before time (as we understand it).
Before Genesis 1:1 there was an age we will learn about later, when we are home with the Lord.
And in that age, God knew us—as individuals—as we are today (Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15). He knew how, when, where, what, our purpose, our gifts, our desires (a long list). He knew the exact moment in time when we would either honor Him, or not. He knew precisely when, and how often, we would sin, when we would reject Him, when we would stumble and fall, when we would come to Him in anger, pain, and suffering—crushed by our own iniquity.
HE KNEW US THEN!
And so, in this age prior to creation, He arranged for His Son to be the sacrificial bridge back to Him (Acts 2:23). His blessed blood shed for us. And one minuscule drop of His blood on the believer during their trial, is all it takes to slam shut the mouth of our accuser, Satan. God arranged for our exoneration long before He created Satan.
The Lord knew us in the age before created time and He did not hesitate to come to our rescue (despite knowing how much He would suffer). He was betrayed with a kiss, chained, dragged, beaten, bloodied beyond recognition, humiliated, scourged, flayed, thorns driven into his skull, nailed, and crucified because He knew we would need to be saved to live eternally with His perfect Father.
He loved us so much, that despite our rotten ways, dirty beyond compare, He gave (unto the utter depths of Himself), to bring us back.
1 Peter 1:2–according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Thank You, Lord.