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See here for the road map for this discussion, and see here for Part 1
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God’s plan for a purpose of love IS based on a plan – which God wisely developed, and detailed right from the start.
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8 “Remember this, and be assured;
Recall it to mind, you transgressors.
9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;.
The only way that God could “declare the end”, “from the beginning””in ancient times” (an understatement for eternity past), would be to work out right from the start all of the details of His plan, and be able to guarantee the execution of each of those details. Any other way would cause the plan to veer off course. Think about some of your own plans that you made in your life – they never worked out exactly as planned because there were always details that you were simply not able to control. This did not happen with God’s plan. He wisely planned all of the details and controlled them, so that He could declare right at the start what would be the outcome of His plan – the fullest expression of His nature (love, justice, etc) and strength.
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Psalm 33:11
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
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Proverbs 19:21
21 Many plans are in a man’s heart,
But the counsel of the Lord will stand.
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Isaiah 14:26-27
26 This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 27 For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
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It might be possible for us to take the stance of “I don’t like His plan”, and many (in foolish rebellion against God) think that they can come up with a better plan on their own. But the result of that course of action is ruin and death.
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Proverbs 19:3
3 The foolishness of man ruins his way,
And his heart rages against the Lord.
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Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
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So we have a choice of getting in sync with a plan made by Someone who is much wiser and much more powerful than us – and totally loving and just – or rejecting that plan and foolishly thinking we can come up with a better one on our own. It should not be a difficult choice, but in our own pride and arrogance we frequently think that we know better.
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- “N” is shorthand for Narcissim, a modern colloquial term for what the Bible calls “insolent pride”
- For an introduction on how to know God personally, see here
For a more thorough discussion, see here from Bible.org