God's Plan for Life

Isaiah 63:7-19

As we come to the end of Isaiah, we ought to have learned some fundamental concepts about God and humanity. We have learned that God is holy. He is the King of all creation. And he is able to save those who call upon Him. We have also learned that humanity is sinful by nature, and we all have the tendency to go astray. Like Isaiah, even the “best” among us needed to recognize that we are not worthy of being holy apart from God saving us. The big message of the prophets in the Old Testament contains the call to return to God. God broadcasts this message today to all who will receive it. God does not leave us without a plan for life. He has given us a plan for life in Jesus Christ.

An Unstoppable Plan

You may remember the old 80’s TV show, the A-Team. The leader of the military commandos would often remark, “I love it when a plan comes together.” The show portrays Hannibal Smith as the leader who always has a plan that usually works out for their success despite being off track. When we consider our existence, should we hope there is some plan in mind, or is life better without a plan? Does God have a plan for life? And what does He do when the plan is off track?

God has a plan for all things. And God is willing to provide the solution to continue His plan when it goes off track because of sin. Adam and Eve received God’s plan in the Garden of Eden to be His image-bearers, live in fellowship with Him and others, and care for the physical world. All things that God made were good, but sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. It may seem that sin voided God’s good plans, but God had a plan. He would provide the means for humanity to continue to have fellowship with God. Through the covenant with Abraham, God planned for all the earth to be blessed. The plan seemed to be on task but sin continued in the lives of the descendant of Abraham. Did God scrap the plan? No, God provided a means to continue the plan through the law, temple, and sacrifices. Ultimately, all these things were shadows of God’s ultimate plan through Jesus.

Isaiah’s Prayer

Because of the state of sin and the resulting consequences, Isaiah offers a prayer for the people.

• In Isaiah 63:7-14, Isaiah recounts the Lord’s goodness toward the covenant people. He carried them according to his love and compassion.

• In Isaiah 63:15-19, he recognizes the current situation. God is distant from the people because of their sinful rebellion. Rebellion will cause a hardened heart that God will allow to grow distant. As a result, the temple in Jerusalem would not only be defiled but destroyed.

• In Isaiah 64:1-12, Isaiah prayed for God to once again move in a mighty way. (rend the heavens and come down). The consequence of sin and rejecting God included the adversaries of Judah overrunning the land and subduing the covenant people. Although the present is troubling, Isaiah remembers God’s past acts of salvation.

• The last section, Isaiah 64:8-12, Isaiah appeals once again to God’s compassion by remembering that the covenant people are God’s idea and are dependent upon the Creator as clay is to the potter.

God knew how to fix the situation of sin and the consequences of the people in Isaiah’s day. God had a plan. Let’s look at three essential things of God’s plan for life.

1. God plans for us to live as His people fulfilling the good desires of the Creator

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of life is? There is a variety of opinions on the purpose of life. Consider the following slogans:

• He who dies with the most toys wins.

• Continue to evolve, adapt, and grow.

• Make a positive difference in someone’s life.

While some of these are noble, they do not contain the biblical perspective. Isaiah 43:7 declares the we are made for God’s glory. Isaiah also describes this as living as “God’s people who will not deal falsely.” We were made to reflect God’s glory by living out his truth through right actions toward God and others.

2. God makes consequences so we will return to him

We should appreciate that the Bible is realistic in telling us about the people who followed God. They may seem like heroes to us, but they were severely flawed. Each one experienced the consequences of their sinful and selfish choices. Some experienced emotional guilt and separation from God depending upon their response, while others who persisted in rebellion experienced painful circumstances. We can make our choices, but we cannot make the consequences. Those belong to God’s wisdom. His consequences are not meant to destroy us but to awaken us to come back to Him.

3. Recognize your sin and repent to receive His salvation

Those whose hearts are awakened by God’s goodness or the pain of the consequences are invited to recognize the problem and turn back to God. If we think that there are other options other than repenting and returning to God, we are sadly mistaken.

Consider this quote from CS Lewis.

I don’t think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right; but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, ‘with backwards mutters of dissevering power’ —or else not. It is still ‘either-or’

C.S. Lewis The Great Divorce

A Plan for Life

Hebrews 4:14–16

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Christians must keep the consequences of those in the Old Testament in mind when we consider our call to follow God. He warns of the consequences of rebellion against God of those in the past who persisted in sinful unrepentant habits and kept a stubborn heart. But with hope, the writer encourages them to keep following God by reminding them of the sympathy of Christ our High Priest. He knows that we will struggle with sin. But even though our sin takes us off the path God has chosen for us; we can get back on the path because of Christ. God’s plan is not voided, but He has provided the solution for us to succeed in following the plan of life from God. We can recognize our weakness to fail, but we may draw near to the throne of grace with confidence because Christ has provided the solution. We need His grace, and He offers it to those who draw near.

Repentance is essential in order to receive the cure for life. God’s plan for life is to come to Him in humility, recognizing our sin to receive His grace. Christ is the cure, and we must receive him through faith in order to have life. Without him, we may be physically alive but spiritually dead.

Repentance is the way forward for the rest of your life. Even though we are positionally made right before God through Christ. We will struggle to varying degrees to live the way God intends for us to live. Let’s face it; we will sin. The Holy Spirit will continue to work in us as we submit to His leading and conviction. God promises to dwell within every believer in Christ. The Holy Spirit will bring those emotions, thought, scripture, and circumstances that are needed to bring you back to the place where God is King of your life. If you fall, the plan is not voided. God’s plan for you is to repent and keep walking in God’s grace.

The only way forward is in Christ. Let us not be arrogant to think that we will are able to stand on our own goodness. The only way forward is to remain repentant. Let us not be arrogant to fail to recognize our need to examine ourselves on a regular basis and run to God for the cure.