Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
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The phrase, from the foundation of the world, reveals that Christ did not die before the world  
By Brother Mike (10-3-14; 15 minutes) 

 

In my previous message entitled The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the world , we found that the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world could not possibly mean that Christ died for sin at or before the foundation of the world because of all the passages which clearly teach Him to have died for sin when He came to earth in 33 AD. In fact, we had to conclude that what is meant by the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world is that it was from the foundation of the world when it was first foreordained that Christ would be slain, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. It did not mean that Christ was actually slain at or before the foundation of the world. Now, in this message, once again, we are going to find confirmation that the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world does not mean that Christ was actually slain at or before the foundation of the world by seeing how God uses the phrase, from the foundation of the world in other Bible passages.

Let's begin by stating our main verse in question. We read in Revelation 13:8, 

Re 13:8 . . . the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world

Now, does this mean that Christ (the Lamb) was slain at or before the foundation of the world? Certainly, this is what it literally seems to say: it says, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But, before coming to any final conclusions, let's look at the phrase, from the foundation of the world to see how it is used in other verses of the Bible. First, we read in Luke 11, 

Lu 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation . . . 

Here we are told that the blood of all the prophets was shed from the foundation of the world. But if the phrase, from the foundation of the world meant at or before the foundation of the world, then this is saying that the blood of all the prophets was shed at or before the foundation of the world. But, that doesn't make any sense since the blood of all the prophets was not shed at or before the foundation of the world, for none of the prophets even existed at the foundation of the world, but there blood was shed at various times since the foundation of the world. So, we see immediately that the phrase, from the foundation of the world cannot possibly mean at or before the foundation of the world. So what does it mean? Well, it means that the blood of all the prophets was shed from the foundation of the world in the sense that at or before the foundation of the world is when it was first foreordained that the blood of all the prophets would be shed. It doesn't mean that at or before the foundation of the world is when the blood of all the prophets was actually shed, but, rather, it means that at or before the foundation of the world is when it was first foreordained that the blood of all the prophets would be shed, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that the blood of all the prophets was shed from the foundation of the world. 

Now let's look at another passage which uses the phrase, from the foundation of the world. We read in Matthew 25, 

Mt 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world . . . 

Now when this verse says, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, does this mean that the kingdom was fully prepared at or before the foundation of the world? In other words, was everything of the kingdom prepared at or before the foundation of the world? Of course not! As we saw in the previous verse, the phrase, from the foundation of the world does not mean that the kingdom was prepared at or before the foundation of the world, but it means that the kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world in the sense that it was at or before the foundation of the world when it was first foreordained that the kingdom would be prepared. So, in this sense of foreordination only, the kingdom had been prepared from the foundation of the world. It doesn't mean that at or before the foundation of the world the kingdom was actualy already prepared, but, rather, that the kingdom would be prepared. And, the kingdom is guaranteed to be prepared because it was from the foundation of the world when it was first foreordained that it would be prepared. 

Now, likewise, given the two previous examples of usage, when the scripture says, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it doesn't mean that at or before the foundation of the world was the lamb actually slain as far too many have come to falsely believe, but it means that at or before the foundation of the world was it first foreordained that the lamb would be slain, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. So what we have found is a key to how we can understand things that are tied to the phrase from the foundation of the world: the things that are said to take place from the foundation of the world do not actually take place at or before the foundation of the world as it may seem, but, rather, they are foreordained at or before the foundation of the world that they will actually take place at sometime in the future after the foundation of the world, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that the things are said to have taken place from the foundation of the world. 

Another verse that uses the phrase, from the foundation of the world is Hebrews 4:3. There we read, 

Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world

Now, when we read, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, does this mean that all the works needed for the elect to believe (become saved) were actually finished before or at the foundation of the world? Absolutely not! For we have already concluded that the things tied to the phrase, from the foundation of the world do not actually find their fulfillment at or before the foundation of the world, but, rather, they are foreordained at or before the foundation of the world that they will find their fulfillment in the future, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that they are said to have taken place from the foundation of the world. Therefore, when we read, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, it does not mean that the works were actually finished or complete at or before the foundation of the world as it may seem, but, rather, it means that the works for salvation were finished in the sense that they were foreordained at or before the foundation of the world that they would be finished in the future after the foundation of the world. So this verse is not saying, at all, that the works for salvation were fully complete at or before the foundation of the world, and so teaching that Christ had to have been slain at or before the foundation of the world as some teach. No, rather, it is simply teaching that all the works needed in order for the elect to believe and be saved were foreordained from the foundation of the world, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that the works were finished from the foundation of the world

Now, with our understanding of the phrase, from the foundation of the world, let's look at Hebrews 9:26. There we read, 

Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since [from] the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself

First, we should recognize the word since in the phrase, since the foundation of the world is the same word translated as from in our previous three passages. So, in order to remain consistent, we will translate our verse like this: 

Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered [from] the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself

Now, in that He (Christ) must often have suffered from the foundation of the world, does this mean that Christ must often have suffered at or before the foundation of the world? Of course not! We already learned that things tied to the phrase, from the foundation of the world do not have to mean that they actually took place at or before the foundation of the world, but, rather, they took place at or before the foundation of the world in the sense that that is when they were first foreordained that they would take place. So, in that Christ must often have suffered from the foundation of the world does not mean that Christ must often have suffered at or before the foundation of the world, but rather that at or before the foundation of the world is when it was first foreordained that He would have often have suffered in the future after the foundation of the world, and it is in this sense of foreordination only that Christ would have often have suffered from the foundation of the world. Once again, this verse is in no way supporting the notion of Christ actually being slain at or before the foundation of the world, but it is only supporting the foreordination of Christ being slain from the foundation of the world. 

So, what we have discovered in all of this is that Christ was not slain at or before the foundation of the world, and we have discovered this in how the phrase, from the foundation of the world is used in at least three of the verses which are normally used to say that Christ was slain at or before the foundation of the world. The phrase, from the foundation of the world does not have to mean that whatever is from the foundation of the world must have actually taken place at or before the foundation of the world. Indeed, in the verses we looked at, we found that whatever is from the foundation of the world is only from the foundation of the world in the sense of having been foreordained at or before the foundation of the world, and not in that they actually took place at or before the foundation of the world. 

Now, for more support that Christ was not slain at or before the foundation of the world, you are encouraged to study The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World , Christ died for sin in 33 AD; not before the world , and When Did Christ Die For Sin? The phrase, from the foundation of the world . . . , Luke 11:50 Exposes Truth , Email Messages refuting that Christ atoned for sins at or before the foundation of the world.

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