When God's Plan Is Not Our Plan
Notes
Transcript
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Welcome - break from our series with Christmas nearly upon us
Last week, we spoke about the Davidic Covenant - the promise God made to King David that one of his offspring would inherit his throne and reign forever. And we saw how all of those promises are fulfilled in Christ and Him alone.
I think that was a fitting place to stop our series for this Christmas break, because Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of that promised King. When we celebrate the gift of God to the world in keeping His promise.
We hear about it every Christmas. We know the story of the birth of Jesus, because we hear about it every December. And I think maybe we’ll talk about it again next week. But today I want to talk about what happened right before the birth of the King.
I want to talk about what happened when God stopped a couple from Nazareth in their tracks by revealing His plan to them. Because His plan, wasn’t their plan.
So often God’s plan isn’t our plan. And the fact of the matter is that even though our plans sometimes go unfulfilled and often change, God’s plan hasn’t changed, ever. And it will never fail.
Even before there was time and a “before” to speak of, God has had a plan and has been fulfilling it even though it often means our plans have to change.
And they do.
Like they did for Mary and Joseph.
And like they did for me and my wife when God’s plan for us included a child that wasn’t in our plans.
When Jenine told me she was pregnant with Emma - January 2008, we had after much discussion decided it was time to take permanent measures to ensure our family stayed at four
Leaving work I usually call, she called me - “I’m pregnant” - we had a plan, God had a different plan, and God gets His way - at that point you can either laugh or cry
I laughed, she cried - and God showed us that His plan is always better than ours. He gave us a blessing I could have never dreamed of
We named her Emma, which means “whole” - and as we tell her, it’s fitting because our family was made whole when God gave her to us - we were incomplete without her, and didn’t even know it
She is the greatest gift I never knew I wanted.
We had a plan, but God stopped us in our tracks. He had a plan that was different from ours - that was greater than ours. And God gets His way. Always.
And I am so thankful for that, because I like God’s plan better than my plans.
And in our passage today, months before Christ was born into the world, there were Mary and Joseph. They had plans. They were making wedding plans. They had an idea of what life would bring and they planned around that.
And then they found out God’s plan wasn’t their plan.
And this isn’t just about them. I mean, with the coming of Christ, God was revealing the plan He had from eternity past, and it wasn’t anyone else’s plan. It wasn’t Mary and Joseph’s. It wasn’t the plan of anyone in the world.
Even the Jews to whom and through whom Christ came, those who were eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah - the greater Son of David - even they had a different plan for Him than God did.
And the question is: what do we do when God’s plan and our plan don’t align? I can tell you what most people do. It’s what I did for the first 29 years of my life. Most try to stick with their own plan.
But the problem with that is, as I said, God gets His way. We can try to stick with our plan, but eventually our plans will fail if they are different from God’s. Come hell or high water. Literally.
And, unfortunately, most people today - right now - have a different plan than God does. Some follow other gods, all according to plan, even when they do it in ignorance.
Most simply live their way, all according to their plan… and Frank Sinatra.
Many plan to just live a good life - be a good person - and someday go to heaven because they didn’t do anything evil enough to be excluded. That’s their plan.
None of this is God’s plan. These are all plans that will fail.
And we are all familiar with plans failing. Big plans, small plans, we have all have experience with our plans failing.
I mean, how many here can say “when I was 20 years old and I pictured my life at this point, this is exactly what I pictured?”
Not me. And thank God. This is far better than I could have imagined.
What do you think Mary imagined her life would be? Especially after she got engaged?
Olivia and wedding plans - binders, pamphlets, folders on the computer - all dedicated to planning this wedding - makes my head spin
Now imagine that’s you, in the midst of all that planning, and an angel of God appears, and tells you that there’s a different plan now. And that plan is God’s eternal plan, and He has chosen to move that plan forward through you.
How would you react?
Would you doubt? Be afraid? Resist and say no and try to move forward with your own plan?
Well, let’s see what Mary did.
This angel appears to Mary and says “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.”
And then we read:
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Greatly troubled is probably an understatement. An angel appears to her. And I know, we all have that image of the little baby cherub or of the very graceful and feminine medieval pictures of angels with soft fluffy wings.
That isn’t what we’re talking about here. Go read the physical descriptions of angels in the Bible. Greatly troubled would not begin to describe me if I came face to face with one of these.
But we see here what happens when the supernatural steps into our lives in an undeniable way. It’s troubling. At least at first. It’s confusing at first. Mary, like anyone, needed to take this all in and figure out what was going on.
And then the angel tells her not to be afraid. Thanks giant supernatural being standing in my living room. No problem.
But then he tells her that she has found favor with God, and that she will have a son and she is to name Him Jesus. He says that He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High God. And He finishes by telling her this Son will inherit David’s throne and reign forever.
He tells her - this child is the fulfillment of God’s promises!
That’s a lot to process. And I think for me it would create more questions than answers.
And it does for Mary.
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
She wants to know how this baby thing will be possible. She isn’t even married yet. She has never done what needs to be done in order to have a baby.
But her question actually confirms what the angel tells her. How can a virgin have a baby?
Well, this is what God said would happen 700 years before Mary asked this question.
Let’s go back in time...
King Ahaz of Judah finds out that the northern kingdom and Syria have joined forces against him. And he’s scared. As a descendant of David - as the king - he knows that God promised the throne of David would last forever. But he doesn’t see how at that point.
So God sends Isaiah the prophet to him to assure him that his throne is in no danger. And God tells Ahaz to ask for a sign - what does he want God to do to prove that there is nothing to worry about and that the promise to David still stands.
But Ahaz, because he lacked faith, says he doesn’t want a sign. So Isaiah tells him:
And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
God tells Ahaz that the sign that the throne of David will last forever is that a virgin will bear a son, and call His name Immanuel.
This is ultimately fulfilled in the baby Mary will bring into the world. That’s what the angel is saying.
Except, the angel tells Mary to name the baby “Jesus,” not “Immanuel.” But in Hebrew, the idea of “name” means the person himself. The name of God in the Old Testament means God Himself.
Like when God promised He would choose a place for His name to dwell - and as we’ve seen, He chose Jerusalem - He means it is the place He will dwell.
So the name here doesn’t refer to what the child will be called. It means it will be Who He is. This child will be Immanuel, God with us.
That is Who Jesus is.
And that’s why Gabriel begins the conversation with Mary the way he does. He says:
Luke 1:28 (ESV)
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
The Lord - YHWH God - is with you. He is Immanuel.
This, and Mary’s objection that she is a virgin, show us that this is the fulfillment of the promises God made to David and his house.
So the angel explains this to Mary, and she asks “how will this be?”:
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
The angel says: it will be an act of God. That’s how you, a virgin, will bear a son. The Holy Spirit will work this - Whom the angel equates with the Most High. And the baby will be called holy.
So He will be Immanuel - God with us. He will be Jesus - which means “God is salvation.” He will be called holy.
And He’ll also be called the Son of God.
I can’t even imagine how Mary processed all of this. Especially considering, if she was a virgin and just getting married, she was probably about 15 years old at this point. That’s Emma’s age.
It must have been incredibly difficult to understand all of this, and even if she did understand, to believe all of this.
And that’s why we have this seemingly unrelated mention of one of Mary’s relatives being six-months pregnant. But it is very relevant to what Gabriel just told Mary.
First, we see that Mary was not alone in this. God was working all things out. Elizabeth couldn’t have children. And if you know the story, there was an appearance of an angel to Elizabeth’s husband. There was some disbelief. But there was a miraculous conception.
The angel is telling Mary that God is able to do what is impossible for us. He can do that kind of thing all day long. He can give a barren woman a child. He can give a virgin a child.
Even more, He can take on flesh and still be the Son of God. And in doing that, He can save us from our sins. And He can save us from death.
What is impossible with man is possible with God.
Second, note that the angel points out that Elizabeth is already six months pregnant. Why would this be significant?
Because there is more being fulfilled than just the covenant God made with David. There is more being fulfilled than the prophecy of Isaiah.
There is another promise God made - a signal He would give His people that His redemption was near.
In fact, this is the last promise God makes in the Old Testament, chronologically speaking. And it begins with this:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
The Jews were told that Messiah will come, but not before Elijah comes. And for those who don’t know, Elijah is a famous Old Testament prophet. He is the one who was caught up to God in a whirlwind without dying.
So, that means there were two great expectations by the Jews about the Messiah. First, He would be of the line of David and sit on the throne. Second, Elijah would come first as the forerunner of the Messiah.
This is why to this day, unregenerate Jews are still waiting expectantly for Elijah to come. That’s why they put out a cup of wine for him at Passover. They’re still eagerly waiting for Elijah. Because they know that when Elijah comes, the Messiah is not far behind.
Except, as we know, Elizabeth’s baby will grow up to be John the Baptist, and Jesus says that John fulfills the prophecy about Elijah coming. The promise was a spiritual promise.
So when Gabriel tells Mary that Elizabeth - who can’t have children - is six months pregnant, he is not only reassuring her that God is able to everything he was telling Mary He would do - He’s done it before! - but he is telling her in no uncertain terms that God is going to keep all of His salvation promises through the baby Mary would have.
The promise to David would be fulfilled. The sign to prove it that Isaiah prophesied of would be fulfilled. The forerunner Malachi prophesied of was coming right before Jesus.
God really does keep His promises!
So, let’s stop and think about all of this for a moment. Think about Mary, and how God stopped her in her tracks and interrupted her plans. She and Joseph were soon to be married. They planned to get married and then have children. But their plan wasn’t God’s plan.
Think about Elizabeth. She couldn’t have children and was already living her life with her husband Zechariah. They planned to live out their days without children. Then God stops them in their tracks and interrupts their plans, because their plans weren’t His plans.
Think about Israel. They were looking for the physical return of Elijah. The were planning on Elijah coming and preparing the way for the Messiah.
And they were, for the most part, looking for a mighty king - a warrior like David - to sit on the throne and physically rule in Israel. That was the Messiah they were planning on.
But their plan wasn’t God’s plan.
So none of them got what they thought they wanted.
Instead, God stepped in, and gave them all exactly what they needed.
Instead, God carried out His plan, and He created life where there wasn’t life before - where there couldn’t be life before. In the womb of a barren woman and the womb of a virgin.
God stepped in and gave Israel her Messiah. He sent God the Son - Immanuel - the Savior. He sent the one Who came to create life where there was no life before. He came to take those who are dead in their sin, and make them alive unto Him.
And God stepped in to be the God not just of Israel, but of the whole world. To reclaim all that was lost through sin. He came to fulfill every promise by taking on flesh, dying on a cross for our sin, and being raised to life to overcome death.
He came to bring the good news of the kingdom - the power of God for salvation for all who believe - to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.
And He was going to move His plan of salvation forward through a young girl who was miraculously pregnant with He Who would be called the Son of the Most High God.
And though it was troubling to Mary. Though it was confusing. Though her plans were now out the window. Though she had questions. What this young girl does next is absolutely amazing.
She says “okay.”
Luke 1:38 (ESV)
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Such faith.
Mary gets the short shrift from us Protestants - but she should always be remembered and talked about with the heroes of the faith
Through her and her faith, God carried out His plan of redemption. Through her and her faith, God kept His promises - all His promises.
That is what the angel tells Mary is about to happen:
Luke 1:28–33 (ESV)
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” … Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
As I said, this is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. God’s unconditional promise of salvation. What the angel says is full of allusions to that promise that we talked about last week.
Even verse 28 and 30 where we are told Mary found favor with God. The word here is usually translated as “grace,” which is unmerited favor. It’s getting what you don’t deserve.
Talking about the unmerited favor of God is so fitting for this season of gift giving, no?
I hate doing gifts (I’m more a Thanksgiving man - all the food and family, none of the gifts) - we buy things for each other because we know the other person is going to buy something for us so we have to buy something - we stress over what to buy -
And the dirty little secret we all know but don’t verbalize because we have to pretend that we don’t all know it is that if you wanted what I bought you you would already have it, which means whatever I get you, you don’t really want.
And now you have to reciprocate by buying me something and you think long and hard over what to get because you want to get me something I want, which as I just said is impossible because I’d already have it if I really wanted it, and you know it. So, in essence, we all buy each other what we all know we don’t want. Nonsense!
Except, every once in a while, there is a gift that I get that I didn’t know I wanted, but that I really love. I want it only after I have it. Those are the best gifts.
That is what God’s grace is. That is His unmerited favor. It is that gift that you want so badly once you receive it. If you don’t have it, you don’t know you need it. If you don’t have it, you don’t even want it.
But once you have it, you realize it is the greatest gift you never knew you wanted. It is the greatest gift you can get.
And Mary here, who is about to bring into the world the greatest gift nobody knew they wanted, is herself given a gift. She is given the gift of God’s grace.
We are told that Mary has found favor with God.
In the Old Testament, this is how someone is described when they are chosen by God for a specific task - a unique task - like Mary was chosen here. I could find five people that are said to have found favor with God in the Old Testament. And they are all types of Christ. All pointers to Christ.
Noah - tasked to begin a new creation - like Christ
Abraham - father of a new nation - the founder of a particular people God calls out of the world - like Christ
Moses - the chosen prophet for that chosen people
Samuel - chosen priest for that chosen people
David - chosen king for that chosen people
These are those who are said to have favor with God. And they all point to Christ. That is where God’s grace culminates - in Christ.
That Mary has found favor with God is including her in this chain of favor, and is tying her in with these people, and in particular with David, which is why God says He will give her child the throne of David and that He would reign forever and have no end to His kingdom
This is a clear allusion to the covenant God made with David:
When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’ ”
We see the echos of this promise come back to Mary at this moment when God says He is making good on this promise. The angel tells her of her baby, and he says:
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And, of course, the reverberations of this promise and its fulfillment continue to affect the world - and it continues to stop in their tracks those who hear the voice of God promise them His unmerited favor.
This is the grace found only in Christ. The grace - the gift - are only in the child Mary would bring forth on that first Christmas.
This is the grace God wants to pour out in all of us here this morning. If we want a real gift this Christmas - look no further than Christ.
I mean, look at how the child described here by the angel. Look at these promises.
He is called:
“a son” - echoes of the covenant with David - God said of the true King: “I will be to Him a Father and He will be to Me a Son.” This is God the Son - eternal YHWH God coming in the flesh - what a gift!
“Jesus” - what’s in a name? Like Emma means “whole” and God’s plan was for her to complete our family, the name “Jesus” is not arbitrary. As I said, it Means “YHWH is salvation.” It comes from the Hebrew name Yehoshua (Hebrew through the Greek). There are other Jesuses in the Bible. Other Yehoshuas. - Again, these are all pointers to Christ.
Joshua (the book of…) - conqueror of the Land God promised to His people - the one through whom God chose to fulfill His promise to His people
Hosea (again, the book of…) - (shortened form Yehoshua - Hoshea) - the prophet
Joshua - the High Priest
Hoshea - the king of Israel
In Christ, we have the true Prophet, Priest, and King Who conquers sin and death and now lays claim to the whole world. He is the One through Whom God fulfilled His promises to His people.
What a gift!
And the descriptions of this child aren’t done. He is called:
“great” - talk about setting setting expectations.
I have had people tell me around Christmas: “you’re going to love what I got you this year.” Has that ever happened to you and then it isn’t so great. You know, you open it and have to pretend it’s really great that I got a subscription to the tea of the month club.
But remember: this gift, is God Himself with us. The gift the angel is talking about is Immanuel. It is Him giving Himself to us according to His grace. It doesn’t get greater.
Brothers and sisters, is God great?
And yet, as this child, He humbles Himself to the point of taking on flesh - to the point of becoming like those He came to save. What a gift!
And note that the angel says “He will be called great.” Because He wasn’t in His time on earth. Great people don’t normally spend their first night on earth sleeping in a feeding trough.
Great people aren’t born like that, and great people don’t die like He did. At the end of His life He was reviled. He was mocked. And He was murdered.
And through His suffering, now He is called great by those who have received God’s favor. But the world doesn’t call Him great.
But one day, He will be called great by all. Jesus Christ:
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
As we saw last week, the greater Son of David would receive His throne through the suffering of the cross. He was not great at His first coming so that He would be now and forever, and everyone will know it at His second coming when we are saved once and for all.
What a gift!
That is when the whole creation will know why the angel also calls the child:
“Son of the Most High” - in the Old Testament, God is called “Most High” in comparison to the other so-called gods of the world. In the New Testament, we see the demons call Jesus “Son of the Most High.” They know He is greater than they are!
But here is how amazing the gift is. When God shows us His favor, He calls us Sons of the Most High.
Luke 6:35 (ESV)
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High
The Most High is Jesus’ Father, like God promised in the covenant with David. But in Christ, that extends to us. He is our heavenly Father.
We who have gotten the gift are made sons and daughters of the Most High God.
What a gift!
But there’s still more. The angel says:
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
He is called “King.” He will be King! In fact, He already is King!!
The world doesn’t know it. We don’t see Him on His throne physically. But it is nonetheless true. Jesus reigns! And at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow!
And He shall reign forever and ever, Amen!
And if God has given you His grace - has given you His gift - then you are brought into His kingdom.
What a gift!
And the angel continues:
Luke 1:35 (ESV)
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
He’ll be called: “holy, the Son of God” - holy means “set apart.” Set apart unto God for God’s purpose. And of course the child is holy - He’s God.
But God also says to His people: “be holy, for I am holy.” This is what He says to all the children of the Most High.
And in Christ, we can be holy. We can now finally live as we were created to live: set apart unto God.
Because He is holy. Because He is the Son of God.
Because God’s gift to us on that first Christmas was Himself. It was doing what we couldn’t do for ourselves by becoming one of us.
It was living a life perfectly holy unto God. It was taking on our sin and going to the cross because of His amazing grace.
It was dying in our place to give us life according to His grace.
It was being raised in victory on the third day so that death would be overcome. The gift is forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
It was ascending to heaven to sit on His throne, where He reigns and will forever and ever.
It was giving us the gift of Himself, of His salvation, and of His kingdom.
This is the grace of God. This is how He favors those He came to save:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
What a gift!
But this isn’t the end of the story. We all love this verse. We all want to focus on the love of God and His salvation - and what a gift those are!
But the message of the kingdom is more. This very passage ends with this:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
This, my friends, is the Gospel. This is where the grace of God is revealed.
The angel came to Mary and told her all of the wonderful things God was going to do to keep His promises.
It wasn’t what Mary was planning for. It completely changed every plan she had. God stopped her in her tracks.
And she was troubled by it. She was a little confused. She had questions.
But God revealed His plan to her, and she said “okay.”
What’s our reaction to God when we hear that this is His plan?
Honestly, I hope it stops us in our tracks. I hope it makes us reconsider our plans.
Because if your plan is not God’s plan, your plans will fail. If your plan is not Jesus, it will fail.
Because, like Mary, if you are favored of God - if you have received the grace of God - then God has chosen to move His eternal plan forward through you.
And that is a gift we can’t plan for. It is a gift we don’t want until we have it.
Is that what we want?
And, brothers and sisters, what more do we need to know that God’s promises are sure? That His promise to reign forever still stands? He already humbled Himself and came for us - He became God with us and the salvation of God.
What a gift!
And I tell you all, He will reign forever, and one day, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God our Father.
And His grace is such that He has let us know in no uncertain terms that the time to bow before Him is now.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.
That may be troubling. That may be confusing. That may give you more questions than answers.
Good. I hope it stops us in our tracks!
Because it is the truth.
And that there is eternal life given to those who believe is a gift - it is the unmerited favor of God that saves. It’s why He gave His Son for us.
Christ is calling us - all of us - to lay down our plans, so He can work His plan through us.
The King is pouring out His grace, and He says to us all:
The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel.
Do we believe it?
--------------
They say there are no guarantees in life. But that isn’t true. God kept His promise. God worked salvation. It is guaranteed that all who believe in the name of Jesus Christ will live.
That is the eternal plan of God that He worked in Christ.
So I ask you all: what are you planning for?
When you look ahead and imagine your life one, five, ten years from now, does your plan include Jesus?
God’s plan does.
So I encourage you, if you have never planned for Jesus, He is calling you this morning - right now! - to believe. Believe in Him Who came for us that first Christmas morning that we may be given the gift of life.
What a gift!
And if you know Jesus, what are you planning for? Is it to live out the gift He has given you? Is it to share the wonderful gift? His favor has fallen on you, and that means that He has a task for you - a special and specific task.
And that is to use the gift He has given us to bless others. A life that says that Jesus is our plan is the gift we need give this year.
Jesus is calling us. Like Mary, we just need to say “okay.”