God Has a Plan

Isaiah 46:8-11 Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. 

In verse eight, Isaiah addresses either the Babylonians or the Jews to remember the law of God and stand firm against Idolatry. Our generation may not realize how deep the issue of Idolatry was in the days of Isaiah. Remember that Israel was the only nation or people to whom God had revealed Himself. The rest of the nations were in darkness and void, without knowing the one true God. They were subject to demonic doctrine and worshipping false idols. The people of God were surrounded by idol worship from all four corners. Can you imagine the pressure and temptation they were under to compromise true worship and the law of God? In our generation and country, we are blessed. We are blessed with the light of the Gospel. We are not necessarily tempted by worshipping false Gods. But we are tempted to compromise our worship and obedience to God in various ways. Are we not? It may not be idol worship, but the enemy is crafty and knows how to attack every one of us with one goal: “ultimate destruction.” Listen, whatever the issues are in our lives that cause us to compromise, consider those our idols.

In verse nine, God tells them to remember the former things of old. I am God. There is no other or one like me, I am God. With great fervor, God is telling us not to forget Him, I am God and I am still here. Remember everything you know about me. Remember everything I’ve done in your life. Remember what you were and the Egypt of sin I have delivered you from in this life and through the righteousness and sacrifice of my Son Jesus the Christ. Come to your senses and repent, I am God! Says the LORD.

In verse ten God is the one who declares the end from the beginning. God declared the end of the ceremonial law from its very beginning because God has a plan. God declared the end of all prophecies regarding the Son of God from the beginning and saw to its completion because God has a plan. God declares from ancient times all the things not yet done. From the time of Isaiah’s writing, the incarnation of Christ had not been fulfilled. Christ’s obedience, suffering, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension had not yet happened. The sending of the Holy Spirit, the spreading of the Gospel throughout the earth, the destruction of the temple in AD 70, Christ’s millennial reign with the saints, and the resurrection on judgment day. All declared from ancient times things not yet accomplished but have come to pass and will come to pass because the counsel of God will stand, and He will do all His pleasure according to all His decrees. God has a plan. And God has a plan for all of our individual lives. God has declared in your life the ends from the beginning. Reflect on your lives and notice the work of God’s master plan.

Some may say, well, in God’s plan, what about all my sufferings and evil in the world?

Isaiah 13:11 says I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

Some may say, but is God really in control even of the suffering and evil in my life?

Isaiah 45:7 says I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. 

Isaiah 45:7 KJV I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Some will say, “I thought God was not the author of evil.” He is not. The theologian John Gill wrote, “evil” is also from him; not the evil of sin; this is not to be found among the creatures God made; this is of men, though suffered by the Lord, and overruled by him for good: but the evil of punishment for sin, God’s sore judgments, famine, pestilence, evil beasts, and the sword, or war, which latter may more especially be intended, as it is opposed to peace; this usually is the effect of sin; may be sometimes lawfully engaged in; whether on a good or bad foundation is permitted by God; moreover, all afflictions, adversities, and calamities, come under this name, and are of God.” In other words, God did not create His creatures with an evil disposition. We are not naturally evil as a result of His creation. But we are born with the natural inclination to disobey God’s moral standards. As a result of our preference to disobey God, which is the definition of sin, sin is to disobey God’s commandments. As a consequence of disobedience, the result is evil. Evil in itself does not exist as some ontological substance somewhere that God created. The evil we see and experience is the consequential happenings and events of our sin, our disobedience. So, who is the author of evil? We are. When Isaiah says God creates evil, The ESV uses the word calamity, but I think the KJV is more accurate in using the word evil. God is not the author of evil in the sense that He created it because, again, evil is not a substance to be created. Evil is the consequential happenings and events manifested as secondary effects of our disobedience. God does not tempt anyone with evil or sin. Remember that the occurrences we consider evil are the natural consequences of sin. God creates evil in the sense that He uses the natural consequences of sin in this world to punish sin and sinners.  

Some may say that is not fair. God has so much power and control; why must I suffer so much? One valid reason is that we are all sinners. Secondly, I am not anyone worthy of attempting to justify why God does what He does. I am nothing, and my sins are deep. My filthy body, which is in conflict with my Spirit, naturally feeds off the lusts of the world and is dirtier than the dirt it was created from. And none of us are in a position to judge God for His actions.

I do not mean to sound dismissive or insensitive about your sufferings. But while I’m up here preaching Jesus Christ and Christ crucified, my focus is on Christ. So what about the sufferings of Christ for your eternal security in paradise. It was God who predetermined His sufferings and the evil He endured. Jesus surrendered to the Father’s will and subjected Himself to the same earthly sufferings those around Him endured, and much more did our Savior endure. All for the sake of God’s elect and His sovereign plan. God has a plan.

Loraine Boettner, a twentieth-century American theologian, wrote, “It is unthinkable that a God of infinite wisdom and power would create a world without a definite plan for the world. And because God is thus infinite, His plan must extend to every detail of the world’s existence. If we could see the world in all its relations, past, present, and future, we would see that it is following a predetermined course with exact precision.”

God has a plan. Let us look at God’s sovereign plan for the birth of Jesus Christ. 

Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

The ruler prophesied in Micah 5:2 is Jesus the Christ. When King Herod heard of the birth of Jesus in Matthew 2:6, he assembled his chiefs to acquire the location of this new King. They read to the King Micah 5:2. In John 6:35, Jesus refers to Himself as the bread of life. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. The word Bethlehem is two words in the Hebrew. The first word is Beit, which means house. The second word, Lechem, means bread. Together, Bethlehem means House of Bread. I do not believe in accidents, chance, or coincidences. I believe in God’s sovereignty and providence. It is by God’s providence that Jesus, the bread of life, would be born in the House of Bread. Why? Because God has a plan.

Let’s look at one more prophecy.

Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 

Jesus was born under the rule of Caesar Augustus, the second emperor of Rome. Rome, at the time, was at the pinnacle of its dominion. When we read that Caesar made a decree for the entire world to present itself for taxation, the whole world meant the entire Roman Empire, which was, at that time, all of the known world. Significantly, the timing of Caesar’s decree was undoubtedly by way of God’s providence. All of Judea was subject to Rome. Due to the emperor’s decree, Mary and Joseph were compelled to travel to Bethlehem. All the characters, from Caesar to Mary, had no idea they were fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy written in

Daniel 2:40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.

There are four empires Daniel writes about. Babylone, Persia, Greece, and Rome. During the fourth empire during the reign of Rome, God established a kingdom that would never be destroyed or given to other people. Some say the kingdom of God on earth began at the birth of Jesus, while others say it began at Christ’s ascension into Heaven. In either case, His miraculous works, preaching of the Gospel, and as King of Kings, He commissions His people to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit all indicate that the kingdom of God was and is on earth. I am under the theological persuasion that Christ is currently reigning from His throne at the Father’s right hand until all His enemies are made His footstool on earth. As His saints, we are presently reigning on earth with Christ as we advance His Kingdom on earth through the successful preaching of the Gospel worldwide. In eschatology, this theological view is known as postmillennialism and, arguably, optimistic amillennialism. These views are nothing new. The Late seventeenth-century bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote, “The gospel-church is a kingdom, which Christ is the sole and sovereign monarch of, in which he rules by his word and Spirit, to which he gives protection and law, and from which he receives homage and tribute. It is a kingdom not of this world, and yet set up in it; it is the kingdom of God among men.” This Kingdom of God, which is presently reigning on earth as it is in Heaven, is a victorious Kingdom. God has a plan, and God does not plan to lose. Before the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the entire world was bound by the Devil’s deceit. Since the victory of Christ on the cross, the Devil has been bound and suppressed so that the Gospel of Christ can successfully make disciples of all nations. God has a plan. Do you think Jesus Christ commissioned His Apostles to baptize and make disciples of nations, not individuals here and there, but all nations, as a trial to see how many would convert? No, Jesus set the commission because the Father has a victorious plan and is successful in His endeavor to disciple nations. And the job is not finished yet.

Christ said pray this way; thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Is there any question of the effectiveness of God’s will accomplished in Heaven? Then why do we look at the world as if there is no hope and fall into anxiety and despair? Why do we look at the news and stress? It does not matter how bad it seems on the news. I am not saying do not consider the information and neglect emergency preparedness for your household. It has seemed pretty bad since Adam disobeyed God in the garden. Do you not trust the sovereign God of all creation. Some may say, are you blind? Do you not see how evil and degenerate the world has become? Surely, the world today is worse than it was in the days of Adam. No! Such reasoning only reveals the ignorance and faith in the power of the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of souls, the regeneration of the spirit, and the disciplining of nations. In the days of Adam, there was no Gospel. In the days of Seth, Noah, Abraham, King David, and the prophets, the world was without form, void, and darkness because the light of the Gospel was not established until God said, let there be light! And the Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and we, as messengers of His Gospel, are His candle sticks. The Gospel of Jesus Christ suppresses evil. So, I do not care about the evil narratives and predictions that are wrong repeatedly on the news because I know the power of the Gospel, its victorious promise, and its effectiveness. The world is better today than in the Old Testament because we now have the Gospel. Is that not enough faith for you? Look at the scriptures and realize how optimistic and encouraging they are. Enough about my philosophy; let’s see if the scriptures align with my message.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 

Our faith in Jesus Christ, our belief in Jesus Christ, and His Gospel is how we’ve overcome the world in Christ. Tribulation and death we have overcome because of our faith in Christ. If God is for us, who can be against us? Nothing and no one. The Gospel will be victorious. God has a plan.

Deuteronomy 20:4 For the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.

Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle (our God is a God of war. I hope you realize that), but the victory belongs to the LORD. 

Hebrews 4:12 Listen to the power of the Gospel. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Ephesians 2:10 Listen to God’s prepared plan for our lives in Christ. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Do you see God’s plan? How do you see it? Defeated, reduced, compromised, suppressed, pessimistic. To me, it looks triumphant, increased, protected, and preserved, globally proclaimed, optimistic, and victorious. Let us look at a few more verses relating to His reign and dominion.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 

In verse 26, has death been destroyed? No, people are still dying. In the end, once Jesus has destroyed death, there is a literal end to death. What is Jesus doing in verse 25 until death is destroyed? He is reigning until all His enemies are under His feet. And where is He reigning from? He is reigning from Heaven. Are there enemies in Heaven that He puts under His feet? No, so we can understand that the enemies He defeats are the Devil, his angels, wicked people, and hell. There is another element of enemies Christ must defeat and put under His feet. Can you guess who those enemies are?  

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 

Not only were we enemies of God, but our mind was hostile toward God and His law.

Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 

The last message I taught was the Supremacy and Sovereignty of the Will of God, and part of its focus was on the lack of free will and expounded on the will’s bondage to sin. Just in case there are any “free willers” remaining in here, read Romans 8:7 one more time. It says the mind of God is hostile, and it cannot submit to the law of God. The word “cannot” conveys a natural inability to submit to God’s law. We do not possess the freedom of will to do so. It is entirely by God’s grace and mercy that we, while enemies of God, were justified by the blood of Christ and saved from the wrath of God. Not by our own plan but by the plan of God that while we were His enemies, the Son of God, while reigning from His throne in Heaven, was fighting powers and principalities by the preaching of the Gospel and drawing you to Himself until He conquered your hostile mind and placed it under His feet. Do you understand what it took for the Lord to conquer the enemy of God we used to be? And so our Lord is defeating His enemies for the sake of justice, and defeating His enemies for the sake of drawing His elect to Himself and reconciling them to God the Father.

God has a plan. The plan of God is eternal.

Psalms 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

In other words, before any of my days existed, you had them written in a book since before my physical formation.

The plan of God is unchangeable.

Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.

Consider all you have gone through in life. Consider all you are going through now and all the things you have not done yet. Do you believe God has a plan? Do you trust God’s plan? Then why are we anxious? Why do we worry? What did Jesus say?

Luke 12:24-25 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?

One final issue I’d like to bring up is another form of suffering we must trust God with because God has a plan. That is the suffering of sin and temptation in our lives. Firstly, we must continually pray that we do not fall into temptation.

Luke 22:46 Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Do not ever think you cannot fall into temptation. Humble yourselves because you can fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 

But in the case that we as Christians fall into temptation. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13 because it should bring you hope.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. 

All temptations are common to us all. And all though we are not faithful to God in obedience. God is faithful to us in His promise. If He saved you, He has loved you with an eternal love that nothing can change. God’s love for your will not change. Our love for God, that is questionable. If you belong to God, you are under His grace, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability to overcome. It may not seem like it at the time. But God’s got you. It doesn’t mean God won’t let you fall into sin and temptation. He doesn’t tempt us with sin, but we tempt ourselves as we battle with the lust our physical bodies demand from us. God is faithful in providing an escape that we may be able to endure. But until that escape comes, we must endure it. Endure what exactly? Whatever sinful conundrum we get ourselves into. The duration of sin you may have gotten into might be long and agonizing as you deal with guilt, remorse, and repentance. But don’t give up on God because He is faithful. God has a plan. If you genuinely seek repentance and remorse over your sin, there is hope for your escape. God will forgive. There is hope for your victory.

Finally, I leave you with

Revelation 21:7-8 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.