(See here for Part One – Innocence & Awe)

 

Sometimes, a movie or a series of movies will come out, and afterwards the “prequel” will be released.  The prequel gives us the back-story . . . the story before the beginning, often setting up additional context and important aspects critical to understanding the flow.  So . . . do we have any hints in scripture about anything pre-Genesis?  Is there anything resembling a “prequel” to the Story that will be unfolding before us, that might help us discover something more about the US and OUR we just saw in the account?

Yes, indeed there is.

There’s a ride called the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio, where riders are launched horizontally from 0 to 120 miles per hour in less than 4 seconds.  The track eventually skyrockets upwards of 420 feet, then straight down before tailing off down another horizontal section and finally coming to a stop.  It’s a crazy adrenaline rush, loved by thrill fans across the globe, including me.  Imagine now your heart beating in your throat as we prepare to launch from 0 to 186,000 miles per second (you heard correctly) in under a second.  We are headed pre-Genesis 1:1.

Suddenly, we are plastered back into our seats, faces stretched unrecognizably as we cross the event horizon and ramp up to warp speed, towards the singularity and through the wormhole, plummeting heels-over-head into the pre-Beginning . . . BEFORE the creation of the Universe . . . directly into the middle of another realm . . . completely separate, altogether different from the place we just left in Genesis 1.  Here, only one Reality exists.  Take a minute or three to get your bearings as you come to rest.

The Uncreated Godhead dwells here – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There is no such concept now as the word “nothing”, for the Living God fills all and is all . . . the everlasting I AM.  This is where we find ourselves on the other side of that human-slingshot-launch into Creation’s Black Hole, where the Story before the Story begins.  The essence of what we know about “God” is that He is defined as an Already Existing Relationship.  Historically, this is known as perichoresis, or Trinity.  Before the beginning, this Eternally-In-Love Community was . . . the Only Reality.

We are in the midst of the Trinity before the Creation . . . The Eternal Prequel.

 

 

I’m well aware this wild mystery drizzled with wonder is beyond our ability to comprehend fully, let alone describe in words, but let’s give it a shot.  Don’t get lost in the metaphysical, the metaphorical, the abstract gobblygook-ness of this description.  Instead, this Awe-Filled Pre-Creation Presence must be our starting place when talking about any theology, any key aspect of our Message, where the un-changing God is absolutely self-defined and not contingent on anything in creation.  Here, we begin to form our very first impression of the Magnificent Being responsible for the Formation of All.

All we know about God, all that’s True of His Character, Begins Here and Lasts Forever

 

Look around.  What’s going on within the members of the Godhead prior to Creation?

What do you see and hear?

We know from the scriptural record that God was/is completely self-sustaining and self-sufficient within the Trinity, operating in self-sacrificial, holy, intimate relationship.  This had been the case eternally, outside the boundaries of time and space as we know them.  He had absolutely no need for anyone or anything.  His love was unconditional . . . not a single condition existed that constrained His glorious, burning, all-consuming Love from being fully expressed towards the other members within Himself.

 

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given to Me [as Your gift to Me], may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”  – Jesus

– John 17:24 – 

 

In human terms (inadequate analogy, but perhaps helpful), this might look like a group of 3 life-long friends since childhood, getting together for a week-long vacation at their favorite Hawaiian beach resort, with their favorite foods, memories, activities and dreams all shared in the beauty of intimate friendship.  No masks, nothing to hide, absent of any fear. . . absolutely enjoying the time of their lives, living in their “sweet spot”, nothing hindering the closeness of their relationship with each other.  Can we imagine it?  Father, Son and Holy Spirit in unrestrained, holy party mode, delighting in each other within their paradise of existence.  Laughter and joy and purpose-filled celebration fill the space.  Eternal and Complete, lacking absolutely Nothing.

Everything that we perceive about God must find its origin and framework in this pre-Creation context.  The nature and character of God as we see here is unchanging and remains completely consistent as the Story unfolds. Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever is showing us His nature before man arrives on the scene.  He is defined within the context of perfect relationship Eternally Shared with the Father by the Spirit.

Are you there?  Were you able to survive the trip through the wormhole?  Can we dare take in this ecstatic Beauty beyond all beauty?

 

No needs (no lack)

Only desire

 

What was His agenda, the main plot, the story of the creation and of mankind?  Why did the whole universe, all of humanity, everything in heaven and on earth throughout all of history come into existence?  What was in his heart to accomplish through this God-centric story?  He had/has no NEED to be worshipped, no NEED for additional relationship . . . no NEEDS at all . . . only desire.

 

WHY create anything?

           WHY on earth would God risk a Creation that might ruin a perfectly Brilliant Story?!?

 

Pre-Beginning 3D Shadows of the Cross

In a certain sense, the scriptures describing the Trinitarian scene before us now in the Pre-Beginning is quite like a MagicEye 3D painting.  Do you remember these drawings (sometimes called stereograms) made popular a few decades ago?  These prints appear like plain, primitive patterns on paper at first glance . . . until peering with purpose at a point just past the page.  If you’re able to focus just right, a 3D image seems to magically emerge, but you miss it completely if you just glance at the surface.  When we allow ourselves some time to focus on this scene described in the Eternal Prequel, we might make out the hints of a 3-D image starting to emerge from the background.

 

It’s the image of a Cross . . . THE Cross of Jesus Christ . . . in shadow form.

 

God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

– 1 Peter 1:20 –

. . . the Lamb that was slain [in sacrifice] from the foundation of the world.

– Rev 13:8 –

The reason it’s crucial that we see this image is that it’s the clearest expression we have in the scripture of God’s Essence, His others-centered self-sacrificial agape Love – shared within the Trinity from all Eternity Past, and extended to mankind through the covenant He would reveal on the Cross.  This is where Christ willingly offered His life to show us the extent of His Love for the entire world.  It is the central theme of God’s nature, out of which all His other character traits flow – His holiness, righteousness, joy, peace, wrath, justice, discipline, wisdom, creativity, compassion, judgment etc all flow directly out of His Unconditional Love.  As with white light through a prism, the light of God’s Love finds expression in all the other colors that comprise his character.  They are wholly integrated and in perfect harmony with it’s Source.

 

 

Christ crucified IS the clearest, most concise revelation of what God is like.

 . . . for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.

– 1 John 4:8-9 –

This is the most compelling portrait of the KIND of Love shared between Father, Son and Spirit prior to the Creation.  There are many other portraits of love in the universe, but we need a reference point for the Love shared among the Three . . . so we’ll let our portrait be this one – the Crucified Christ, where we have the privilege to witness the greatest revelation of True Love ever expressed.  There’s a reason so many people wear cross necklaces around their necks, recognized worldwide as a symbol of love and forgiveness, and not as an instrument of gruesome torture.  Why?  Most people don’t wear electric chairs around their necks!  There’s something unusual and profound about this particular icon, transformed in its meaning forever by the Nazarene who died at our hands.

So however we define holiness, it must be a characteristic we see in the Godhead PRIOR to the Creation.  Same with His justice, His wrath, His mercy and His wisdom.  All of these are aspects of His character that are wholly integrated with His Love, and must not be defined AFTER man arrives on the scene lest we introduce the influence of something other than God Himself.  What’s true of His essential nature in Eternity Past is never-changing, and is the reference point for all interactions with His creation as the Story proceeds.

So let’s ask again.  Why would this God of Perfect Love risk ruining a perfectly Brilliant Story by calling forth a Creation that He knew would include a fallen humanity?  Why would a God with no needs, only desires, living in True Love eternally . . . choose to create anything at all?!?

 

Original Gospel – Heart of the Father

It is IN CHRIST that the whole world, the entire “cosmos”, came into existence . . . and at that point prior to time, before the foundation of the world . . . the Trinity, in joyful, holy, righteous, self-sustaining eternal intimacy and fellowship with each other, had a dream for the Creation.

 

[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).

– Colossians 1:15-17 –

 

In other words – creation was simply an overflow of His Love, a spilling over of the Divine Essence into an expression that would expand, multiply, and invade the far reaches of the cosmos . . . with the reality that had been Eternally True.

 

 

God came to us in the Person of Jesus, not out of any need or lack, but because He chose to enter our world as the self-sacrificial expression of Trinitarian love in order to bring man into the divine fellowship.  Though this sequence of events unfolded within our understanding of time and space, they were all birthed deep within the heart of God in eternity past.  The Incarnation was predestined to be His invitation to include us into Their divine sanctuary, the always-existing space within Himself meant only for us.  He knew everything about you, every choice and every decision that you would face, and still He chose you unto Himself to make you the Eternal Recipient of His Calvary-Like Love.  He made this choice about you before the worlds were formed.

 

Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]

– Ephesians 1:4-5 –

For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

– Psalm 139:13-16 –

 

We were His Great Desire 

God is our True Birthplace

 

This is affirmed a million times over if we see that this essential cruciform element in the Story took place before Adam, before anything, was ever created.  His decision regarding you was made before you arrived on the planet! He has always had us as the focus of His mind and heart, to magnify the enjoyment of what He’s always enjoyed.  Pause for a minute and savor this deliciousness again, this hint of pre-Creation crucifixion:

 

God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.   

– 1 Peter 1:20 –                                 

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

As you look around again, this brain-jarring reality hits you with break-necking force – you are in the center of the beautiful, mystical emptiness (if such a thing even exists) smack in the midst of Father, Son, and Spirit.

 

The Cross in shadow form looms overhead. 

           Creation has not yet begun,

                      and you are surrounded by, marinating in, Love.

 

 

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