This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. (2 Tim. 1:9)
Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:8-10
Many Christians know their spiritual birthday, the day they were born again. I wish I did. I came to faith in Christ at such an early age that I can’t point to a calendar date.
Actually, I also can’t say when atonement was made for my sin (and yours, too, for that matter). We know that Christ died and rose again at the Passover season around AD 30. In the framework of human history, that’s when redemption became a possibility for all of us. In a more profound sense, though, it’s impossible to determine the actual time of our atonement for the simple but astounding reason that it took place “before the beginning of time”! Paul affirms John’s declaration that Christ is the Lamb slain “from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
Before the fall, God knew that those he created in his image would sin, that we would need redemption, and that only through the sacrifice of his sinless Son would that be possible. In the timeless stretches of eternity, the second person of the Trinity agreed. It still remained to be acted out on the stage of history (“revealed,” 2 Tim. 1:10), but in the mind of God, the atonement was accomplished before he made and placed the first man and woman in the garden. The marvel of it all is that, knowing the cost, he made them anyway.
That’s love.
Reread Genesis 1 as the “love chapter” of the Old Testament.
Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
