted in Heb. 8:8 12 as follows: "For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

Under this new covenant we find that the Gentiles are brought as
prophesied in Is. 60:3, 5, 11, "And the Gentiles shall come to thy
light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising...Then thou shalt see,
and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because
the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the
Gentiles shall come unto thee...Therefore thy gates shall be open
continually; they shall not be shut day or night; that men may bring
unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be
brought."

In this new covenant age the bride is known as the Lord's church and is
known as the house of God: 1 Tim. 3:15, "But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth."
Isaiah prophesied of this time and of the bride as follows: Is. 62:3 5,
"Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a
royal diadem in the hand of they God. Thou shalt no more be termed
Forsaken; neither shalt thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou
shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth
in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as a bridegroom rejoiceth over
the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."

Finally, this second or new covenant was also sealed with blood as we
read in Heb. 9:11, 12, "But Christ being come an high priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."