"We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!"

(Romans 5:10 GNB)

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In Christian circles we speak a special language called "Christianese", where words like Salvation has it’s meaning within that context and everyone assumes that every other Christian knows what it means. It was therefore a great shock to me over a year ago, when I came across messages by Paul Anderson Walsh, where His definition of Salvation was different from what I had believed for nearly 20 years(click here for the free the audio messages I listened to) . The clarity and liberty I received from this revelation has become the bedrock of my rejuvenated Christian experience. I would like to share what I learned with you in a series titled "Salvation Unraveled".

Before we can truly understand salvation we need to go back to the very beginning. By this I mean, even before time began. God who is called the "Ancient of days", the "I Am", who never changes, had a plan that predates time.

1. "While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire," (Daniel 7:9 GNB)

2. "God said to Moses: I am the eternal God. So tell them that the LORD, whose name is "I Am," has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on." (Exodus 3:14 CEV)

3. ""I am GOD--yes, I AM. I haven't changed..." (Malachi 3:6 MSG)

The "I am", not the "I was"

Not even the "I will be"

Still the same

Yesterday, today and forever

The Ancient of days

His word remains the same

It does not change

Not then, not now, not ever

He lives outside of time

When time is no more

He will forever be

The very same "I am"

Let us discover what this plan was.

1. "How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ...Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son…Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth." (Ephesians 1:3-10 MSG)

So we see that before the earth was formed, we were on His mind and He wanted us as His children and the focus of His love.

Eternal purpose

I was on His mind before the earth was formed

A purpose from which He would not be turned

To obtain for Himself a family in love

Spanning heaven and earth

Christ, the key to it all

It is therefore reasonable to assume that if you are to have eternal relationship with an eternal God you needed to have eternal life. Considering that we were to be made in the image and likeness of God Himself, one would assume that was His ultimate plan.

1. "God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. " (Genesis 1:26-27 MSG)

2. "GOD formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive--a living soul!" (Genesis 2:7 MSG)

Having given Adam life(union with His life), He then gave him a warning as to what could cause Him to die(be separated from His life).

1. "GOD commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead." (Genesis 2:16-17 MSG)

We will find out what happens next in Part 2.

Selah

(To be continued..)

click here to read part 2

To view others instalments in the series, click here