God Has Great Plans for You

Introduction: The Coming of a King

Imagine a land that has been devastated by the tyranny of an evil family. This family raided a territory that was purchased at an extraordinary price, and intended for special use at an appointed time. It was planted with the best flowers, structured with the highest fortresses, and constituted by the grandest values. However, known of these plans were of significance for these evil raiders. They polluted this preserved land with their vanity and low morals.

Imagine the years and centuries of pain experienced by the inhabitants of this land—only awaiting the arrival of a ruler who will overthrow the powers that be.

Then, a ruler shows up. The Son and Benefactor of the Owner appears to vindicate the His Father, the Owner of the property and restore order. At last, peace is restored and the land is at rest.

This is simply a fictional story to express the feeling of those who lived during the times of Jesus’s birth. They were awaiting for the coming of a ruler who would rescue them from the tyranny of darkness. And this is exactly what was intended to be communicated in Luke’s gospel when he wrote, Luke 1:32–33

“He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel* forever; his Kingdom will never end!””

In fact, Matthew shared these sentiments in a parable Jesus gave in Matthew 21:33-46). When Jesus Christ was born it was sign to the nation of Israel that God was coming to reign in their midst and bring the world back to its intended purpose. This would begin with God keeping His promise He made to Israel through the Old Testament prophets.

Ezekiel 36:24 “For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.”

Amos 9:14–15 “I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.”

Isaiah 2:2–4 “In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.”

Isaiah 9:6–7 “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor,* Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”

Ezekiel 37:24–28 ““My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers,* and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy.””

Zechariah 14:9 “And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.”

Micah 4:6–7 ““In that coming day,” says the Lord, “I will gather together those who are lame, those who have been exiles, and those whom I have filled with grief. Those who are weak will survive as a remnant; those who were exiles will become a strong nation. Then I, the Lord, will rule from Jerusalem* as their king forever.””

All of this warrants a very important question: Since you’ve believed, what have you expected from God?

It is obvious the witnesses of Jesus’s arrival expected God to do something through the Messiah that merited their faith.

Mary: Luke 1:54–55 “54 He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. 55 For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.””

Zechariah: Luke 1:68–75 “68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. 69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, 70 just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. 71 Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. 72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant— 73 the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. 74 We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.”

Simeon: Luke 2:30–32 “30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!””

Anna: Luke 2:38 “38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

All of these individuals expected God to do something, through the arrival of His Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Inheritance of the New Covenant Believers

We began our study by reading Ephesians 1:3-14. Here, we want to look at the various things God has blessed us with through His Son, Jesus Christ. The premise of the things we will mention below is that believers in Christ have been granted the right to be a part of the family of God. That, is all who believe are God’s children.

John 1:10–13 NLT

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

The Blessings of God’s Children (S.A.R.A.H)

Salvation: Ephesians 1:7 “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.”

Adoption: Galatians 4:4–7 “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.* And because we* are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”* Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child.* And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”

Righteousness: Romans 3:22–24 “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”

Access: Ephesians 3:12 “Because of Christ and our faith in him,* we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.”

Hope: 1 Peter 1:3–4 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.”