Understanding God's Plan and Priorities for Our Lives

Our intentions are good, but as you know, our (New Year) resolutions rarely last. One reason they don’t stick is that the focus is often on our efforts, rather than on our God. The Bible says, “many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.” {Proverbs 19:21}

We must line up our plans with God’s plans … align our will with His will. 

What are God's plans and purposes for us? 

Look at God's plan and priorities for our lives:

1) God wants us to experience His great love for us. 

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” {1 John 3:1}.

2) God wants us to receive His forgiveness. 

“I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” {Psalm 32:5}

3) God wants us to know Him. 

“This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." {John 17:3}

4) God wants to conform us to be like Jesus Christ. 

“Those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." {Romans 8:29}

5) God wants us to know His Word. 

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” {Joshua 1:8}

6) God wants us to talk to Him daily in prayer. 

“Pray in the Spirit (pray with the Spirit's help) on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." {Ephesians 6:18}

7) God wants us to trust Him in all things. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight.” {Proverbs 3:5–6}

8) God wants us to love Him. 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." {Matthew 22:37}

9) God wants us to love others. 

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” {Matthew 22:39}

10) God wants us to tell others about Jesus Christ. 

“We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” {2 Corinthians 5:20}

As we seek any change in our lives, remember God’s plans are always best for us. When our plans align with His plans, we'll receive lasting joy, inner peace, and strength to change. Remember, we aren't our own—Christ is our strength for change. Colossians 1:27 clearly states that it’s Jesus Christ in us the hope of glory (the hope of reflecting who He is).

What Jesus Christ Taught Concerning His Return (Part 5)

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats: The Final Judgment of Nations {Matthew 25:31-46}

The Final Judgment: We must guard against confusing the judgment of a nation's works with the judgment of individuals (sheep and goats). Judging nations is really judging the individuals within them. Jesus Christ was painting a picture of the final judgment of all men. The final judgment will include all nations of men; it shall be the judgment of the whole world.

It is important to see that Jesus was judging two types of beings, sheep, and goats. 

The sheep (true believers) serve with Jesus Christ's heart of love because they are sheep. The ministry they rendered came from within. It was a natural ministry performed by sheep. It arose from a selfless, Jesus Christ-centered nature. Goats do not serve with Jesus’ heart of love because they are goats. The acts of kindness identified the sheep as sheep. The neglect of the goats identified them as goats. 

The sheep acted like sheep, that is, they served because they were sheep. And the goats acted like goats because they were goats. This is the very point of the picture. When Jesus sets them at His hand, they are already sheep and goats. Judgment is passed upon the goats because they did not serve Jesus, and blessing is bestowed upon the sheep because they served Jesus Christ. Scripture says, "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith with my works" (James 2:18). 

The only faith that God knows and accepts is the faith that serves Jesus Christ by ministering to people. A man or woman who says they have faith and does not minister to people is only professing faith in Jesus Christ. The true believer is "God's workmanship" (creation), created in Christ Jesus unto [to do] good works" {Ephesians 2:10}. God knows no faith apart from good works, that is, apart from ministering to the needs of others.

• The Son of Man is coming to judge (verses 31-33).
• The judgment of sheep will occur (verses 34-40).
• The judgment of goats will occur (verses 41-45).
• The judgment is for eternity (verse 46). 

Jesus Christ, Return: the Son of Man is coming to judge. 

1) When Jesus comes, He is coming in glory. This means at least two things. Firstly, He is coming in His glorified body, that is, His transfigured body {Matthew 17:2}; in a body full of light and splendor; in a body shining as the sun in all the brilliance of God's glory. 

Secondly, Jesus is not coming in the humiliation which He suffered as a man, but He is coming as the Son of Man and as the King of the universe.

2) When Jesus comes, He is coming with His holy angels. An innumerable number of glorious beings will accompany Him, demonstrating the glory and honor of His person as God. The holy angels will be the attendants and ministers of His justice.

3) When Jesus comes, He is coming to be enthroned. When He sits upon "the throne of His glory," He sits in judgment. He will become the One before whom every knee shall bow {Philippians 2:9-11}. He will become the Judge of the whole universe, the Judge who is exalted above all {Revelation 20:11}.

4) When Jesus comes, He is coming to gather all nations. All men will be gathered by the angels and brought before Him. The word nations stresses that every single country, place, nationality, race, creed, color, language—every living citizen will be gathered before Him in judgment.

5) When Jesus comes, He is coming to separate the nations.

a) Throughout history, there has been a mixture of sheep and goats, of good and evil. The tares and the wheat have grown together. The sinner and the godly have lived together:

•  in the same world
•  in the same nations
•  in the same cities
• in the same employments
• in the same churches
• in the same families

When Christ comes, however, there is going to be a separation—a separation of the good from the bad, of the sheep from the goats {Matthew 13:49; Ezekiel 34:17}.

b) The sheep will be placed on His right hand and the goats on His left hand. The sheep represent genuine believers. They are:

• the ones who believe in God's "only begotten Son" (John 3:16).
• the ones who are truly "born again" {John 3:3, 7)}
• the "good and faithful" servants {Matthew 25:21, 23}.
• the "righteous" {Matthew 25:37}.
• the ones who are "patient" and "continue in well-doing" {Romans 2:7}.
• the ones who "seek for glory and honor and immortality" {Romans 2:7}.
• the ones who "work good" {Romans 2:10}.

Note that God sets the sheep at His right hand, the position of honor, glory, acceptance, and favor.

The goats represent all unbelievers, those who never professed Christ and those who professed Christ but were not genuine believers. They are:

• the "unprofitable servants" {Matthew 25:30}.
• the "wicked and slothful servants" {Matthew 25:26}.
• the "cursed" {Matthew 25:41}.
• the ones who "are contentious" {Romans 2:8}.
• the ones who "do not obey the truth" {Romans 2:8}.
•  the ones who "obey unrighteousness" {Romans 2:8}.
• the ones who "do evil" {Romans 2:9}.

Thoughts to ponder:

1) Judgment is coming. It is inevitable; it cannot be avoided nor evaded. No person can escape the coming judgment of God. God is going to judge the world by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2) Very simply put, the day is coming when every citizen of every nation and tribe on earth will stand before Jesus Christ—stand either in His favor or in His disfavor.

3) The two claims to deity that Jesus Christ makes:

• He calls Himself "the Son of Man": He is the Ideal Man. As the Ideal Man, He is to judge the sons of men.
• He says that "the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory." He said this three days before He was killed.

4) Jesus Christ is now sitting on the throne at the right hand of God. There is a difference between the throne of grace and the throne of judgment pictured in this passage. We can now come to the throne of grace for help (Hebrews 4:16). But when Jesus Christ returns in glory, it will be too late to receive help. His throne will be a throne of judgment to which there will be no approach apart from judgment.

What Jesus Christ Taught Concerning His Return (Part 4)

Jesus Christ: The Lord's Return and His Judgment

The punishment for work not done will be stripping and separation. Jesus Christ covers three points in discussing this unprofitable servant. {Matthew 25:24-30} 

[Remember: Jesus Christ is speaking of a person who professes to be saved and is in the church]

1. The servant's reasons for not using the gifts his lord had entrusted into his care:

a) He misunderstood the lord. The unprofitable servant said that the lord was too demanding, exacting, stern, and unsympathetic. He was a lord who demanded too much and was too strict. He did not allow the man the right to enjoy this world and its pleasures enough. The servant felt that if he spent his time in the service of the lord, he would miss out on life. The demands of the lord upon his time and affairs were just too burdensome. The servant was too involved in the world and its affairs to give that much time and effort to labor for the lord and to concentrate upon his demands.

b) He added that he feared; he feared using and putting his talent to work for the lord. Therefore, he hid the lord's talent and did not use it to increase what belonged to the lord - what the lord had given him.

2. The reasons for the lord condemning the servant; note the vast difference between what the lord said and what the servant had to say.

a) The unprofitable servant was wicked and slothful. He was wicked because he went about doing exactly what he wished to do, spending his time and energy on his own thing. He transgressed the lord’s command and will. He was slothful because he did nothing with the lord’s gift. He buried and hid it.

b) The unprofitable servant was inconsistent, or perhaps a better description would be deceptive, double-minded, and self-contradictory. If he really believed the lord was harsh and stern, he would have labored and worked diligently. The servant was either lying or terribly deceived and self-contradictory, all in an attempt to justify his behavior.

c) The unprofitable servant failed to use his gift. The lord was direct: the servant should have used the gift and served (Matthew 25:27). He had no legitimate excuse.

3. The judgment of the unprofitable servant (Matthew 25:28-30). The lord pronounced a twofold judgment upon him:

1) The unprofitable servant was stripped of what he had. All that he had was taken from him. The servant's responsibility—the glorious privilege of working for and serving the lord—was not to be his anymore. He was to have nothing else to do with the lord. His responsibility was taken from him and given to the one who proven most faithful.

2) The unprofitable servant was cast into outer darkness. He was cast out of the lord's presence and banished forever. And there was no joy there, nothing but outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Thoughts to ponder:

1) Many people think God is hard, stern, demanding, and unsympathetic. They are unwilling to follow such a hard, narrow way. So they bury, hide their God-given gifts and travel along the easy, broad way.

2) Others think that what they have is their own, and they can use it and live as they please. They think that what they do is no one's business except their own, not even God's.

3) Many of us don’t feel any responsibility to God for what we have; we don’t feel the necessity to serve God faithfully and diligently.

4) Slothfulness, doing nothing for God, is one of the great sins of professing Christians.

5) Sins of omission are as serious as sins of commission. Being idle and slothful, being complacent and doing nothing, being lethargic and self-satisfied—all are condemning sins: sins that condemn a person to outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

6) We deceive ourselves. We rationalize our comfort, ease, and slothfulness by minimizing our gifts. We think that we will be excused by downing or denying our gifts.

7) Inactive righteousness is as condemning as active wickedness.

8) Idle service is as condemning as a busy sin.

9) Sleepy concern is as condemning as stimulating flesh.

10) Indulging comfort is as condemning as assault and robbery.

11) Being unprofitable is as condemning as being evil.