God’s Glorious Plan

God’s Glorious Plan Genesis 17:1–8 (NIV84) 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Exodus 6:1–8 (NIV84) 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” 2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’” Jeremiah 7:21–24 (NIV84) 21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” Hebrews 1:1–3 (NIV84) 1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 9:11–15; 27–29 (NIV84) 11 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant … 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Friends, Scott Peck reminds us that at the best of times life is not easy. So often we are confronted with major life determining decisions – what we should do, where we should live, whom we should marry, what we should profess… How do you choose what path to take in life? To make it even more complicated we are often told that God has a wonderful plan for our lives. And we think that means a detailed blueprint that take the minutest of detail into account. But when we look back over our journey it doesn’t seem as if that wonderful plan has arrived yet. Yes, we are told to trust God and to know that His will is perfect. But when we reflect on life it’s often difficult to see that. This morning I would like to refresh your memory. I’d like to remind you that if we become quiet long enough and if we diligently contemplate Scripture, we’ll find that God’s promises are always true and always kept. It was the case right from the beginning. Even in the midst of events like the El Paso shooting, the unrest in Hong Kong, the election of Boris, unrest in the Strait of Hormutz, God continues to be faithful to His promises. We just need to learn to look with the right intention. When we read the Old Testament, we find many passages where God’s Old Testament people heard the same message. From Adam to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to David, we hear this message: • “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers…As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” • God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’” • Through the prophet Jeremiah God reminded Israel of His covenant with their forefathers: “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.” • “Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4 the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” Who of us hasn’t heard a sermon or well-meant encouragement that echo God’s words to Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11) with the implication that we could and should apply this promise to our lives as well. How often are we not told that God only desires good outcomes for His children with reference to Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” And of course, this is true, but how did we get to the point where we believe that it means that life is easy? Often, we are challenged to trust God and to live for the sake of His glory (John Piper). But the Israelites learned that this was easier said than done. Life is too difficult, they complained. Recently I’ve heard someone complaining: Life is like a nicker ball. It is hard, sweet and changes colour regularly. But it doesn’t change to the colour you want when you want it very often. Life is like a nicker ball; it breaks your teeth, but you continue chewing. But are these views real? I’ve learned that at the best of times us humans are poor judges of their circumstances. Imagine what happens when life starts to suck. We are prone to be affected by our superstitions, biases, and prejudices. When life doesn’t work out the way we believe it should, more often than not, God gets the blame. He didn’t listen; He doesn’t care; He is cruel, etc. Is He there? Does He even exist? This is humanity’s response when God doesn’t fit their paradigm, doing the chores they expect from Him. But, again, the issue at stake is who is actually in control? Who determines what will and what must happen? Mankind has a GREAT tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there. We have this natural instinct to avoid responsibility for our own behaviour, and to transfer that responsibility to some other individual or organization or entity. But, ultimately this approach to life destroys rather than builds relationships, and it destroys rather than builds people. As a rule, problems do not go away by itself. Problems calls us to be courageous and our wise. A wise man once said that our problems create courage and wisdom. But it only does so when we work through them, or else they remain, endlessly functioning as a barrier to the growth and development of our spiritual wellbeing as God intended it. Friends, it is in this context, the difficulty of everyday life, where we often struggle to choose between right and wrong. However, it is also here where God’s message of grace becomes real. At the coal face of life, where people learn how to live when the stakes are high and the costs high. More often than not God reveals His mission for us in live when we experience our most challenging moments. Friends, too often we expect from God to be our life coach instead of our Lord and Saviour. We look for a few helpful hints that will enable us to live and easier life. But this is not the message that Scripture reveal. In Scripture God’s people are encouraged to allow God’s glory to give structure to their desires and ambitions. This is why God established His covenant with people through the centuries. And the basic idea of the covenant is fundamental to the Bible’s story. The biblical Covenant concept reveals that God is in control. He is the once taking all the initiative. It presents God’s desire to enter into relationship with men and women created in His image. This is reflected in the repeated covenant refrain, “I will be your God and you will be my people” (Exodus 6:6–8; Leviticus 26:12). Covenant is all about the relationship between God the Creator and people as His creation. The idea may seem simple; however, the implications of covenant and covenant relationship between God and humankind are immense. We cannot fully understand the Bible or correctly build our spiritual lives on it without grasping how all of the biblical covenants unfold across time and find their goal, end, and fulfillment in Jesus. It is critical to understand them correctly if we want to understand the “whole counsel of God” that Paul said he have proclaimed to the Christians in Ephesus (Acts 20:27). Friends, without understanding the nature of the biblical covenants and how they relate to each other, we cannot correctly understand the message of the Bible and so, God’s self-disclosure that centres on and concludes in Jesus passes us by. Then all we expect from God is to reveal minute-by-minute instructions for our lives. We expect Him to spell out everything. We crave the personal comfort of knowing our destined five-year plan over faithfully trusting him the next five years. When this is what we desire we forget that the journey that faith takes us on is often messy. When all we desire is a few bullet points that will enable us see our entire life plan unveiled to us immediately, we forget that the faith journey that we are on is an evolving one. It develops moment by moment, situation by situation, day by day. Sometimes, all we can do is stepping forward with both confidence and uncertainty – confidence that God knows what is best for us even though we are uncertain what tomorrow will bring. Friends, sometimes we forget that, while God has conquered death through his Son on the cross, we still live in a fallen world and are amid a spiritual war between good and evil. We forget that He’s sovereign over us. So, this morning we are reminded, once again, that God does indeed have a wonderful plan for our lives. But listen carefully, make sure that this truth sinks in: God’s plan for believers is salvation from His wrath that we justly deserve, and not that detailed moment by moment plan that we want Him to give us. God’s plan for believers is indeed a wonderful plan — while we deserved eternal punishment, God satisfied that payment through the ultimate price His Son paid on the Cross. This what John had in mind when he shared the content of John 3:16-17. God’s wonderful plan for our life is that we persistently surrender the evil desires of our human nature and follow, imitate and obey more and more to the image Jesus His Son. God’s wonderful plan for our life is that we repent, believe in Him, and fight sin through His power that indwells us through His Spirit. God’s wonderful plan for our life is sober-mindedness, sexual purity, and that we “walk not as unwise, but wise, making the most of our time because the day is evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). God’s plan, like John Piper so often say, is that God may be most glorified in us through us being satisfied in Him. Christians come to know that true happiness — the truly wonderful life — comes from true surrender to God. In the New Testament we discover how that plan is fulfilled in Jesus, our Lord and royal Redeemer. This what the author of the letter to Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 1:1–3 (NIV84) 1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Later in that same letter, Hebrews 9:11–15; 27–29 (NIV84), we read the following: 11 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant … 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. As Christians we live in light of the achievement of Jesus’ glorious work. Because of Jesus we can follow God’s will highlighting godliness and contentment. Because of Jesus we can do what Matthew 6:33 (NIV84) encourages us to do: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” How do we live life in the light of this? In the here-and-now, it can be difficult to decipher what God is telling us. In times when God seems to be speaking to us in a faint whisper, we must realize his primary will for us: holiness. This realization is tremendously freeing. Instead of being stuck in paralysis of deliberation, we can take the next step forward. We begin to recognize that what is on this earth is fleeting. We don’t have to fret in indecision, futilely trying to interpret God’s will as if it were a complex puzzle. When we have the choice between good options concerning careers, jobs, places to live, and the like, we can decide confidently knowing that God wants our holiness regardless of our context. Friends, obedient faith is not foolish. Obedient faith is reality itself. It is taking on board the truth that God is accompanying us on the journey we call life. Obedient faith acknowledges that our travel companion happens to be infinite, while we are finite. This cause us to be unequally paired. What makes perfect sense to the infinite causes the finite to struggle. But that’s the only way the finite can grow to become more and more like the infinite we are called to imitate. This growth is a painful process. We call it life. Life is difficult. It requires sacrifice and humility. It necessitates honesty. It involves ugliness. It entails that we stop trying to be “good” and start living with God as we experience the hurt and pain, the challenges of the problems we face, with an aching heart. Yes, we don’t know the minute detail what the future will hold for us; whether we will be happily married; whether we’re going to die from a terminal decease; whether we will enjoy seeing our great, and great-great grandchildren or not. But we know that God is good and will bring what He began, on earth and in us, to completion (Philippians 1:6). Friends, we know that if we pursue God’s kind of holiness first, wherever we may end up in this life will be of some importance, yet in the context of eternity it would still be trivial. And at the end knowing where we will end up in eternity is what ultimately matters. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Because of what God has done for us in Christ, we can, before every big decision, surrender and pursue His holiness. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5–6). Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. (Psalm 40:4) Amen.