His Ultimate Purpose

  
It seems to me that everything God has ever done, was done for the benefit of man, although at first glance, it may not look like it.

The Apostle Paul, in considering Jesus, wrote this in Ephesians 1:11 ... "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."

Isaiah 14:24 ... "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand."

It seems clear from the teaching of Scripture that all events are known to God from the beginning and that they are taken into account in His plan and purpose. This does not mean that God causes and is responsible for all acts and events, but that they are a part of His ultimate purpose in the sense that He works all things to His ultimate Glory.

Isaiah 46:9-11 ... "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning ... My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure ... Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it."

The overruling purpose of God in the affairs of man is expressed by Paul on Mars' Hill in his sermon to the Athenians in Acts 17:25-27 ... "God giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ... and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ... that they should seek the Lord."

This "before appointed" Divine purposing however, does not deprive man of his freedom of choice nor personal responsibility, as Paul goes on to say ... "because He hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He hath ordained ... in that He raised Him from the dead."  (v. 31)

Bible prophecy demonstrates two things ... 1.) that God is Omniscient (all knowing) and therefore knows all things from the beginning, and 2.) that He has a plan and purpose He carries out for His glory and for the redemption of His people.  There has never been an event that surprised God and required Him to improvise to rescue His program from disaster.

Not even man’s original sin surprised God.  He created Man with freedom of will to obey or disobey.  God ordained that man should have the capacity for sin, although  He did not force them to exercise that capacity, but He knew that they would exercise it.

Even so ... God is not the author of sin.  He, in His Infinite Wisdom which we cannot fully fathom, made man a free moral agent capable of obedience or disobedience.

Depravity, pain, and crime resulted from Man’s disobedience, but God purposed to overrule these.  The three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lion’s den, and Joseph sold cruelly into Egypt, demonstrate the working of His ultimate purpose. 

Joseph tells his brothers in Genesis 50:20 ... "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."  All of the above events turned out to be His blessings to His people and bringing Him glory.

Before God created Man, He had already purposed to bring Redemption by Christ Jesus.  1st Peter 1:19-20 ... "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you ..."

Titus 1:2 ... "In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began ..."

Jesus therefore was predestined in the heart and mind of God to be the sin offering before any part of creation started.  Whether or not it was at the same time, God also had a plan for those who would accept Jesus as Lord.   

Romans 8:29 ... "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son ..."

We must not read into this however, the idea of an arbitrary, random choice that elects some and excludes others.  This predestination is based upon the foreknowledge of God, as Paul states in the above verse in Romans, and as it is also confirmed in 1st Peter 1:2 ... "Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father ..."

This word "elect" which has caused much discussion, is used 16 times in the New Testament and is always translated from the Greek word "ekletos" meaning "select" ... and by implication can mean ... a chosen favorite.

Jesus is speaking in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31; "... but for the elect's sake ... if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect ... they shall gather together his elect ..."

When the elect is mentioned in the New Testament, it is usually speaking of Christ's church.  But it hasn't always been this way.


To be continued ...


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