2 Timothy 1:9
[God] saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago.
Some passages of Scripture are incredibly rich in their implications. This is one. The truth that God loves us before we were ever created, and while we were yet sinners, and despite all the ups and downs of our choices to obey or disobey him, and in fulfillment of his purpose rather than our own niceness or ingenuity is more than we can really take in. But that’s the facts. God had you—you yourself—in mind when the Big Bang happened. He was, so to speak, already watching you as you sit there at your keyboard reading this when the first fishes swam in the primordial sea. He held you in his heart while the Himalayas were being formed and as eons of time were rolling slowly past. It was for you—you yourself—that he called Abraham from Ur and Moses from Egypt and David from the sheepfold and on to the throne. It was for you that Jesus Christ hung on a cross and all the history of the world since then has unfolded. All this grace is given “ages ago” by the God who sees the end from the beginning and orders all things to his glory and our good in Christ Jesus. Just a little something to make your head spin today.
