Life Ministries

God’s Plan – 1, 2, 3 Part 2

 John 3:16    – Selected scriptures - John 1:1-5, 14, 3:13-17

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not understood it”… “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”… “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whosoever 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.”

God has always had a plan for mankind…And, it’s as easy to find as 1, 2, 3… The first three chapters of Genesis; the first three chapters of John; and the last three chapters of Revelation.
    The Book of Genesis begins with “in the beginning God” and in fact, the first three chapters of Genesis are all about God. It’s interesting, and probably not circumstance, that the first words in the Book of John are “in the beginning”… I think it’s because God has had a plan since the very beginning! “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. Jesus was part of God’s plan from the very beginning. In fact, John tells us that “all that was made, was made for and through him.”
    In the beginning, God said “Let us make man in our image” and, “Let them rule over all the earth”… Then man sinned and that changed things. God said “he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”… Man became mortal, and death was the consequence of sin. Man had tarnished the image, and lost his right to rule. The rest of the Bible has to do with God’s plan to restore man’s image and man’s rule over all creation.
    God chooses a man – Abraham…God chooses a nation – Israel. You see, God has an ultimate plan of redemption that is revealed in John 3:16…But, He first had to deal with the sin issue and the degrading image of man.
    Through Moses, God gives the “Law.” Now, the “Law” in the Bible stands for three different things; #1 was the Ten Commandments, written by the hand of God himself, on tablets of stone, and placed in the Arc of the Covenant. The Ten Commandments deal with man’s relationship to God, and man’s relationship with one another. #2 were the Ceremonial laws – all of the sacrifices and offerings and feasts that (symbolize, reveal and point to Christ ). The Ceremonial laws dealt again with the relationship between man and God… Then, #3 were the Social laws, that dealt again with man’s relationship with one another.
    God provided a way for the people to deal with sin which separated them from God. It involved sacrifice, offering, and the shedding of blood – all pointing to Jesus… God’s ultimate plan of redemption.
    The problem was that the law – whether Commandment, Ceremonial or Social, had no power to change anyone; only to reveal what the problem was. Romans 8:3 says “for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His Son”… but, we are not quite there yet…. The law or “laws” only made man conscious of sin and wrong, but it was powerless to bring change.
    So, says the Word, “When the time had fully come, God sent His Son”… “In the beginning” says John, but this time we are introduced to Jesus. John 20:31 tells us “these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”…He was God’s ultimate plan of redemption.
    In the very first chapter – vs 1-4 we are told of his divine nature; in 5-9 he is called the “light”; in 29 the “lamb of God”; in 38 “rabbi or teacher”; in 41 Andrew tells Peter “we have found the “Messiah” – and in vs. 49 Nathaniel calls him the “Son of God”. All of these are written that we may know.
    In chapter 2 Jesus begins doing miracles and revealing the Father… And, in chapter 3 we have the “Nick at Night” story. In John 3:16 – (the verse that more people in the world know than any other) – we have the true revelation of God’s plan. Jesus was to be the vessel of a new covenant – a new way of redemption – the only way that God could show his love and his plan for mankind. He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law… not the Ten Commandments, but the “written law” – the Ceremonial law that required offering and sacrifice. Paul says in Colossians 2:13 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumci-sion of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, ( the Ceremonial law ) with it’s regulations…he took it away, nailing it to the Cross!”
    Jesus revealed God’s plan when he said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me”… He is the only way that man’s image and man’s rule can be restored…. But, there’s more…He not only removed the curtain of separation and opened the way to a restored relationship with God, but he also provided the power of the Holy Spirit to those who believed and received him. The power to change and transform what the law was unable to do. Aren’t you glad that God has a plan? Next time we will hear part 3 of His plan – Paradise regained.