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God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized! The Plan Executed! (Literally)A sermon on Hebrews 9:24-28
God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized!
The Plan Executed! (Literally)
Hebrews 9:24-28
† Jesus-Son-Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus help you understand the depth of their plan to deliver you to the freedom of Heaven!
Intro: Don’t ask if you don’t want to know!
Imagine if you were a leader, and in your possession came all your competition’s papers. Included in that collection were letters from your own people, who were planning to betray you. How would you handle it?
That very thing happened to Julius Caesar, as he defeated general Pompey. Inside the chest full of documents there were letters from some of the closest people to him, who were seeking to overthrow him.
Charles Spurgeon, a British preacher and historian, included this part of the story, “if Caesar had read those letters it is probable that he would have been so angry with many of his friends that he would have put them to death for playing him false. Fearing this, he magnanimously took the box and destroyed it without reading a single line.” [i]
It has been said that what you don’t know can hurt you!
Those were the men who would later, on what became to be known as the Ides of March, stab Julius Caesar was literally stabbed in the back by his friends who had written the letters…
The letters he did not read, identifying his betrayers, the ones who planned his death…
Caeser sacrificed his own life, because he didn’t want to face his betrayers.
Our Lord Jesus was also sacrificed by people he loved… the difference is that He knew it was coming, had known for millennia…
For He not only knew their plan, He was the Father’s plan, the plan for our future and hope!
Law – God knew the content of your life
In our reading from Hebrews this morning, there is a comparison between the Jewish High Priest and Jesus, between the Temple’s holy of Holies and the presence God’s throne in heave.
The Holy of Holies is a picture of the heavenly throne where God the Father dwells. The place where the offering is brought to make payment for our sin, the difference.
The place described as the “place made with human hands,” that is either the Tabernacle or its replacement the temple, was only a temporary fix, the offering having to made, as John writes, “like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal.”
Why did God provide this way of Old Testament sacrifice?
For the same reason He had a plan: Jesus.
Because unlike Julius Caesar, had read the record, and knew every sin, every bit of work we’ve done to rebel from God and every thought where we decided we know more than God.
God’s read the letters of your life, even the darkest ones…
He knows, He knew those sins, even before we committed them.
Gospel – One final death….
Caesar didn’t want to know his enemies and what they were doing. He sacrificed his own life for blissful ignorance.
God wanted to know His enemies, for only then could He execute His Plan. For His Plan, Jesus, was to be the sacrifice offered to save their lives. That is why the title of this message is – The Plan Executed – Literally. He was the Plan and He was executed for us!
Hear it again from John the apostle,
“Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.”
No sacrifice every year, just Jesus, God’s plan—His only plan from before the foundation of the world to save us, the Plan – had to be executed.
That was what the tabernacle and the Temple pointed to, every sacrifice of every type, that there would be a final sacrifice that would take away our sins.
Domino’s Delivers
So complete a sacrifice, that when Jesus returns, there will be no longer be any need to deal with sin, it was finished off, its power to condemn us stripped away,
Salvation is Greek actually means to deliver. It is not only salvation from sin, but salvation to a new state of life! If you have a pizza delivered, or food from Grubhub, it is only part of the process to pick up the food at the restaurant—there has to be a delivery.
We have to realize that people aren’t just delivered from sin—they are delivered into the presence of God, where they are welcome. Now as the Holy Spirit takes us residence in us—as promised in our Baptism.
Eternally as one day we are welcomed into heaven!
And that is all He comes back to do, the judgment is already secure because of His sacrifice for us on the cross. So we have been saved from and we await being saved to…
Because the Plan was executed for us.
And because of that – we dwell in the peace of God which is beyond all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! AMEN!
[i] Spurgeon, C. (2017). 300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon (E. Ritzema & L. Smoyer, Eds.). Lexham Press.
God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized! The Plan: To Satisfy Us and Bring Us Joy! A Concordia Message on Psalm 90:12-17
God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized!
The Plan: To Satisfy Us and Bring Us Joy!
Psalm 90:12-17
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ satisfy your desires and bring you the greatest joy! AMEN!
Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
As we talk about God’s plan in this sermon series, there are a number of rules about what is called in business “strategic planning, that when taken together give us some basic understanding of the necessity and need for adapting our planning. Both come from the military, and both have been accepted in corporate and educational leadership as laws.
The first they must have worked on forever, trying to come up with a memorable phrase. It states, Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents &#*$ Poor Performance.
An obvious illustration of this comes out of a story during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where people were building nuclear shelters in their back yards. One story comes out of that time where a man build the best shelter, the highest technology possible, and 20 years of canned food and water stored up. The story went along that one day, during a potential missile launch, he went down, locked himself in for 10 years, and then realized he forgot one thing….
A can opener.
Proper planning and preparation….could have prevented perishing
But as we move towards the end of time, and toward the judgment, what kind of planning and preparation can we devise that will see us through something more overwhelming than war?
We need proper planning and preparation…..
Or we will cry out with the Psalmist, 13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!
For if we don’t know the plan, how can we prepare for it?
All Strategic Plans Dissolve in the first moment of battle
The second rule almost invalidates the first. It’s not fancy, with each first letter matching. It is from a German Field Marshall, but has been requoted by other military leaders, business leaders and politicians since. It says, No plan survives first contact with the enemy! (Or the customer, or the media!)
You can make all the greatest plans, but they fail if they are our plans. This is especially true spiritually!
How many of us plan to never sin again – especially that one sin—you know the one I am talking about… And then the temptation we pray against comes, and we find ourselves falling again, because our plan failed in the first contact with temptation, evil, and Satan and his demons.
While planning and preparation is needed our own desire will fail at times, we will still need something more—readily accessible to depend on In those situations.
Make no mistake my dear people, this Is spiritual warfare. And Satan will do anything to get our focus on us, letting us plan, letting us think we are in control, allowing us to mature, only to trap us in our pride.
But we aren’t the only ones, who plan can fail in the heat of the moment. For Satan’s plan ha already fallen short….
Even as the people of God recognize and call for God’s help…. God was already moving heaven and earth….for His plan and preparation was faultless, and His plan included not surviving.
God’s plan!
What I love about this Psalm is the confidence, the faith that the psalmist has is impressive! For he knows the plans God has for him – and for his people. Look at these requests he makes of God,
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom!
Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good.
Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory!
And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
These are the cries of one who is facing defeat, they are the cries of one who knows the heart of God, yet has found their own plans, and their people’s plans trashed. But knowing the heart of God, knowing His plan for us makes the differences here.
For every one of those things are the things God has always done in the past for His people!
The things He did in David’s time, what Jesus did while here was here what the Spirit has done in the church throughout time, showing grace, mercy and love.
I really want to focus on our reaction to this work of God, the request of the psalmist that God “14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives”
First that word “satisfy.”
When I first hear the word, I think of the minimum possible positive result – they satisfy the requirements for the position. The work meets the standard. But the Biblical concept is far deeper than that – think of how you are satisfied after a thanksgiving feast.
When God satisfies us, it is talking about the highest level, that kind of satisfaction that provides for total contentment. It’s the kind of satisfaction that leaves everything and everyone peaceful, ready to relax and celebrate.
It is being assured that the war is over, the battles are won, and everyone has returned home, those who were damaged and broken healing nicely, relationships restored.
Perhaps you would say that this is still in the future, isn’t it? Aren’t we still in a spiritual battle? That is why there is a reference to the unfailing love that will bring us the contentment and satisfaction that will lead us to the joy that we can sing about to the end of our lives.
His Is why Paul would pray,
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT2)
This is what we need to know each day, each morning, to keep our legs moving, to know that we are not alone, and that Goves us, and restores us.
For that is the wisdom we pray for – to know that God has a plan – and God will make it happen.
AMEN!
His Mysterious Plan: A sermon on Ephesian 3:1-12
His Mysterious Plan
Ephesians 3:1-12
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace of God our Father help you see your role in the church, as God displays His wisdom, found in the mystery of His eternal plan carried out through Jesus Christ our Lord!
A mysterious plan
As this sermon will be translated
The Cambridge-English dictionary suggested clarifying what is meant in our usage of the word mystery. What comes closest to my understanding of the Greek word is this option: †
“something strange or not known, that has not yet been explained, or understood” Another way to phrase it would be an enigma, and in this case, a divine enigma.
Oddly enough, the word google translate suggest is Chinese is 谜, † pronounced “Me” ( Mi)
So “Me” is a mystery and an enigma.
Makes sense in English!
But we are talking about God’s mystery today, this plan that has been in existence since before time began. A secret which Paul would reveal, which is still challenging for us to comprehend, and it is still a challenge for us to use in our lives.
Not revealed? Kept secret?
Twice in this passage, Paul mentions that his mystery, this plan of God that is not yet completely known or understood was kept secret. In verse 5 he says, †
God did not reveal it to previous generations,
And then in verse 9, †
9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
There is a challenge here, that we need to deal with, this idea that God hides His mystery, that God doesn’t lay out His entire plan for us to deal with, for us to accept, for us to know.
That doesn’t just
sound right, after all, shouldn’t God just be completely honest with us? Why wasn’t He completely transparent with His
people? Why where His plans such a
mystery?
There is tendency in mankind to want to know, to understand, but along with
that we want to be able to raise questions, to criticize, to help adjust the
plans. We want to be advisors to God,
and we see that throughout history.
Peter did this, when Jesus talked about the cross, and Jesus called Peter
Satan, and told him to get lost.
We do it now, when we choose to give in to temptation, when we decide to sin,
when we choose to ignore God’s commands, especially the two great commands,
To Love God with all our heart, soul and mind
To love our neighbor as ourselves.
Every time we do something that Is not loving, every time we sin, we tell God that we don’t trust Him. How much more would we have done this, if we knew everything from the beginning?
The plan – all united in Christ
So God didn’t share the plan, but now He has. And it is about that very thing, loving God and loving those people God brings into our lives.,
To bring us all into this incredible relationship where God is our Father, where we all become one body in Christ.
Where we all share in the riches that we
For we dwell in Christ, united to each other, even as we are united to Him, at the cross.
That is why the cross is the center of the plan, for Paul will tell the church in Rome and the church in Colossae that we were united to Christ at His death on the
And as we are all united to Him, we find ourselves united
We are all one in Christ, that was the mystery that Paul revealed, the plan we needed. For we needed to see what the cross would make possible. That cleansed of all sin, restored and reconciled in our relationship with God
The fulfillment of the plan – we come boldly
Every plan has a final goal, a final measurement when
you know the work is done.
Even those plans that seem vague, have that moment when everything becomes
known, when everything becomes clear.
In this case, the plan’s goal, is stated clearly in verse 12. †
12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come
boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
So now you see God’s ultimate goal, the reason for everything He has
planned.
That we would be able to confidently dwell in the presence of God.
No fear
no guilt
No shame
no doubt
Just simply dwelling with Him, find comfort and rest in His presence, depending on Him to guide us, and take care of us.
For that is what it means to have faith, to depend on God completely, no longer
hidng behind illusions, but to trust God with everything…
For He is our God
And we, we are all His people! AMEN!
His Mysterious and Awesome Plan!
His Mysterious and Awesome Plan!
Ephesians 1:3-14
May you realize the grace of God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace that reveals you are what they desired, as from before time, the manger and the cross became their plan in action!
18 times…. One Thought
Eighteen times in the course of eleven verses, the plan of God is either mentioned directly or indirectly or the plan itself is simply reveled.
In these beginning verses of Ephesians, we are told over and over about this plan of God.
Paul wants to make sure the church in Ephesus knows that God’s mysterious plan, this awesome desire of His is made clear, that it is full revealed.
The Holy Spirit didn’t stop there, as this plan from before the foundation of world was executed, as it was completed. As we, nearly 20 centuries later, see what God has planed and did impact our lives.
Right now, God’s plan is being revealed, and it is revealed in our lives..
18 times Paul mentions the plan….
It is that important to understand that plan for us…
Is real.
Is now….
…….And it defines who we are…..
The Amazing Plan….
We see the plan revealed with these words,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ
for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you.
The apostle Paul is explaining the reason for the manger, for the cross, for the baptismal font, for the altar from which we receive the feast of all feasts, the Lord’s Supper.
This purpose, this plan, was to reconcile everything to God the Father, as it was united to Jesus.
Paul will use the gardening/farming illustration of grafting us to Christ, of binding us to Him, for He is the source of our life.
He will use the banking illustration of reconciling us to Christ, and of redeeming us from the debt owed. Everything we are, moved from a liability to an asset in God’s balance book.
He will talk of freeing us, and declaring us justified/righteous, judicial terms, and the medical concept of quickening – the bringing back to life. God uses the image of the travel agent even, delivering His people into the land of milk and honey, the image looking toward the day Paul mentions in Colossians,
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NAB)
This is all why this exists, this plan of God to make for Himself a people, the masterpiece he will mention in chapter 2, verse 10.
A plan which no one could really understand prior to the cross, a mystery because no one could have understood that all this would be accomplished through a cross, through the violent death of God, as we killed Jesus, as God the Father raised Him from the dead.
The Amazing Reason….
If the plan for our deliverance, for our salvation, a plan put into place before the garden of Eden and is incredible and praiseworthy and glorious, there is a comment about this plan that is more astonishing.
It is mentioned a number of times as well…. The idea of bringing us home, of making us in Christ Jesus His children, is that this is His desire, this is what brings God, our creator great pleasure.
This is God’s goal for creation, it has been what the Trinity has determined to be their plan since the beginning. God desired to adopt you Bob, and you Ben, you Carol, and you Julie.
If God had a facebook account with pictures of His kids….it would include you!
That may sound silly, (or it might cause some great concern – He’d have the most embarrassing pictures ever!)
But you are God’s adopted kids, a process that He takes the greatest joy in….
You are His, and you are the one He wanted….
Hear that again… all of this… all of Christmas….all of the symbolism, all of the decorations, all of advent and lent, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost… it’s all about one thing….
God desire to make us His children, and doing what it took to make it so….
Our Reaction
That’s why this passage from Ephesians is called a doxology – an ancient song of praise.
Because God has desired this, because He has done this.
He’s made us His!
He has blessed us in a way we know is promised, and occasionally we get a glimpse of, like when someone is brought into the family of God, whether as an infant, or as someone in their 90’s.
We are amazed at such love, and we have to delight in it – we have to praise Him directly and to others… it is the reaction that comes from knowing such great love!
It is why this is all here as well – to testify, to proclaim that this love is for every person that has lived – and celebrated, for those who are living now – to come and pray here, a place for this incredible, glorious plan of God to be revealed to them, for His desire to be His children to be made known.
For all the people who live with 20 miles of this place to know the height and depth, breadth and width of God’s love, for them to rejoice and praise Him, for them to dwell in the peace we know…. For in Christ, we live in that peace, awaiting the day of His return…with Him.
AMEN?
If you are interested in hearing this sermon – you can check it out at
Every time Ya Think You Got God Figured Out…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 While I was still in prison in the courtyard, the LORD’S message came to me again. 2 The LORD, who made the earth, who formed it and set it in place, spoke to me. He whose name is the LORD said, 3 “Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things that you know nothing about. 4 I, the LORD, the God of Israel, say that the houses of Jerusalem and the royal palace of Judah will be torn down as a result of the siege and the attack. 5 Some will fight against the Babylonians, who will fill the houses with the corpses of those whom I am going to strike down in my anger and fury. I have turned away from this city because of the evil things that its people have done. 6 But I will heal this city and its people and restore them to health. I will show them abundant peace and security. 7 I will make Judah and Israel prosperous, and I will rebuild them as they were before. 8 I will purify them from the sins that they have committed against me, and I will forgive their sins and their rebellion. 9 Jerusalem will be a source of joy, honor, and pride to me; and every nation in the world will fear and tremble when they hear about the good things that I do for the people of Jerusalem and about the prosperity that I bring to the city.” Jeremiah 33:1-9 (TEV)
924 You should try to have the holy shamelessness of a child who knows that his Father God always sends him what is best. That is why even when the apparently most necessary things are lacking he doesn’t worry; and with complete serenity he says: I still have the Holy Spirit and he remains with me. (1)
There are days where I wished that God told us of the wondering and marvelous things that I know nothing about.
And then there are times I am so struggling with what He’s revealed… that I am more than willing to let the rest simply come about – as I naively and trusting in God, walk through life.
Sme of these wonderful and marvelous things take us by shock, because we do not see the big picture. like in the verses that follow in verse 4. Hard to see the suffering and shock happen, as God strips the people of God of everything that separates them from Him. It seems cruel, vicious, even mad for God to use Babylon’s destructive power to bear on His own people. It can be easy to dwell on those times to be so overwhelmed that we don’t look to the promise, and trust in God’s faithfulness. Maybe its the pain of losing a favorite sin, or some long held resentment,
But the promise is there – God will purify, God will cleanse and heal. God will restore the joy of His people in such a way it will attract people from all over the place to come and witness the restoration, and join in the praises.
Trusting in this way leads to the child like faith that Josemaria Escriva talks about – a faith that looks beyond what is necessary, a trust in God that finds one living in serenity, in incomparable peace. for you realize you are living in Christ, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you – giving you a life that goes beyond what is necessary – giving you a life with God.
So when God throws you a curve ball…and you find youself playing basketball..on ice…in a scuba gear…before 250,000 people…
Relax… He got it all under control..
And it is wonderful and marvelous – for the Lord is with you!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3257-3260). Scepter PublisThhers. Kindle Edition.
