This article, The Plan of God 2 is the b section of the first subject in the series Fundamentals of the Faith.
The Plan of God is best viewed in 3 phases. Phase 1 begins at birth and ends at salvation. Phase 2 begins at salvation and ends at death. Phase 3 begins at death and continues forever in the eternal state.
Phase 1
The Plan of God A, discussed Phase 1 which begins at human birth and ends at our new birth/salvation. During Phase 1 the first goal is to reach the state of God consciousness, the stage of life where man decides what he believes about God’s existence. At God consciousness, we must choose to believe in a Creator-God or reject His existence. If we believe that God exists. Then He moves us to the next step of hearing the gospel. If God exists, then it makes sense that He has made a way to redeem us from the condemnation of Adam’s sin. The work of Christ in His death, burial and resurrection provides the sacrificial atonement that satisfies God’s Justice on our behalf. When we believe the gospel, God saves us and enters us into Phase 2, the Christian life.
Phase 2
At the moment of salvation, we enter into a new phase of spiritual life. At that moment, God takes 50 different actions on our behalf that are permanent and eternal. These 50 things change us from our position in Adam and transfer us into union with Christ. We now share all that Christ is, all the positions He holds and all the wealth He possesses. Also we share His power through the ministry of the Spirit enabling us to live out His victory over the forces of evil. Our life on earth as God’s children can be characterized as overcoming and winning in every aspect of life.
Spiritual Growth
From our new birth until the day we die, God wants us to express His character through our lives to bring glory to Him. He has provided the means for us to grow spiritually, transforming our old ideas into the very beliefs and behaviors of Jesus. God has provided us with the belief system of Jesus that He used to live out His earthly life. Spiritual growth, building the mind of Christ in us, empowers us to love others unconditionally and serve God out of love not fear. The means of spiritual growth is learning and applying God’s word in life. Listen to Peter’s discussion of the subject.
1 Peter 2:2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
The word is described as food (milk & meat) that we eat by learning it and believing it. When we put the word into our hearts by faith, it gives us the supernatural ability to use it to form our ideas and make life decisions. The goal of spiritual growth is spiritual maturity, the status of adulthood in the spiritual life.
Spiritual Maturity
At our new birth, we are born again as spiritual children (1Pet 2:2). The first goal of a spiritual child is become secure in his salvation. Security in Christ gives us the confidence to move into the spiritual war where we will succeed and fail as we grow. It is our security that enables us to recover from sin and failure through confession of sin (1Jn 1:9). As we grow into the adult stages of the spiritual life, we build the momentum to walk in the Spirit more and walk in the flesh less. Maturity is the stage of spiritual adulthood where we take adult responsibilities in worship and service for the Lord (Eph 2:10). We have built the strength to faithfully endure temptations under adversity and trust the Lord to fulfill His promises (Jam 1:2-4). Maturity is the stage of service and also the stage where God begins to bless us with the spiritual blessings He prepared before the world began (Eph 1:3-4). Our blessings in time are parlayed into rewards in eternity.
As we trust God to fulfill His promises in time, we receive the blessings inherent in a relationship with God. These blessings are a grace gift and are intended to sustain us in the devil’s world. Every blessing received in time has a corresponding reward in eternity. The storehouse of blessings when emptied in time, fills a storehouse of rewards that await us in eternity. The ultimate goal of phase 2 is to trust the Lord in every area of life and allow Him to give us the blessings He has prepared for us. In the next article we will discuss Phase 3, the eternal state, where we will enjoy the eternal rewards God desires to give us.
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