“The Plan of God” - Pt 2
Notes
Transcript
BACK TO THE BASICS
When we began our study last week with God--because that's where the Bible begins!
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
We're looking at TEN issues concerning the plan of God, trying to answer the question, “Why?”
REVIEW:
I. THE PLAN OF GOD IN CREATING ALL THINGS!
I. THE PLAN OF GOD IN CREATING ALL THINGS!
“Why Lord, did You create it in the first place?” Two basic reasons:
1. Because He wanted to!
1. Because He wanted to!
11 Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.
2. So we would know Him!
2. So we would know Him!
20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
II. THE PLAN OF GOD IN MAKING MAN!
II. THE PLAN OF GOD IN MAKING MAN!
“Why did He make humanity in His image?”
He gave us dominion, understanding and volition so we would choose to bless/praise His Holy Name!
21 My mouth will declare the Lord’s praise; let every living thing bless his holy name forever and ever.
III. THE PLAN OF GOD IN DIVIDING MANKIND INTO THE NATIONS!
III. THE PLAN OF GOD IN DIVIDING MANKIND INTO THE NATIONS!
“Why God divide mankind into the Nations?”
26 From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27 He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
“So they would seek the Lord!”
LESSON:
IV. THE PLAN OF GOD CONCERNING THE NATION OF ISRAEL!
IV. THE PLAN OF GOD CONCERNING THE NATION OF ISRAEL!
“Why is the plan of God so much centered on the nation of Israel?”
“Why did God establish Israel as a separate and unique nation?”
If you know anything about the Bible, or if you’re a new believer, you're going to discover that a great portion of this book is written about Israel and the Jewish people.
Many new Christians (and some old) are troubled by that!
“Why is Israel's so special?” “Why do they have a special place in His plan?”
God is one day going to re-establish them in their land and honor them in the future!
6 For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 “The Lord had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
8 But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.
10 But he directly pays back and destroys those who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back directly the one who hates him.
He chose Israel as a special people to demonstrate two things about Himself:
1. His FAITHFULNESS to His PROMISE!
1. His FAITHFULNESS to His PROMISE!
If you think about it, would you consider Israel a 'faithful' nation? NO WAY! They were constantly copping out on God!
“Does that change the faithfulness of God to Israel?” ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Aren’t you glad that’s true? I AM!
You need to learn this lesson: Your salvation is NOT based on your performance, but on God’s faithfulness!
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
We learn a lesson of how faithful God is TO US by the way He dealt with Israel!
2. His LOVE!
2. His LOVE!
Do you realize how God's love is seen throughout the history of Israel?
God loved them so much that He described Himself as a husband whose wife (Israel) has been unfaithful—it would be right and fair for God to wipe them out!
14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 In that day— this is the Lord’s declaration— you will call me, “My husband,” and no longer call me, “My Baal.”
19 I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. 20 I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.
1 Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
2 Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our iniquity and accept what is good, so that we may repay you with praise from our lips.
3 Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our hands. For the fatherless receives compassion in you.”
4 I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for my anger will have turned from him.
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.
V. THE PLAN OF GOD IN THE FALL OF ISRAEL!
V. THE PLAN OF GOD IN THE FALL OF ISRAEL!
“Why did God let Israel fall?” “Why did God let this happen?”
They not only fell into sin, idolatry, and immorality, but they also fell into judgment!
They were desolated as a nation and as a people!
"Why?" - God gives you His answer.
11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.
12 Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
25 I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.
28 Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,
29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.
30 As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience,
31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now receive mercy.
32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.
God will one day restore Israel--because of His PROMISE to them!
“If God will show that kind of mercy to an entire nation, will He do the same for me?” - ABSOLUTELY!
VI. THE PLAN OF GOD IN ALLOWING SIN AND SUFFERING!
VI. THE PLAN OF GOD IN ALLOWING SIN AND SUFFERING!
“Why did God allow sin and suffering?”
1. To DEMONSTRATE RIGHTEOUSNESS!
1. To DEMONSTRATE RIGHTEOUSNESS!
18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.
19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
2. To BUILD OUR ANTICIPATION OF HEAVEN!
2. To BUILD OUR ANTICIPATION OF HEAVEN!
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope
21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.
23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
24 Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?
25 Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
3. To DEMONSTRATE HIS POWER and PROCLAIM HIS NAME!
3. To DEMONSTRATE HIS POWER and PROCLAIM HIS NAME!
17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.
18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
4. So that we would GLORIFY HIS NAME!
4. So that we would GLORIFY HIS NAME!
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you.
13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.
16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
VII. THE PLAN OF GOD IN GIVING THE LAW!
VII. THE PLAN OF GOD IN GIVING THE LAW!
“Why did God give the Law?” “What is my relationship to the Law?”
1. So that people would recognize their ACCOUNTABILITY to God!
1. So that people would recognize their ACCOUNTABILITY to God!
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment
2. So we would have KNOWLEDGE OF SIN!
2. So we would have KNOWLEDGE OF SIN!
20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more
7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.
8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.
9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again
10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me.
11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
“Am I saved by the Law?” NO!
8 But we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately.
9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
10 for the sexually immoral and males who have sex with males, for slave traders, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching
11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.
“What then is the purpose of the Law?”
19 Why, then, was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one.
21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.
23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.
24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.
25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
To lead us to Christ!
CONCLUSION to Part 2
CONCLUSION to Part 2
“Why did God create the world?” - So that we would KNOW HIM!
“Why did He create humanity?” - So that we would BLESS and PRAISE HIS NAME!
“Why did He divide mankind into nations?”- So that they would SEEK THE LORD!
“Why did God choose Israel?” - To demonstrate His LOVE and FAITHFULNESS!
“Why did He allow Israel to fall?” - So that we who are Gentiles COULD BE SAVED!
“Why does God allow sin and suffering?” - To demonstrate His righteousness; to build our anticipation of Heaven; to demonstrate His power; so that we would glorify His Name!
“Why did God give the Law?” - To lead us to Christ!
NEXT WEEK: The final three parts of the Plan of God: in sending His Son; in forming the Church; and in saving us!
