The Permanency of God's Word -- Chapter 3

By: Grandma Peg

THE PERMANENCY OF GOD'S PLANS FOR JESUS CHRIST

Long before God created the earth, He had everything already planned out for us and our salvation. Paul reminded Titus of the “eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” [Titus 1:2].

The Old Testament was a “shadow picture” of what would happen in the New Testament. The Jewish people were told by God to sacrifice animals on a regular basis to cleanse them from their sins. The author of Hebrews speaks of the Old Testament priests who offered sacrifices over and over again for their own sins [Hebrews 10:11-14]. But Jesus, who was sinless, made just one sacrifice for our sins.

Let’s look at some of God’s plans for Jesus before the creation of the world:

1. Peter tells us that Jesus “was foreknown before the foundation of the world …” [1 Peter 1:20]. Before time began, Christ was already chosen by God to be the Lamb, the sacrifice in our place. God did not make a last-minute decision to send Jesus as a sacrifice. God made a permanent decision to send Jesus.

2. The following three verses (speaking about Jesus) each have a different English word that is the same word in Greek:

“The Son of Man is going as it has been DETERMINED …” [Luke 22:22]
“… this Man, delivered over by the PREDETERMINED plan and foreknowledge of God …” [Acts 2:23]
“… the One who has been APPOINTED …” [Acts 10:42]

Our English word “horizon” comes from this Greek word. It means “to set a boundary; to mark out definitely.” The first two verses (Luke 22:22 and Acts 2:23) speak of God’s perfect plan for Jesus’ death on your behalf. God determined in the past, with the continuing result that His manner of death would not change. It shows God’s permanent plan of all steps involved in Christ’s crucifixion. God’s love for you is so strong that He planned for Christ to die on the Cross so that you wouldn’t have to die and be separated from Him for all eternity. The last verse (Acts 10:42) tells us of God’s equally strong determination that Christ be the “Judge of the living and the dead.” It was also always in God’s plans that His Son will be the final and permanent judge of believers and unbelievers at the end of the age.

3. Once Jesus was born onto this earth, God had already given Him works to accomplish. John tells us [John 5:36 and 17:4] that God gave Jesus works to do, with the result that these remained His work to do. These works involved preaching the Gospel, preparing for His death, and by doing so, reconciling people to God.

4. Finally, the apostle Peter said that there were witnesses “chosen beforehand by God” [Acts 10:41] to testify of Jesus’ resurrection. This word originally meant “to stretch out the hand to give a vote,” then “to elect” by a show of hands. God elected these witnesses, including the apostles, in time past and nothing would change God’s mind in who the witnesses would be. His decision was permanent.

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

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