Saved By Grace II – The Glorious, Predestined Plan of God

Introduction – A predominant theme throughout the Bible is that of a sure expectancy of the victory of the gospel upon the earth. From creation to the final advent of our Lord, the scriptures speak of the plan of God, which is nothing less than the salvation of the world. We have already seen that God, by His very name and character, declared “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’” (Isaiah 46:10). Before we deal with the specifics of God’s plan of salvation, we will consider his general plan for creation. God has a glorious, predestined plan for His creation: a plan that includes the work of a Man over all men.

A Brief Overview of Psalm 8 –

High Glory (v1, 9) – In all of the creation, the glory of God is set as the highest of all declarations. His excellent name, that is, His attributes, character, and person, are declared in all of the created order. We have to lie to ourselves to hide this truth (Rom 1:18-20).

Babbling Babies (v2) – From the greatest to the least, from the highest heaven to the suckling babe, the glory of God is established. God will shut the mouths of unbelief with the sound of those babies in the back. Jesus said, “My strength is made perfect in weakness”.

What is Man? (vv 3-4) – On the one hand, seeing the hand of God in creation and providence, we ought to be extremely humbled. We are nothing.

Crowned Vice-regents (vv 5-8) – On the other hand, we see the place God has given to man, the place just under the angels, with dominion over all the created order. In this we bear His image.

Dominion in the Garden – That which is being described in Psalm 8 was instituted in the Garden of Eden. God created man to have dominion over the earth (Gen 1:26-27) and to have eternal union and communion with Him (Gen 2:15-17). The created order, the stuff of the earth, was all good (Gen 1:31).

Dominion Mandate After the Fall – This command of God for man upon the earth remained after the fall (Gen 9:1, Psalm 8) although mankind was now unable to fulfill this mandate. Adam had plunged us into sin against God. But God immediately begins to declare His plan – His Messianic promise (Gen 3:15).

An Expectation of Victory From Beginning to End – The New Testament quotes Psalm 8 in a number of places.

The Children Declare His Deity (Matt 21:14-16) – Psalm 8:2 is speaking of praise to God. Jesus quotes this passage to announce what these children are doing.

This Man, Jesus (Heb 2:5-9) – Psalm 8:4-6 spoke of man’s humility and of his crowning position of regency. Adam did not accomplish this. Jesus, the new Man, has.

Resurrection (1 Cor 15:20-28) – Too often, we speak of the work of the resurrection only in terms of redeeming man to his relationship with God (the union and communion aspect of creation). In verse 27, quoting Psalm 8 again, we see that the resurrection also reinstated a Man in the role of tending the garden and having dominion over the earth.

The Church (Eph 1:20-23) – All things were put under His feet, and He gave them to the church. Here we see that in Christ, mankind comes into his dominion.

The Salvation of the World – Mankind, in Adam, was to have relationship with God and dominion over the earth. Mankind, in Christ, the second Adam, will have those. God’s plan will be carried out.

Abraham Promised the World – “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” (Rom 4:13).

Christ Reconciles the World – “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). This is what John the Baptist declared – “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

The Church Sent Into the World – “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Matt 28:18-20).

Conclusions – In order to understand God’s exhaustive sovereignty in His redemption of the elect, we must see the exhaustive predestination of all things according to the plan of God – not a plan of possibilities, but a plan of victory over all the earth.

Christ’s Efficacious Work of Redemption – The ruin of the race of man through the first Adam is being repaired by the work of the second Adam (Rom 5:15, 2 Cor 5:19), predestined from the beginning of time.

Christ’s Efficacious Work of Dominion – The second Adam, through the work of His vice-regents, will accomplish the Lord’s plan for the earth. Mankind in Christ will take godly dominion and rule the created order to the glory of God, bringing the nations to the Lord and taking every thought captive. This also has been predestined from the foundations of the world.

Read the Paper or Read the Word – You won’t find this by looking at today’s current events. “But we see Jesus…” (Heb 2:9). By faith, we see the glorious plan of God. Dave Hatcher – June 2, 2002