God's plan for creation is very good and well-being. The goal for which it was instituted is of the greatest utility. It is good in a functional sense, because it is sure to work, producing the ends for which it was ordered. Ultimately, it's good because it's God's plan.
Concentrating on some aspects of its nature and attributes. Because God is the Planner, we are sure that this plan is safe and good. We will consider the plan, focusing on the general characteristics of the plan's development in history.
Is there a plan for the land?
The Scriptures make it very clear that there is a plan. A number of evidences could be used for the existence of God's plan for creation, but the most convincing evidence is that recorded in the Scriptures:
This is the plan conceived against the whole earth; and this is the hand that extends against all nations. Because Jehovah of armies has planned it, and who can frustrate it? And as for his outstretched hand, who can turn it back?
(Isaiah 14: 26-27)
The statements of our Lord Jesus Christ are consistent with the words of the Scriptures concerning God's plan. The prophets of the Old Testament established God's plan for the Messiah, which included both his suffering and his glory:
Therefore, when it comes to the world, it says: You did not want sacrifice and offering, but body you prepared me; in holocausts and sacrifices for sin you did not take pleasure.
At the time of his birth, some of God's plans for Christ were described. Repeatedly our Lord indicated that he was not pursuing his own plan but fulfilling the plan of the Father.
Biblical characteristics in God's plan for creation
- The plan is of God.
God is the planner. All the plans reflect the attributes of God. Only from this point of view can we properly appreciate the plan itself. An appreciation of the nature and attributes of God require more than a lifetime; it requires an eternity in his presence. Here we can only briefly review some of the attributes and characteristics of God that reflect on his plan for creation. We will take a sample of the Scriptures of God's nature, character, and activities declared in the Bible.
Because God, is the planner, is also the creator, He is the rightful owner of all creation. As creator God, he also had the freedom to design and mold his creation in a way that served his purposes better. A house designed and built by another person will be different from the one we would design and build. When someone else builds a house and we buy it, certain things can be changed, but some things are beyond modification.
The Scriptures are clear that all creation was planned and brought into existence by God. His creation was made as He wanted it, according to His eternal plan. He has not been given a creation by another person. All things were created according to your plan and your purposes.
- God's plan encompasses what he has predestined to happen.
When our Lord spoke of the Father's plan for all eternity, he spoke of it as the will of the Father. Similarly, when we speak of "God's plan for creation" or "God's plan for centuries" we will sometimes refer to this as the will of God, and rightly so. But this "will" of God must be carefully distinguished from several other "wills." In general terms, the expression "God's will" can be summarized as follows:
The eternal decree of God
God's will:
Preference: the desire of God
Prescriptive: God's norms for men
Permissive: the supreme will of God
The will of God: refers to the eternal decree of God, the plan that will surely be fulfilled. It covers all the other "wills". The "preferential will of God" refers to that which gives pleasure or displeasure to God. The prayer of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane reveals that the cross of Calvary was not the desire of our Lord, but was his purpose. God does not want anyone to perish, but repentance to occur in us.
He wants all men to be saved. Despite this desire, God has proposed that some will be eternally saved, while others will be eternally condemned (see Romans 9). Just as we can whip a disobedient child when it is not our desire or delight, the decree of God includes some things in which he does not delight, as the punishment of the wicked.
The "prescriptive will of God" is the will expressed as a norm for the conduct of man. It is the will established in the Scriptures as commandments, norms or principles that govern what we do or do not do. The prescriptive will of God that we do not steal, worship or idol. It is also his will (prescriptive) that we love him and love our neighbor.
The "permissive will" of God includes those events or actions of men that are, in themselves, sinful. They are contrary to God's preference and to his prescriptive will. However, God uses sin to accomplish his will. God used the sinful actions of Joseph's brothers to bring the whole family of Jacob (Israel) to Egypt, thus fulfilling his will. He used the opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, the betrayal of Judas and the political cowardice of Herod and Pilate to provoke the sacrificial death of our Lord:
The will of God incorporates all its subordinate wills. In his Word, God reveals his preferential and prescriptive will. When men trust him and obey him, God uses his obedience to fulfill a portion of his plan. When men rebel and disobey him, God sovereignly uses his sin to promote his plan. In this way God makes all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose and plan.
- God's plan is eternal.
God is eternal, and so is his plan. It was established in eternity past, long before God created the heavens and the earth. It extends to future eternity when the kingdom of God is established on earth, and men will enjoy the eternal blessings of being in his presence, or the agony of eternal separation. The revelation of God's plan in the Bible does not begin at the beginning of eternity (if we can speak in these terms) but at the beginning of man, since the Bible is about man and for man.
The foundation of the world is a point of reference in the Bible:
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and blameless before Him
(Ephesians 1: 4)
God's plan was established long before creation. His program for humanity began in creation. Because the Bible is addressed to men, the story of creation is the starting point. The origin and fall of satan receive little attention in the Bible. In the texts that deal with his fall, the reference to him is somewhat veiled, intertwined with an accusation of kings.
- God's plan encompasses everything.
When human plans fail, it is often because the planner has overlooked some detail. Something unforeseen arises, and suddenly the plans collapse. This is because all the details were not taken into account. God's plan is all-inclusive. It is based on the omniscience of God (knowing everything), so that everything past, present and future is taken into account. The omniscience of God, as we have seen, includes all the things that will actually happen, as well as all the things that could happen. Each contingency is taken into account in God's plan.
God's plan includes seemingly insignificant details. Exclude "good luck" or coincidences. When Jose wandered through a field looking for his brothers, they not only found him and told him where his brothers had gone. The fact that the pit in which Joseph was thrown was empty was not a coincidence. The passing caravan, which was heading towards Egypt, was not an accident either. The fact that Ruth "happened" in the field of Boaz, a close relative of Naomi, was not a mere chance but a matter of God's providential control (see Ruth 2: 3).
God's plan for creation includes the sovereign choice of individuals for salvation and destruction. As difficult as it is for some to accept this, it is the clear and consistent teaching of the Scriptures.
Apart from the sovereign intervention of God, through his Spirit, no man seeks God, and no man will ever find him. Because salvation is God's work, and not ours, God must receive the glory. This fact also ensures our salvation and sanctification. This does not minimize our responsibility to proclaim the gospel or man's responsibility to receive or reject it.
God's plan also includes the creation of life, the design and the destiny of men. It includes the call of individuals to a specific service. The plan also has a precise calendar.
- The goal of God's plan is to bring glory to himself.
The demonstration of the glory of God is offensive to the unbeliever who prefers to seek his own glory. The same thing happened with satan. "Charles Hodge aptly points out the error of making man's happiness the goal of God's plan." For the Christian, the glory of God is our hope.
By faith it is that we are firm; and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
- God's plan does not change, and can not be frustrated - it's an effective plan
This characteristic is affirmed frequently and dogmatically in the Scriptures. God's plan does not change.
God's plan is absolutely true:
The truth that ensures that God's plan is effective is because he is God. This is based on the truth that God is omniscient and all-powerful, that he is faithful to his promises and that his glory is at stake. It is also based on the fact that God's plan is eternal and inclusive. Nothing is truer than what he states in the Bible.
- God's plan is being revealed partially and progressively.
God's plan is fully developed, and as good as done, from God's point of view: his works were finished from the foundation of the world. From the human point of view, the plan develops progressively throughout history and is only partially revealed. The law of the Old Testament established the general scheme of God's plan.
God's plan for creation could be seen in his early work throughout the history of Israel. The prophets of the Old Testament persisted in drawing Israel's attention to the foundations that God had established in the law. They also added more details to the plan that God had outlined in the law. If the law predicted a savior through the "seed" of Eve (Genesis 3:15), it was later revealed that this seed would be the offspring of David (2 Samuel 7) and also of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). ).
The suffering of the Messiah is insinuated in Genesis 3:15; it is prefigured in the offering of Isaac in the rejection and suffering of Joseph, as well as in the Passover. It is explained in more detail in the Psalms (16:22) and in the prophets. The coming Messiah, who was originally understood as "son of man," is later described as the "Son of God" (see Isaiah 9: 6-7). And so the Messiah was progressively revealed as the God-man.
When Jesus came to earth, suffered, died and rose again, God's plan for the first coming of the Messiah was fulfilled. The Gospels, together with the Epistles, explain thoroughly God's plan for the first coming of the Messiah. Our Lord, followed by his apostles, gave a broader vision of God's plan for his second coming.
In his work, God's plan is progressive in another way. God's plan is divided into separate, but related, programs that could be called administrations. Some call them waivers. Even those who reject dispensationalism admit to one degree or another that there are differences in the way God has exercised his rule over men. At each point of change, there are some principles and precepts that remain constant, while other aspects change significantly.
While God has revealed everything we need to know about his plan for creation, there is much that He has purposed not to reveal to us. We are instructed not to fill these gaps. Some prophecies are deliberately "veiled" by highly symbolic images, and others are "sealed".
In times of sin and rebellion against God, the prophetic lamp is extinguished, so to speak. This is because God does not want to inform or console sinners. The source of man's trust and consolation is God. When men turn away from God, they also turn away from their comfort and the enjoyment of peace and hope:
But as it is written: Things that eye has not seen and heard has not heard, And that have not entered into the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love him. Because God revealed them to us through the Spirit; because the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
(1 Corinthians 2: 9-16)
- God's plan is a mystery.
To the extent that God has not revealed his plan, it is a mystery. But even what He reveals is a mystery.
God's plan is a mystery because it is the product of the divine mind of God and not the finite mind of man.
It is a mystery because of the mysterious way in which God works, using sin to fulfill his good will, suffering to produce glory, death to bring life. It is a mystery that fallen man can not understand without the illumination of the Holy Spirit:
The result of God's plan for the Christian is his good.
We do not establish insurance programs, savings accounts or college education funds for all children in the neighborhood. We make provisions for the good of our children. God's plan is not only for his glory, but for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. His plan is not for the "good" of those who rebel against Him and reject His plan. God's plan has a purpose for both the saved and the lost, but the destiny of each one is very different.Use means that the human mind sees incompatible with the purpose that God has proposed.
While the outcome of God's plan is sure to be for the good of the Christian, the process that God uses may seem otherwise. God allows sin to be committed for purposes when it produces the good He has purposed. It is very difficult in the middle of the process to see the "good" that God is producing as the final product. A cake in the making process is very different from the finished product. The process includes beating and heating, but the final product is eating well.
Therefore, the children of God must live by faith, trusting in the promises of God even when current circumstances seem to contradict them. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that this was the case with all the men of the Old Testament: (See Hebrews 11: 13-16)
- Demonstrate the glory of God, the means is the establishment of the government or dominion of God on earth.
God's plan for creation has to do with the establishment of the "Kingdom of God." Each dispensation, or administration, found in the Bible concerns the government of God on earth. Satan was the most powerful angel of all the creatures that God brought into being. But he did not want to be subordinated to the government of God. He wished rather to have the preeminence, to govern himself (see Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28).
Adam and Eve were created to rule over the creation of God in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Satan persuaded Eve and then Adam to rebel against God and against his one rule. God created the nation of Israel to serve as a kingdom of priests, the instrument through which the government of God on earth could be implemented (see Exodus 19: 5-6). They also rebelled against God, his government and his rules (law).
When Jesus came to earth, He presented Himself as the Messiah, the God-man whom God appointed to rule, sitting on the throne of his father David. Israel did not want the kind of kingdom of God, and so they rejected and crucified their King, insisting that only Caesar was their king. Now, the church rules, but not by physical force (see John 18:36).
We rule in the place of Israel for the time being as a "holy priesthood," a "chosen race" and a "holy nation." The history of the church (see Revelation 2 and 3) will show that we also do not govern as God wants us to do. God's plan for creation is to rule over it, in a way that demonstrates its glory.
Through human history, men have demonstrated their faith in God by submitting to their government. They understood that you have to trust and obey. If we love him, said our Lord Jesus, we will keep his commandments. That is why Moses put the law before the people of Israel as a matter of life or death (see Deuteronomy 30: 15-20).
In conclusion
There is a plan. God's plan for creation is eternal, one that encompasses all creation, and every detail. It is a plan that will be fulfilled, for the glory of God and for the good of those who love him. The plan is a mystery that we would not have known without its partial and progressive revelation in the Bible. It is something we can not understand, apart from the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It employs means that we would naturally think are inconsistent with its end: its goal. God uses suffering to produce holiness, faith and his glory. He uses the rebellion of men to establish his eternal government.
To the extent that God's plan has been revealed to us, it has been given with a purpose. What is the purpose of knowing God's plan?
God's plan must shape our plans.
God's plan suggests that we should plan. But your plan is also instructive as to the type of plans we make. Some see planning as inconsistent with our faith in God, addressing texts such as:
Do not worry, then, for tomorrow's day; because tomorrow will strive for the things of himself. Enough for the day is its evil.
(Matthew 6:34)
It is clear that Jesus is teaching us not to worry about the future; It is not telling us to refrain from planning for the future. Worry is the opposite of faith. Our concerns about the future are hypothetical, based on our fears and not on the promises of God. They focus on what we fear may happen, and they neglect God's plan that assures us of what is sure to happen.
Jesus never discouraged the plans. He exposed the folly of bad planning, especially planning that did not count the cost. He urged potential followers to count the cost of discipleship. At the beginning of his ministry, when our Lord was popular, he instructed his disciples not to take provisions for their journey (Luke 9: 3-5), but when the opposition to our Lord intensified, Jesus told his disciples that they will take provisions for their future needs while proclaiming the gospel. Planning is not condemned in the Scriptures; it is praised (see Proverbs 31: 10-22).
