Many people look at the world and can’t make sense of what they are seeing.  They may read the Bible in an attempt to find an explanation for the mess they see around them, but they are unable to discern any coherent plan in the many books of the two Testaments which were written over hundreds of years by over 40 different authors.        

 

It can be so frustrating to try to find answers to their questions that they may just throw up their hands and say, “Really, God?  If You wanted us to know You and Your intentions, couldn’t’t You have made things plainer?  Why make it so hard?  I give up on this!”  All they see in the Bible are seeming inconsistencies and contradictions. What they want are easy fixes and straightforward explanations.

 

Could it be possible that the party with the foggy view is not God, but us? -- that we are expecting a quickie “how-to” manual, while God is communicating a comprehensive, inclusive, detailed, eternal plan for the benefit of everyone who has ever lived?  If we view God’s plan through a prideful human perspective, it looks as if it certainly hasn’t been very successful (that is, if there is a plan at all!) as the human race has slogged through thousands of years of trouble and pain.  We may even think we could have arranged things better.  But if we come to God with a humble spirit, willing to be taught and attempting to look at it from His perspective as revealed in the Bible, we might be more successful in learning what a wonderful plan He has developed for the human race. 

 

Even the holy prophets have expressed exasperation!  In the first chapter of Habakkuk, the prophet laments the tardiness of God in coming to Israel’s aid.  In Habakkuk 1:2-3, he says: “How long, O LORD, will I call for help, and Thou wilt not hear?  I cry out to Thee, 'Violence!'  Yet Thou dost not save.  Why dost Thou make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness?  Yes, destruction and violence are before me…”  God’s reply to this plea in Habakkuk 2:3 is:  “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail.  Though it tarries, wait for it, for it will certainly come, it will not delay.”  We know that this communication from God also applies to our time period because Paul tells us so (Romans 15:4).  Habakkuk 2:3 clearly shows that God has a “goal” or “vision” that is in the process of being completed.  God’s plan is multi-layered and has been unfolding from before the time of creation to the present (1 Peter 1:20), and it will continue to unfold into the future. 

 

 

So first, there is the Really Good News!  God has a comprehensive, precise, sequential plan that includes every person who has ever lived!  Through Jesus, the foundation of God’s plan, all mankind will have an opportunity to experience everlasting life in the coming earthly kingdom God has promised throughout the Bible.

 

“…and he himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. “ 1 John 2:2

 

“They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD

As the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9

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However, this Really Good News comes with a Caveat — it will not be instantaneous. This plan has been progressing throughout all of human history and is not yet completely accomplished.  We are in the midst of it, but it is like looking at a tapestry.  If one focuses on just a few inches of the cloth, it is impossible to see the whole picture. One has to stand back to really appreciate the beauty of the art and the mastery of the artist.  If we stand back and look at the plan of God as a whole, we can begin to appreciate the artistry of God. 

 

Why is it taking so long?  If God intends this marvelous future for us all, why can’t we just skip through all the hard stuff and get to the kingdom?  It is because each detail    has a purpose, and that purpose can’t be rushed. Certain things have to happen to bring mankind into the heart condition that will be necessary for their success in the kingdom. One of the most important of these is the ongoing experience with sin, designed to impress upon us the price of living outside of God’s precepts.  Another is the reestablishment and the continuing development of Israel -- the focal center of the incoming kingdom.  Many of the things that happened to Israel were also lessons to us in this age.  Jesus’ first advent and the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning him were also crucial to the plan -- and that was 2000 years ago.

 

If we look at the sequence with which God dealt with mankind, we see that He started working with individuals-- Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc.  He then progressed to working with Jacob’s family.  Jacob’s family grew to be the nation of Israel, and God had an exclusive relationship with them until the time was right for Him to send His son from among their people as a ransom price for Adam and a Redeemer for the world.  But although Jesus died and paid the ransom price for all, he dealt only with Israel in the time he was on earth as it says in Matthew 10:5-6.  He was looking for Jews who had the heart attitude they needed to accept him through faith, as the Messiah, and to follow his teachings. God was beginning a "New Creation" -- His "church" who would eventually be the spiritual rulership of the promised kingdom.  Three and one-half years later, Cornelius’s conversion (the first Gentile invited into the arrangement) opened to anyone the invitation to follow Jesus. In the time since Jesus’ death, a part of God’s purpose has been to call and develop that group of “spiritual Israelites,” (His "church"), a “royal priesthood,” who will, in His future kingdom, be active in carrying out God’s plan to bless all the families of the earth (Acts 3:25).

 

            “…you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” 1 Peter 2:5, 9

 

Through the holy Spirit, these true Christians are given the opportunity and responsibility of understanding God’s plan as presented through the Bible.  They are not called from the mighty and famous in society.  This work has been going on

"under the radar" while the world goes about its business (1 Corinthians. 26-29). 

 

Concurrent to every other thing that has happened is mankind's experience with sin. Every illness, every cruelty, every accident, every war, every bad thing that has ever happened to people is a result of sin (disobedience). God has allowed us for a time to be left to our own devices so we can see how well we fare without Him.  How are we doing? How have we done for the entirety of human history?  Evil is permitted now for the purpose of human experience and development -- as well as angelic development through observation. God always allows free will — He does not force us into our choices.  In the kingdom, mankind will need this experience with sin and evil so that they will make the right choices that will enable them to have everlasting life.  We will well find that "the permission of evil," so incomprehensible to us now, is one of the grandest doctrines proving the wisdom of God.

 

How do we know that in the 2000 years since Christ’s first advent it has not been God’s purpose to convert the world and bring all to an understanding and appreciation of Him at this time?  We know because it has not yet occurred! If God says something, it will happen (Isaiah 55:11).  Regardless of the human view of the Scriptures, He and His purposes do not change: 

 

“The LORD of hosts has sworn saying,  'Surely, just as I have intended, so it has happened; and just as I have planned, so it will stand.'” Isaiah 14:24 

 

The Bible does teach us that a future conversion of the world when all men will know the Lord will happen (2 Peter 3:9; Jeremiah 31:34). Many Christians erroneously believe that time to have started at Christ’s death, but there are other steps in the development of God’s ultimate plan that need to be accomplished first. His timing is impeccable. Things will be done in His way and in His time.

 

During this age when the church class is being called out and developed, the world as a whole is not meant to understand the details of His plan. When Jesus was on earth, the majority of the population did not grasp his message.  It is the same today. God has allowed most of humanity to be blinded by Satan, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 13:13-16:

 

“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because, while seeing they do not see, and while hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says:

                                    

You will keep hearing, but will not understand;

And you will keep seeing, but will not perceive.”

 

This Scripture proves that God’s intent is not to convert and judge the world now. If God has allowed Satan, a being more powerful than humans, to blind them, it would hardly be fair for Him to hold them accountable at the same time!  Humanity, too, should not be judging God by the current chaos in the world. His comprehensive plan for all will not be uncovered until the kingdom is established. 

 

The Bible is such a work of art that parts of it can be read and appreciated to some extent by nearly anyone. God hid the truth in plain sight because, during the ages of human history, it was His purpose for only some to understand -- not all.  But it was in plain sight so that no one could claim it wasn't available, and so that those whom He intended to see it could find it readily.  "Plain sight" is a location where most people fail to look!  There are so many lessons and gems in the Bible that even if the entire objective is not understood, people have been able to derive great benefit from it.  For those who are truly seeking to know God’s arrangements, the deep truths are there to find. God works in lengthy stages for eternal purposes, but we need to develop patience and faith that His masterpiece will be worth waiting for.

 

“He will swallow up death for all time,

And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,

And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;

For the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 25:8

 

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;

And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,

Neither shall there be any more pain:

For the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4

 

 

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