Culmination of the Plan

One of my goals for this year (2015) is to write a book I would like to call “The Plan.” Basically, I would like to declare what I see revealed in Scripture of the plan of salvation that God is in the process of completing. Parallel to such a declaration is another possible approach to declaring what I believe has been revealed in the Bible of God working among us that I think of as the “Redemption Narrative.” Why would I write of these projects in an article to be published as a blog on the website we call “Living Fully” www.vmtc.ca? We are in a battle. You and I are experiencing opposition from the devil. Jesus addressed our worldly situation during His final instructions to the Twelve just before His arrest by the Jewish leaders:

“You heard me say, `I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has not hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14: 28 – 31a NIV)

There are three principles in this passage of scripture that I want to point out that answers the question I have proposed, “Why would I write of these projects in an article to be published as a blog on the website we call `Living Fully?’”

1. The first reason and possibly the most important is Jesus’ statement “I am going away and I am coming back to you.” The culmination of the plan of salvation is encapsulated in this statement. We are saying that the plan of salvation is the salvation of the world by the salvation of individuals in it. When Jesus was among us He demonstrated the working in power of a person anointed with the Holy Spirit. Note Luke 4: 18, 19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” In verse 4: 21 Jesus went on to say in the synagogue in Nazareth, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This was the announcement by Jesus that He was the Messiah. It was the expectation that Jesus was to be anointed by Israel as the Messiah, the Anointed One. Israel, His own people, rejected Jesus as the Messiah and the statement by Jesus “I am going away and I am coming back to you,” was a statement of the result of that rejection. Jesus was about to be crucified. Jesus was about to die. The work of Jesus on earth was completed. Jesus would soon ascend to the Father and together they would send the Holy Spirit to anoint each of us to carry on what Jesus began. This is the culmination of the plan of salvation.
2. The second reason why I would write of these projects is shown by the statement of Jesus “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.” I am imitating my Lord. I am attempting to walk in the footsteps of Jesus as He obeyed His Father. He carried out here a principle that we should note and emulate. This was not the first time Jesus had done this. Jesus had taught His disciples of His impending death at the hands of the high priests three times. He declared with His mouth what the scriptures taught about Him. By declaring what was to take place, Jesus made it a reality in the physical world. That principle is exactly what I am attempting to carry out. I have heard the Holy Spirit guide and inspire me to write of the plan of salvation and of the redemption narrative. I am declaring before it happens that it will happen. By making such declaration I am bringing into physical reality what I have perceived in the spiritual realm.
3. The third reason why I would write of these projects is shown by the additional statement of Jesus “I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” The principle contained in this statement is one of the guiding principles of spiritual warfare. The sword proceeds from our mouth. Jesus wielded it in the wilderness when he answered the temptations of the devil. Jesus wielded the sword all through His teaching and revelation of the Father during His ministry. As we allow Jesus to wield the sword in us, through us, and around us we will be enabled to carry out the ministry of Jesus on earth. So we find that the culmination of the plan of salvation was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. By the Holy Spirit we are empowered to carry on the work of Jesus by being witnesses of what He did to bring each person in the world into God’s plan. Jesus has physically gone away and returned to the Father; but in the spiritual realm Jesus is ever with us and empowers us by the Holy Spirit, also known as, the Spirit of Christ.