This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Ephesians 3:11

I fancy myself somewhat of a photographer. People tell me they like my photos, but I’m pretty much an average photographer who shoots extraordinary subjects. I especially like scenics. Most of the time, I shoot wide vistas. I like to get up high where I can see a long way. But sometimes, usually on a hike, I like to slow down and notice small things. And small things make for some beauty, too.

This is about vistas.

Whenever Christians discuss the gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, there are a number of perspectives we can take.

We can speak of events that occurred in history, particularly the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of Jesus on our behalf (1 Cor 15:1-5).

We could take a more personal point of view, talking about when we received Christ in faith, what our life was like before we met Jesus and how it has changed since. We sometimes call that our “testimony.”

We might even turn our gaze to the whole of the biblical narrative: how mankind and the whole creation were created “very good” (Gen 1:31). Then, our first parents brought ruin to the created order by rebellion and disobedience. Into that corruption, God intervened by speaking through the prophets, but eventually – “in these last days” (Heb 1:1-2) – by speaking through his Son. And not only by speaking, but also by his redemptive work, he is bringing eventual restoration to all things (Act 3:21).

Each of these perspectives can rightly be called the gospel. They simply tell the story of God’s redemption from different points of view. We might call these viewpoints “horizons.”

I’d like to offer some thoughts on another of the biblical horizons – an eternal horizon that grounds our understanding of salvation in the eternal workings of the Godhead.

A third horizon?

My previous book, ORDO: the ordo salutis for everyone, is a treatise about how God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ is applied to the individual believer. I attempted to discuss the various biblical categories that describe when a person believes in Jesus and lives as a Christian. Theologians use the term ordo salutis (order of salvation) to designate the application of salvation to the individual. This is one horizon.

A second horizon is an historical one: all that God has done in history to accomplish salvation. [1] This is centered on the incarnation of the God-man Jesus in the flesh, his sinless life, his vicarious suffering in our place (suffering both in his life and on the cross), his victorious resurrection from the dead, and his triumphant ascension to sit enthroned at the right hand of the Father. These events, by which God accomplished the saving of his people, are sometimes called the historia salutis (history of redemption).

The Bible is a very human book, a very historical book. It begins at the beginning, with the creation of all creation. It tells human stories. Real people, real events. It was written by real humans to other real humans in real situations. It used real human languages, grammar, and syntax.

If we are not careful, we’ll miss something in the humanness of the Bible. We’ll miss the eternal behind the temporal.

The Bible begins very simply. “In the beginning, God…” (Gen 1:1). Behind all the created beings, behind the stories, the heroes, the villains, behind the tragedy, behind the triumph, there is One who is behind it all. The eternal God.

Behind the historia salutis of all that Christ did to accomplish salvation, behind the ordo salutis that you and I experience every day as individual believers united to Christ, there’s another horizon.

The pactum salutis

As a theological thinker, there are several truths that undergird all my understanding. One of those truths is that in order for us to understand anything of God, God must reveal it to us. We are not going to comprehend anything at all about God by autonomous reason alone. He must reveal himself.

As finite created beings, we are incapable of fully comprehending the Godhead, even with revelation. There are limits to what we know. But, that said, there are things we can truly know about God, even when our understanding is limited, because God has stooped to our level to reveal himself. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut 29:29).

The major thrust of the Bible is to reveal how God glorifies himself in redeeming sinners, both in terms of its accomplishment (historia salutis) and its application to the person (ordo salutis). But occasionally, he has seen fit to reveal to us a glimpse into the eternal mysteries of the Godhead.

This is the third horizon, an eternal one.

The term used by theologians to describe this working of God is pactum salutis, which means “covenant of salvation” or “covenant of redemption.” This can be defined as “the pre-temporal intra-trinitarian agreement to plan and execute the redemption of the elect.” [2] This divine agreement involves the eternal appointment of Christ as mediator between God and man, and the appointment of the elect as the objects of salvation.

It may seem that we have no business turning prying eyes into the eternal workings of God. After all, “Who has known the mind of the Lord?” (Rom 11:34; cf. Is 40:13). And I’m inclined to agree. My posture with such things is, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (Ps 139:6). So, if we were left with mere speculation – such as, what was God doing for all eternity? – we’d best keep a hands-off bearing.

However, if God has seen fit to reveal a measure of his eternal workings in redemption, then we have a hint at something eternal. Let me introduce you to some of those verses and passages that take a look through the key-hole.

Biblical hints at the eternal

At the beginning of this post, we see one such verse (Eph 3:11) that speaks of “the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because this is not the main clause of the paragraph, we are prone to pass over it rather quickly without much thought.

However, this should raise some important questions: What is this purpose? How is it an eternal purpose? How was it realized in Christ? What does it mean to be realized?

Because this clause is not Paul’s main point at this place of writing, we have to look elsewhere for more light. Just by way of introducing the idea of the pactum salutis, I want us to briefly look to 2 Timothy 1:8-10.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel;

Notice how in this brief passage, we have all three horizons in this description of redemption:

“God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling,”	Redemption applied: the ordo salutis; the application of salvation to the person
“not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”	Redemption planned: the pactum salutis;  the eternal covenant of God to provide a Savior and to save the elect
“which has now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”	Redemption accomplished: the historia salutis; the historical accomplishment of redemption

In our “gospel-centered” churches, we often hear of how redemption was accomplished through the work of Christ or how it is graciously applied to our lives by the Spirit through the gospel. Yet I fear we seldom turn our eyes to how this “great salvation” (Heb 2:3) that we share in common (Jude 3) was eternally planned by God’s own purpose.

I would maintain that the hope and surety of this salvation are rooted and grounded in the eternal covenant of redemption (pactum salutis). The redemption that Jesus Christ accomplished for us, and that we now possess by faith, has an eternal foundation. This is the basis for hope. Beyond and behind the workings within history (and they are sure works) is an even greater surety, the eternal plan and covenant of the almighty Trinity.

Turn your eyes

I have stood in some amazing places of great beauty. The edge of (and into) the Grand Canyon. The top of El Capitan (No, I didn’t climb it; I hiked in). Looking down on the green-blue waters of Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Seashore. The views are indescribable.

Imagine for a moment though, that at the edge of one of these vistas, my eye is caught by a small sprig of wildflowers. Are they not beautiful? Of course they are! I kneel down and gaze closely at their multi-hued patterns. I notice with what great tenacity they cling to a rocky surface. I see that in their relentless growth, they are even able to break through solid rock. I observe within their petals and leaves small creatures and insects that make them their habitat. I draw diagrams in my journal. I marvel at the God who made such things. I worship the Creator more, not the creature. Then, I return to my car, and my heart is full. What a great place the Grand Canyon is!

You would cry out, you missed it! You missed the grandeur! No I didn’t, I reply. I spent hours studying, savoring, enjoying it. I Instagram-ed it all.

I am not saying that studying the Word of God to see the wonder of redemption in the work of Christ (historia) is a waste of time and not to be treasured. I’m not saying that delving into what it means to be personally united to Christ (ordo) is a fruitless endeavor and offers no delight. These are stunning horizons. They make up the vast majority of Holy Pages. Such meditation is to be savored.

However, in addition to these, I urge you, lift up your eyes to a horizon you may not have noticed before. An eternal horizon. A glimpse into a distance that points to an eternal God. A horizon that grounds your hope and causes you to treasure those other horizons more.

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[1] I have used the terms “apply” and “accomplish” in reference to redemption, following the classic work, John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1955, 2015).

[2] J. V. Fesko, The Trinity and the Covenant of Redemption (Fearn by Tain, Ross–shire, Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2016), xvii.