Before The Cross, We Were On His Mind!

BEFORE The Cross, We Were On His Mind!

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Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

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We heard the hymn saying, “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.”

• But the truth is that we were always on his mind.

• When we read of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, we are reading about the PLAN of God to have Christ die on the cross for our sins.

• This was planned before the world began and before Adam even sinned.

• God so loved us that He had us on his mind back before the world was created.

• At that same time He chose us in Christ.

• He planned that we be put into Christ one day in salvation.

That is how much He loves us.

John parallels Genesis’ creation, giving us the account of the beginning of the new creation.

• In Genesis 1 and John 1 we see “In the beginning.”

• We see reference to WORD creating.

• We see references to the LIGHT.

• And we even see day after day listed in which certain things were accomplished.

• Jesus is the Light!

• He is the WORD that spoke forth the light in Genesis.

• John gives account of the new creation.

And we read of the new creation and note that Jesus’ mind was on us all the time.

• It is interesting when we come to the third day in John 2 at the wedding of Cana of Galilee.

• Mary notes to Jesus that there is no wine at the wedding.

• And Jesus replies to her quite strangely.

John 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

His hour was not yet come?

• What was his hour?

• What was he thinking about?

We find that Jesus used the term HOUR elsewhere, giving us a hint of what he was thinking about.

Mark 14:35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

In other accounts we read that Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane was that the cup would be removed or passed from him.

• He referred to the experience of suffering the cross when he referred to the cup.

• But here we read he called it the hour that he prayed would pass from him.

• So we find that the term HOUR here is also referring to the period of suffering for our sins.

• Therefore, when he told Mary that his hour had not yet come, after she asked him for wine, we discover that the thing that was on his mind at the wedding was us!

• He thought of the WINE of the Holy Ghost that would be given to the church after His death on the cross.

• Since the Holy Ghost could not be given until Jesus was glorified after dying on the cross, we discover that He was thinking of the cross and the subsequent joy of giving the church the wine.

• Since he was at a wedding He thought of His own wedding when the church would be His bride!

• And the wine at this wedding would be the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:13-17 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

What was the joy set before Jesus that caused him to endure the cross?