Photo by Andrew-George on Unsplash
In my last post, I commented on the Old Testament scripture in Zechariah, where the prophet speaks about Jesus around 500 years before his birth.
“Sword, get moving against my shepherd, against my close associate!” Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. “Kill the shepherd! Scatter the sheep! The back of my hand against even the lambs!”
Zechariah 13:7 The Message
I mentioned that sometimes God has a different plan, which you will only see after the denial.
The Plan of Redemption is a powerful story about a love so intense that it required someone to die, and not just anyone, but the Son of God.
Amos, another Old Testament prophet, reveals God’s intent for humanity.
“The fact is, God, the Master, does nothing without first telling his prophets the whole story.”
Amos 3:7 The Message
God intends to reveal his plan to his creation before it happens. The challenge is (for any number of reasons) that we often miss or misinterpret the message and, therefore, are unaware of God’s plan.
This was the case in the plan of redemption, and religious humanity missed it.
The revelation did not come until after Jesus’s denial, death, burial, resurrection, and the walking-through-the-closed-door meeting with his disciples.
“While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.”
They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death.
He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over.
Look at my hands; look at my feet – it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.”
As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.”
Luke 24: 36-40 The Message
At that moment, seeing was believing, but the plan was revealed through the Old Testament prophets hundreds of years before.
“Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”
He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way.
He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day,
and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations – starting from here, from Jerusalem!”
Luke 24:44-47 The Message
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah addresses the bigger picture of God and man when he says,
“I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree.
For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. ”
Isaiah 55:8-9 The Message
In other words, God may reveal a matter, but it will not be understood until the right time because it isn’t time yet.
I know it sounds confusing, but understanding how it works is vital to your close personal relationship with God.
The Bigger Picture
There was a far bigger plan at play in Jesus’s life, and it could be understood only after the plan played out.
However, it applies to your life, and I am not talking about accepting Jesus as your savior. That is, of course, THE most critical initial step, but I am referring to something bigger.
Salvation allows you to enter the house, but a vast world awaits you.
The prophet Isaiah says God thinks and works “beyond the way you think.”
This means you are looking for a new car, and God wants to grow your faith.
It means you seek a way out of the situation, and God sees an opportunity to strengthen your trust in him.
You are looking for an answer today, and God is preparing a blessing in eternity.
The fulfillment of God’s word over your life is paramount to him. However, humanity sees that in the temporary world we call home, God is preparing us for the eternal world that is home.
This is why surrendering to him is important, and I believe this surrender comes in stages as our walk with him matures.
There is a place in the New Testament Gospels where Jesus tells his disciples that he has many things to say to them, but he has to wait until the right time.
This should encourage Christ-followers because it means God has a future for us, revelations we will walk in as we grow in him.
It should encourage you because it means (even though) you are not there (at a certain place of growth), God sees a time when you will be there.
It should encourage you because it validates the reality that God has a plan for you.
The journey is exciting and scary, and I am thankful for everyone who is willing to accompany me on it.
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