Lesson for June 5, 2019
The Plan of God
God’s plan for mankind is revealed only through God’s Word, the Bible. God no longer speaks to man through voices, dreams or visions as He did in Old Testament times. The Scripture is our only source of information about God’s plan. The Bible is our “map” that guides us through life and reveals the method by which we can please God. Since God created us, it makes good sense to want to know His plan and purpose for our lives.
God Exists
The Bible reveals the fact that God exists and that He has a plan for mankind. If a person says they do not believe that God exists, he must reach this conclusion based on one or more of three systems of perception:
- Rationalism – Reaching a conclusion based on what is considered reasonable.
- Empiricism – Reaching a conclusion based on what you see, touch, taste, hear or smell.
- Faith – Reaching a conclusion based on confidence in the authority or truthfulness of someone.
Each of us uses all three of these methods for understanding the world around us. Since not everyone considers the existence of God reasonable and since we cannot see or touch God, we must rely upon faith as our system of perception regarding God. If we say that we believe that God exists, it is logical to have something upon which to base our conclusion. Faith is the system of perception that we use to reach this conclusion, which is based on the authority and truthfulness of God and His revealed Word, the Bible. (Hebrews 4:12; II Timothy 2:15)
God Reveals Himself
Many people have asked, “Who is God? What is God?” These questions can be answered by the Word of God because God has revealed Himself to man. God has made Himself known in a number of ways: in the conscience of man, in creation and in the Bible. When we place our faith in the fact that God exists, we are relying upon both historical facts and Biblical facts in order to reach this conclusion. Therefore, if God exists (and He does) then it stands to reason that He not only created mankind, but that He also wants to have a relationship with His creation. In order for God to have a relationship with mankind He must reveal Himself in a manner in which man can understand. God does this through His Word. (Romans 1:18-20)
God Makes Sense
Since God is totally organized in His thinking and actions, He makes perfect organized sense in all that He does. In presenting His plan to mankind, God’s plan makes organized sense and can be understood by every person, if they desire to know it. Unlike the common idea of God, He is loving and kind and desires for everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth that He has revealed.
God Has a Plan
God not only created us He also predesigned a plan specifically for each one of us in eternity past. This plan is a perfect plan because it was designed by a perfect Person (God). God’s plan for you is revealed in a logical and sensible way and He also provides the means for His plan to be carried out in your life. (II Peter 3:18)
You Are the Object of God’s Plan
God has a personalized plan for everyone. God was actually thinking of you in eternity past when He designed your plan. This is one of the reasons you are here on earth: to learn and fulfill God’s plan for your life. Failure to discover His plan and obey its commands will lead to a life of misery and guilt. On the other hand, if you discover God’s plan and fulfill it (regardless of how long it takes to do either), you will experience an amazing life of peace, joy and happiness beyond compare. (Romans 12:1-3)
You Owe God a Hearing
If there is a God, if He has revealed Himself, if He makes sense, if He has a perfect plan, and if He has a personal plan for you, then you at least owe God a hearing. After you have examined the facts as revealed in God’s Word about Who He is, then you can come to your own conclusion about His existence and His plan. Unlike religion, God’s plan is based on God’s grace (undeserved mercy and unmerited favor) not human works. The word religion itself comes from two Latin words, “re,” meaning “back” and “ligio,” meaning “to bind.” Religion is man’s attempt to bind himself back to God by his own efforts. Since this is an impossible task, religion actually makes a person antagonistic toward God and His plan.
Christianity teaches that it is Jesus Christ Who binds us back to God by means of our faith in His death, burial and resurrection. It is therefore God’s plan to provide for mankind something that he cannot provide for himself. God provides this plan in three stages. (II Corinthians 5:17-21)
Stage One: Salvation
It is God’s will for every person to enter into His plan by faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. The issue is not your sinfulness or your past failures, because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all sin on the Cross. Therefore, the issue is whether or not you will accept the free gift of eternal life by faith. Faith, belief and trust are synonymous terms, which mean that you are relying on Christ for your salvation and not on yourself or your good deeds. According to the Bible, faith is the only requirement for eternal life. (II Peter 3:9; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9)
Contrary to popular belief, your personal sins do not condemn you. When a baby is born, he is born with Adam’s original sin and a sin nature, which condemn him to spiritual death (separation from God). A person does not become a sinner because he sins; a person sins because he isa sinner. All categories of sin were dealt with at the Cross, when Jesus was judged by God for the sins of the entire human race (past, present and future). (Romans 5:12, 6:6, 7:5, 18)
After salvation, the sin nature continues to reside in the body and seeks to control the believer’s thoughts and actions. Everyone has an area of weakness and an area of strength with regard to sin. The area of weakness produces mental attitude sins (jealousy, hatred, etc.), sins of the tongue (gossip, maligning, etc.) and overt sins (murder, stealing, etc.). The area of strength produces human good (good deeds, acts of kindness, etc.). When human good is substituted for divine production it fails to meet God’s standard for the believer. (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5) It is often the sins (bad behavior) of the believer that makes him think he has somehow lost His salvation and no longer has a relationship with God. Personal sin after salvation does “cut off” our fellowship with God, but no amount of this bad behavior can cause a believer to lose his salvation. The reason that this is true is that keeping your salvation does not depend on you, it depends on God. (John 10:29)
Stage Two: The Believer in Time
At salvation, God creates a human spirit within you so that you can understand spiritual truth. The result is that a battle begins in your soul. The battle is to determine who will control your thinking and your actions. God, of course, wants to be the One Who is in control, but the believer makes the ultimate choice. God in His grace gives each of us the Holy Spirit to indwell us so that we have the power to “say no” to the sin nature and “say yes” to God. I Corinthians 2:14; Galatians 5:16-17; Ephesians 5:18)
When a believer does fail and commits a sin, he loses his fellowship with God and the control of God the Holy Spirit. However, by admitting our sin to God we are forgiven and restored to fellowship with Him. We are also, once again, controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is God’s system for recovery when we fail, but He has also provided a system that helps us resist the temptation to sin. This system is learning, believing and applying the teachings of God’s Word, the Bible. Spiritual growth is the key to understanding God’s plan for us. As we grow, we learn about God’s character: His love for us, His grace toward us, His truth, His power, His wisdom and His justice, which increases our capacity for life, love, Christian service, happiness and blessing. (II Peter 3:18; I John 1:5-10)
Stage Three: The Believer in Eternity
Every believer is guaranteed eternal life. This means that you will live forever with God in a state of perfect happiness and contentment without the imperfections and influence of the sin nature, which will be gone. As a believer, you will receive a resurrection body like that of Christ. (Philippians 3:20-21; I Corinthians 15:35-45; II Corinthians 5:8; I Peter 1:4-5; Revelation 21:4)
Christ is preparing a place for each believer. The Bible describes Heaven as a place with streets of gold, walls of precious stones and gates of pearl. The believer will also be given great rewards by Jesus Christ, called “crowns.” These “crowns” are based on the believer’s execution of God’s plan and whether your deeds qualify as divine good (deeds motivated and performed under the control of the Holy Spirit). However, all believers will be in a state of perfect happiness for all eternity. (John 14:1-6; I Corinthians 3:11-15)
What does God want for you? First, He wants you to believe in Him and to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. Second, He wants you to fulfill His plan for your life by learning, believing and applying His Word. Third, He wants to bless you with rewards that are beyond your imagination. The Christian’s purpose should be to glorify God by allowing Him to bless you with peace, happiness and contentment as you increase your capacity to receive these blessings from knowledge of His Word. (John 3:16; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 1:3-6)