so at church last week, lloyd preached on the passage in genesis about the fall of adam and eve and what that meant for humanity. this was interesting to me because i had just read something earlier that day in john piper's book, "spectacular sins" about the exact same thing. so i figured i might should pay attention.
"Consider 2 Timothy 1:9, 'God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.' Saving grace was given to us before the ages began. That is, it was given to us before there was any human sin to save us from. Therefore, grace was planned before human sin was there to need it. This means that God's plan to save us through grace was not a response to human decisions to sin. Saving grace was the plan that made sin necessary. God did not find sin in the world and then make a plan to remedy it. He had the plan before the ages, and that plan was for the glory of sin-conquering grace through the death of Jesus Christ....Therefore, the biblical view is that the sufferings and death of Christ for sin are not planned after the actual sin of Adam but before. Therefore, when the sin of Adam happens, God is not surprised by it, but has already made it part of his plan- namely, a plan to display his amazing patience and grace and justice and wrath in the history of the redemption, and then, climactically, to reveal the greatness of his Son as the second Adam superior in every way to the first Adam." - piper
or, as lloyd put it, God didn't have a "plan b." this was the plan. God was not surprised when Adam and Eve sinned, he planned it as part of his redemptive story. a redeemed creation is more beautiful than a creation that never fell. Jesus' glory is greater because he has and will redeem all sin and suffering. he is the whole point anyways.
doesn't this blow your mind? its beautiful and powerful and comforting all at the same time. i am still pondering all these things, but it is life changing stuff.
