God's Plan For You | Eastside church of Christ

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11). People often wonder what God’s plan is for their lives. The above passage suggests that God knows these plans. Yet people want to know what the future holds so badly that they often run wild in speculation about every circumstance, decision, or consequence that exists in their lives, trying to determine some greater significance to these events. The Bible certainly does address this issue about God’s plan for our lives. But we can only know what God has revealed to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). People often get caught up in trying to find God’s plan for them in the details of life – jobs, homes, hardships, etc. – even though no such divine plans for us can be found in the revealed will of God. By devoting our mental effort to mere curiosities and speculations, it becomes easier to ignore the big picture. Sadly, many have done this and have become “choked with worries… of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14). I know what God’s plan is for you. And I can show you this plan in the Bible.

God Desires for You to Be in Heaven with Him

Shortly before His death, Jesus explained His plan to His apostles:

“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).

This place that Jesus was planning to prepare was not on the earth. Otherwise He could have stayed to prepare their place. But He had to depart and would later return to the earth to bring them to this place. This promise of salvation and a home in heaven was not just for the apostles whom Jesus was addressing on this occasion – the promise was open to all. Following His death and resurrection, Jesus told these apostles, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved…” (Mark 16:15-16). Peter later told the household of Cornelius, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34-35). God wants you to be with Him in heaven for eternity. This is His plan. We must not ignore it or minimize its importance because we are too busy searching for some plan we think God has for us on the earth. We have no divine revelation expressly describing such a plan. But He has expressly revealed His eternal, heavenly plan for us.

In Order for This Plan to be Fulfilled…

In order for God’s plan for you to be fulfilled, several things had to happen. God has made sure that everything necessary was carried out in order to give you the opportunity to be with Him in heaven. Sin Had to be Dealt With – The first step to making a home in heaven available to us was to deal with the problem of sin. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). If sin was not dealt with appropriately, we could not be in heaven with God. Why not? Could God not simply choose to ignore sin? No, He could not. It would be against His nature. John explained, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). God had to address this problem. Furthermore, we should remember that sin is a universal problem. Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). No one of accountable age is exempt from this (1 John 1:8, 10). So do not think that you are the exception to the rule. Your sins needed to be dealt with just the same as the sins of everyone else. Jesus was going to have to come and deal with sin. He came to “reconcile” us “to God” (Ephesians 2:16). This would require His death on the cross (1 Peter 3:18; 2:24). Christ Had to Come – God’s “eternal purpose” was “carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11). His “predetermined plan” involved Jesus being “nailed to a cross” and “put…to death” (Acts 2:23). In order for this plan to be carried out, several things had to be done to prepare the way for Christ:

Paul wrote, “But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus’ arrival on the earth was not an accident. The fact that circumstances were favorable to God’s plan to be carried out was no coincidence. God deliberately chose a certain time – the proper time – to send Christ into the world.
Prior to Jesus beginning His public ministry, John would prepare the way for Christ (Mark 1:2-4). The gospel writer pointed out that John’s coming was prophesied by Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 40:3). Again, this was not happenstance. This was God’s predetermined plan.
In addition to the prophecy about John, the forerunner of Christ, there are many other prophecies about Christ (1 Peter 1:10-11). Peter said of these prophets, “It was revealed to them they they were not serving themselves, but you” (1 Peter 1:12). The prophecies were revealed for our benefit. In sending Christ, God was not just concerned about the people of the first century, but all who might read these prophecies in the Old Testament about Christ and gain the “encouragement of the Scriptures” and “have hope” (Romans 15:4).
Not only did the plan have to be made and the events foretold, God had to preserve the lineage that would lead to Christ (Matthew 1:1-17). The promise was first made to Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). This promise was passed on through Isaac (Genesis 21:12), Jacob (Genesis 28:13-14), and the nation of Israel (Genesis 35:10-11; Deuteronomy 7:6-8). This why the nation of Israel was preserved despite their sin. They were preserved so that salvation might yet come. This is the point of the passage we began with: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11). This is not talking about God planning what job one will have or something of that nature. It is about the restoration of the Jews from captivity and looking forward to the time when the people would be gathered from all the nations – a foreshadowing of the kingdom of Christ being established (Jeremiah 29:10-14; cf. Isaiah 2:2-3; Acts 2:5ff).
As we go back further, we see God’s plan unfolding from the very beginning. After sin was introduced into the world, God sentenced the serpent for his role in the fall. In doing so, He revealed a prophecy about the future triumphant work of Christ: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15).

The above points provide only a brief summary of all that God has done to make salvation possible for you. With all that He has done to save you, do not “think lightly of the riches of His kindness,” for “the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). This is an important point. This plan does not just involve the actions of God. His plan is that we are led to do something. We must understand what He expects us to do. Man Had to be Shown the Way – We cannot direct ourselves to heaven apart from God. Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). The way to heaven is through Christ (John 14:6). We need to know how to follow that way. The eternal purpose in Christ would be made known through the gospel (Ephesians 3:8-11). This gospel message is for “all creation” (Mark 16:15). As God has planned all things necessary to save us, He also “chose us…before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). Many are quick to argue that God has made these choices of individuals arbitrarily through divine prerogative. But this is not at all what Paul taught. Notice the whole verse:

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4).

Who will be saved? First, Paul said that the ones God chooses are those who are “in Him” (Christ). How does one get in Christ? We are “baptized into Christ” (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). In order to be saved, one must submit to baptism (1 Peter 3:21). Second, Paul says the chosen ones are those who “would be holy and blameless before Him.” We are expected to conduct our lives according to God’s standard. After “the grace of God…appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11), the ones who were saved by His grace were to be taught “to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:12). The ones who belonged to Christ were to be “zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14). Our responsibility in God’s great plan for us is summarized by the wise man: “Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Circumstances in life will change. There will be times of suffering and times of joy. But this remains constant – our responsibility to obey the Lord. This leads to salvation (Hebrews 5:9). To God, this salvation was a matter of utmost importance. It needs to be the highest priority for us as well. —Andy Sochor