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“God’s Eternal Plan”Times & Locations Preached:Scripture Reading: Accompanying Song: # “”Subject: Objective: Location: /tt/file_convert/5e010646b6d6247a4808b50e/document.docx

Introduction: 1. Prev. Lesson (1 Gospel) we explained

a. Though there are many so-called gospels in the world, there is only one gospel!b. Importance of that one gospel – God’s power unto salvation Paul told the Romans

2. Near the end of our previous lesson we asked the question:a. If the gospel is so important…b. We are not allowed to play fast and loose with the gospel so as to change the

gospel…c. Then how can we be certain that we have the right gospel. d. At the end of our lesson I shared with you some clues we find in the Bible…

i. O.T. contains cluesii. It is our tutor, our teacher, our schoolmaster to bring us to Christiii. O.T. therefore is part of the gospel

3. In this lesson we want to see how that gospel was all part of…

Body:

I. God’s Eternal Plan A. What are some things we need to learn from the O.T.?

1. Eph. 1:3-6 “…before the foundation of the world…” Before God ever created the world He had a plan in mind.

Michel D. Mahler of 11


2. Before God ever founded the world he desired that He would have spirit beings in Heaven with Him that wanted to be there to worship and serve Him.

3. So God created us as spirit beings (our bodies have a spirit inside).4. God made human bodies diverse…big containers, little containers, big, little, strong,

weak, attractive, unattractive…it does not matter what KIND of container you have…what matters is what you DO WITH THE CONTAINER YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN!

5. We are her on this earth for one purpose and one purpose only…are we going to show God that we will prepare our spirit to worship Him and put Him first.

6. If we are willing to do that, then He has prepared Heaven as a place for us to demonstrate we can do that with the short time we are here on this earth!

7. How do we:a. React to fun & recreationb. How do we use our time, our money and our resources?c. Where do we focus our attention?d. How do we handle trials and troubles?e. How do we treat others?f. Do we put God first?g. God wants to know that.

8. We can get off track and get concerned with:a. What kind of jewelry can we put on our container?b. What kind of clothes can we put on our container? c. What kind of car can I drive my container around in? d. What kind of house can I buy for my container to live in?e. AND WE ARE MISSING THE WHOLE POINT!f. Those are just diversions that take us away from the real purpose of what we are to be

doing with our spirits!9. God decided to let us make the choice:

a. That is free will.b. It is your choice: Follow Him or do not. Sin or don’t. c. That is why God had a plan of redeemption before the foundation of the world because

He knew if He created human beings with free will some of them would choose not to follow Him.

d. If man chose to sin and later regretted it God had, by design, a way out! It is called the plan of redemption.

B. We will not get to Heaven by:1. Merely saying we believe and then go about doing things our own way.



2. Being superstitious3. Being with the church every time they gather for worship4. Checking off things on a list every day5. We are only going to go to Heaven if we give God our hearts!

C. Which God? 1. Some People see two gods described in the Bible…

a. God of N.T. – God of Love, Peace, Joy, forgiveness, graceb. God of O.T. – God of Wrath, strictness, harsh

D. Are there two different Gods?1. Certainly the God of the O.T. seems more wrathful. How do we explain this?2. Remember – O.T. was a teacher, schoolmaster to take us to Christ – to teach us the

things we need to know to be brought to Christ.3. My children:

a. At times they were bad and I had to discipline them.b. At the time I bet they thought I was mean, unfairc. Now that they are growing up they understand better why they got into trouble and

one day they might even appreciate the fact that mom & dad did not let them do everything they would have done if we had not stopped them.

4. Once our children grow up and understand we treat them differently than we did when they were little because it is a different kind of relationship.

5. Like this, the God of the Bible did the same with mankind.

II. God is Holy A. So important we understand this concept.

B. What does it mean to say God is Holy?1. Holiness is His CHARACTER.. 2. God’s Attributes: God is omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful) and

omnipresent (present everywhere).3. God’s attributes are governed by his character.



a. One being all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present does not make them good alone. An evil person could be all of these and yet we would not want to worship them.

b. But because God is Holy everything He does is good.i. In our best interestsii. Ought to cause us to DEEPLY DESIRE to be with him, serve him and worship Him

BECAUSE HE IS HOLY!

C. God will never do wrong:

1. Job 34:10-12

2. Psa. 5:5a. He is a just God…b. He is a righteous God…

D. Two characteristics of God: Psa. 33:4-5 1. He is a just God…2. He is a loving God…

E. God is saying He wants us to be Holy because He is Holy. F. Holiness: The essence of His character.G. God cannot have fellowship with someone who is not holy. Hab. 1:13H. God’s character causes Him to abhor anything that is wrong!

III. Sin Separates Us From GodA. Isa. 59:2

1. This is the problem of sin2. Our culture is wrong when people tell us God will still have something to do with you no

matter how you live your life. 3. How many sins does it take to separate us from God?

a. 100?b. 10?c. Just 1!d. Why? Because God is Holy!

4. Does it matter if it is a big sin or little sin? No. God is holy.



5. This is why the Bible gives a name to the condition we are in when we sin: spiritual death Eph. 2:1; see also Rom. 6:23; 3:23

B. Consequences of sin:1. Spiritual Death2. Mortal Death (your container is going to die)

IV. God’s Justice Demands a PaymentA. The price for sin.

a. Caught speeding – you’ve broken a law - police officer issues a fineb. Murder – may spend life in prison or death penaltyc. Same is true of God’s laws – break His law there is a penalty for breaking the law

B. God’s law requires death (bloodshed) for sin Rom. 6:23; Heb. 9:22a. Because all have sinned (Rom. 3:23) this price is required of every person.b. I have broken God’s laws. Who deserves to die? I do.c. You’ve broken God’s laws. Who deserves to die? You do.d. This passage also helps us understand that doing good works will not save us. The

ONLY thing that will remove sin is the shedding of blood! The price of a life must be paid.

C. The penalty for sin requires a payment: (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:3) – Judicial penalty

D. A Just God (2 Pet. 2:4-9)1. Why did God refuse to spare the ancient world? 2. Because of ungodliness (sin).3. Ezek. 18:20 The person who sins will die.4. O.T. schoolmaster, teacher is teaching us again – that sin is really, really bad!

E. 2 Deaths1. Spiritual (Rom. 3:23)2. Mortal (Gen. 3:19)

F. Brings about God’s Judicial Sentence (Heb. 9:22)

G. Because of all of this man now finds himself in a very desperate situation:1. We’ve broken God’s laws2. This has separated us from a Holy God



3. We can only pay the price with eternal death/punishment!

H. All of this is what the O.T. schoolmaster was designed to teach us!

I. But now we see the other side of the picture…

V. God’s Love Provides MercyA. God is willing to help us pay the price

1. Grace – God gives what is not deserved (Rom. 3:23-26; 5:6-11).2. Mercy – God does not give what is deserved (Rom. 1:18)

B. God’s love demonstrated through blood:1. Even in O.T. – animal sacrifice

a. Animal couldn’t sinb. YOU are the guilty one…but God allows…c. Take innocent animal and it will die in your stead. It will pay the price that is required

of YOU! 2. This is what is known as attonement!

a. Atonement: Heb. Kaphar: to cover, purge, make reconciliation, cover over with pitchb. When Noah put pitch upon the ark he “atoned” the ark (i.e. completely covered)c. In the spiritual sense it relates to something that is paying a price for something else.d. Lev. 16:30

i. Day of attonementii. “…you will be clean from all your sins…” (done though a animal sacrifice substitute) iii. When that sinners sins were covered it was as though they were taken away and

removed and he was made holy again and He could have a right relationship with God again!

iv. This is where we get the term sanctification (Lev. 17:11).a.) Blood represents lifeb.) Innocent life atones for the sinnerc.) The innocent life substitutes for the guilty life (cf. Heb. 9:22)

v. Where we also get the term reconciliation:a.) We are separated from God by our sinsb.) This substitute life sacrifice is givenc.) Atonement is maded.) Sin is taken awaye.) The relationship with God is restored (cf. Eph. 5:25-26)



vi. So…a.) Blood (life) atonement…b.) Produces sanctification…c.) Results in reconciliation

vii. So…when the animal was sacrificed…a.) …it was as though the sins were taken from the person, placed upon the lamb

(figurative sense since the lamb has no sins of its own nor does it have a soul).

b.) The animal is sacrificed and God is willing to see that as though WE have been sacrificed (representatively)

c.) Through this we see God’s justice is demonstrated – the life that was required was paid.

d.) We also see God’s mercy demonstrated in that God allowed an animal to die instead of the one guilty of the sin! The sinner did not have to pay the price.

e. Remember when man sinned in the garden…i. Adam & Eve hid because they realized their sins made them naked before Godii. They made themselves garments of fig leaves but God made them tunics.iii. Some animals were killed and they were “covered” (remember the def. of

atonement) – God made atonement for their sins!iv. The next picture we are given in Genesis is that of Cain & Able offering sacrifices.

C. What made it work? Faith….

VI. Faith RespondsA. Everyone understands faith on a practical sense:

1. Dr. – diagnoses a problem you have and prescribes a cure and you do what the Dr. says if you want to be cured. a. Not enough to merely believe the Dr. b. Had to act upon his advice

2. Auto mechanic – diagnoses a problem with a car, tells you the problem, you authorize them to put the part on the vehicle if you want the vehicle fixed.a. Not enough to believe that the mechanic is right…b. Must have the part installed to get the car fixed.

3. Animal sacrifice – same waya. Not enough to merely believe in the atoning power of the animal sacrifice…



b. It was not enough to simply say “God knows my heart” and then not sacrifice the animal…

c. Had to actually sacrifice the animal! (Heb. 9:22)4. On the other hand what if someone said:

a. “My father used to kill an animal every year but I don’t know why he did it.” b. Would that sacrifice work?c. Of course not. We have just minimized it like some superstitious thing.d. What we see about faith is that:

i. You need to know what you are doing!ii. You needed to know why you were doing it!iii. You had to do it!iv. That is what genuine faith has always been.v. Examples (Heb. 11):

a.) Able…offeredb.) Noah…preparedc.) Abraham…Went…Offeredd.) Sarah…conceivede.) Isaac…Blessedf.) Israelites…Passed Throughg.) Israelites…Encircled Walls of Jericho

vi. Genuine faith requires belief-based action! e. Definition of faith: Heb. 11:6

i. Must believeii. Rewards those who diligently seek Himiii. Genuine faith requires belief-based action!

5. Jn. 3:16; Jas. 2:19 Contradiction? a. Synecdoche (sin-ek-doe-key)

i. A part is put for the whole a.) Ask farmer how many cows he has he might respond 50 “Head” of cattle (not lit

50 heads walking around); head represents the whole cowb.) Traffic: Drivers on the road (don’t really mean the drivers are on the road but

we are referring to the number of people are on the road in their automobiles)

ii. Other times the whole represents a part:



a.) When the police are coming: “Here comes the law.” (One or two police officers may represent the entire law)

b.) School band arrives for competition, someone might say, “Paoli is here.” (Not whole town, but the band is representing the town.)

b. Jn. 3:16 (a synecdoche)i. Jesus is not giving the complete steps for salvationii. Jesus is giving a part that represents a bigger message

B. What is saving faith?1. Not works alone (raw obedience)2. Not belief alone (only doing things out of heartfelt sincerity)3. Saving faith: Action, based upon belief (obedience from the heart cf. Jas. 2:14)

a. James addressed the issue: Are we saved at the point of belief. b. His answer: No. Jas. 2:

i. (v. 14) Can that type of faith save a man?ii. (v. 17) Faith without action is deadiii. (v. 18) Faith is shown by actioniv. (v. 20) Faith without action is uselessv. (v. 21-23) Abraham’s faith was perfected by his actionsvi. (v. 24) We are justified by action, not faith alonevii. (v. 26) Faith without works is deadviii. (v. 19) Demons are believers (this means there are BELIEVERS IN HELL!!!)

C. Example of faith: someone gives you gift - check1. Could be money in account, check may bounce2. If you have faith there is money in the account you endorse, take to bank, deposit and

expect to get money3. The money was rightfully yours but you would not receive that money until you acted

upon your trust that there would be funds in the persons account to cover the amount of the check!

4. You couldn’t just believe the check was good – had to act upon that belief5. Required you to do something

D. Altar:1. When they sacrificed the animal on the altar and received the forgiveness of sins they did

not earn anything!



2. They were merely doing what God had required them to do in order to be able to accept the gift!

E. Think now of all that we learn about through the O.T. schoolmaster: 1. Sin2. Holiness3. Sacrifice4. Faith5. Justice6. Grace7. Atonement8. Redemption9. Mercy10. Reconciliation11. Blood12. Sanctification13. Representative death14. These were all things we needed to learn before

Christ came upon the scene!

VII. Jesus is God’s Sacrificial LambA. Chinese language:

1. Oldest continuous written language in world2. First written over 4500 years ago (1000+ years before

the first books of the Bible were written; not long after the tower of Babel)

3. Used simple pictures to express words or ideas4. Person (mouth) + man (legs) = older brother (older

brother was spokesperson for the family)5. Long before the Chinese worshipped Buddah they

worshipped the same God we do. (Evidence in their own written language)

6. Book this info comes from7. Symbol for 8 + person (mouth) + boat = large ship

a. Comes from story of Noah’s ark



8. Word “Me” made up of two words: hand + knife9. Word “righteousness” = me + lamb

VIII. Jesus Paid the Price Owed By the SinnerA. When John first saw Jesus coming to be baptized he

announced Him (Jn. 1:29) 1. “Lamb of God” – Jews knew exactly what this meant2. Jesus’ death – purposeful, intentional3. Entire O.T. summarized in this one statement4. Heb. 4:15 Jesus had no sins of His own

a. Made it possible for Him to be a substitute sacrifice for another – our sins transferred unto His body in a representative death on our behalf!

Conclusion: A. In our next lesson we will speak more about examining the blood of Christ

Invitation: A. You must have that atoning blood.B. Meet blood representatively in the watery grave of baptism.

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