I Love It When A Plan Comes Together!

“But who has stood
in the council of the Lord?”
Jeremiah 23:18, NAS

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and informed Him of the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.” (Isaiah 40:12-18, 21-26)

And if space permitted I would also include here for you the one-side, and rather short conversation that God had with Job in chapters 38-42. Chapters 38-39 contain God’s response to a bewildered and frustrated Job who has begun to question the Almighty and His divine decrees and plans. It is okay to be frustrated, and it is even okay to question, but not when accompanied with a pride that doubts and questions the goodness and wisdom of God. Thus, God begins questioning Job, much like He began questioning Israel. For sake of space, I give you now chapter 38, and encourage you to read the rest (chapters 39-42).

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,“Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
“Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
“On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?
“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
“It is changed like clay under the seal;
And they stand forth like a garment.
“From the wicked their light is withheld,
And the uplifted arm is broken.
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea
Or walked in the recesses of the deep?
“Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
“Have you understood the expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
“Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,
That you may take it to its territory
And that you may discern the paths to its home?
“You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!
“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
Which I have reserved for the time of distress,
For the day of war and battle?
“Where is the way that the light is divided,
Or the east wind scattered on the earth?
“Who has cleft a channel for the flood,
Or a way for the thunderbolt,
To bring rain on a land without people,
On a desert without a man in it,
To satisfy the waste and desolate land
And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
“Has the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
“From whose womb has come the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
“Water becomes hard like stone,
And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of Orion?
“Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her satellites?
“Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,
Or fix their rule over the earth?
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
So that an abundance of water will cover you?
“Can you send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
“Who has put wisdom in the innermost being
Or given understanding to the mind?
“Who can count the clouds by wisdom,
Or tip the water jars of the heavens,
When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together?
“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they crouch in their dens
And lie in wait in their lair?
“Who prepares for the raven its nourishment
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?

God’s last question to Job is found in 40:1-2. “Then the Lord said to Job, ‘Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.’” What was Job’s response to this and the further questioning of which we read in chapter 39?

“Then Job answered the Lord and said,
‘Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth”
(Job 39:3-4).

To scores of questions that only God alone can answer, Job finally responds with the humility that befits the created thing. In short, the question restated is, “What business do we as His creatures really have questioning, finding fault, contending with, and reproving the Almighty?” This must be our starting point when discussing anything pertaining to God, especially His salvation, grace, mercy, atonement, etc. As Steven Curtis Chapman has written recently in his song “God is God”, “He is God and I am not!” (Declaration, Chordant Distribution Group, 2001).

“God is God and I am not!”
Stephen Curtis Chapman

Why do I write of these things? I do so for two reasons. First, because our vision of God has been obscured to the point where we do not recognize His sovereignty and His glory, which He is displaying in the outworking of His eternal plan and purpose. Second, I write because of the immediate reaction/response that is caused within our sinful hearts to this truth about God. As the created thing, it is our natural, yet carnal response to react and rebel in our hearts to the truth that God is God and we are not.

It is not uncommon to see wincing and chafing when such great truths are discussed, preached, and taught. When any talk at all begins of God’s eternal decrees and man’s role in salvation, there is much frustration and confusion! After all, nobody likes being told about a plan involving him or her but formulated without them. Christians, however, are the exception to this, for they have received a new heart and a new spirit that is inherently joyous about this plan. For they know that it means their rescue from sin and condemnation and subsequent joy and satisfaction in God. But why do Christians usually react when the truth is told that God’s plan does not involve everyone? I think it is partly because, again, the God of Scripture has been obscured from their full line of sight. And I also think it is partly because they probably have loved ones or close friends who are not saved. I’ll be the first to admit that when I consider that God’s eternal plan of salvation may not include one or more of my four children that I wince and chafe myself under the strain this truth produces in my heart. But the strain and emotion and frustration and confusion cannot and must not take the lead in my thinking and behaving about God! I must and often do remind myself of the God I serve and rebut my reaction with Paul’s question in Romans 9:20.

“No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to criticize God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, 'Why have you made me like this?'" Romans 9:20, NLT

The only other explanation for the reaction that is usually produced, even among Christians, is that we have not yet completely and fully surrendered and submitted to the throne of Almighty God. Thus, the only description for this reaction is rebellion. Yet ironically so, this is the very thing from which Christ saved us! But in a very real and genuine way, it still grows deep within the roots of our human hearts, and it is this rebellion that must be sought out, rooted out and crucified. The heart that questions the Almighty God is not a place where the Spirit of the God can reside. This means that when we hear of truth that is preached from the mouth of God in Scripture, or read of truth that is printed therein, we must bow the knee and confess with the tongue that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). If we can remember Who it is we say we serve and love, namely the same God who questioned Israel and Job, we will be much more capable of rapidly and successfully put to death those rebellious thoughts and responses that often come to mind when we hear truth that rubs us the wrong way. And after we have answered the questions that Israel had to answer, and after we have answered the questions God put to Job, our response should be as follows:

“Then Job replied to the LORD:
‘I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.
You ask, “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?”
It is I. And I was talking about things I did not understand,
things far too wonderful for me. You said, “Listen and I will speak!
I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.”
I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."
Job. 42:1-6

Oh, that this were the response of God’s people whom, more often than not, react to God’s purposes and plans rather than retract!

The Plan of God

Now it is back to this plan that we now return. God has formulated a plan before all time and creation began. It was a plan that He and He alone formulated, without any input from anything, because remember, there wasn’t anything yet! What He planned was for Himself and not for anything else or anyone else, because remember, there wasn’t anyone else yet! Thus, the plans that He made before the foundation of the world were made only by Him and only for Him.

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Romans 11:36

And if we react to this truth, it is only because we have not yet truly believed in our hearts that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9-10), though we may confess it with our mouths. In other words, it is imperative that we understand that saved people don’t react with rebellious hearts to God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. If I don’t like what He has purposed to do, then I don’t like Him, and if I don’t like Him, I don’t really love Him or know Him.

A bottom line truth in what we call the “Doctrines of Grace” is that which Ephesians 1:11 teaches with the utmost clarity. There we learn that Christians were “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” I’ll spend the remainder of this article trying to unpack this verse for you so that you can get at least an introductory feel to the purposes and plans of Almighty God.

Beginning with the first word in that massive little phrase, the Greek word translated “predestined” means, in short, to decide, determine, or set apart from the beginning or beforehand.[1] That pretty much sums it up, and there is really not much more to it than that. At this point let me say at the outset of our unpacking that this little article of clothing is the most hated in the suitcase! Most people throw the smelly sock right back into the suitcase and zip the thing shut. Then others will come behind and throw the suitcase right out the second story window! But beloved, what God’s Word reveals and teaches we must embrace. Remember what kind of God it is with whom we are dealing. No matter how much we may not like it in our flesh, we must renounce all human reactions and welcome the theology of the sovereignty of God that is packed into this word “predestine.” At the kernel of its meaning, there is truth that is difficult to deal with, and difficult to change in meaning. So rather than elaborate on these definitions (and possibly mess up the rest of the clothes in our suitcase!) let’s just leave the word as we have basically defined it and move on.

The word is synonymous with the term “chosen” in verse 4, which also tells us that these things took place “before the foundation of the world.” This takes us back to the council of the Godhead of whom we read earlier in the lines of questioning put forth to Job and Israel. The fact and truth of the matter is that God did not consult with anyone except Himself when He made the decision to choose and predestinate people to bless (v. 3), adopt (v. 5), redeem and forgive (v. 7), reveal His will to (v. 9), give an inheritance (v. 11), believe the gospel (v. 13), and be sealed with the Holy Spirit (v. 14).

This is why God’s purpose and plan in salvation cannot be a matter of God’s choosing and predestinating based on who He foresaw would choose to believe in Him. God’s choice to save was based on a plan He had formulated before there ever was a creation, and before there ever were people to save. To be sure, in His infinite mind He certainly knew who He would create, else there would be no knowledge of who He would save. But at the root of predestination is God’s decision to do something definite and particular before He actually did anything at all. Further, the subject of this predestinating act is God. And the objects of this and all the other actions in the context are the believers to whom Paul wrote. Together, this means that God alone (from the Latin, Sola Deo) is acting as the sole determiner in deciding beforehand who would be marked out and set apart as objects of His salvation. This is hard enough to swallow without going any further! But let’s wade through the verse a little more, going out a little deeper.

Ephesians 1:11 also states, we were predestinated “according to His purpose.” This means that the predestination had an ultimate purpose in mind.[2] This Greek word is also defined as a will or a plan.[3] As if the word ‘predestinate’ was not enough, this word ‘purpose’ continues the pre-creation train of thought in describing God as having planned or purposed something to happen in advance.[4] And what about this plan? Well, it looks like an A-Team plan! The ironic sense of the T.V. show was that despite what reality suggested to us as we saw explosions and crashes, we were made to believe that all of it was part of the great plan that Hannibal had set out before it all began. That’s why he loved it when his plan came together!

By way of comparison, despite what reality may suggest to us (as we see sin abound, our loved ones continue to reject Christ, sickness and suffering clouding life, etc.), we must believe that it is all a part of God’s eternal plan that He had set out before it all began. Remember Job’s comment in 42:2-3? He knew that no purpose of God could be thwarted. And like Job, despite our lack of knowledge and understanding, this plan is too wonderful for us to comprehend. In other words, God’s pre-creation plan and purpose is way over our heads! Yet we trust it because of the kind of God who planned it all from the beginning. Remember Romans 11:33!

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
Romans 11:33

Moving out a little deeper yet, we read next that God is not only the One who predestinated and purposed, but He is also the One “who works all things after the counsel of His will.” The participle “works” is of interest here, for it always refers to an accomplishing of one’s purpose. It means to affect something, or to bring it to pass. Other defining thoughts would be that of causing something to be, making something to be, to bring upon, or to bring about. [5] Thus, God has predestinated according to an eternal purpose (that cannot be thwarted), and He is presently accomplishing that purpose in “all things” as we speak.

Now to get sidetracked slightly, to what does “all things” refer in the verse? Does it refer only to the predestinating work, and thus only to things related to salvation? This is what author Dave Hunt would have us believe in his new book What Love is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God (Loyal Publishing, 2002). He confidently asserts that “the ‘all things’ in Ephesians 1:11 are not all events in the universe but those things purposed in Christ” (p. 135). His motive for his faulty exegesis lies in his attempt to disprove the Calvinist’s interpretation of Ephesians 1:11, and thereby establish his own understanding that

“the eternal ‘counsel’ of His will must have allowed man the freedom to defy His will…We could never conclude from this passage…that mankind’s every thought, word and deed is according to God’s perfect will, exactly the way God desired and decreed it. Yet that is what ts [sic] erroneously concluded from Ephesians 1:11” (ibid).

The problem with this interpretation is that Paul has already told us the very opposite in the very same context! “All things” in verse 10 refers to “things in the heavens and things upon the earth.” Is there salvation taking place in heaven? Obviously not. So there’s one strike against Mr. Hunt’s interpretation. Second, what about verse 22 where Paul tells us that God put “all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church…”? Would Mr. Hunt tell us that Christ will have only those things pertaining to salvation subject under His feet?[6] Strike two. Looking elsewhere for an elaboration of this concept in Paul’s thinking, he has already told us in Romans 11:36 that “all things” are from Jesus, and through Jesus and to Jesus. In the immediate context of verses 33-35, the thought is open-ended. Strike three, Mr. Hunt is out! In Colossians 1:17, the ‘twin epistle’ to Ephesians, Paul writes, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” What are “all things” in context? “Whether things on earth or things in heaven,” according to verse 20. Out number two. Finally, the writer of Hebrews would respond to Mr. Hunt, “For in subjecting all things to him, he has left nothing that is not subject to him” (2:8). Three outs…kindly take the field Mr. Hunt.

Having chased and shot that rabbit (!), we move on to read in Ephesians 1:11 that this predestination was according to an eternal purpose, and this purpose was according to “the counsel of His will.” This word ‘counsel’ is simply defined as something that has been purposed or planned.[7] And it is followed by its cousin, translated here as “will,” which refers to something that is purposed or intended.[8]

Now, you’re all sharp Bible students! I’m sure you notice the trend in the words Paul has chosen in Ephesians 1:11. That’s right! All of them have the word ‘purpose’ included in their definitions. So if we put all the definitions together the verse would sound something like this:

“[Before He ever created anything] God predetermined a purpose regarding those whom He would set apart [before He ever created anything], according to His eternal purpose, and He is accomplishing every thing [in the heavens and upon the earth] according to the pre-determined purpose of His pre-determined purpose.”

Watch what Paul has done here. He has followed up the word ‘predestined’ with ‘purpose.’ He then follows that with ‘works,’ which is then followed by ‘counsel,’ which is then concluded with ‘will,’ As our vision of God is sharpening here, we are beginning to see that the Apostle Paul has left no room for doubt that ‘all things,’ especially in regards to our salvation, have already been predetermined before He ever started creating or acting. God is loudly and clearly telling us:

“From before the foundation of the world, I intended to save some, and I have been and will always continue to be presently accomplishing my intention according to the intention that I have intended!”

Now to what end has all this been intended, planned and purpose? Verse 12 sums it all up by declaring to us what is God’s most important motive and goal in His pre-creation plan. It is not we who are the most important thing in God’s plan, but God! The following lyrics from the song “Not About Us” on Steve Camp’s latest album are a joy to sing! (Desiring God, Discovery House, 2002).

“It’s not about us. It’s all about Him….
It’s all about His glory.
It’s allabout His praise.
It’s all about the worship due His holy Name.
It’s not about us. It’s all about Him…
It’s not about us feeling blessed.
It’s not about our needs being met.
It’s not some experience.

He’s a holy God who won’t be robbed of His glory.
It’s not about us.
It’s all about Him.

God won’t share His glory with anything else.
When He alone isn’t worshiped, it’s just all about ourselves.
It’s not about us. It’s all about Him.”

God pre-planned all things according to the predetermined plan of His predetermined plan “to the end that we…should be to the praise of His glory!” His love for His glory is the cause of His predetermined plan. Thus, the whole point behind God’s predetermined plan of salvation as revealed in Ephesians 1:3-14 is all about fashioning us into trophies of His glorious grace. In the end, heaven will be God’s trophy showcase in which He will display His glory. And the brass plaque which adorns the bottom of each trophy might be, “I love it when My eternal plan comes together!”

Footnotes

[1] Proorizo. A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament prepared by Barclay M. Newman, Jr. (New York: NY: United Bible Societies, 1971 and Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Biblegesellschaft German Bible Society), 1993), #5116. From BibleWorks for Windows 4.0 (Big Fork, Montana: Hermeneutika Bible Research Software, 1999). See also Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains 2nd Edition, edited by J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida (New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1988), Domain 30.84: “to come to a decision beforehand – ‘to decide beforehand, to determine ahead of time, to decide upon ahead of time.’” And the Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, by Timothy and Barbara Friberg (Copyright, 1994), #4404.

[2] Kata prothesin. The preposition kata followed by the accusative prothesin. Thus, we have an accusative of standard (See Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), p. 377 ff.). That is, God’s predestination corresponded precisely with His purpose, and according to His plan.

[3] Prothesi. UBS, #5089.

[4] Lou-Nida, Doman 30.63.

[5] energeo. UBS, #2147; Friberg, #1837; Louw-Nida, Domain 13.9. Contra Dave Hunt, What Love is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God (Sisters, OR: Loyal Publishing, 2002): “However the word ‘worketh’ (KJV) is energeo, which doesn’t convey the idea of controlled purpose but of stimulation” (p. 134). What has probably happened is that Mr. Hunt has misinterpreted the occurrence of this word in Ephesians 1:11 as being intransitive, for only then can it even remotely have the meaning he suggests. And even then the word is defined as “prove to be effective” (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament Vol. 1, by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1978-1980), p. 453). Otherwise, no ordinary biblical Greek dictionary contains either the definition ‘stimulation’ or the concept. Three examples should suffice. First, BAGD defines the word “work, produce, effect,” citing Ephesians 1:11 as an example (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1979), p. 265). Second, consider Abbott-Smith’s definition, “to work, effect, do,” also citing Ephesians 1:11 (A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament by G. Abbott-Smith (Edinburgh, Scotland: T &T Clark, Ltd., 1994), p. 153). Third, consider Moulton and Milligan, commenting on its normal Koine usage outside Scripture, have determined that, “energeo seems always to have the idea of effective working” (Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament by J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1930 reprint), p. 214).

[6] Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:27-28.

[7] Boule, Louw-Nida, Domain 30.57.

[8] Ibid, Domain 30.59. Cf. Friberg (#2415): “generally of the result of what one has decided…of what a pers. intends to bring about by his own action purpose.”