Before the foundation of the world, God was faced with a crucial decision – Whether to make man? In His omniscient mind He was aware of the great affliction and anguish we would cause Him. God knew we would commit sin against Him, hide from Him and in the end call Him a liar. He was mindful that sin would bring death and sorrow to his beloved world. And that when sin brought death and sorrow, that man would turn and blame Him.

Yet He still chose us, though He was fully aware of the great cost. In His mind, even then He could see The Cross: the gruesome torture Jesus would endure, laying the sin of the whole world on him and the immense pain of having to look away from his son. Moreover, God was conscious of the profound hurt He would feel, when many would reject this costly gift, the great torment these would have in hell and His extreme ache watching them go there. Still God so loved the world, that He would choose to make man… even though.

There, in that monumental moment, with deep compassion in His heart, He looked past His great pain, laid down His life and created man.

For His joy was that many men would open their hearts to Him, some would really love Him, giving their whole lives to Him and a few would courageously die for Him. This was his ambition, to be with His children, His beloved.

“Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.”
Ephesians 1:4