When did God's determinate counsel about Christ take place?
According to Acts 2:23, Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, which occurred in eternity past before anything was called into being. When nothing yet existed, the triune God counseled together and agreed to set everything in motion.
Les explains that just as a committee can meet and counsel to produce concrete results, the Godhead held a counsel. He points to Acts 2:23, where Peter, preaching to Jews on the day of Pentecost, says Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Les teaches this counsel took place way back in eternity past, before anything was ever called into being, when there was still nothing. The Hebrew word bara in Genesis 1:1 means out of nothing. Les emphasizes that when it was still nothing, the triune God had a counsel and counseled with one another. The three persons of the Trinity came together and in a counseled agreement set everything in motion, agreeing to create the universe and put one little planet like a speck in the midst of it. They did not have to deliberate for a half hour, but they still counseled.
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
More Questions
What did God's predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge include from eternity past?
God's predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge in eternity past included everything, so nothing in all of God's working was unknown to Him, and His foreknowledge extends from eternity past through consummation to the end of time.