Introduction: Making the Story New

Summary

Three times in the New Testament we hear the phrase ‘before the foundation of the world’. We find it at John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4 and 1 Peter 1:20. In each case it means the same thing: God chose to be incarnate in Jesus before there was any creation, because in Christ, God willed to be in relationship with us. Which means God’s intention to become incarnate in Jesus was the reason for creation. All of which sounds fittingly Christocentric, until one realises what else it means, but does not actually say. And that is that Jesus could not have come to fix the results of the fall – because God’s decision to become incarnate in Jesus was made before there ever was a fall. So every theory that elaborates upon the conviction that Jesus had to die to fix the problem of evil, sin and death misses the crucial revelation made three times in the New Testament itself: that was not why Jesus came. Jesus came to be with us in time so that we could be with him forever.