(Christ Is Coming)
Ephesians 1:3-5
When she was tiny, just barely able to talk, my niece reached up to me to be held. Once she was at eye level, the first words out of her mouth were, “Alli, I have a plan.” She proceeded to tell me that she was coming to my house to stay the night. And that we would watch Daniel Tiger and eat ice cream. We had a lovely time. All according to the blueprint she had laid out.
Most of the time we find it comforting to know that there is a plan. That the current direction was set with intentionality and that there is at least some sort of framework in place for our days. An end-goal in mind. It makes life feel better. Just think of how many familiar idioms and expressions we use that are related to deliberate design and forethought.
He’s a man with a plan.
You’re ahead of the game.
Back to the drawing board.
It’s by the book.
What’s the game plan?
Sound’s like a plan, Stan.
We’re obsessed with planning and structure.
During my teaching days I came across a simple study that reflects this common human desire for order and intention. The study indicated that young children actually feel more freedom to explore when they know that boundaries are in place. This was illustrated by the fact that on playgrounds with no fence they would stay huddled close to the teacher in the center of the play area. But when introduced to a playground surrounded by a fence, the same kids would roam the entire space, playing and discovering without restraint.
“They were able to separate from the caregiver and continue to develop in their sense of self while still recognizing that they were in a safe environment within the limits of the fence.”
Whether child or adult, we all like to know that someone is in charge. That there is discerning thought behind the decisions that are made and therefore a reason for the things that happen. It makes life feel less out of control.
The notable exception to this truism comes when we distrust the person who we think is in charge. If we don’t believe we can count on the boss, the system, or the ever popular “they”— seeing any of these agents act with intention and forethought brings anxiety rather than peace. There are no limits to the negative scenarios we can imagine, and the fallout we anticipate can be paralyzing because we know it is totally outside of our control.
Have you been there? Consumed with worry. Fatigued by constant mental roll-playing. Living in the scary “what if’s.” Trying to predict and parry the next move in order to avert disaster.
It’s hard to function when you don’t believe that there is a limit to the destruction that is possible. This is a reality that is lived by people on every side of every argument and issue known to man. It is a pattern of thought that simply sucks the joy out of life. And it’s one that is contrary to the gospel.
In spite of our tendency to run down the road toward worst case scenario thinking and fear, I’ve recently come to believe that our overwhelming desire to know “the plan” is not a wholly negative aspect of human nature. Our god is a god of order. We are his image-bearers. Created in His likeness. So when we crave order and intentionality, we are actually longing for characteristics that are a fundamental part of His makeup.
Our God is a planner. Paul talks about this reality very clearly in Ephesians 1 —
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons
through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Before the creation of the world, before any human even drew breath, and long before we exhibited the willful desire to follow our own plan, God had an object in mind. He fully understood the consequences of our eventual choices. And he made us anyhow. Wonder of wonders.
God had a plan to save before there was a need to save. Talk about the king of long-range planning. He had a solution before anyone else even knew of the problem.
The truly beautiful thing about this plan of redemption is that God himself is the plan. The passage says that God chose us “in him” [Christ]. This is such an important idea that Paul uses the phrase 164 times in his writings. When we choose Christ, what happens to him, happens to us. We are made holy or are set apart (as in Pastor Kevin’s recent sermon illustration), and we are adopted as heirs of the kingdom. Just as Christ is the Son and heir.
One of the most reassuring parts of the passage comes from the last sentence of verse 5. It tells us that this plan, the one that comes at great cost to the king of the universe, is something he does simply because he wants to do it. More than that — the acts of saving, adopting, and making us holy — bring Him great pleasure.
God is as delighted to save us as I was to watch Daniel Tiger and eat ice cream.
So when your life feels like it is hurtling down the road to disaster, remember that there is a God who ultimately has the ability to restrain the things that are outside of our control. You are invited to rest in this knowledge, but also to grow and express and create within the boundary of a loving parent, whose great joy comes in enacting costly plans for your benefit.
This, my friends, is the Gospel.
Pastor Allison
“How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master,
Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.
Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind,
had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.
Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.
(What pleasure he took in planning this!)
He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving
by the hand of his beloved Son.”