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God Implements His Plan in Time

We have learned that God made a covenant with Himself, in Eternity Past to have man in His image,
according to His likeness sons for Gods kingdom. Lets look at how God has been implementing His
plan, through time.

God had given His creation of mankind freedom of choice so that man could choose to become a son of
God. Every man is born in the flesh, of the corruptible seed of Adam (First Peter 1:23). In order to become
a righteous, forever-living son of God, a man must be born again, born of the incorruptible Seed, Christ, by
believing into Him.

But true freedom of choice means that men must have an alternative, to what God desires for them. What
would be the alternative? To remain a son of Adam; a man in the flesh. Men are free to choose this, but if
they do, they cannot fulfill the purpose that their Creator has for them, and have therefore fitted themselves
for destruction (Romans 9:22).

God gives every man a lifespan on this earth to make his decision, as to if he will choose to remain in the
flesh, or become a son of God. And during that time, as a man in the flesh uses the freedom that God has
given him as license to sin, does God judge him? No; God delays His judgment, giving the man the
opportunity to see what is in his heart; lawlessness.

God is longsuffering; He suffers long with man, bearing with him, because God is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance (Second Peter 3:9).

Now, lawlessness was not limited to Gods creation of mankind. God made another order of creation;
angelic beings, which are spirit beings that do not have bodies.

God created the angels to carry out His purposes; to serve as agents of His divine government; to execute
Gods will, in heaven and on earth. And, like the creation of mankind, God gave angels the freedom to
choose whether they would fulfill the purpose for which He created them.

Some of the angelic host rebelled against their Creator, God, choosing to have their own will over the will
of God. The leader of this rebellion was an angel named Lucifer, who became known as Satan, a title
which means adversary; and the Devil another title, meaning accuser.

Here is one who had made himself an adversary of God; who refused to serve God, and is opposed to Gods
purposes. In fact, he actively seeks to thwart the will of God, partly by discrediting those whom God
would use to serve His purposes (Job 1:9-11;2:4, 5) including the nation Israel (Revelation 12:10).

In the OT, we learn more about this adversary (see Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-19). Lucifers heart was
lifted up; in his pride, he imagined that he would be like the most High God. The Most High God is the
title, El Elyon, which means possessor of heaven and earth.

Lucifer conceived of himself in the place of God, as the ruler over the entire created universe. One third of
the angelic host subscribed to Lucifers ambitions, following him in his rebellion against their Creator God
(Revelation 12:4). These angels became known as the Devils angels (Matthew 25:41); demons.

In the freedom that God had given to His creation of mankind, the adversary, Satan, saw opportunity for
himself and his ambitions.
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Men in the flesh have lawlessness in their hearts just as Satan does and can be tempted to act upon that
lawlessness, fulfilling their own selfish desires. Satan successfully tempted the first man and woman to put
their will over the will of God and sin, separating them from God - a separation that is reinforced for
mankind as men born of them continue to sin (Hebrews 3:13).

And once the first man brought sin into the world, and death through sin, men in the flesh were instilled
with a fear of death for death would bring an end to their tenure on the earth. Satan recognized that this
fear of death could be exploited as a source of power; power by which he could manipulate men in the flesh
(Hebrews 2:14-15). So what Satan saw, in men in the flesh, was the prospect of establishing his own rule
over the earth.

Toward this ambition, Satan began to build a system designed to work through the lusts and desires, the
deceptions and fears, within mans own heart. This system is often simply referred to in Scripture as the
world (Galatians 6:14, Ephesians 2:2, First John 2:15-17); built up right on the face of Gods earth.

What are the building blocks, in this world system? Men in the flesh. The system is built right on their
stiff necks, which will not bow to the rule of their Creator-Redeemer.

The system is political, allowing men to exert their self-will over one another; to have influence and power.
And the system is economic, allowing men to reap material gain; to have prestige, at the expense of others.
And the system is also a religious system providing men with whatever god their imagination can create
to rationalize how they choose to live, condemn how others live as well as to assuage their fear of death.

The world is a political, economic, religious system which is designed to keep men in the dark to God, in
bondage to sin and death, allowing Satan to exploit them, in his ambition for rule, over the earth.

Paul described this system in his letter to the Asian assemblies. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Paul was
writing of how the Gentiles lived, in their former manner of life, and then goes on to say that the Jews had
lived the same way.

[Ephesians 2:1-3]

v. 1-3 The italicized He made alive is not in the original manuscript, and in this case, detracts from what
Paul is saying. The emphasis here is on their former manner of life.

Literally, Paul wrote, And you, who were dead in trespasses and sins The you here is the Gentiles;
Paul is starting with them.

The word dead in the Greek speaks of a corpse; it refers to a dead body. When were they dead in
trespasses and sins? When they were part of the creation, in Adam; Adam brought the entire human race
into death with him, when he sinned; everyone is born of his corruptible seed; were all born dead;
stillborn.

As part of that creation in Adam, the Gentiles conducted themselves according to the course of this world
the world system. They walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in
the sons of disobedience. The sons of disobedience are the creation in Adam.

Who is this prince, or ruler, who is also described as a spirit a spirit being? Satan. Paul describes him as
the prince of the power of the air; that is to say, his exerts his influence through the atmosphere of the earth.
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What influence travels through the air? Communications in Pauls day, it was principally the spoken
word, by which ideas were conveyed. In our day, we have seen that explode into telecommunications:
radio, TV, satellites, phones, computers the plethora of technology.

These technologies allow the transmission of information across vast distances to innumerable recipients;
and they depersonalize and isolate men; and they keep men absorbed in themselves. Technology is not evil,
in itself; it is used for evil.

It is in this way that Satan works in the sons of disobedience. He does not dwell in them, nor are they
generally demon-possessed; he simply works his influence into them, as men in the flesh communicate the
thinking of this world, one to another; the thinking of Satans world system, which is at enmity with God
and His good purposes for man.

Paul goes on to show the Jews the we, in verse 3 were no different. The Jews were also sons of
disobedience; as part of the creation in Adam, they also conducted themselves according to the course of
the world system. All men do; theyre born into it.

The thinking of the world system is designed to appeal to mens lusts to their strong desires for self to
feed their self-love, which is never satisfied. It keeps them occupied with themselves busy with the things
of the earth, the things of time so that there is no time left to think about heaven and eternity and God.

Paul concludes that both Jews and Gentiles the whole creation in Adam are children of wrath, by nature
meaning by birth. All men are born into the condemned creation in Adam (Romans 5:12) theyre dead
men, walking. And Satan has designed his world system to persuade them to remain there, where he can
use them as his stepping stones, for the kingdom he imagines.

Now, you may have been thinking, why doesnt God stop Satan? Is God able to stop him? Yes. In not
stopping him; is Satan thwarting Gods plans? No. God is not in any way thwarted by Satans efforts.

How can a created being be more powerful that his Creator? He cant. God is omniscient; omnipotent;
omnipresent. Satan is limited in his wisdom, in his power and he can only be in one place at one time!
And anything that Satan does must be permitted by God (Job 1:12, 2:6). This is to say that God is allowing
Satan to build his world system, on the face of Gods earth.

Really? Why would God allow that? Because God has a good purpose in it. God is using the world
system to reveal to men the consequences of their choice to remain in the flesh. In the world system, men
in the flesh experience the emptiness and futility of a life lived apart from God; for the world system is just
a virtual reality; it can never satisfy the heart.

And through the world system, God is allowing men in the flesh to have an arena in which they can
practice their lawlessness, giving them the opportunity to see what is really in their hearts.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)? God
alone; and God is using the world system to reveal to men whats in their hearts; so that they can have a
change of heart, and come to Him, to deliver them from sin and death to save them from themselves.

In the meantime, God ensures that each man born into the world system has the opportunity to hear about
His saving purpose for them; to become a son of God. How does God do that? Through the preaching of
the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ.
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Now, all men have always had the same need, since they came into being to be born again, a son of God.
And that need can only be met in Christ, who delivers from sin and death.

But what about before Christ came? Scripture tells us that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the
world (First Peter 1:20, Revelation 13:8). Before God ever created the world, and mankind, it had already
been agreed in the eternal counsel of the Godhead that the Son would come in a flesh body and die, on
behalf of men to save them.

With God, who is outside of time, what He plans is as good as done thats why it says the Lamb was
slain. This would mean that the work of Christ was efficacious, before He ever came to the earth; before
He died, and rose again.

Now, in order for that work to be efficacious for each man personally, he must believe into the person and
the work of Christ that is, the gospel of Christ. But how would men have known of the gospel of Christ,
before Christ actually came?

It would have to have been preached to them. And do we see the evidence of this, in the Scriptures? We
do.

Turn to First Peter chapter 1. Peter wrote of the salvation to be had, in Christ Jesus.

[First Peter 1:10-12] So the OT prophets inquired of God concerning His plan, to save men.

The Spirit of Christ who was in them thats the Holy Spirit, who indwelt them, as believers the Spirit
revealed to them, before it ever happened, the sufferings of Christ - the cross - and the glories that would
follow His glorious resurrection and ascension. Im sure you can think of many OT prophecies
concerning Christ specific prophecies, concerning Him, and His work of salvation on behalf of men.

Notice Peter is equating what was revealed to the OT prophets with what was being preached in Peters day
the good news of Jesus Christ. So the prophets of old inquired of God, and God revealed those same
truths to them; the gospel of the Coming Christ; and then the prophets wrote those truths down.

Now turn to Hebrews chapter 3. The writer was issuing a warning to his readers to persevere in their faith.
Genuine faith always perseveres. The writer was speaking of the first generation of Israel, whom the LORD
delivered out of Egypt.

Although they were willing to receive that physical deliverance, they refused to give their hearts to the
LORD, so that He could save them from sin and death. Instead, they hardened their hearts against Him. But
had they heard what they needed to know, to be saved? The writer indicates that they did.

[Hebrews 3:16-4:2] So the writer indicates that the gospel was preached to that first generation of Israel
how? It was preached to them through their wilderness experiences such as the rock, which was smitten,
to bring forth the water, so that the people would live (Exodus 17:1-7).

It was also preached to them through types and symbols such as those found in the tabernacle, the
priesthood, and the sacrifices. The gospel was preached to them in picture form - showing the person and
work of the Coming Christ.
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But the preaching of the gospel did not profit them; they didnt gain from it why? Because they did not
mix it with faith. Faith would have given substance to the hoped for, unseen spiritual realities (Hebrews
11:1); the gospel would have borne the fruit of eternal life, in them; but they wouldnt believe. Yet we can
see that God was faithful, to preach it to them.

But what about before that time? And what about the Gentiles? The Scriptures show us that the gospel was
preached back then, and to the Gentiles, too.

Turn to Galatians chapter 3. Paul was making the point to the assemblies in Galatia that justification is by
faith in Christ alone; not by the works of the Law, or circumcision. He uses Abraham as his example, for
the OT Scriptures record that Abraham was justified by faith alone before he was ever circumcised, or the
Law was ever given. Notice exactly what Paul wrote.

[Galatians 3:6-8]

v. 6 Thats a quote from Genesis 15:6. Abraham was justified he believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.

v. 7-8 So we read that the gospel was preached to Abraham. How was it preached to him? Well take a
quick look at the account, in Genesis chapter 15 - when he was still known as Abram. Well be revisiting
Abraham shortly, but I just want to show you how God preached the gospel to him.

The God of glory had called Abram out of his idolatrous Chaledean culture, and Abram had heeded that
call, based on promises that the LORD had made him promises which would ensure that the childless
Abram would have an heir.

So Abram followed the LORDs leading, and as he did so, he was becoming more and more enlightened to
this God of glory; he was beginning to see Him for who He is; Protector; Provider.

Then the time came for Abram to really know the LORD, personally; as His Savior. At this time, Abram was
worried, because the LORD had not yet fulfilled His promise to give him an heir. So the LORD came to
Abram to reassure him with a revelation of the One who would be his heir.

[Genesis 15:1-6]

v. 1-2 Thats a servant, in Abrams household.

v. 3-4 Who is the member of the Godhead who is referred to as, the Word? Christ (John 1:1, First John
1:1). He came to Abram in a preincarnate appearance not just to tell him about, but to show him his
heir (singular) the heir who would come from Abrams own body; Abrams Seed.

v. 5 The word translated descendants is the Hebrew word for seed, which can be either singular or plural,
depending on the context. What is it, in this context? Singular The LORD is speaking of Abrams heir,
singular; this is speaking of one particular descendant, or seed, of Abram.

Count the stars, if you are able to number them. Does this mean count, as in one, two, three, four?
What would that tell Abram about his heir? Nothing. But the Hebrew words bring out the meaning, here.
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Count and number is the same word in the Hebrew, and it has the meaning of recounting; of narrating,
as a story. The KJV translates this word tell; tell the stars, if you are able to tell them. It is the recounting
of something recorded.

The LORD was asking Abram to recount the story in the stars. Now, Abram would have known the names of
the stars, from his idolatrous culture, because they worshipped the stars. But Abram would not have been
able to tell the stars; to tell their story, because his culture had perverted the story in the stars, and we still
have that perversion today, which is commonly known as astrology.

God had created the stars on the fourth day, and when He did, He said, Let them be for signs and seasons,
and for days and years (Genesis 1:14).

In the Hebrew, signs means indicators of future events; and the Hebrew word for seasons does not
refer to seasons of the year, but to appointed times, speaking of the order or sequence of events when the
signs, the future events, will take place. These luminaries were not only to enlighten the earth; they were to
enlighten the minds of men on the earth, as to Gods plan.

The stars contain a prophetic revelation of Gods Eternal Covenant, to be fulfilled in the Covenant Son; the
Christ. God Himself named the stars (Psalm 147:4, Isaiah 40:26) and fixed them in the heavenlies, to
provide a visual record for all of mankind of His Eternal Covenant before such time as the written record
was given to Moses, for the sons of Israel. This record is known in Scripture as the Mazzaroth (Job 38:32).

As Abram named the stars for the star names had been preserved, in his culture, as some still are today
the LORD told the true story in the stars, which Abram had never heard. Its the same story youve been
told; the gospel of Christ.

This is the gospel that was preached to Abraham, as Paul had written, in his letter to the Galatians. And
when the LORD had finished the story, He said to Abram, So shall your Seed be.

Abrams heir his most illustrious Seed, whose story was foretold in the stars would be the Christ. And
the LORD had just revealed Him to Abram personally, showing His work of redemption.

What does it say next?

v. 6 There is only one basis upon which the LORD accounts righteousness to a man; what is it? Through
faith in Christ. But how can a man believe in Him of whom he has not heard? And how does a man hear,
without a preacher (Romans 10:14)?

God had placed in the heavenlies His silent preachers on the fourth day before man was ever created so
that every man would have the opportunity to know of the One who would come to put away sin, and bring
in eternal life and immortality for man the Covenant Son; the Christ.

The LORD Himself would have shared this gospel in the star names with the first man and woman, as He
walked and talked with them, in the garden (Genesis 3:8). Then - once God proved their hearts to them, to
be unrighteous - they understood their need for the righteousness of God, and eternal life, through faith in
Christ.

Adam and Eve repented; and they believed into the LORD, and it was accounted to them, for righteousness.
Adam and Eve then became the first preachers of righteousness: You must be born again.
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We can see the evidence of that this, in the offering which their son Abel brought to the LORD. It was of the
firstborn of the sheep; a lamb, with its fat, indicating that it had been sacrificed.

This is clearly something that Abel must have learned from his parents, representing the preeminent Son,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Without the shedding of blood, there is
no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

The death of Gods Lamb is the only sacrifice that is acceptable to God, through which the offerer can be
accepted by God. Abel had believed into the Coming Ones death on his behalf, to be made righteous, and
through that death, Abel was born again, a son of God (Hebrews 11:4). The offering was a demonstration
of his faith, and God accepted him, with his offering.

But what of Cain? Certainly, Adam and Eve would have taught Cain the truth, as they had Abel; certainly,
lambs were available for Cain to offer, as well. And Cain did come to God as a worshipper, seeking His
acceptance; for we know he did bring an offering.

But Cains offering was of the fruit of the ground. It spoke of life that which comes forth from a seed
but it did not speak of death. Gods way to Life is through death the death of His Son. Cain desired life
from God eternal life but he refused to offer what he had been taught to be the only acceptable offering
to God, for that Life.

It wasnt acceptable to Cain; he desired to come his own way, to God. He wanted to be accepted on his own
terms, and not come the Way that God had provided. And so God could not accept Cain, with his offering.

The conversation that God had with Cain shows that Cain knew to do well (Genesis 4:7) his parents had
taught him. The LORD was giving Cain an opportunity to repent, and come Gods Way through His
Christ. But Cain would not repent.

Because Cain would not receive the righteousness of God through faith in the Coming One, he had no
power to rule over the Sin in his life; so the Sin ruled over him. He murdered his brother Abel, and despite
the LORD offering him yet another opportunity to repent, he hardened his heart and went out from the
presence of the LORD.

Cain began to build a city. Here was the beginning of the world system; and Cain was its first building
block, with his stony heart. The NT tells us that Cain was of the wicked one (First John 3:12).

All the while that Satan was building up his world system of men in the flesh, God continued to have the
gospel preached through his prophets of righteousness, that men might be saved out of it. The
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith (Romans 1:17).

Satans world system has no foundation on Gods earth it is not a real kingdom, and it will not last; the
building (the creation in Adam) is condemned. But God is building a kingdom of sons, upon His
precious cornerstone, Christ the Rock; a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16).

As time progressed, the wickedness of man was great on the earth; every thought in the imagination of his
heart was only evil continually. Men had filled the earth with their corruption, and their violence, in
unbridled lawlessness. Mankind was destroying themselves, which would not allow Gods purposes for
mankind to be fulfilled to become sons, in His kingdom.
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This required God to directly intervene. After giving men 120 years to repent, God washed His earth clean
with the flood, preserving His creation of mankind through the one righteous man who remained on the
earth Noah as well as his family in all, eight souls. Through the family of Noah, God established a
new beginning on the earth, with government given into the hands of men, to restrain the lawlessness of
mens hearts.

But restraint of lawlessness is in no way a change of heart. The heart of men in the flesh was the same, and
the adversary continued to use it for his purpose; to build his world system. Turn to Genesis chapter 11.

By this time, the sons of Noah had reproduced families of men, on the earth (Gen 10:32).

[Genesis 11:1-9]

v. 1-4 God had said to the sons of Noah, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). Yet the
families that came into being were unwilling to obey God; instead of filling the earth, they remained
together in one place on the plain of Shinar.

And they were determined to stay there; their baked bricks can still be found in archaeological ruins, today.
What a metaphor, for their own hearts, which were stone-hard toward the LORD!

And what did they build, with their bricks? A city. They were once again building that world system of the
adversary, on the face of Gods earth.

What else did they build? A tower, whose top is in the heavens. The remains of such towers still exist;
they were known as ziggurats, and had a representation of the constellations of the Mazzaroth, in their top;
for man had by this time perverted the story, which the LORD had placed in the stars the gospel of Christ
and now worshipped the stars, instead of the One they spoke of.

And finally, we see the determination of the people to make a name for themselves. Here is mankind,
planning their utopia on earth when the LORD offers them a place in His kingdom.

Here they are, worshipping their own way, whose end is death, instead of coming to God His way, through
His Christ, to receive eternal life.

Here are men in the flesh, hard hearts lifted up in proud defiance of the very One they must submit to, to
keep from perishing.

And once again, for the sake of mankind, the LORD had to directly intervene.

v. 5-9 This is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
United together, men have power that they do not have, as individuals they can enforce their will,
overriding the freedom of the individual. This the LORD God cannot allow; every man must have the
freedom to become a son of God.

And so the LORD disrupted the source of their unity. He introduced into them new languages, so that they
could no longer understand one another. And then He scattered them across the face of the earth, into
various geographic locations that He appointed for them, where they grew into the nations of the earth.
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This rebellion was a categorical rejection on the part of the peoples of the earth the nations a rejection
of God and His Christ. Since the nations as a whole had rejected Him, and gone their own way, the LORD
had to let them go, for a time.

Meanwhile, the LORD began to build a nation for Himself out of one man, whom we have already visited
today Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac, who begot Jacob; and Jacob had twelve sons, who became the
twelve tribes of the nation, Israel.

What was the LORDs purpose, in making a nation for Himself? One key purpose was that the LORD
intended Israel to represent Him to the Gentile nations; to teach them the truth about Christ.

The Gentile nations had rejected the LORD; but the LORD had not rejected them. The LORD would give Israel
the truth the oracles of God, the Scriptures. And Israel would then be the LORDs servant (Isaiah 41:8-9,
44:1-2), holding out the light of truth to the Gentile nations. The Gentile nations had gone their own way;
but the LORD planned to shine a light out to them, showing them the way back to Him.

But Israel has yet to fulfill their role as the LORDs servant, because of their own unbelief; Isaiah called
Israel the LORDs blind servant, His deaf messenger (Isaiah 42:18-20). For generations, they too have built
on the sand of this world system, instead of the Rock, Christ. But in the Kingdom Age, they will indeed be
the LORDs servant, teaching the other nations (Isaiah 2:1-3).

Despite Israels unbelief, the LORD preserved them as a nation, so that they could fulfill their greatest
purpose. The LORD kept Israel shut up under the Law, until the fullness of time had come Gods perfect
timing when God sent forth His Son, born of a woman thats the nation, Israel born under the Law
(Galatians 4:4).

Here was the One who would give Himself for mens sins, that He might deliver them from this present
evil age (Galatians 1:4); the Seed of the Woman, who would fall into the ground and die, in order to
reproduce much fruit - glorified sons, for Gods kingdom.

The good news, purposed in Eternity Past; recorded in the heavens; long, long prophesied; began to unfold,
in time. The Coming One had finally come.