To understand the plan of God, we have to go back to the beginning of creation, to where His plan first began. In the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, we can read about of the first four major events. Creation, The Fall of Man, The Flood, The Nations.
The first event was the creation of all that exists, the heavens and the earth and all that is in it belong to the One who created it. Kind of like a land owner and tenant concept. He owns it all and we just live here. He makes all the rules for us to live by and we obey His rules, because He owns it all.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
The Bible clearly explains that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. If He created it, then it is safe to say that He owns it. When we purchase a car, do we own it? Not always. Sometimes even though our name is signed on the dotted line, we still do not own it but we do get the pleasure of driving it, even though a bank or a credit union owns it for the time until all the payments on the loan have been made.
The same is like the earth. It was given to man to take care of and that job was first given to Adam, the first man. It is called the Edenic Covenant- The covenant in the garden is the first of the general covenants. It is a covenant with God and man to rule the earth. In it, like a contract… Adam was charged to populate the earth, (Genesis 1:28) subdue the earth, (Genesis 1:28) exercise dominion over the animal creation, (Genesis 1:28) care for the garden and enjoy it’s fruit, (Genesis 1;29 – 2:15) and refrain from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, under penalty of death. (Genesis 2;16-17) What Adam got out of it was what he put into it. He did not keep his part of the contract.
Since we have already studied how sin entered the human race, through the mouth, when Adam and Eve first bit into the taste of sin, we do not have to go over that again. What we do know is that the covenant with God was broken when they did disobey and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which resulted in their physical and spiritual death.
This was the fall of man. Because we are trying to answer the question of what is God’s plan now, we do not need to go into the next two major events of The Flood and The Nations. Let’s jump ahead in time to the Hebrew race.
Genesis 12 begins the story of a man named Abram. With Abram, God made a covenant as well and this covenant is called The Abrahamic Covenant– The covenant with Abram, (later changed to Abraham) is the first covenant that pertained to the rule of God even though through out the story of Adam and Eve, we do see God setting statutes and ordinances, which they learned as they went along. God made promises that He fully intended to keep with Abraham.
Lets read that covenant: (Genesis 12: 1-3)
This covenant was broad in outline and was later confirmed in greater detail with Abraham.
Let’s look at that. Genesis 13:14-17, 15:1, 18-21 and 17:1-8.
The Abrahamic Covenant is an important link to God’s plan still today. It is the one purpose of God for humans into which all of God’s programs work and fit.
What do you think God required from Abraham? Genesis 17:1
ABRAHAM’S BLESSINGS
# 1) Abraham was to be the father of a great nation. #2) Abraham was to receive personal blessings.
#3) Abraham was to receive personal honor and reputation. # 4) Abraham was to be the source of blessings to others.
With a blessing usually comes a curse, like it was in the garden. Blessings for those people and nations which bless Abraham and the nation which comes from him; cursing upon those people and nations which curse Abraham and Israel and blessings upon all the families of the earth (through the Messiah), who according to the flesh, is Abrahams son and provides salvation for the entire world.
Galatians 3:7 says this: Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” (continuing in verse 9) So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Then over in Galatians 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
We receive the promise of the Spirit, by faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. This is how we grow to maturity so that when Jesus returns, we will be ready for His Kingdom. With out faith, we will not grow. We must read and absorb the Word of God. This is our guide book for the direction in our life and the Holy Spirit is the teacher who will guide and instruct us on a day to day and hour to hour basis. When we ask Jesus into our life, the Spirit of The Lord begins to teach us how to keep our feet on the right path.
Revelation 22:1-5 reveals to us a glance of paradise. Jesus says in verse 7 (of Rev) that if we obey the prophecy that is written in the scroll of this book, we will be blessed. In verse 12, Jesus says that when He does return, He will bring His reward with Him and He will repay all, according to their deeds. It is in Christ Jesus that we place our hope to some day live in paradise with Him.
It was always God’s intention that the human race inherit the earth and that it would be a place where we would live in harmony and peace, with no war or destruction or harmful words spoken against our neighbor. We were always intended to populate the earth and to tend to the earth and all of life that exists on this planet while we were here.
We were supposed to bless the earth and receive it’s blessings from the earth, that God poured out upon it during the time of creation.
God’s plan has not changed. He still intends for us to subdue the earth and even though it may not seem like it now and no matter what you have heard in the news, and no matter how bad it may seem according to the news.
God’s people will subdue the earth, but it is going to be at a great price because of disobedience that has settled on the earth, far less than what we were intended to have. Unfortunately, some of the earth is so far gone that it will have to be purged with fire to cleanse it.
How do we know this? There are people that you may or may not have heard of called prophets.
There were many prophets written of, in the Bible. Prophets were people that God spoke through, to get His message to the earths inhabitants, using their mouth to bring to pass that what He said that He would do.. He would do.
The prophets names were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi and Jesus too, was considered a prophet because He told often of what the New Kingdom would be like.
God spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament of what would happen in the future ahead of each prophet, but they also often spoke of what God refers to as ‘the latter days‘.
I want to concentrate now on what a few of these prophets foretold, through the Spirit of The Lord, that spoke through these men. Let’s look at Isaiah 46:9-10 to see what The Lord spoke through Isaiah regarding the beginning and the end of time.
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
This verse confused people for many years because it wasn’t until the last two hundred years that we have had Bibles in our own hands to study. So what did God mean by this? Since God created the earth, God knows all about what is going to take place on this earth because He and He alone knows when all things will be brought back into His alignment of His original intention.
His consistant purpose is to bring the earth back to it’s beginning the way He intended it and if we read the first chapter of Genesis in the beginning of this book and the last chapter of Revelations, the last one in this book, we will see that the end of the earth, in the latter days, looks similar if not better than when it was first created.
God has declared the end… from the beginning…
His declaration was spoken and God does not let folks in on His secrets unless He first reveals it to the prophets.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.
So when God intended Adam and Eve , His first man and woman of the human race to tend to the earth, populate it and subdue the earth, He meant what he said. God does not lie. Let’s look at that scripture to make sure we know that God does not lie.. Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
God has a plan to bring us back to the way things were meant to be in the beginning. We do not have all the answers yet but day by day, His plan has been revealed to many people, but we must study these scriptures carefully and seek truth at all times because we have been warned that in the future, there will be false prophets. Jesus warned people while He was here on the earth and these were His words. Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24, Luke 6:26, & 1st John 4:1-6
False prophets were actually common in the days of the prophets of the past just like in the day‘s of the prophets now.
They prophesied what the king and the people wanted to hear.. claiming it was God’s message. False teachers are just as common today, but still here like we saw in just this month of May. If a teacher of the Bible does not obey the words of the Bible and lives differently than what Jesus showed us in Matthew 17:15-20, we are able to tell if they are fake.
Jesus warned us that there are going to be people out here now, who are only in it for the money and to beware of them. Yet we really must keep in mind that when we donate money to people who go across the ocean or anywhere in the world that they must have money to get to where they need to go to share the gospel truth. How will they go if they are not sent? Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! BUT : make no mistake about it, folks who are sent are still teaching, or supposed to be teaching the same words that Paul and all of the other disciples taught. These men were hand picked by Jesus Himself to spread the gospel.
The biggest way to tell is listen to what they say and how they act. Do they give God the Glory? Do they praise His name? Or do the pretty much pat their own backs by saying, look what I did?
Just as a peach tree bares peach fruit, so will a teacher of the Bible bare the fruits of the Spirit. But do keep in mind that people are human and , just like you and me, no matter how hard they try, even with the Spirit of The Lord’s help, they may still fall into temptation, but it is how soon they repent and get out from underneath it, is what counts in God’s eye.
This is why King David was a man who sought God’s heart because he repented, once he saw his sin. Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
In truth, we do not want to commit any sin against God. Each one of us is subject to sin, but the closer we walk with God and search for His Kingdom that is with in us, and His righteous ways, we will be rewarded when we seek His truth daily. We really will. We know this because of the testimony about when Moses was with God for those forty days when his face shone so bright after being with God that long. Our reflection, how we act, how we think speak and so, should be the mirror reflection of God as we draw closer and closer to Him.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
We must, absolutely must…. please the Lord in everything that we think, say and do..
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
In 1st John 4:1-3 we learned that we must not believe ‘everyone’ who claims to speak by the Spirit. We must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God, meaning that we shouldn’t automatically believe everything we hear just because someone says that it is a message from God. John said in these verses that the way to test them is if they teach that Jesus was fully man and fully God.
Christians who are truly born again by the Spirit of The Lord should have faith and yet not be gullible. Verify every message we hear and cross it with Christ’s teachings, and see if it is scripturally sound. If it all aligns with the Word of God, then it may be truth but remember John said to test the spirit.
There are ministers that are already on the scene preaching to huge heavy populated buildings but this doesn’t mean that they are spirit filled ministers. Just because they have a large congregation, does not mean that they are spirit filled. It may only mean that they have a way with words, kind of like How satan was in the garden. Very slick!
We must call upon our spirit that lives with in us to help us to make these determinations so that we are not lied to by another spirit or by some one who claims to speak for God. The way of the wicked is like walking in the darkness. When we follow wickedness, in the dark, we have no idea what we are stumbling over.
God created man to be someone that He could commune with. This is still His plan today. Nothing has changed except the way we do it, we go through Jesus, God’s only begotten Son.
Proverbs 3:19-20 By wisdom the Lord founded the earth; by understanding He created the heavens. By His knowledge the deep fountains of the earth burst forth, and the dew settles beneath the night sky. (NLT)
Proverbs 3: 21-26 My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. (NLT)
Deuteronomy 11:18-28 (New Living Translation)
“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in His ways and holding tightly to Him. Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land. Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you, for the Lord your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as He promised, wherever you go in the whole land. “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from Him and worship gods you have not known before.
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