Planning Awards

Have you seen the planning awards?  Ok, maybe that sounds a little crazy – awards for planning.  It’s true!  There is an organization that gives awards for good plans.  They’re the APA.  (Not to be confused with the English writing style that strikes fear into the heart of every high schooler.)

I’m all for awards and planning, but I’d like to give credit where credit is due.  In the first chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church he gushes about how incredible God’s plan for saving the world is from start to finish.

First, the best time to plan is early!  The earlier the better, as a general rule.  God started planning before there was even time!  It’s not possible to get earlier than that.  Yes, before the world was created God planned to save you from your sin.  That’s a lot of planning!  Let’s break it down.

First the Father chose us.  Then the Son rose from the dead – proving the plan worked.  Finally the Spirit marked you as sold – property of the Kingdom.

The part of this master plan that I want to break down a little is the last part when we’re marked as sold by the Holy Spirit.  All Christians have the Spirit.  I want to talk to you about the guarantee God gives us!

He says that the Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. 

What if we fall into a horrible sin and ruin our reputation, our career, and our family?  By the grace of God he leads us to see our sin and repent.  Will this sin ruin our faith and remove us from God’s plan of salvation?  Absolutely not, we have been sealed as God’s property in the Spirit.  Great you say, this means that I can sin all I want, I’m guaranteed of getting to heaven.  No, you see, if we sin and sin and sin to the point where we don’t care, we have removed ourselves from God’s plan of salvation.  God won’t cross us off; God only wants to see us in heaven.  When people reject God, they willingly cross their name off God’s plan.  That doesn’t mean God doesn’t want us!  Nor, does it take away from his master plan.

Want to hear more?  Watch this Sunday’s message taken from Ephesians 1: The Master Planner.