The Plan of God 1 Timothy 1.15

The Plan of God Applied    Romans 10.13

This is the last message in our series, “The Plan of God”. We began four weeks ago by studying “The Crisis that required a Plan from God”. That crisis was the sin of Adam which brought death and the condemnation of God upon the human race, and transmitted to the human race a nature bent toward sin and rebellion against God. By the sin of Adam, we were made sinners and were separated from the life giving Spirit of God. Today, mankind continues under the condemnation of God and continues to be spiritually dead before God.

Then for two weeks we studied “The Plan of God promised and foreshadowed” seeing how God promised and pictured and prophesied a Savior from the condemnation of sin and spiritual death, and one who would deliver from the slavery of sin.

Last week we studied “The Plan of God accomplished” and learned that God sent His own Son, Jesus, as the Savior of the world. Jesus fulfilled every promise, every picture, every prophecy, every office in the OT. God’s plan to save mankind was accomplished in His Son Jesus Christ. Not only was there a day in the fullness of time when a baby was conceived by a virgin, and a day when a baby was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger, but there was a day in history when Jesus was crucified and put to death on a cross. On that day, from noon until 3 o’clock, the sun was covered over and in the darkness God poured out His wrath on Jesus Christ for all the sins of the world. In those moments Jesus said, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” In those moments, Jesus became sin for us. When God’s wrath was spent, and the sun reappeared, “Jesus knowing that all was now finished said, ‘I thirst’. …When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished’, and calling out with a loud voice said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit’”. (John 19.28-30; Luke 23.46) God’s plan to save mankind and to save individuals from the condemnation and slavery of sin is finished. In Jesus Christ God has brought salvation to the world. That is why as Christians we celebrate Christmas and Easter. The coming of the Son of God to earth and the death of the Son of Man for sin on the cross followed by the resurrection.

Acts 4.12 speaking about Jesus says, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”.

Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for sin everyone must come to Jesus Christ to receive salvation. Jesus died on the cross and was raised again so that those who believe in Him might be saved from the condemnation of sin and be made alive unto God. That salvation can only be had in Jesus Christ. Jesus alone can save you from the punishment your sins deserve. God’s plan to forgive sin and remove the condemnation of sin has been accomplished and now must be applied to each of our lives by submission to Jesus Christ.

Jesus claims that He will be returning as Judge for those who have not turned to him as Savior. God sent His Son to earth as Savior but His Son will be returning as Judge. What are you going to do about Jesus and his claims? Will Jesus be your Savior or your Judge? There is no third option.

Let me share with you a few verses that tell us why Jesus was sent to earth by God the Father. “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4.4-5) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3.16-17) Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10.10) Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19.10) Jesus came to earth the first time as a Savior, but Jesus is coming again for final judgment on all who do not belong to him.

My topic this morning to end this series on the Plan of God is “The Plan of God Applied”. Our verse says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”. Because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for your sin by dying in your place and suffering the condemnation of God, God can now offer you forgiveness of your sins and new life by His Spirit. God offers to adopt you as a son and make you an heir of God in His Son Jesus Christ. If you have not yet asked God to save you from the consequences of your sins through Jesus Christ, I want you to know that God’s offer is extended to you again this morning. I cannot guarantee that the offer of God’s salvation from your sin will be available to you tomorrow or even this afternoon, but right now God says you can call upon Him to save you and to make you one of His sons.

The promise in Romans 10.13 is to “everyone”. The promise is given to everyone because everyone is in need of salvation from sin. There are no exemptions in this room, and there are no exemptions in this world. All have sinned and fall short of God’s standard, and everyone is in need of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. If you are thinking this morning that you are not a sinner and that you are good enough for God to accept you as you are then you are calling God a liar because God says that there in no one righteous, no not even one. Everyone needs to call upon God to save them and everyone who calls upon God to save them through Jesus Christ will be saved.

Nicodemus, was a Pharisee and ruler and teacher of the Jews. He was a man of high morality and strict religious practice. It would be hard to find a better man in all of Israel. When Nicodemus came to Jesus to question him, Jesus said to him, “Nicodemus, truly, truly I saw to you unless you are born-again you cannot see or enter into the kingdom of God. …You must be born-again”. All the goodness Nicodemus could muster was not enough to forgive his sin and to remove God’s condemnation because of the sin of Adam. Nicodemus had to be born-again. God had to separate Nicodemus from his life in Adam and unite him to Jesus Christ. (John 3.1-15)

Nearly 2,000 years ago there was a Pharisee named Saul. Listen to his story … [Read Acts 26.9-20]

Saul the persecutor of Christians who was in complete agreement with killing Christians as blasphemers of God, when he realized that Jesus was God and that God had appointed Jesus as the Lamb of God for sin fulfilling the sacrificial system, bowed down and called Jesus Lord. Saul, later called Paul, became a passionate follower of Jesus and a witness to God’s salvation in Jesus Christ until he was martyred by the emperor Nero.

Forty-one years ago, a long-haired hippie took his student loan and flew to Copenhagen Denmark to start hitchhiking around Europe. In Amsterdam he heard some street evangelists say that to get to heaven a person needed to be born-again. This 21 year old man prayed for God to show him the way and then went on to work in Berlin Germany on a US army base. There he met some servicemen who were Christians. They took him to a crusade led by Arthur Blessit who was carrying a cross through Germany heading for the Olympic Games in Munich, preaching as he went. This long-haired hippie responded to the altar call that night and was born-again, and became a son of God. This young man knew very little about sin, salvation, and what God did at the cross to save him, but God still saved him. Today that long-haired hippie is your Pastor. God can and will save you and make you one of his children if you ask Him to save you in Jesus Christ.

I do note expect you to understand all that the Bible says about sin and salvation in Jesus Christ, but if you understand that you are a sinner and need to have Jesus Christ to save you from your sin and God’s condemnation, that is enough. Ask God to save you from your sin and He will. Not only does God want to save you from hell but He wants to fill your life with the joy and peace you were created for. This Christmas God offers you the free gift of eternal life paid for by His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.

To reject God’s offer of salvation in Jesus Christ, is to reject heaven, to reject eternal life, to reject God, and to reject any hope of being accepted by God. To reject God’s offer of salvation in Jesus Christ is to say yes to hell. To reject God’s offer of salvation in Jesus Christ we do not have to be a Christian-hater, an angry blasphemer, a lawless rebel. Most of the people who reject Christ are respectable and ordinary people who believe they are good people, and do not need salvation from sin. They do not hold their fist up to God, they just ignore God. They may practice their religious system and do their good deeds but they are still dead in their sins. The biggest deception and the greatest lie that is blinding humanity today is that they are good enough to get to heaven and to be accepted by God. Friend, you are not good enough for God to accept you. There is no other way to God except through Jesus Christ. You are on the road to destruction if you do not belong to God through Jesus Christ. Come to Jesus this morning. Start the year as a son of God.

If you are already a son of God make 2013 a year of becoming all that God wants you to be in Jesus Christ. Seek God in greater measure in 2013.

I close with our theme verse for this series, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”. That is the confession of a saint who is trusting in Jesus Christ for eternal life. If you do not admit to being a sinner you cannot be saved because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Every sinner who calls upon the name of Jesus to be saved from their sin will be saved. If Jesus is calling you to be saved this morning make sure you speak with me before you leave the building.