The Extent Of The Plan Of God
THE EXTENT OF THE PLAN OF GOD
The fact of creation via an omniscient Creator presupposes that God has a plan and an order for the universe the He has created. This plan was made by God Himself before the act of creation took place.
God's Plan was formed before the Creation.
During his Olivet Discourse, Jesus described the kingdom as having been prepared for believers “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). The implication is that the kingdom over which Christ reigns was already planned and designed when God created mankind. The earth was made with this end in view, that there should be a kingdom. In the same way, God ordained those who would be His people before the foundation of the world.
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. (Ephesians 1:4). Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted to us in Christ from all eternity. (2 Timothy 1:9).
These verses indicate that God's plan for His people goes back to the time before the creation of the universe - indeed, to “all eternity.” Thus when we speak of God decreeing or determining, we do not mean that there was a time in the past when His plan was not yet formed or that it came into being at a certain time. His plan is from all eternity.
God's Plan is Everlasting.
In the 33rd Psalm, the temporal plans of mankind are contrasted with the eternal plans of the Lord. The Psalmist says, “The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.” (Psalms 33:10-11).
Notice the contrast between the plans of men and the plans of God. Men's plans often fail. God's plan never does. It will continue on its course throughout all eternity.
God's Plan is Unchangeable.
The plan of God is unchangeable, even though it sometimes appears to change from man's point of view. We refer to this characteristic as “immutability.”
Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. (James 1:17).
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, the He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19). When the Scriptures speak of the Lord repenting, this does not mean that His sovereign decree has been scrapped and that He has to go back to the drawing board and start over again. Rather it is a reflection that there has been a change in His actions as revealed to us. Such a revelational change should not be confused with an actual change in the person or plan of God.
Thus when God gave Isaiah a prophecy concerning the coming destruction of Assyria, He guaranteed its fulfillment by pointing to the unchangeable character of His plan. This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back? (Isaiah 14:26-27).
We can conclude from this that God's plan was both determined before the creation, that it is unchangeable, and that it will continue to stand forever in this unchangeable state.