In relation to God we are always in a position of response. God is always prior, though not in a mere temporal sense. God transcends both space and time. Essential to God’s divine nature is his absolute priority. The sovereignty of God is such that he is never a mere respondent. His choices are always prior to ours. As Jesus said to his disciples: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). We should not imagine a sequence of events here, because God is not confined to sequential time. He relates to sequential time from timeless eternity. Christ died for fallen humans. But he did not die in reaction to the fall. He was, in a sense, “slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). We too were not loved in a temporal sequence in response to our actions. We were eternally (outside time) loved by God: “For he chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). God is prior, not just because he did something first, but because our actions are always enabled by his. When we pray, we not only do so in reply to him but because his Spirit is empowering and guiding the prayer. Don’t try to scrutinise these facts rationally, for God transcends reason. God can be apprehended, but not comprehended. Let yourself be transcended. Worship in awe. Make your life a response to God “who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
Praise God for his eternal love for you.
Read Ephesians 1:3-14.
