The Godhood of the God of Grace IV
God’s Marvelous Plans

In the previous posts we learned about the glorious Godhood of God as seen in the exercise of His divine prerogatives to create, to choose, and to reveal or hide. Now we turn our thoughts to the plans of God. Since God is God, and can do whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3), we expect to find that God does indeed formulate eternal plans which He works out in history. We will soon see that God’s plans range from the macro to the micro, and everything in between, that they are universal, historical, and personal. Or, to put it in even simpler terms, they control the universe, human history, and our individual lives. But before we embark on that study, we must consider something that Isaiah said about God’s wonderful plans! “O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness” (Isa. 25:1).

John Oswalt captured the beauty of Isaiah’s words when he said: “The singer says ‘I want a being like you for my God. I want to belong to one as powerful and faithful as you.’”¹ Notice some of the major points of Isa. 25:1. First, we see personal attachment to the God who wonderfully works His plan. Then, we find that His plans themselves are wonderful, thrilling, exhilarating. Third, we learn that His plans are ancient, i.e., eternal. Finally, we see that His plans are personal and faithful. In sum, they are nothing short of perfect. We have a great and glorious God. Safety and security belongs to those who in “in Christ Jesus” through repentance and faith. “There is nothing more orderly and regular than the control of a person, all of whose actions are governed by intelligent purpose, directed to an end.”²

Jeremiah 29:10-14 talks about the glory of God’s plans for Israel. “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11). This passage shows us the brilliance and the blessing of God’s plans. Sometimes people assume that God is there to take all their joy away, to choose them and then shut them in. We will not deny that the call of the Gospel to forsake the world in order to gain eternal life involves self-renunciation and self-denial (Mark 8:34-38), but whatever losses we sustain in forsaking sin are amply compensated for in the gain that we have for having God as our God. Because God is God, He has already planned our lives. But, and here is an important question…… If God has already planned my life, what’s left for me to do?

First, let’s look at just a few passages in the Bible which indicate that God has already planned our lives. “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them” (Ps. 139:16). Notice in this verse how David confesses that God created him. He knew him in the womb. This speaks of God’s immanence and involvement in our conception and creation. It reminds us that we are God’s creatures. We are special in His sight. Job asked God “Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, and would You destroy me?” (Job 10:8). The proper response of any human being is to confess “God, You made me. I am yours. You must have a purpose for me. Lord, show me Your purpose.” He also confesses that God made plans for Him. God is described as having a book in which He writes down the future for David. He describes them as days, and explains that even before those days transpire, they proceed according to the divine ordination. The Hebrew word used here means the fashioning of the potter, planning and establishing.

But Solomon wrote about the question I asked a moment ago when he said “Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord, How then can man understand his way?” (Prov. 20:24). Solomon understood the fact of God’s wonderful plan(s) for our lives, and properly concluded that there is much about our lives that we simply cannot understand, and shouldn’t try to. There is a certain mystery about our way that we just cannot understand. But there is no mystery to God. Solomon speaks of God’s plans for man’s steps. God is the author and God is the director of the script of our lives.

Now we observe something in these verses that should not be missed. Notice that the writers are extremely happy about this wonderful pre-ordained plan which God has for them. They aren’t struggling or wrestling with it. They’re not speaking about it as though it were “a difficult doctrine,” or that it contains “a theological tension” of some kind. Isaiah was very happy to have a God like this who had wonderful plans for Him. He was not at all unhappy to have God at the controls. Why do confessing Christians struggle with this today? Why is there resistance to the truth of a God who plans, even all our days?

1. Christians who struggle with this do not understand Godhood. They are thinking of God with traces of manhood. They simply do not grasp that Godhood brings with it the prerogative to choose, ordain and control. Otherwise, God is simply not God.

2. Christians who struggle with this do not have freedom. They are bound in many respects to this world, to manhood, holding to a cherished idea of human freedom or autonomy which in reality is enslaving not liberating.

3. Christians who struggle with this lack Biblical wisdom and a Biblical worldview. Proverbs 28:5 tells us that “those who seek the Lord understand all things.” Yes, we can understand mysteries – things too high for us. In other words, embracing the Godhood of God empowers us to simply do our duty each day and leave the explanations of what is happening to us and why it is happening to God. So on the one hand “how then can man understand his way” (Prov. 20:24), but on the other hand we “understand all things” (Prov. 28:5).

Knowing that God ordains all of our days is the bedrock for making choices and living our lives every day. As creatures we instinctively know that we are designed for action, choices, and judgments. We must be informed about God’s will and ways. We must be confident that He is in control. And yet we face real choices and must make tough decisions. We are very conscious that we can make a mess of our lives. We know of tragic life stories that we would never want to happen to us. We know that evil is present in the world and temptations abound. So what do we do? We follow God’s basic life commandment in Proverbs 3:5-7. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” And from a New Testament perspective of faith and life, we know that Jesus is Lord and so we follow Him as God. When we obey the Lord Jesus and follow Him, He assures us that He will safely lead us to His heavenly home (John 14:1-6).

The truth of the wonder of God’s plans leaves us with some questions to ponder. Are we growing in the knowledge of His plan for us, for our family, for our church, and for the world? NO IGNORANCE. Are we united with His plan as it is revealed to us in the Bible, without any rebellion in our hearts? NO REBELLION. Are we happy to have God as our God and to hear Him assure us that He has our life planned for us? NO WRESTLING. Are we content with the providence of God as He unfolds the details of our lives day by day? NO DISPUTING. Oh the happy lot of the Christian man or woman, boy or girl. This blessedness is rooted in God’s marvelous plans!

Notes:

1. NICOT – Isaiah 1-39, 460.
2. Loc. Cit.