God: There was no Plan 'B'
'While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly'
By Steve Hall
The Divine Plan, insofar as it deals with material things, is actualized in a step-by-step manner. That is characteristic of material things. And, therefore, the plan that affects material creation must unfold over a period of time, and it must happen in the appropriate order.
Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest
Colossians 2:6-15
Luke 6:12-19
God was not surprised that Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent. Neither did he have to resort to plan “B” to out-maneuver the mess they had made. The need for mankind’s salvation was always a known part of the design, and the deification of humanity was forever in the divine concept that was unfolding. We know these things are true because the God we know, the God who is active within his creation, is Himself unchanging, while temporal existence is not.
To plan is to devise or project the realization or achievement of something. A plan calculates that realization over a period of time. We know that. We unbox our Lego pieces and go through the step-by-step procedures provided to realize and make present what is pictured on the box. The Divine Plan, insofar as it deals with material things, is also actualized in a step-by-step manner. That is characteristic of material things. And, therefore, the plan that affects material creation must unfold over a period of time, and it must happen in the appropriate order. We hear it from Paul on numerous occasions.
“While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)
“But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law . . . .” (Galatians 4:4)
“For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)
So, when Paul says, as he does in this letter to the Colossians, that “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving,” he is essentially reminding them of what he also wrote to the Romans.
“You know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)
Then he reminds them of the steps 1, 2, 3, etc., whereby they were brought to this point, a point perfectly ordered in the Divine Plan.
“You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And even when you were dead in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross; despoiling the principalities and the powers.”
All these are planned elements. Yet there is more.
“I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords . . . .” (1 Timothy 6:14-15)
Our lives are lived in the in-between time — the time between our present union with the Lord and the time of his return. That “in-between” may be brief or extended, but the Plan is there, ready for us to join in.
“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)