| | |
"Most often our conceptions are wrong because we start at the wrong place. Too often human history has been interpreted from the Fall. If this is the starting point, it is natural that all history would have a redemptive coloring. God's purpose is then seen in the light of man's need for redemption. Of course the need for redemption must not be minimized, but neither should it become the overshadowing truth. It is often made to seem that man appeared on the stage of time just so he could be saved. Thus it seems man becomes important in God's purpose only in his fall. Therefore, God's chief work is seen as redemptive.
"We cringe at the thought, and deep within we are sure there must have been some "better purpose", yet if we start with man and his fall we seem to be carried along in a conception which makes man and his restoration to be central. Because our controlling conception was born from the wrong starting point -- man and his fall -- we can but end with man and his restoration. But there are others, sensing this danger, who have started with God's commission to Adam, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28). From this starting point all history is interpreted with a governmental or kingdom purpose. Since man was created to rule, he sees everything as colored by this conception. The kingdom becomes the central theme.
"Then there are those who have realized the need for starting with God instead of with man. So they have started where God starts in Genesis 1:1 -- with God as Creator. From this starting point the resulting scheme and purpose of God has an architectural or sovereign coloring. But while allowing for a God-centered approach, this doesn't fully answer the purpose in His creation nor describe His sovereignty" (De Vern F. Fromke, The Ultimate Intention, p. 28-29).
The question then arises, Where is the proper starting point in understanding the ultimate plan and purpose of God? The answer is found in the heart and mind of the eternal Father before the foundation of the world.
In order for us to fully understand the mind of God in His planning, we need to search the Scriptures for the very blueprints of His plan. As with any major project that is to be built, there first must be a set of architectural plans. In the plans everything is designed, calculated, and drawn up before any work begins. All things need to be considered in the architect' s mind during the planning stages, such as location, materials, labor, cost, problems, and difficulties, etc.
Even so with God our Father, who is the Master Architect, in designing and engineering His eternal plan and purpose. The blueprints of His plan were designed and calculated before anything was created, "...before the foundation of the world..." (Ephesians 1:4). It is vital to start before the foundation of the world because only at this starting point can we understand the blueprints of His plan. As we study the master plan of God, we will then, and only then, see the whole of His eternal plan from His viewpoint. From seeing the whole, we can then see how all the parts fit into their rightful places. Our outlook and understanding of God will be based on His ultimate plan and purpose.
There are three prime scriptures which are classifications of truth and have specific reference to the ultimate plan of God before the foundation of the world. The first is found in Ephesians 1:4, "According as he hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world..." In this writing we will go into detail of this truth. The second scripture is found is I Peter 1:19-20 and Revelation 13:8, "...The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The third scripture in this category is Hebrews 4:3, "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said... they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." These three prime texts will be the basis of our understanding of the ultimate plan and purpose of God.
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foun dation of the world." The very heart of the Father's ultimate plan is that He chose His creatures to be in Christ. The depth of this plan goes much deeper than we can imagine or write about, but it states that in the mind of God before the foundation of the world He planned a union to take place, "... Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). He knew by foreknowledge and by experience that the creature within himself could never fulfill the requirements He needed in a son. The Father planned to have many sons with the life, nature, and spirit of His all-pleasing Son in them. The Father would take a part of Himself and put it in the creature to fulfill His greatest need -- love.
His plan, then, is that when the free moral agent makes a choice for God, He would take His "...seed, which is Christ" (Galatians 3 :16), and birth Him in the creature. That way, the Son in the believer would live unto the Father, please the Father, love the Father and do the Father's will; "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13); and to be the fulfillment of the Father's heart, "... crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).
The working out of this plan would take place for the creature through a growth process to become one with Christ in him, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us..." (John 17:21). The true pleasure and fulfillment of the Father would be for Christ to live the life of the creature, in perfect union, and not for the creature to live independent of Him. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..." (Galatians 2:20). This, of course, would hinge on the free moral agent's response to the Father's working.
"The Father intended for HIS SON to have a body to express His life -- HIMSELF -- in the world now, and before all creation in the ages to come. We can quickly see how this ultimate intention for THE SON and His Body springs out of God's paternal nature and desire. We can also understand how the Father "marked out for Himself" a vast family who would share His life, nature, spirit, vision, purpose and dedication. We can further see how this family purpose was to be accomplished both through and for His eternal Son" (DeVern F. Fromke, The Ultimate Intention, p. 31).
In this study, we will not attempt to go into nor explain the term "chosen". Most studies will emphasize the terms "chosen" or "election" on the argument of who gets chosen or who does not. We would rather focus on being "in Christ," which we feel others have so greatly missed. We will say that whoever God does choose, He chooses them to be in Christ, not independent of Christ but in union with Him, for it is only from this union that the ultimate plan of God is fulfilled.
"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" (I Peter 1:19-20).
The cost of God's plan would be the ultimate price on God's part. For God to have a plan, there also must be a price to pay, and this price would be the crucifixion of His most precious possession -- His Lamb. This would be the highest price the Father could give to make His plan work. Only this act of God would pay for the total cost of His plan.
The "Lamb slain" was primarily for the Father. In John's Gospel, Jesus did nothing outside the will of the Father. The very reason He came to earth was to be the Father's Lamb, ultimately justifying God in everything He did. God is sovereign, and He alone can do as He pleases; but everything He does, He justifies Himself in doing it: "... that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).
"God said, 'What right have I to make them perfect, from the beginning, by putting another person in them?' He said, 'I don't have that right. So this is what I am going to do.' True to His personality, true to His sovereignty and honor, God said, I'm going to take that Son I've put in them and kill Him so that, from the very beginning, life shall come out of death, and their salvation shall come from a Lamb and not from a King because I want them to have My Spirit.' This is the Spirit of God... And only by the slaying of this Lamb has the Father been justified in putting another life in you" (Warren Litzman, The Message, p. 9).
"... The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13 :8) also proves that God foreknew the failures of Hiscreatures.He knewAdam's choice even before He created him. This was not planned after Adam fell; rather, it was incorporated into the original plan. It also shows that the failures of God's creatures would not stop nor change God's ultimate plan. He provided the remedy for their failures and shortcomings, "In whom we have redemption through his blood... " (Colossians 1:14). So redemption was incorporated into the plan of God before creation.
We must be careful not to focus our full attention on redemption as the whole of God's plan. When we do, we completely overshadow His ultimate intention which is 'chosen in Christ.' "Redemption is not the end, but only a recovery program. It is but a parenthesis incorporated into the main theme" (DeVern F. Fromke, The Ultimate Intention, p. 32.)
Copyright © 1993 Warren Litzman. The Bible text in this publication, except where otherwise indicated, is from the King James Version. This article appears on the site: http://www.peterwade.com/.
Check out our Catalog of books and CDs. | |
