GOD”S PLAN FOR THE AGES | Northstar Church

“I have a plan for the whole earth, a hand of judgment upon all the nations. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken—who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?” – Isaiah 14:26-27.

God has a plan. This plan goes back longer than you may think. In fact, it starts at the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). There was a beginning to everything except God of course. God has always been there even before the beginning. Before there was time before there was space before there was anything there was God and there was a plan.

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is a plan. A number of pieces of evidence could be used for the existence of God’s plan for creation, including scripture: “But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken” (Psalm 33:11). Proverbs 19:21 says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.”

1 Peter 1:20 says, “God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.” What Peter is saying is before the foundation of the world, God the Father planned to send His Son, Jesus Christ, as the perfect Lamb of God who would ransom sinners from their sins. In other words, God’s plan that Christ would die for sinners was established before any sinner ever existed. It is for this reason that the Apostle Paul writes, “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:9).

Before He laid the foundations of the world, He already knew that man would sin and perish without His help. Therefore He already prepared a plan of salvation – a way for us to be reconciled with God through His son Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Intercessor. God not only prepared this plan of salvation but made it known to man also. From the very beginning, God started revealing this great plan in His Word.

Jesus resolved to go to Jerusalem and the cross. Luke 9:51 says, “As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” The whole of Jesus’ life is directed towards this supreme moment. The plan is unfolding. He was whipped to an inch of His life. He has barely managed, gasping and exhausted, to get to the ‘place of skulls’. The executioners stretch him out on the ground and nail Him to the wood. Then He is hoisted up until he hangs straight from the vertical shaft of wood which has been fixed into the ground. He has waited for this for many years, and on this day He is to fulfill his desire to fulfill the plan and redeem all men.

So here is the wonderful plan of God, right from before the beginning of time: Jesus, in love, was willing to be the One who would come as the Lamb of God and die as a sacrifice for sin so that those who were lost could be adopted back into His family and experience all the blessings that God had been planned from the beginning of time.

Discussion Questions:

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is a plan. A number of pieces of evidence could be used for the existence of God’s plan. What sticks out to you?
What is the significance of God’s Plan for your life?