Does God Have a Plan?

Plan Presentation

‍ ‍The first step of God’s plan for us was to create time. Does that surprise you? If God is truly God, then he must be outside time. Why? God can’t have any restrictions. Time is definitely a restriction. Think about it. Doesn’t time control you? Think about these sayings: Do this before it’s too late; time waits for no one; you can never get back the time you lost; only two things are certain in life: death and taxes; the only thing one regrets when they get old is the wasted years of not spending more time with the ones they loved. All these things are true, but they are not true with God. Time has no effect on him. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hb 13:8). Since he created all things, including time, he is master of all. Even time must bend to his will.

‍ ‍So, why was the creation of time necessary? Due to decisions made, time was created to rectify those bad decisions. What decisions? Lucifer rebelled against God and became Satan, the Adversary. Adam and Eve disobeyed and had to be expelled from the Garden of Eden. Both were placed in the dimension of time. This means our world has a beginning and will have an end. In the end, all will be rectified. But the resolution to our sin problem required blood to be shed. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hb 9:22). Just as an aside, see my novel, Rebellion in the Stones of Fire, for a better understanding of the reason God created time.

‍ ‍God was not taken aback by any of this. His plan began from the very beginning (Gn 3:15). While God loves us, he is just and cannot overlook sin. Sin must be atoned, and that required a blood sacrifice: For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life (Lv 17:11). But one can only atone for one’s own sin: For the wages of sin is death (Ro 3:23). So, how can one live and still have their sin atoned? In the Old Testament, animals were used, but that was just a foreshadow of who was to come who could atone for everyone’s sin. Animals were intermediary and they had to be sacrificed continually because we sin continually. Only Christ, who is without sin, was able to make atonement for all of mankind: he [Christ] has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hb 9:27).

‍ ‍So, God’s plan was a costly plan. Part of the Godhead had to become human to identify with us and shed his blood to pay for all our sin (past, present, and future). Some say he went back to God so was this really costly on his part? Yes. Yes, it was. God is Spirit (Jn 4:24). Jesus Christ, the second part of the Godhead (God the Son) became human to identify with us and will forever identify with us (Pp 1:8, 1Tm 2:5). Therefore, he did not go back to being Spirit. His relationship with God the Father changed forever. It did not dilute his power or his capability but did change how he and God the Father now relate to each other. So, yes, his sacrifice was more than just temporary. It was permanent. His love for us was that important to him.

‍ ‍God had a plan. A very costly plan. But a plan he did out of love. He identified with us and wants to identify with us forever. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn 15:13). He became our atonement, but atonement must be personalized. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Ro 10:9). It is a simple, but hard, step. It must be done by faith. Rationalization will not get you there. Pride must be put aside and simply accepted by faith. Once you do so, the Holy Spirit will indwell you and help you understand what occurred. You can’t understand this without the help of the Holy Spirit. So, faith must come first.

‍ ‍Christ’s death on the cross was the pivotal point in history because it was there he became the atonement for all sin. Those who lived before his death looked forward to what their coming Messiah was going to do. We today look back at what our Messiah, Jesus Christ, did for us on the cross. It is all about him—no one else. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Ac 4:12).

‍ ‍So that’s it. That was, and is, God’s plan. But there is more to understanding how his plan unfolded. God was all about inclusion from the very beginning. We’ll explore that next time. I hope you join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens