God’s Plan for Mankind and How to draw near to Him

1.  God’s desire for us is to have joy (Psa 16:11) Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

God wants us to experience peace as well.  (Isa 26:3)  "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee.

God’s desire for us is that we not only experience peace and enjoy fellowship in His presence but also to be his friend.  One example of such a relationship was the one enjoyed by Abraham.(Isa 41:8)  "But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,  (2 Chr 20:7)  "Didst Thou not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham Thy friend forever?

If this is God’s desire for us what prevents us from experiencing this abundant and joyful relationship?

2.   Man has separated himself from God. When we sin we separate ourselves from God. (Hab 1:13)  Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, And Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor. 

The Jewish Scriptures tell us that all of us have sinned before God.  (Eccl 7:20)  Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.  (Psa 53:3)  Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.

3.  God is a loving God (Micah 7:18)  Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. (Zep 3:17)  "The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

While clearly the Jewish Scriptures teach that God is a loving God, the same Scriptures teach that He is a Just and Righteous God and must punish sin.  (Exo 34:7)  who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.  (Isa 59:2)  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

4.  Man cannot make himself good enough for God.  Most people believe that this sin and separation can be removed by our own efforts, such as prayer, repentance, and good deeds.  Religion is man’s effort to reach up to God and to cover or atone for his transgressions by his religious activities.  Our good works cannot make us right with God.  (Isa 64:6)  For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  (Prov 14:12)  There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

It is not what we do that makes us right with God but rather what we believe that makes us right with God.  This is what God loved about Abraham (Gen 15:6)  Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. The Hebrew root of righteous is “Tsadik” which is the Jewish equivalent of saint.   It was not what Abraham did that made Him a Tsadik but rather that He first believed God’s Word and then acted on His Word. Just as God declared Abraham as righteous because he believed God’s Word, so too must we.  (Isa 26:3)  "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee.

Man’s religion and his own effort or actions are not sufficient to remove our sin and the barrier that is the result.  God must take the action, He must provide for us.

5.  Faith in the Atonement God provided - God who is a loving God and does not desire to punish man, also is a Holy and Just God and must punish sin.   If there was no punishment then there would be no justice.  God’s love and justice are met in the sacrificial system given by God to Moses.  The Tabernacle and later the Temple provided God’s appointed way to be brought back into fellowship with the Lord.  The sacrificial system was given so that man might have atonement for his sins.  (Lev 17:11 NIV)  For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.  The innocent animal was a substitute dying in the place of the one who had sinned.  God’s justice was met, in that sin was punished, but mercy was found, in the substitute of an animal.  God did not delight in the death of the animals, but wanted man to understand the cost of his sin.  When a person became unholy through his sins God required him to kill an animal for atonement, so that he becomes aware of the penalty of His sin. 

This offering could not be done anywhere, it had to be offered at the place and in the way that God designated.  Initially it was in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, after the Jewish people received the Law at Mt. Sinai.  Later under King Solomon a Temple was built as a permanent sanctuary where God would accept our sacrifices as a covering for our sins.  In 70 AD a great tragedy occurred, the Temple was destroyed.  There now was no longer an acceptable place to offer our sacrifices. 

6. God has provided an acceptable sacrifice for us today. - The prophet Isaiah in vivid detail gave us a clear picture of one who would come to provide atonement for us today.  (Isa 52: 13 - 53:1-12).  The New Covenant declares that this promised Servant is Jesus.

7.  We need to receive this sacrifice which was a gift to us.  In the Older Covenant God graciously gave us the gift of the priesthood to offer our sacrifices to God.  (Num 18:6)  "And behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.  In much the same way God has given us once again the gift of a priest who would intercede for us.  Jesus the Messiah, who is described in the New Covenant as our High Priest was given to us as a gift from God.  In order for us to be reconciled to God we must receive God’s gift to us and that is receiving His atonement for us. 

8.  This gift is received by faith and repentance.  Faith is not just intellectual assent, nor is it temporal, that is trusting God for things in this life.  It is transferring faith from us to earn heaven, to the Person of the Messiah Jesus, who died for our sins.  Repentance means two things.  First acknowledgement of our sinful actions, which includes our thoughts, our words, and our deeds; and secondly turning from our own way to God’s way by allowing Him to be King in our Hearts.

His provision for our sins both in Old and New Covenants was given to us by Him, and not the result of our own efforts.  We deserved judgment but in His love He provided us a way to return to Him.  Once we receive this gift he endows us with His presence by taking us residence in us through His Spirit. 

In the Older Covenant the Temple was the location where God’s Spirit resided. His priests served in the Temple on behalf of His covenant people, Israel. When the New Covenant came God placed His Spirit in His people(1 Cor 3:16)  Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  His Spirit enables us to serve His people in this day and all who have received God’s gift of atonement and forgiveness are appointed as New Covenant priests(1 Pet 2:5)  you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus the Messiah.

As we read the Sciptures we learn more of His ways.  As we fellowship with His children we grow into our roles as priests.  (Psa 133:1)  (A Song of Ascents, of David.) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!

Once this gift has been received God promises us in His Word that we have received eternal life.

(1 John 5:13)  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.

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