Blueprint - The Eternal Plan and Purpose of God for the Earth, for Human Beings, and for Jesus Christ
An Eschatological Overview
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth
Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
There are some important attributes of God to consider when thinking about the implications of foundational verses like these:
God is described in scripture as omniscient – that is, God knows everything there is to know. (eg. 1 Jn 3:20). If God knows everything, then he has eliminated every other possible plan and determined this plan is perfect. There is no other plan.
God is described in scripture as omnipotent – or all powerful (eg. Job 42:2). This implies that God has more than sufficient ability to ensure that plan A is going to work. When God initiated the plan from Genesis, there was no escape hatch built in, God was going to see plan A through to its fulfillment, and its fulfillment is guaranteed based on his unlimited ability and knowledge working together.
God is described in scripture as omnipresent – or fully present not only at all places but also in all of time (eg. Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 57:15). So God is personally present in all places and at all times overseeing the advancement of plan A. He is personally involved in its progress which further ensures its fulfillment.
The entire Old Testament is about the tension that occurs as humans want someone like themselves to rule over them, while God wants to personally rule over them:
1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. (see also 1 Samuel 8:20)
The person of Jesus Christ resolves this tension. Jesus is God personally with us in the likeness of human beings. That is what the incarnation is all about, and that is also what the New Testament, Spirit filled Church about (see 1 Peter 2).
When Jesus chose to lay aside “equality with God” to become fully human, it was a permanent decision. Jesus will be a resurrected human being for all eternity in a brotherhood of unity along with those who believe in him. Since Jesus is unique in also being fully God, he is described as being preeminent in all of creation (Colossians 1:15-20). He is the highest ranking being in all of the universe and he will perfectly execute God’s commission to humans in Genesis 1. He will also forever serve as our role model and example for how we ought to fulfill that mandate as “image bearers” of God and play our important and necessary role in “ruling and reigning” (governing) on the earth.
Philippians 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Scripture is consistent in witnessing to the immutability (unchanging over time or unable to be changed) of God. (eg. Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 40:8)
If it isn’t abundantly clear and irrefutable at this point, the book of Revelation reaffirms this eternal purpose for both the earth and for human beings:
Revelation 5:
9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
(see also Revelation 11: 15-18)
The Whole Counsel of God
Acts 20:27 “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God”
History has born witness to the fact that the only hope for the planet is for God’s anointed king to return to the earth and take over leadership of the nations himself. Literally, no one else is capable or worthy (Rev. 5:3). The church has had some success at spreading the gospel of forgiveness and making disciples, but it has been an utter failure at ruling the governments of the earth.
God has been making a very important point in the playing out of history. The very best that human beings can achieve apart from his direct governance will still produce massive misery, hardship, and oppression of innocent people. There is no other way to bring about the Old Testament promised epoch of blessing for all the nations.
We look forward to the beginning of a literal and glorious government on the earth at the return of Jesus and the resurrection from the dead. This is our message:
Free forgiveness: Which is received by faith in Jesus (based on His shed blood and work on the cross). Allows anyone to become citizens of this kingdom regardless of ancestry. It is “catholic” for everyone, not just those of Jewish lineage.
Necessity of repentance: We must renounce sin in our life in coming under Jesus’ kingship. We must renounce the idolatry of self, in pretending to be our own masters doing whatever we want whenever we want with our time, money, energy, and gifts. We must renounce the idolatry of other forms of government, like Democracy and voting. That doesn’t mean we can’t participate, we just refuse to place a significant amount of confidence in the process, the leaders, or in the ideologies to effect righteousness.
Kingdom of God: This is the message of Jesus’ righteous agenda to take political control over the nations using resurrected believers from all ages who have adequately prepared to become competent to assume a role and be productive leaders.
The Holy Spirit desires to release power to endorse the “whole agenda of God,” not just one part of it. The witness of the Kingdom to all nations (Mt. 24:14) is a witness with power (Acts 2:22; 1 Cor 4:20).