God’s plan is to redeem all creation to himself. The apostle Peter declared this in 2 Peter 3:9b: “He (the Lord) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Repentance is necessary because we live in a fallen world – a world that has chosen and is choosing against God.

It did not begin that way. God created everything perfect and pristine, but God would get no glory from robots, so he gave us a will with which to choose and created the choice.
The choice was between good and evil. God is good – completely good. Evil is going against God’s way. God did not create evil, but left a path for those who would choose against him.

Satan (the devil) is a created being. He began with God in great glory (Isaiah 14:12-23), but chose his own way, which was against God. Satan then worked against God to enlist as many as he could in God’s creation. God allows Satan this freedom because God gets glory when we choose God’s way and resist the enticement of evil.

Satan was successful in enlisting the first man and woman: Adam and Eve. They fell and, as a result, we fell because Adam was our corporate head; but, be sure we would have made the same choice he did.

We are fallen, but God has a plan. Somebody had to obey God perfectly, resist every ploy of Satan, and fulfill the righteousness of God. That somebody is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because there was a penalty for choosing against God, somebody had to pay the penalty. The sinner could not redeem himself; it took a perfect sacrifice. Jesus was that sacrifice and, by his death on the cross, the penalty was paid and we can be redeemed.
Jesus died and paid the price of redemption. Once again, there is a choice. We can choose to believe in Jesus Christ and have salvation or we can choose to keep going our own way.

God’s plan is that everybody would know about Jesus. He could tell everybody himself, like he did when he met Saul of Tarsus, as recorded in Acts, Chapter 9, and Saul became a believer in Christ. God wants us to be part of his plan of redemption.

This process is well described in the life of Moses in the Old Testament book of Exodus, beginning in Chapter 3. God’s people were in slavery in Egypt. Their lives were hard and they cried out for deliverance. God could have done it all himself, but he chose Moses. Moses would not have been our first choice. Moses was a fugitive, having killed a man, but God had a plan.

God told Moses that he was the one to deliver Israel. Moses contested against God in every way, describing all his weaknesses. God simply said, in Exodus 3:12, “I will be with you.” It would seem that having the living God of Heaven with you would be enough, but Moses wanted more validation. Moses asked God to simply tell him his name. God replied, in Exodus, 3:14: “I am who I aAm.” This was Jehovah God, the self-existent One who reveals himself.

What else do we need? God has a plan, and he wants us to be part of it. Our part is to seek his will and do it. God will not only be with us, but he will empower every step of the way. He is Almighty God.

The Rev. Dan Puckett is a minister with Life Action Ministries.