Purpose and Plan (Part 4)

God not only has an established purpose, He makes and implements plans to achieve that purpose. God uses individuals, nations, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, and the Church as part of His plan. 

From the beginning of time as we now know it, God has worked through individuals to accomplish His purpose. The Bible is filled with stories of how God used different men and women.

In Old Testament times God raised up great leaders like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.  He also anointed prophets, kings, and judges to accomplish His purposes.  In New Testament times, God used individuals like John the Baptist, the disciples of Jesus, Paul, Timothy, Barnabas and many others.

God even took sinful men who would not conform to His plan and reversed their evil plans to accomplish His purposes.  God did not cause their sinful actions, but He worked through them and in spite of them to achieve His plan. For example, God said of the wicked Pharaoh in Egypt: 

Exodus 9:16 "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth."

Life, as well as ministry, is tied to God's purpose. When purpose is completed, life on this earth ends:

Acts 13:36 "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers..."

In Old Testament times God raised up the nation of Israel to accomplish  His  purpose and plan in the world. As a nation, the purpose of Israel was to reveal God's plan to the heathen nations of the world.  Repeatedly, they failed in this responsibility.

Because of this, judgment came upon Israel through the heathen nations which lived around them.  God was so determined to accomplish His plan that He even worked through the evil acts of these sinful nations.  God did not approve of their actions, but He worked through and in spite of them.

For many years, part of God's plan remained a mystery. Early in history, God promised a Savior through which forgiveness from sin would be available to all mankind.

The promise was first given to Adam and Eve after their sin in the Garden of Eden.  God said:   Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity  between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

This was the beginning of many promises of a Savior. For a long time God did not reveal the details of how He would accomplish this plan.  It was a great mystery.

Later, in the time of the Old Testament prophets, God shared more details of His plan.  In New Testament times, these details were fulfilled when God sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of all mankind.

No longer was God's plan a mystery. His plan and purpose was revealed openly in Jesus Christ:

Ephesian 1:9, 10 "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him."

From childhood, Jesus knew God's purpose was to provide salvation for all mankind and restore all men and nations into fellowship with Him.

Jesus lived His life on earth to accomplish God's purposes.  Even as a child, Jesus was concerned not with His own plans and purposes, but with those of God the Father:

Luke 2:49 "And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?  wist  ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"

The life and ministry of Jesus focused on the purpose of God.  Every plan, every decision, every act of ministry focused on that purpose:

Luke 4:18, 19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the poor, He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach  deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
      
Jesus also commissioned His followers, which includes all true believers, to fulfill God's purposes: 

Matthew 28:19, 20 "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."