January 22: God’s Purposes Reflect His Character

By Bassey Ekong

God’s purposes are eternal. His plan from the foundation of the world was to defeat Satan and sin and to restore mankind. His purposes never changed. Yet God’s plan was not simply to come down and wrench control of the earth from Satan. He could have done that, but he never would have done it. It would have been inconsistent with the integrity of His character and His purposes. The reason is; God has all power and authority. However, He has given mankind free will and authority over the earth and He will not rescind those gifts even though man sinned, rejected Him and deserved to be separated from Him forever. Romans 6:23 states, For the wages of sin is death.

What extraordinary respect God has for humanity! He continues to respect mankind’s free will, even after the fall, for God’s gift and the call are irrevocable(Romans 11:29). God restored man’s relationship with Himself and His earthly authority, even after he had thrown away these gifts. To do this, man’s sin had to be dealt with, and man also had to desire to return to God and work together with Him on his own free will. This was possible only in Christ. As Jesus said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible(Matthew 19: 26). God’s eternal plan for humanity was made possible through the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus Christ who alone restores us to our purposes in God. Note: God respected man’s authority even when it lay dormant within his fallen nature. However, only through Christ do we have the right to pray with authority.

Let’s pray: Oh Lord! Thank you that your plans for mankind are eternal. Thank you for not giving up on us, and for sending your son Jesus to restore our right to commune with you. May we learn to pray with authority, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today’s reading: Exodus 4-6; Matthew 14:22-36

All Things are Possible with God.