From: Beverly French [frenchb@vcss.k12.ca.us]
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 6:25 AM
To: Heritage
Subject: March 13, 2005 Greetings

"This Man (Jesus), delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again." Acts :23-24

Predestination -- God's eternal plan.

This was the foreordained plan of God in the counsel of God in eternity past. Omniscient God the One who is Love, who knows the beginning from the end, planned for the salvation, redemption and reconciliation of mankind even before the fall of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3:3 gives the first recorded promise of God's plan. God speaking to the serpent, " And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

The plan was determined by God's:
Foreknowledge: As we saw in our opening verse.

The Gentiles were included in God's plan as we see in His covenant with
Abraham:
"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying 'All the nations shall be blessed in you.'" Galatians 3:8

By His will; His kind intentions:
"He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." Ephesians 1:4 Verse 9, "He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him (Jesus)." Verse 11, "Also we have obtained an inheritance, have been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His  will."

Romans 8:28-29 tell us of God's purpose:
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." And that is, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren." Romans 8:30 tells us how God proceeds, "And whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

His purpose is unchanging:
"(God) 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 us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." 2 Timothy 1:9

The plan is expressed toward the Believer in:
Election:
"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love. " Ephesians 1:4

Salvation and sanctification:
"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth." 2 Thessalonians 2:13

Justification and glorification:
As we saw in Romans 8:30 above.

God's foreordained plan at the beginning was and is centered in the death of Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous: Jesus the Christ is, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8

Only He is worthy to open the sealed scroll of Revelation 5 (read that whole
chapter):
"And they sang a new song, saying:
'You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5:9-10

All praise and glory to God our Father who so loved the world that He gave! And all praise and glory to the Lamb, our Savior Jesus Christ for His 
obedience
unto death on the cross for sin. And all praise and glory to the Holy Spirit 
who
leads and guides in all truth. We worship and adore You Almighty God!