Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from 1 Cor. 15. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Most of us recognize the importance of a good plan. It is much more likely that a thing will get done if there is good planning, and if the good planning is actually carried out well.
- That is not to say that we cannot enjoy serendipity, taking things as they come and deciding things on the spur of the moment. However, if the matter at hand is very important, it is unlikely that we will want to leave things to chance. We will want to manage things as much as we can to insure that things work out optimally.
- Our text speaks about God’s planning in regard to the end times, and the culmination of this present aeon. Obviously, this is quite an important eventuality, and so it should not surprise us that God has a plan and that He is executing that plan.
- Neither should it surprise us that the plan which God is executing has our greatest good and blessedness as the chief outcome. We know that God is love, and that He so loved the world as to give us His only Son, as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. In love, Jesus laid down His life for us, to make atonement for our sins and to give us the free gift of eternal life.
- The encouragement of our text is that knowing these things we will continue to live a life of faith and love, entrusting all things in God’s hands, knowing that all will ultimately turn out well for us. If we know God, and if we know He has a plan for our great blessedness, we will be strengthened to continue our life of repentance, faith, and discipleship regardless of our circumstances.
- The apostle Paul lays out the broad strokes of God’s plan:
I. Christ Died For Our Sins, Was Raised For Our Justification, And He Now Reigns Over All Things For Us, So That We Too Will Rise Again From Death On The Last Day
Text: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ.”
A. Believers Will Inherit Eternal Life, As Jesus Taught
Gospel: “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”
B. Unbelievers Will Rise To Be Sent Away Into Eternal Torment
Gospel: “Then the King will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”
Statement: Salvation has already been procured for all people, in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Scripture is clear: “He is the blood atonement for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” God so loved the world, and wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. This is the plan of God – and also that if people insist upon rejecting this gift and refusing to allow God to be their God and Savior, that He will allow them to have their way and to remain cursed.
Application: And so the current time is part of the plan of God – that people be called to faith, salvation, and eternal life through the proclamation of the Gospel and the life of the church. This time is part of a “sorting” process – people will either believe God’s love, rejoice in it, and become devoted to Him, or they will reject God and His love and remain His enemies. We know that the many, the majority, will demand freedom from God and exercise their right to experience the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. We know that only the few, the small minority, will cling to Christ and come to the Father through Him. This is the life of repentance and faith, the life of fellowship within the church, and also a life of service to God by serving His dear people.
Transition: But this is not the final part of the plan, nor will this phase last forever, for ultimately:
II. Christ Will Destroy All Powers Of Darkness – Every Rule, Authority, And Power, Including Death
Text: “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under His feet.’”
Statement: Note that He is reigning now, and in the process of corralling all evil and bringing it into subjection to Himself. This is all part of His eternal plan, a plan which He is surely and certainly implementing to perfection – in accord with His highest goals, that of saving human beings by bringing them to faith and eternal life. So, what we see as seemingly disparate with this reality is in fact in full accord with what He seeks to accomplish; we are erring in judgment when we doubt His power and control over all things, or have a sense that things are beyond His authority and reign.
Application: Sadly, when we err in this way and allow doubts and fears to destroy our faith and disturb our reason, we lose the calm and peace and joy that God wills for us to have. He wants us to both know and BELIEVE that He has a plan, that He has all things under control, and that He is working His plan, and that His plan has as its goal our greatest blessedness in the kingdom He has prepared for us. And that blessedness includes our resurrection on the last day – each in its own order.
Transition: And really, this is at the core of our faith and trust in God, that He is God, and that in the end:
III. All Things Will Be Properly Subjected To God
Text: “When it says that all things are put in subjection, it is clear that He is excepted Who put all things in subjection under Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him Who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all.”
Statement: This last explanation clarifies things about the nature of God, and the incarnation of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is God and man, and His reign over all things is exercised not only according to His divine nature, but also according to His human nature. However, we should not get confused into thinking of God’s putting all things under Him as some kind of abdication on the part of God. No, all things remain subject to God – and He is all in all. But the wonder of this plan of God is that He has placed Jesus our Savior, Jesus Who is our human brother, to rule and reign over all things, and ultimately to destroy all earthly and demonic powers in bringing about the new age, His heavenly kingdom.
Application: Again, the point is that we should derive great peace and joy, comfort and confidence, in the “ORDER” that God has planned and established, so that we live with courage in all that we do, especially in our life as Christians! If we know and believe that He is Almighty, truly God, and if we know He has a plan, and an “ORDER” that He has established, the pressure is taken off of us and we are freed to live in repentance and faith, and free to simply be His people and His witnesses to the ends of the earth. The outcome is in His hands, in accord with His plans, and He will faithfully carry out those plans even as He is carrying them out right now.
Conclusion: We should not think of God has being less wise or less competent than we are. He knows how to plan and how to execute a plan, and He certainly has the power to carry it out. He is not a God of confusion but a God of order, and He will keep the “ORDER TO THE END.” He wills for us to have this trust and confidence in Him, and we will see such faith justified in the end, when He comes in glory. Thanks and praise be to God! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.