He [Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.
1 Peter 1:20 NET
It is tempting to think that when our first parents ate from the Tree of Knowledge and were exiled from the garden, God’s plan for creation was disrupted. We might then envision God scrambling to devise an alternative plan to restore humanity to what we were in the garden, a plan B. We might even be tempted to think that God’s calling of Israel was a failed attempt at restoring humanity. Making the cross a plan C.
But Peter makes it clear to us here that the cross was the original plan all along. Rebellion in the garden and Israel’s failure to keep their covenant with God were foreknown. Nothing we have done, or are capable of doing, has caused any revision in God’s original plan for humanity.
It was a plan to deliver us from the empty way of life we were born into through the precious blood of Christ, a spotless lamb (1 Pet. 1:18-19)–a plan revealed at the cross. When we come to the cross in faith, we can experience the full and meaningful life God created us for.
We like to divide history around the birth of Jesus. But the dividing point in history is really the cross. All that came before the cross was looking forward to the unveiling of God’s plan. And now, because of the cross, we can experience eternal life with God (John 17:3).
Don’t be satisfied with trying to live a good life or attempting to follow the terms of the Old Covenant. Only when we come to the cross can we experience true life in the presence of our creator. Only then can we become what he created us to be.
