All According To Plan

Peter writes, if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,

! Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers,

not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you,

who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Amen.

Robert Burns was a famous 18th century poet, widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.

And even if you don't know his name, or even if you can't think of any of his works off the top of your head,

there is no doubt that you will be familiar with some of his work.

If you've ever gathered with friends and family, or just turned on the TV to see Times Square on New Year's Eve,

and the clock strikes midnight and you begin to sing that familiar tune, old, laying, sing, sign, however you say it,

then you have interacted with Burns' probably most famous work.

But there's another one that perhaps you would be familiar with, at least a statement within it that is quite helpful.

In 1785, Robert Burns was running his plow in Scotland,

and he accidentally ran over a nest of a mouse who was preparing its place for the winter months as they were approaching.

And immediately understanding the tragedy of what this meant for that mouse,

Burns was inspired to write another famous poem, which is creatively called To a Mouse.

And of course, what the poem does, it wrestles and explores with the struggle of planning and building

and working towards something that can all be destroyed in a moment

by things that are totally outside of our control.

The most famous stanza goes this way.

Now, if that doesn't lift you up in the Christmas season, I don't know what will.

But you know what he's saying.

He's looking at this mouse that he has just destroyed potentially its entire life.

And he thinks, you know what, my life is a lot like that.

Working and planning and building towards something,

and then something that is completely out of my control comes in,

and it ruins everything that I've been planning.

Ruins everything that I've been preparing for.

And all it leaves me with is grief and pain for what was promised joy.

In my plan, there was going to be great celebration at the completion of this thing.

But because of forces outside of my control, I'm left with just grief and pain.

Now, we're in the heart of the busiest season of the year for many of us,

and with enormous amounts of parties to go to and family gatherings,

gift shopping, gift wrapping, special concerts, church plays, outreach events,

all kinds of things that are happening right now,

this particular season can be more overwhelming than it can be jolly.

And can we just take a moment and just reflect on how great all our mothers are

who do so much to actually make these seasons work, right?

But even the best and most organized of us know that as we're working hard this time of year,

the most well-planned goal is still going to have something go wrong, right?

One of your kids is going to get sick at the worst possible time for them to get sick.

That one gift that you've been watching, the tracking,

Amazon said it was going to be here in 24 hours, and that's turned into seven days,

and you're not sure if it's actually going to make it on time,

and now you're not sure exactly what to do.

That's probably going to happen at some point.

Cousin Eddie is going to show up unannounced to your Christmas celebration.

Your brother is going to bring something up at Christmas,

at the Christmas family gathering that you know is just going to cause a fight with everybody else.

You're going to have all these plans, all these things you're trying to work out.

Something's going to go wrong.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

At the end of this second section of Peter's letter,

the apostle is drawing our attention to an infinitely glorious plan

that actually cannot be thwarted by anything.

It's neither the plan of a mouse nor the plan of a man.

It's the eternal plan of God through Christ to save us from sin and death.

And these two verses, 20 and 21,

they're tied directly to the command for Christians in verse 17

to conduct their lives in the fear of God throughout the time of exile.

So that recognizing that we have been ransomed from the futile ways of the world

with the precious, sinless blood of Jesus Christ,

we are to fear living in such a way as to treat that sacrifice

as if it were garbage to demean it in any way.

And these verses continue Peter's discussion of the atonement of Christ

that has now rescued us.

And in them, he insists that our redemption through Christ's blood

was no afterthought.

All of it, to the smallest detail,

has come according to the definite plan of God.

And it's all exactly according to plan.

I want you to notice first with me the scope of God's plan in Christ.

The scope of God's plan in Christ.

Verse 20,

He, Christ,

was foreknown before the foundation of the world,

but was made manifest in the last times.

Peter here gives us the scope with these first two phrases.

He's contrasting for us the design and the execution

of God's redemption plan through Jesus Christ.

Our redemption was designed by God the Father in eternity past,

before the foundation of the world,

Peter says,

and it was executed by God the Son in history.

That is, in the last times.

And again, the emphasis is on the fact that our eternal salvation,

this redemption through the blood of Christ,

is God's plan.

And that He has set His love on us before He even created the world.

And of course, the agent of this plan is His own Son,

the promised Christ,

foreknown in eternity past

and revealed in time and space

through Jesus of Nazareth.

Now, we dealt with this concept of God's foreknowledge

all the way back in verse 2,

where Peter affirms that believers are elect

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.

Just set your eyes on it again.

Maybe it will stir your memory.

At the end of verse 1,

we see that Peter's writing to those who are elect exiles,

verse 2,

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.

And here again,

we see that it isn't information that God foreknows.

It is individuals that God foreknows.

He, Jesus Christ,

was foreknown before the foundation of the world.

Peter doesn't mean that God the Father

looked into the future down the portals of time

and decided that Jesus of Nazareth

would be a suitable Messiah for His plan.

That's not how this works.

It's not how it has happened.

That's not what Peter means to say.

He means that God chose

and foreordained to send His Son to be our Savior

and has so orchestrated all the events of the world

in time and space

so that His plan would be accomplished

and executed to perfection.

That's what Peter means.

That Jesus came and shed His precious blood

as a satisfying, propitiatory atonement for our sins

was always God's plan.

Always.

And it is God who saw it through

from beginning to end.

He designed it in eternity past.

Christ was foreknown to be this Messiah in eternity past.

And God has orchestrated the events of time and space

in history

so that His plan would be accomplished

to absolute perfection.

We might understand this then,

His plan,

as a divine mission.

Before He even creates us,

He has His mission laid out

and He will execute it

absolutely and definitively for His purposes.

Now it was planned

before the foundation of the world

but it was executed in history,

Peter tells us.

He says that

Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world

but was made manifest in the last times.

This manifestation of the Christ,

it refers to His incarnation

through the saving work of Jesus

through the cross and His resurrection.

Last times here is not a reference to the day of the Lord.

It's not a reference to,

as Peter has said earlier in the chapter,

at the day of the Lord

or at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

That's pointing toward an end times event.

That's not what He's referring to here.

When He says the last times here,

He's referring to the fulfillment of salvation history.

Meaning,

the coming of Jesus fulfills

everything that was promised and pictured

and foretold in the law and prophets.

That's what He means.

Now imagine you're a Jew

in the first century.

You're aware of all of those things in the Old Testament,

all of the pictures and the prophecies.

This Messiah is coming.

And now Peter comes and he says,

He has come.

This is now the last times.

Everything that was promised has been fulfilled.

It has been fulfilled in Jesus.

I want you to track with me here.

God set a plan in eternity past.

And in His kindness,

He progressively revealed that plan

through His word.

Sometimes it's pictures.

A lamb sacrificed at the tabernacle.

Sometimes it's prophecy.

Isaiah.

For unto us a child is born.

Unto us a son is given.

Sometimes it's through types like King David

in his struggle.

Or King David in his role as champion of Israel and king.

But God has revealed His plan progressively in His word.

And then at the appointed time,

the appointed time that He set

according to His eternal plan in eternity past,

He fulfilled that plan in Jesus,

which inaugurated for us the last times.

We're there.

We're in them.

And salvation history is fulfilled in Him.

And this one, loved ones,

this is what Advent and Christmas is actually about.

All of those things fulfilled in God the Son.

Remember Galatians 4, 4 through 7.

When the fullness of time had come.

Just another way of Paul saying,

at the exact time that God had planned it.

When the fullness of time had come.

God sent forth His Son.

Born of woman.

Born under the law.

To redeem those who were under the law.

So that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you are sons,

God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.

Crying, Abba, Father.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son.

And if you are a son, then you are an heir through God.

Now we need to think about that

with everything we've been covering in chapter 1 of 1 Peter.

What have we been seeing here?

We've been seeing the plan of God.

We've been seeing the agent of that plan.

Jesus Christ the Son preexistent,

but brought into time and space

to give His life as a ransom for us.

Why?

So that we, God's enemies,

might become God's children.

By His grace.

And what comes along with us being His children?

Well, exactly what Peter told us earlier in the chapter.

An inheritance that's imperishable.

And undefiled.

And unfading.

It's all about this.

It's all according to plan.

And the scope of that plan is eternal.

God designed it in eternity past,

and He's executed it in time and space,

in real history.

But then we must ask the next question,

which is to what end?

What is the benefit of this plan?

So I want you to see the beneficiaries

of God's plan in Christ.

We've seen the scope.

I want you to see the beneficiaries.

Let's think about Christmas again.

Some of you are working hard

to keep just a few things in order

for these next two weeks, right?

If you can just keep a handful of things in order

over the next couple of weeks,

Christmas will go smoothly.

And even that we understand

to be something of an exercise in futility

because something is inevitably going to go wrong.

And that's just with a few things.

What did it take for God

to fulfill this eternal plan?

The magnitude of His power.

The magnitude of His sovereignty.

To work everything out

so that everything fell right into place

exactly as He intended

so that we could be redeemed.

It's amazing.

But who exactly benefits?

Peter says,

It is for the sake of you

who through Him are believers in God

who raised Him from the dead

and gave Him glory.

Christ was foreknown

before the foundation of the world.

He was made manifest

in these last times

for the sake of you,

he says.

This is gloriously profound.

God has designed and executed

a plan of redemption

through Jesus Christ

for your sake.

According to His great mercy,

as we have read,

and overflowing from His eternal love

for us,

God made a ray

to rescue sinners,

enemies,

through the precious blood

of His own Son.

We are the beneficiaries

of God's plan.

Thou who art God

beyond all praising,

all for love's sake,

became as men,

stooping so low,

but sinners raising

heavenward by Thine eternal plan.

Thou who art God

beyond all praising,

all for love's sake,

became as men.

Who are the beneficiaries?

Sinners are the beneficiaries.

What could possibly explain that

other than divine love?

It's the only way to explain it.

But then Peter includes here

an essential exclusivity clause,

and we can't miss it.

Mustn't miss it.

Contrary to so many cultural assumptions

around Christmas in our society,

not everyone is a beneficiary

of God's plan.

Peace on earth doesn't mean

that we are all finally at peace with God

because Jesus has come.

That's not what it means.

It means that the one through whom

peace is accomplished

has finally come.

And Jesus accomplished that peace

by making an atonement for our sin

on the cross.

And we receive this peace

only through faith in his work.

It's not for everyone.

Peter says it's for those

who believe.

Just look at it.

He says it plainly.

It was made manifest

in the last times

for the sake of you

who through him

are believers in God.

We become believers in God

through Christ

only when we trust

in his atoning sacrifice

on the cross.

His resurrection

from the dead.

His glorification

as Lord.

God's plan is glorious

and the benefits of it

are forgiveness of sin

and eternal life

as his children.

But you will not receive

those benefits

apart from exclusive faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

this is the call

of the gospel

and it is open

to you today.

Jesus himself says

come to me

all who labor

and are heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn of me

for I am meek and lowly

and you will find rest

for your soul.

What does he mean?

What does he mean by labor

and work?

Jesus speaking

in the context

of a group

that were literally

laboring

hoping to gain favor

with God

so that they could

eventually find rest.

Jesus says

if that's you

you're laboring

trying to do your best

and working your hardest

you need to leave that

behind and just come to me

because it's only in me

that you will find rest

for your soul.

The ex-exclusivity

of faith

in Jesus

is what Peter

is calling us to here.

You may believe in God

but unless it's

through the Son

unless your belief

in God

comes by virtue

of trusting

in the atonement

of Christ

and trusting

in the resurrection

of Christ

and bowing

before him

as Lord

as we read

in Philippians 2

you are not a Christian

and these benefits

do not belong to you.

the beneficiaries

are only those

who come to

faith in God

through Christ.

And what an amazing

assurance

this is

for those of us

who are believers

in God

through Christ.

God's plan

of redemption

is definite.

It's not potential.

God didn't set

this plan

in motion

in eternity past

just hoping

that someone

would come

to follow it.

No,

it's not a potential plan.

It's a definite

plan.

It doesn't make

our salvation

possible.

It makes

our salvation

certain.

it isn't

for all people.

It is

for those

who believe

who will

trust in Christ.

And this

definite

nature

of God's

plan

is exactly

what we need

to understand

in this time

of exile,

isn't it?

Isn't that

the larger

context

of why Peter

is even

writing this

letter?

If you're

trusting in

Christ

you are

God's

plan.

Do you

see that?

Can you

just let that

marinate for a

second on your

heart?

This whole

grand scheme,

this plan

that God

has set

in motion,

you are

at the

heart of

it if

you believe.

Not only

was Christ

foreknown

before the

foundation of

the world,

as we read

in verse

2 of

chapter 1,

so were

you.

Do you

understand

what that

means?

That before

you were

ever even

created,

before God

created this

world,

he set

his saving,

undying

love on

you.

And he

worked a

definite plan

that cannot

be thwarted

so that you

might be

saved,

so that your

sins might

be forgiven,

so that you

can receive

eternal life,

so that you

might have

this future

inheritance that

is undefiled,

that's unfading,

that's imperishable,

that he is

keeping in

heaven for

you as he

guards you

through faith.

Now,

do you see the

wonder of this

in chapter 1?

This is all

God's plan,

and he's working

it all out

according to

plan,

and he's

executing it

to perfection,

and at the

heart of it

is you,

the ones that

he loves,

the ones that

he has done

all of this

in order that

he might

save them.

Exile is a

struggle.

Take courage.

Take courage.

You are his.

If you're in

Christ,

you belong to

him,

and his plan

for you

will not be

thwarted.

It cannot

be.

So we see

the scope

of God's

plan in

Christ.

We see

the beneficiaries

of God's

plan in

Christ.

Finally,

I want you

to see

the intent

of God's

plan in

Christ.

The intent.

What is

the Father's

ultimate

intent in

all of

this?

He designed

and executed

this plan.

Look at the

end of verse

21.

So that

indicates a

purpose statement,

doesn't it?

What's the

goal?

So that

your faith

and hope

are in

God.

As with

all things,

the ultimate

end is

God's glory.

The ultimate

end is God's

glory.

And as

beneficiaries

of his

divine plan,

his glory

glory is

our good.

It's not

just good.

It is our

ultimate

good.

God's

good.

In a

broad sense,

we need to

understand this

faith and hope

in verse 21

thematically.

Peter has

repeated these

words over and

over in chapter

1.

We need to

understand how

they're functioning

here in his

letter.

Think about

it.

The people to

whom Peter

wrote,

they were

struggling.

They were

struggling in

what Peter

called an

exile.

They were

strangers here

and they were

suffering here

because of

that.

They needed

constant

reminders that

they actually

do have

true hope

and that

true hope

is found in

the gospel

that they

have believed.

God

awakened

them by

faith to

a living

hope in

verse 3

through the

resurrection of

Jesus Christ

from the dead.

And here

again he tells

us,

God raised

him from the

dead and

gave him

glory so

that your

hope would

be in

him.

This hope

is set on

a future

inheritance or

salvation as

those God has

called to be

born again as

his children.

And that's the

reality they

needed to

remember in

exile.

So Peter's

first imperative

when we got

to verse 13

was what?

Set your

hope fully

on this

grace.

There it is

again,

hope.

Set your

mind fully

on it.

And here

at the end

we read that

true hope

through faith

is central

to God's

eternal plan

in Christ.

Why did

he do all

of this?

So that you

would know

hope

through faith.

But there's a

more narrow

sense in which

we need to

understand these

words here.

We need to

understand them

in light of

the futile

ways from

which the

precious blood

of Christ

has ransomed

us.

Look again

at verse

17.

Remember

in 21

they're not

disconnected

from that

they're tied

into it.

We've just

broken it up

in our own

study.

Verse 17

if you call

on him as

father who

judges impartially

According to

each one's

deeds!

Conduct

yourselves

with fear

throughout

the time

of your

exile!

Knowing

that you

were ransomed

from what?

The

futile

ways

inherited

by your

forefathers!

We need

to understand

this final

goal,

this intent

in light

of what

Peter has

just said

there.

The goal

of this

plan

is so

that you

would stop

following

futile

ways

and instead

trust in

the true

way.

Trust in

him.

Trust in

God

through

Christ.

Before

Christ

all our

hope of

life and

salvation

is empty.

It's

vain.

And we're

blind to that

reality until

someone preaches

the gospel

and the

spirit of

God comes

in and

awakens

us through

that preaching

of the

gospel.

But it's

empty.

That's the

futile ways

that Peter's

talking about.

Every

philosophy,

every

religion,

every

tradition we

followed was

ineffective and

it was taking

us nowhere

but to

eternal

hell.

We see

and we

come to

Christ

that true

hope

can only

be found

in the

true

God.

So God

designed

and executed

a perfect

plan of

redemption

through Jesus

Christ so

that we

might have

and know

hope.

Through the

preaching of

the crucifixion

and resurrection

and lordship

of Jesus

Christ,

God the

spirit awakens

our hearts

to this living

hope so that

our faith and

hope are

in God

and it's

all for

his glory

which is

our good.

As someone

may look at

this and

perhaps you've

had conversations

as I have

with skeptics

and agnostics

that would

say this is

just another

example that

God is just

full of ego.

This is a

divine ego

that everything

that he does

even supposedly

for us is

ultimately for

his own

glory.

Of course

we say

this is not

ego,

this is

truth.

He leads

us to

himself

because he

is our

ultimate

good.

You wouldn't

let your

kids continue

in a lie

just to

give them

space.

You wouldn't

let your

kids walk

themselves

toward

destruction

just

because

pointing

them to

what is

their best

which you

know and

they don't

see would

be an

invasion of

their own

freedoms.

No.

God leads

us to

himself because

anything less

than him

is futile.

Anything less

than him

is vain.

Anything less

than him

is destruction.

No,

his glory

is our

great good.

And the

culture wars

about whether

or not you're

going to say

Merry Christmas

at the register

or happy

holidays.

Let's be

honest,

they don't

matter.

Who cares?

Who cares?

But the

exclusivity

of faith

in God

through the

crucifixion,

resurrection,

and lordship

of Jesus

Christ

is the

difference

between

heaven and

hell.

That's what

ultimately

matters in

this.

That's the

end goal.

Not that we

would influence

our culture

to acquiesce

to the

terminology

that we

prefer to

use and

all the

things,

but that

they would

actually know

that apart

from God,

they're

lost,

that apart

from him

and his

glory,

through the

sacrifice of

Christ,

they're going

to hell.

That's the

difference here.

What is

God's intent?

That we

might understand

the futile

ways of this

world are

actually futile,

and that we

might put all

of our faith

and hope in

him because

he is our

great good.

That's the

intent.

Our ransom

from futile

ways was not

an afterthought.

It wasn't

a happy

accident.

It was

God's

mission,

planned by

the Father

in eternity

past,

executed by

the Son

in time

and space,

and recognizing

this glorious

plan,

what does it

do?

It assures

our hearts

of our future

inheritance that

his plan will

not be

thwarted.

And what

else is it

doing here?

Peter says

it ought to

be motivating

your perseverance

of faith.

It ought to

be motivating

your holiness

of life

in this time

of exile.

Because look

at what he

has done

to make you

his own.

If you're a

believer in God

through Christ,

you were the

object of God's

undying love

before the world

began.

He's rescued

you from sin

with the

sinless blood

of Jesus

Christ.

And he has

awakened you

to this

living hope

through the

spirit-empowered

preaching of

the gospel.

And all of

this was

exactly according

to his

divine plan.

And what's

Peter saying

about this?

Therefore,

set your

hope fully

on grace.

Therefore,

pursue holiness

in this life.

He has set

you apart,

so live up

to your

family name.

Therefore,

conduct yourself

in the fear

of God.

In other

words,

practically,

in the way

you live

in this exile,

embrace

your identity

as a child

of God.

Someone

who's going

to stick

out.

Someone

who will

inevitably

be misunderstood.

Someone

who may

suffer,

not because

you deserve

it,

but simply

because you

don't belong

here.

Peter says

embrace that

because look

at what God

has done.

You belong

to him.

So take

courage.

Your inheritance

isn't here.

Your fulfillment,

you're not going

to find it in

this life.

So stop

trying.

Live for him.

Worship him.

Live in

holiness.

Conduct

yourselves in

fear.

Be afraid

of ever

demeaning

his name

or tarnishing

the significance

of the sacrifice

of Christ

because he

has done so

much to save

you.

So rest

and live

in fear.

God

will

be

to

He

be

to

him.

!