PART II. THE HISTORICAL OUTWORKING OF THE PLAN OF THE AGES

CHAPTER ONE
THE PRE-CREATION COUNCIL

Perhaps the most dangerous and yet most common misconception about God is that His Almighty Power and Godhead put Him above any moral restraint, and that because He is God He can "please Himself" and "do what He likes with His own". But this is the description not of the Christian God, but of a Tyrant, who by virtue of his power rides roughshod over his subjects, and deals with them according to his own interests. But the amazing thing about God is that the exact opposite of this is true of Him, and that the only things He likes to do are loving things for the good of others, even at His own expense! Because He is righteous He must treat all with absolute impartiality and justice, for as Jehoshaphat said, "There is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts" (2 Chronicles 19:7). God Himself is by His own nature bound by the Law of Righteousness, which He has laid down for others, for example in the Ten Commandments; and this Law His Son made honourable at the expense of His own life (Isaiah 42:21).

But further, if it be true that the Law of Justice binds God in all His actions, what are we to say when we consider the effect upon Him of His heart of Love? God is not merely