God's Plan, Our Plan and the Coronavirus.
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· 9 viewsIn this message we explore how the coronavirus relates to God's plan and our plan!
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Introduction
Introduction
We’re all uncertain about what’s going on and the future.
God isn’t surprised by this.
God’s plan is to be glorified at all times.
God’s plan is to be glorified at all times.
There is a lot of finger pointing right now in politics. It seems worse than usual but maybe it’s not. People are questioning others motives and decisions. There are times when we don’t have enough information to know who is right or who made the best decision.
What about God? Is He doing everything right? When we know all the facts, if we could ever know all the facts, we will know that God is right and just and wise in all He does. He is so right, so perfect that every decision, everything he does proves how wonderful He is. That is what it means for God to be glorified.
The angels know this. Isaiah gives us a vision of heaven.
3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Look around at the earth God created. It’s amazing.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
God created all things to be good. He created a very good place for us to live. He created us male and female to not be alone. He walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden.
This is an idyllic picture isn’t it? Yes, it’s far from what we see going on today! What happened.
We disobeyed God and that changed everything. We became sinners, death entered the world and God cursed the earth.
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Sin messed things up but God continued His plan to have a glorious place for His children to live, to make the entire earth a garden of Eden.
God’s Plan is to save sinner from the penalty and power of sin.
God’s Plan is to save sinner from the penalty and power of sin.
God has to deal with sin. It is separating us from God.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
God sent His Son Jesus to give us the opportunity to return to a relationship with him.
16 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
God gave His Son to take away our sin!
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
When we believe in Jesus as the one who died for our sins, was buried and rose again to give us a way to heaven, everything changes.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Once we are in God’s family, we are able to live has He planned.
God’s plan is to enjoy fellowship with His children.
God’s plan is to enjoy fellowship with His children.
Here is what God wants for you today.
22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
He want to walk with us like He did with Enoch.
45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
He chose Israel to be uniquely their God.
10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord.
He lives among us!
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
And He gives us His peace and joy.
What does this have to do with the coronavirus? Everything. The coronavirus is a blip on the radar of human history. God’s plan was in place before this epidemic and it will be afterward! This didn’t surprise God.
No one knows exactly how this all started. Well, no one is saying how it started. Some have said people at raw meat from an animal and got the disease from that.
Isn’t it interesting that God’s instruction for His people, the children of Israel directed them to be careful about what to eat? There were foods that could have made them sick, if not properly cooked. God forbade them from eating that. Today we are free to eat all things but it’s comforting to me that God guarded His people with guidelines of what to eat.
Also people are being quarantined who have the illness. Does that remind you of anything in the Bible? God gave the same instructions regarding leprosy. People had to self-quarantine. If it went away, they gave an offering of thanks and returned to their normal lives. If it didn’t they had to live away from the people.
It is comforting to me that God cares enough to give us this kind of instruction.
Remember, it was never God’s plan that there would be disease, sickness and death. This is the result of sin. Yet God guides us how to live through it.
What is your plan?
What is your plan?
Let’s look at a verse we considered earlier.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
God’s light is in us. But we still face problems and the coronavirus and all it’s implications is just another problem and hardship in our lives. So Paul continues in the next verses.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
The light of God is within us, but our bodies are but dust. Yet we have the power of God, the love of God to strengthen us. Yes, we are hard pressed right now. But we aren’t crushed. Yes, this is hard, we are confused and perplexed but not in despair.
How has the coronavirus affected you? Do you have it? If not, how has it affected you. Have you lost your job? If so, don’t despair. You will find another one. Do you have food and a roof over your head? If not, reach out to us.
There are some listening who are dealing with bigger issues than the coronavirus right now. Audrey has Parkinson's. Ania continues to with headaches and vision problem. Frank has back pain that severely limits what he can do. My friend Peggy Lee lost her home to the fire in California a year or two ago and is still bouncing back from that. My friend Roger in Kansas had serious health issues with his heart. Thinh’s parents are older and he and Thao do all they can to help them. I could go on and on.
Our plan is to continue on and face this hardship like every other one in life.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Face today and the challenges of today. Ask God to guide you to help those around you.