God’s Plan for your Life 1: Do You Know It?

Are you one of those many Christians who has asked what exactly is God’s plan for my life? What do you think of when you hear those words, 'God's plan for your life?' Maybe you think everyone else has got this sorted but you have missed out. Where does this idea of God having a plan for your life come from?

''I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'' (Jeremiah 29:11)

Our local Christian bookshop manager – who does understand this verse – assured me she can sell about anything in the shop if it carries this text, they just fly off the shelf. Near the bookshop is one of those generic stalls that sells New Age trinkets and junk, from a lucky cat, through fairies and angels, to Buddha in repose. Its the sort of thing people have in their home to feed their wishful thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a life as serene, magical, lucky.

Life is never as serene as Buddha sitting under a Bodhi tree, angels and fairies don’t sit on your shoulder to grant wishes, and cats are – cats. Jeremiah 29:11 is to many Christians what the lucky cat is to the wishful thinkers, comforting to contemplate but of no practical use. This is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied texts in the Bible and Christians could save themselves a lot of trouble and troubled introspection if they understood it..

 

Context

Jeremiah 29:1-2 tells us the context is the exile of Judah, including Daniel and his companions. The verse comes in the text of a letter sent by Jeremiah from Jerusalem to exiled Judah. The 'you' of verse 11 is plural, the promise of v.11 is very specific in those to whom it is being made, the exiles. If it is for us at all it is plural and for the church, not for the individual. Heaven preserve us from post-modern individualism - Context people.

Further, if you want Jeremiah 29:11 to be a promise to you, you must also have the previous 28 chapters, because they lead up to and contextualise the verse. They are full of warnings and exhortations, accusations, threat of drought, condemnation, and judgement. It isn't pretty. One example is 16:1-4. Look it up and ask yourself if you still want to enjoy the promises of God through Jeremiah – Context people.

Jeremiah 29:11 is not about God's perfect plan for your life but about restoration of a rebellious people after 70 years in exile. Context again.

God had miraculously brought Abraham's descendants out of the house of slavery and commanded them 'now live like this,' giving them the Law through Moses. The Law didn't bring people to God, God brought people to himself then gave them the Law - Exodus 19:3-6. The Law describes how a saved people live. I say again Context.

Leviticus 26:14-15, 31-33 describes what God will do if his people reject his Laws and violate the covenant. Terror, disease, fever, hunger and defeat at the hands of enemies, terror, ruin, waste, scattering and exile. Context teaches us.

Leviticus 26: 39-42 describes how God will, nevertheless, keep his promises and restore his people, 'Then I will remember you...For I know the plans I have for you...' Lev.26:42; Jer.29:11) God's plans are never thwarted. Context is understanding.

Even though we might take comfort from the general understanding that we are in God's hands and care - In all things God works for the good of those that love him' Ro.8:28 - we cannot reasonably apply Jeremiah 29:11 to us. It is an example of what has come to be known as narcisegesis, the unbiblical habit of making all Scripture revolve around me.

If God doesn't have a plan specific to my life what does he have? Is there a plan at all?

 

God’s Plan and Purpose

In his letter to the church in Ephesus Paul tells how God, through Christ, has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (1:3); chosen us to be holy and blameless (1:4); predestined us to be adopted as sons (1:5); redeemed us through the blood of Christ (1:7); lavished on us grace, wisdom and understanding (1:8). We are not meant to be mere creatures but sons. Sons who understand and, in understanding, exercise wisdom. No surprise since we were made originally in the image and likeness of God, to have dominion (Genesis 1:26) to understand and steward the world in which we live. All this, Paul insists, is, ‘to the praise of [God’s] glorious grace’ (1:6)

Paul explains explicitly the purposes of God, revealed to all who trust in Christ:

‘And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.’ (Ephesians 1:9-10)

The thought here is that everything that fails to make sense in this world will be summed up and given perfect meaning in Christ. Its not about me, its about Christ! Everything about us, our being chosen and predestined, serves God’s purpose and plan in Christ, ‘for the praise of his glory.’ (1:11-12) Do yourself a favour and read Ephesians 1:3-14 and count the number of times ‘in Christ’ or a variant thereof appears. It is all about Jesus, and once you realise this your doctrinal understanding will be revolutionised.

God may yet have a specific purpose for particular individuals, at particular times, in church service, mission, etc. For some it is a lifetime call. But what does a purposeful Christian life look like when there isn't a specific 'plan for my life?' We will look at that next time.

My Imperfect Faith

James, the half-brother of Jesus, and leader of the Jerusalem church has one letter preserved in our New Testament, but what a practical, challenging letter. It begins:

“Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”

Who writes stuff like that? Who would welcome such a letter? Can you imagine someone saying, “Is that the postman? I do hope there’s a letter from Uncle James?” Yet James has good and exciting reasons for writing like this, reasons why we should welcome such a letter:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith brings perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (Js.1:2-4)

Did you get that? Trials bring perseverance and perseverance makes us mature, completes us, so we lack nothing. There is a process here, a work being done in a Christian’s heart and life and it has the purpose of bringing us to Christian maturity.

Paul says something about this maturity in his letter to Christians in Ephesus:

It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph.4:11-13)

The ministries of the church exist to prepare and equip us for maturity. Maturity looks like Christ, so Paul talks about us “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We were never meant to be a congregation of the sanctimonious, an audience of pew-sitters, a fidget of duty-bound Sunday clock-watchers, a gathering of the guilt-ridden.

The message of the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ, is that he died for our sins so we could be a fully like him, “not lacking anything,” as James puts it, fully equipped and “prepared for works of service,” writes Paul. That equipping, that maturing, the growth into that state comes the same way every process of development comes, by perseverance in the face of trials and obstacles. So why are we so impatient with each other and with ourselves?

The truth is, we believe imperfectly (see through a glass darkly to quote a great phrase from Paul) and so should expect to experience frustration and disappointment as we learn to see, walk and live properly.

In this process our trust is not in what we know but in who we know. Our faith is not in what we can do but in what he has done. The lamp of our way is not in our own “self-realisation” but our Christ realisation.

We endure to the end, not consistently but determinedly because we know his plan for us. We are not good at  this Christian thing all time but we get better at it with the passing of time because he doesn’t give up on us and continues to work in us to bring us to maturity. It doesn’t depend on the strength of our faith but on our faith in his strength.

Of course, in our dealings with others, we are to be discerning but we are also to be forgiving because we are forgiven and know what it cost him and what a work he has done and continues to do in us. As we anticipate Good Friday we might consider how readily he forgives and how grudging we can be in our forgiving.

God’s plan is to bring all who trust in his Son to maturity and if the process we see in others looks a little messy we might remember that we were not promising material when he picked us up and set us on the path of perseverance to Christian maturity either.

I am so thankful today for the forgiveness of God, and for the forgiveness of God’s people, a sign of true maturity in his church.

The Christian in Armour

Clothed in Christ (Ephesians 6:10-20)

Paul, in his letter to Christians in Ephesus – probably a circular letter to churches in Asia Minor, modern Turkey – is a helpful overview of Paul's thinking. It covers many major themes before coming to the familiar text about the armour of God.

Paul begins by reminding faithful Christians that we are “blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Verses one to fourteen of chapter one are one sentence in Greek and form a doxology, an expression of praise to God for his many and generous blessings, first through the Father (v 3) then through the Son (vv 4-13a) and finally through the Spirit (vv13b-15)

The Christian, we are told, is chosen (4,11), predestined (5,11), redeemed and forgiven (7), made wise in God's purposes (vv8-9), included in Christ and sealed to him (13), and has the Spirit as a guarantee of future inheritance in Christ (13,14)

Paul's prayer is that we understand, “the hope to which he has called you, the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” He is anxious to impress upon us the eternal significance of his message for us (1:15-23 cf 3:14-21) a message of:

• Spiritual resurrection 2:1-10
• Cultural and religious reconciliation 2:11-22
• Entry into God's eternal truth 3:1-13
• A place with Christ in heavenly places 2:4-10

He encourages us in how we are to live in light of these great truths:

• In the church in unity and maturity 4:1-16
• In the world in love and as light 4:17-5:21
• In the home in love, kindness and mutual submission 5:22-6:9

We have every reason, then, to “be strong in the Lord” as Paul writes in 6:10, because our strength is in God's “mighty power” and the armour he now writes about is, “the armour of God.” It is only so armed that “you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.” Indeed, it is because “our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against...the spiritual forces of the evil one...” that we must put on the armour of God's providing.

The belt of truth indicates that we are settled and firm in our conviction and character, not force, is is what wins the battle. Jesus said “I am truth” (John 14:6) When we understand the truth of Christ there is no lie that can bind us.

The breastplate of righteousness reminds us we are not righteous in ourselves but because we are in Christ we are justified, God pronounces us righteous and treats us as such. There is no condemnation in Christ (Ro.8:1); this breastplate protects us against all the accusations of Satan

The shoes of the gospel represent a readiness to tell the good news of Jesus and equip us to stand firm in the gospel. Our feet are protected by the gospel of peace (Ro.5:1)

The shield of faith is utilised by trusting on God's promises that protect us from our enemy. The shield of faith is the only movable part of the armour and can cover any area to protect us from the fiery darts the enemy sends. Faith in the finished and complete work of Christ (Ro.10:9).

The helmet of salvation is vital because our minds need to be renewed from the way of the world to the way of Christ (Ro.12:2). The helmet guards our minds, reminding us of God's promises for our future.

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God by which we can destroy every false argument. But this is not a blunt instrument to hit people over the head with. The Spirit makes real the word of Christ in us and we share from that reality, bringing a life changing word to others (John 16:13).

This is not literal armour, each piece is an aspect of the completed work of Jesus Christ; to know the armour we are to know Him. We do not seek the armour but we seek the Christ and realise what is ours because of the complete work of Christ. This is the fully equipped Christian standing firm in the armour of God, clothed in Christ.