According to the language of Genesis 1, the heavens were created first, but whether the eternal abode of God was created then is open to conjecture.  It is not given to us to know the mysteries of creation.  We only have enough to give us delight and joyful anticipation of beholding its matchless beauty. God designed to repopulate heaven after the angels had sinned and were cast out, but the design was drawn before the fall of the angels.  This rebellion and fall did not take God by surprise, neither did the transgression of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.  The angels were God's creatures, but not his children.  God determined to completely fill every mansion in heaven with his off-spring--not just his creatures.  He that could take the dust of the earth--the dust of the earth made out of nothing--and make it into his image in the form of a man, can take that same lump of clay and make it into a heavenly being, fitted completely for the heavenly environment, not subject to sin as the angels were, but with the very nature of God, sinless.

     When God drew the wondrous plan, he recognized that it would have to reach from righteous Abel to the last of his beloved creatures that would ever live on the earth.  Because righteous Abel was the first human to die, the plan had to be in existence and effective then because Abel was one of God's elect.  Abel proved that he was one of the elect because he had faith. (Heb.11:5.) It was effective for him and will be effective for the last one of the elect that shall quit this house of clay, or be changed at the second coming of the Lord.  All from Abel until that last one shall be carried to glory on exactly the same terms.  "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy . . ." (Tit. 3:5.) God understood perfectly that it would have to be fitted for every case of transgression, from the least to the greatest, because every disobedience had the same penalty--eternal death.  If any law of God is transgressed, the offender becomes guilty of the whole.  "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10.) ". . . the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezek. 18:4 & 18:20.) God also knew that it would have to extend into every family on earth because he had promised eternal life before the world began and told Abraham that the blessing would reach into every family on earth. (Gen. 12:3.)

      It had to be effective for all that God loved in the time from Adam to Jesus, also all that He loved in the time from Christ to the end of time.  It had to reach infants and old men.  It had to be effective for heathens (see Psalm 2:8), and simple enough that "wayfaring men though fools should not err therein." (Isa. 35:8.) It had to reach every man on earth that has a desire to live with God in glory because he loves righteousness. (The reason any man loves righteousness is because of the wondrous plan in action.) A plan that will take abundant care of backsliding sinners who are taken captive by Satan; that, as was stated in the outset, will perfectly populate the eternal city with godlike creatures, dwelling in eternal light.

      God's foreknowledge, being infinite, enabled every facet of human behavior to be exhibited before Him.  He, understanding that they would all "together" become unprofitable (see Rom. 3:12), had no obligation to prolong life on the earth for any of them; and due to the fact that his law was unalterable, had to sentence every one of them to eternal death, the punishment decreed by his holy law.

     He could by no means clear the guilty.  The only way for them to live in glory with him was for their guilt to be removed.  But even that removal of guilt was not enough.  They had to have a character and nature suited for a heavenly environment.  The first thing that God did was to mark out, "elect", all of his creatures that he loved.  This choosing was done in eternity before the foundation of the world. (See Eph. 1:3-4.) No time was in effect--time had not begun--so we do not find in the scriptures where God began to love anyone.  "I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . ." (Jer. 31:3.) Peter tells us that this election was according to his foreknowledge. ( 2 Peter 1:2) This foreknowledge displayed the character and works of each one; yet God's election was not based upon that.

     "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." (2 Tim. 1:9) "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, . . ." (Titus 3:5.)

      It was his own purpose and grace, not our works of righteousness. Every spiritual blessing we shall ever receive is according to this plan. (See again Eph. 1:3-4.) After God had chosen this great multitude: "After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude,, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred's, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. (Rev. 7:9)

      He sealed their eternal destiny by determining that they would be adopted into the family which would occupy heaven eternally.  He also planned the final state, to be conformed to the image of Jesus and unalterably fixed that; "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son . . ." (Rom.8:9.) This predetermination required considerable planning to bring about the desired end--the glorification of all of God's beloved.  It required the means to impart to all of his beloved, life--eternal life--and to remove every vestige of guilt from their bodies and souls to fit them for heaven, to make them immortal, incorruptible, spiritual, with all the qualities of the glorified body of Jesus himself.

      In the planning, each person in the Holy Trinity agreed to do a specific work.  Jesus, the Son,, became the priest to stand between man and the offended God.  He agreed to come as the Redeemer, to stand as the surety for all of his brethren.  Also, all of his beloved were betrothed to him as his eternal bride, the church of the firstborn, the heavenly Jerusalem (not the organization on earth), and he assumed the obligation of an espoused husband.  Also, He agreed to come to earth and assume a human body in order for the guilt of his bride to be laid on that body, that the law might be satisfied by the surety.  Not only this, but Jesus assumed the obligation of coming back to earth when the gospel day is finished, calling the dead from the graves, and taking his bride home.  

     The Holy Spirit agreed to become the quickener or life giver; in addition to being the inspirer of the prophets and apostles.  He also agreed to become the comforter of those quickened by his power.  The planning for the gospel dispensation left all the work of that era, except intercession, in the hands of the Holy Spirit. All the actions of God toward men in the gospel day are promulgated by the Holy Spirit and it is with Him we have to deal. Also, the planning included the provision to inspire the prophets to speak "at sundry times and in divers manners" through the entire time from Adam to Moses and from Moses to Christ; the giving of the law to Moses on Sinai and providing the miracles of the Old and New Testaments.  Also, the apostles were inspired to write the New Testament by the Holy Spirit.  When the New Testament was finished (or nearly so), the Holy Spirit manifested himself as the comforter of the Lord's people in addition to the official work of quickening them, which is a continuing work that will not end until everyone of the elect have been born again.

     When Jesus came, He established a completely new system: A system that teaches men to serve God because of what He has done for them; that calls men from a legalistic worship to a voluntary, free worship.  This is accomplished through the gospel which shows them Jesus as the end of the law for righteousness and urges them to follow the inner teaching, to live soberly, righteously and godly, calling on them to repent of their sins and partake of the blessings of grace while in this world.  This was all planned by God in the three persons before the world began, and if we are to understand the Bible, we must look at it from this standpoint.

     God is perfect in all of his ways; therefore, it would be preposterous to suppose that his plan to save his chosen from their sins, to present them to himself (see Eph. 6:27) in his eternal abode, to praise his name eternally would fail in any sense.  His superlatively wonderful plan is unfolded throughout the whole of the Bible and is worthy of our scrutiny of every sacred word and merits our meditation both day and night.  No wonder John Newton wrote "AMAZING GRACE, THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME." When any of God's beloved see the wonder of His power and might, his infinite knowledge and wisdom; then the unmerited favor of his love and his incomparable engineering, we have to say with Philip Doddridge:

     "Grace first contrived the way to save rebellious man; And all the steps that grace display which drew the wondrous plan."