"God's Deliberate Plan"

Scripture:  Acts 2:23-24
This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Observation:  

This week in FpStudents we are going to be talking about evidence that Jesus was in fact killed, he was in fact buried, and that he did come back from the dead and appear to many people.  To me, this verse helps me understand that whole crazy concept better because this verse clearly states one very important truth: God was in control all along.  This whole plan was God's!

God did not send Jesus because he was tired of watching us fail at upholding the law.  He knew we couldn't uphold it when he gave it to us.  But he knew it would point us to the need for a savior that he was ALREADY PLANNING to send.  God did not surrender Jesus over to wicked people because he was exhausted from fighting against them.  He did run out of energy to protect him.  He handed him over on purpose… because he was ALREADY PLANNING the cross.  God not only allowed all that to happen but HE PLANNED IT-- knowing that after all that suffering, he would be victorious.  And he would have made a perfect way for his children that he loves to spend eternity with him.

Application: 

Another one of the hard questions that has come up during the Godfidence series is, "If God is all powerful, why couldn't he just make sin go away?  Why did he have to go to all the trouble of the cross to defeat it?"  That is such a hard question.  And though I'm going to try my best to explain it, it's one of those things where no answer really ever seems like enough.  God's ways are so far above our ways (Isaiah 55:9) that I'm not sure we'll ever completely have a grip on it.

Think about this… Would you rather marry someone for love (because you chose them and they chose you) or in an arranged marriage where neither of you had any choice?  Most of us would choose to marry for love.  Although it is a way over-simplified analogy, this is kind of what it's like with God.  He wants to be chosen too.  He could have created us with no choice but to love him, but would that really be love?  No.  That would be obligation.  That would be meaningless.  God gave us choice so that we can choose to love him.

And then he came up with this perfect plan.  He created the earth and mankind and then gave us a choice.  And we chose life apart from him.  We chose to go our own way.  We chose to sin.  He let us do this, not because he had no power to stop it, but because he was making a way for us to choose to be with him forever.  We were given the option to sin here on earth because God wanted us to understand the choice we made.  He wanted us to know the full consequences of sin.  And then he wants us to choose him.  Because through Jesus, he made a way for us to choose him for eternity.  

When Jesus comes back, we're starting all over.  According to Revelation 21, God will create this brand new heaven and earth and then everyone who will be spending eternity with him there will have chosen him.  They will have had the choice… they will know the consequences of sin… they will have experienced the amazing love of Jesus… and they will have chosen eternity with him!  

In John 6:39-40 Jesus said, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose NONE of ALL those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that EVERYONE who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."  God's desire is for every single one of the people he created to choose him… to spend eternity with him.  But when we live with him in that perfect eternity, its not going to be because he forced us.  It's going to be because we love him.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, you are amazing!  Thank you so much for making a way for me to spend eternity with you.  This is all so hard for me to wrap my brain around.  But I pray that even though I can't completely comprehend it with my brain, I would allow it to transform my heart.  Give me more and more faith, Lord.  Help me to trust in your plan.  In Jesus' name!  Amen!

Confident in this…

Miranda