Every weekday morning TV viewers are treated to an hour of high-energy television with the legendary game show "The Price Is Right.” We are constantly bombarded with offers for various things. It seems as if every TV commercial has a fast talking salesperson that says, "Have I got a deal for you!"
Our economy rises and falls on our ability or our unwillingness to purchase items. If we buy, great, the economy goes forward. If we don’t, the economy falls backward.
Why do we buy so much? Why do we consume so much? Why do we listen to the infomercials at all hours of the day and hope that the new diet pill or exercise plan will help us lose weight? Why do we hope that what we buy will help us live not just more easily but better? One reason is that we are looking for something to give meaning to our lives something to give us hope and peace and contentment.
Last week we looked at God’s call of Abram to pack up and move to a new place. And we asked ourselves, "Why did God do this?" because He had a plan for Abram. We also spent sometime reflecting on the impact that God’s plan had for Abram by thinking about how we would feel and what the impact would be on us if God called us to do the same thing. But, there is one question that went unanswered last week. One that perhaps we notice that we ask, "What are God’s plans like?"
What is the nature of God’s plans? Are they different or similar to our plans? Are they good plans or bad plans?
At a very different time and place in Old Testament history God, through the prophet Jeremiah, gave an answer to that question. "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." I believe that some of us here today are really considering God’s plan for our lives. But, we want to know a little more before we make the commitment to follow His plans.
Three words in this verse are critical to understanding the nature of God’s plan: It is a good plan, it is a plan to give us a future, and it is a plan to give us a hope. (Overhead 1)
In a passage on prayer that is recorded as Matthew 7:11, Jesus made a statement about the goodness of God’s plan. "If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him."
God’s good plan includes a couple gifts. (Overhead 2) The primary gift of God’s plan is our salvation. The greatest gift that God has given to us is the gift of forgiveness. Everything else about God’s good plan grows out of and is rooted in that good plan. God’s greatest desire for us is to have a relationship with Him.
I know that I have said this over and over again to the point that I might sound like a broken record. But, the central part of the Christian faith is a right relationship with God through the confession and forgiveness of our sins, those things that break our relationship with God. Without Good Friday and without Easter, there is no Christian faith. But, is that all there is? No!
Another gift of God’s good plan for us is a purposeful life. And the reason that I say “purposeful” is that “all things work together,” as Paul wrote, “for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
I could have said “happy, content, or fulfilled” life instead of purposeful, but that is not what the Bible teaches. What scripture teaches is that when we entered into a relationship with God through Christ, then our agenda and hence our purpose changes. We become more concerned about following God’s plan for our lives and not our own.
As proof, I would have us listen to what Jesus told the disciples, as He prepared to return to heaven. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” And in another place He said, “But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Our lives, as Christians, are to be given to this purpose of going and telling and helping people become followers of God like we are becoming. All we do therefore is centered on a purpose that is not our own.
But, while God’s plan is good it is also designed to give us a future. (Overhead 3) Right now the future appears bleak with the reality of terrorism and war. But, we need to remember these words of God were given to Israel during some dark days in their history. They heard them spoken while living in another country after being defeated and captured in their own.
They were exiled because they had walked away from God. They had disobeyed God and He punished them for their disobedience. But, even though 70 years would pass before they could return to their own land, God is already saying to them, “my good plan for you is to give you a future.” But what kind of a future?
God’s future for us is based on His good plan for life – now and in the hereafter. The very words of this verse imply that God is not going to leave the Israelites where they are. They are there as a consequence to their actions but God does not plan for them to stay there. He intends to bring them back not just to the land but more important to Himself. That is called reconciliation.
So often, we think that when we have sinned, when we have disobeyed God “that’s it! We are done for! No change of getting back in God’s good graces! We’ve blown it!” Where have we learned that from?
Think of the prodigal son, was that true for him? One strike and he was out of the family forever? Think of Peter, was that true for him? One act of betrayal and he was no longer one of the disciples? No! The father waited and waited for the son to come home and he did and was welcomed back with open arms. Jesus sought out and reconciled Peter to Himself.
God’s plan involves a future that is based on God’s on-going activity of reconciliation through forgiveness that is always available to us as we walk with God throughout life. But why? To give us a hope. (Overhead 4)
The nature of God’s plan for us is to give us a hope that is not based on our circumstances but on God’s action in those circumstances. We see this illustrated in the Genesis 15 passage that was read this morning.
Abram, fresh from a victory over some kings who had taken his nephew Lot captive, pours out his heart to God not because of what had just taken place but because of what had not taken place – the birth of a son. “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?”
Let’s look at this situation for a moment in the context of what has happened from Genesis 12 up to this chapter.
1. God calls Abram to pack up and move.
2. Abram does what God commands.
3. Abram finally settles and gives Lot first choice of where to live. Lot chooses the fertile plain close to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram takes the hill country.
4. A group of Kings capture and plunder Sodom and Gomorrah.
5. Abram rescues Lot, his family, and his possessions.
That’s quite a lot isn’t it? How much time has gone by between the start of chapter 12 and the start of chapter 15? I don’t know. But, we need to remember that 25 years would elapse between the time God told Abram to move and that he would become the father of a great nation and the birth of Isaac.
25 years. 25 years ago was 1977. A lot has gone on since 1977 hasn’t it?
Several years have passed since Abram was given a promise. He is getting older. Perhaps he is in his 80’s or 90’s by now. And God has said to him, “You are going to have a son!” “But, when God, when?”
Can you hear the plea, the increasing hopelessness in Abram’s voice? “What good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?” Some of us might think, “Abram, how could you be so ungrateful? Remember what God has promised!” But, we too have experience the same state of mind that Abram is experiencing.
One of things about God’s plan is that it is God’s plan done His way. And we don’t know when the next step in His plan will be done.
But, as we read the rest of the chapter, God does not leave Abram slipping into hopelessness. He renews his hope, because God’s plan gives us a hope.
First, as we read in verse 4, God assures him that his servant Eliezer will not inherit his possessions. Then he gave Abram a concrete example of what He had planned for Abram – look at the stars Abram, can you count all of them? “Your descendants will be like that-too many to count!”
This revives Abram’s faith and hope and God again affirms Abram because of his faith and assures him that “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land.” But Abram asks another question, “How can I be sure that you will give it to me?”
Now we can respond to Abram’s question in one of two ways, “Where’s your faith, man? God just told you that you would have descendents as numerous as the stars; don’t you think that He will give you the land, too? Have faith!”
Or we might respond, “Lord, affirm your good plan to Abram. Strengthen his faith, Father by assuring him that your plan will be done.”
God chose to do the latter as we read the rest of the story. God confirms his plan to give Abram the land in a very important way. In verse 9 he tells Abram to sacrifice some animals. What is God doing? He is making a covenant with Abram. He is making a pledge, a promise to Abram. God had made a covenant with Noah to never again destroy the earth with water and now He is doing it with Abram. He will do it with the people of Israel and then with David and then with all of us as He did with the disciples prior to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
This dividing of the animals and placing their halves side-by-side was a critical part of a covenant between two parties. It required the parties involved to walk between the halves as a symbol of their commitment to the covenant and a warning that this would happen to anyone who broke the covenant.
But, as we read the rest of the chapter we see that it was not Abram that walked between the halves, it was God who did. “As the sun went down an it became dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants.”
God makes a covenant with Abram not the other way around! God’s plan for Abram was God’s plan for good, to give Abram a future and a hope!
What about us? Does God desire the same for us? You bet ya! You bet ya! God has a deal for us!
But, what does it take? Our faith in God, our commitment to God, and our obedience to God is what it takes to experience God’s good plan.
We need to have faith in God and in His plan. We need to believe not just in spite of doubts and mistakes but also through them that God still has a plan for us. He stands by, willing and able, to help us get up and get going again. If this is what is holding you back from again experiencing God’s plan for you, then turn to Jesus, acknowledge your failures and your sin, repent of them, ask God to forgive you and then get up and start following the Lord.
Abraham faced different challenges at different points in his journey. But those challenges had one thing in common – they challenged his commitment to God. He had moments when faith was weak and when hope was failing. But, when God came to him, as he comes to us in such moments, Abram made the choice to keep believing and hoping and trusting in God and God’s good plan because it gave him hope beyond his circumstances.
If this is what is holding you back for fully experiencing God’s hopeful plan for you, turn to Him and ask Him to strength your faith and hope ask Him to make Himself real and personal to you in a fresh new way because He wants to affirm Himself and His plan to you.
Finally, to experience the future reality of God’s good and hopeful plan we must obey God. This part of the story challenged Abram’s obedience. He was tired. He was exhausted. He was weary. Life kept chipping away at him and it was having an impact. The same holds true for us. We come to the same place that Abram did. We face the same choice either to trust and obey or give up and walk away.
But “Abram believed the Lord.” He again made the choice that God was right and when he did, God affirmed his faith and Abram continued to obey. The future seemed brighter once again because it was God’s future that he was a part of and not his own.
Perhaps this is where you find yourself. You began the journey of faith and trust in God with boundless hope but life has chipped away at you. The future began to look dimmer and dimmer. You are not alone in this experience.
But, what are you going to do? You have a choice: you can “believe the Lord” and renew your commitment to God’s future for you, or you can continue to walk away and let the future become one of uncertainty and regret. Which will it be? God wants to help you experience the best future there is, His future for you.
Abram continue to believe in God’s good plan. Abram continue to commit to God’s good plan that gave him hope that God would do what He said He would do. Abram continue to obey God’s directives and plan so that he would experience the wonderful future that God had in place for him.
God does have a deal for us – a good plan with a purposeful future full of hope. The price is right for it. Let us commit or re-commit ourselves to God all over again and let’s experience the plans, the future, and the hope that he has for us. Amen. (overheads are available for this sermon. e-mail me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and ask for 102702 svgs)
