GOD'S PLAN FOR REDEMPTION
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of His grace.
Ephesians 1:7
In order to understand God's plan for redemption, we must first know what God has spoken of Himself. He revealed this to His prophet Isaiah.
As it is written:
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
DISOBEDIENCE PUT THE PLAN FOR REDEMPTION INTO MOTION
The plan for redemption was put in motion by God when Satan, the fallen angelic being, rebelled against Him. The plan for redemption was still in motion when Adam and Eve with their "will" made the choice to disobey God in the garden of Eden.
As it is written:
Isaiah 14:24
24 The Lord Almighty has sworn, surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.
The Disobedience of the Fallen Angel
Angels were among the many heavenly hosts whom our God created to serve Him in heaven. There was one, however, that chose to rebel against God. By rebelling against God, this fallen angelic being, that we know as Satan, lost his authority and position in heaven.
As it is written:
Isaiah 14:12
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O Shining One, son of the dawn. You have been cast down to the earth, which did weaken the nations.
Note: Ezekiel the prophet writes the following about the fallen angelic being, that we know as Satan.
As it is written:
Ezekiel 28:13-15
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your adornment: carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst; beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created.
14 I created you as a cherub with outstretched shielding wings; and you resided on God's holy mountain; you walked among stones of fire.
15 You were blameless in your ways; from the day you were created until wrongdoing was found in you.
Note: scriptures were taken from the Israel Bible
The Disobedience That Brought About War in Heaven
As it is written:
Isaiah 14:13-15
13 You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
As it is written:
Revelation 12:7-10
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
9 The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
Revelation 12:12
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them. But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.
Note: Revelation 12:10 reveals that God had set in motion the coming of His Son, Jesus. Jesus is the kingdom of God in the flesh, and the Messiah to the human race here on earth. God had set in motion His plan for His Son to come to earth with all power and authority to redeem (regain possession of) the human race from their accuser, Satan.
The Disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
As it is written:
Genesis 1:26-29
26 And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.
29 God said, see, I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.
Note: God had given Adam dominion over all the earth and over everything in the earth. There was, however, a commandment, that God had given to Adam and Eve to obey; and that commandment was that they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
As it is written:
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.
Note: Eve, along with her husband Adam made the choice to disobey God with the "will" given to them and listened to the beast. They both ate from the tree. Because of their disobedience, they lost their place in the garden of Eden. They were driven out of the garden of Eden.
As it is written:
Genesis 3:6
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
As it is written:
Genesis 3:22-24
22 And the Lord God said, now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.
23 So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken.
24 He drove the man out and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim [angelic being] and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
GOD'S PLAN FOR REDEMPTION THROUGH THE LINEAGE OF NOAH
Before we read God's plan for redemption through the lineage of Noah; let's keep in mind what God has told us about Himself through His prophets: Isaiah and Moses.
As it is written:
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 For my plans are not your plans, nor are my ways your ways.
9 But as the heavens are high above the earth, so are my ways high above your ways, and my plans above your plans.
As it is written:
Deuteronomy 32:39
39 See, then, that I, I am He; there is no god beside Me. I deal death and give life; I wound, and I will heal. None can deliver from My hand.
The disobedience of Satan and a third of the angelic beings with him in heaven were thrown out of heaven and hurled to earth. Keep in mind that God's plan for redemption is still at work.
God knew that He would have to destroy, by drowning, the human race from the face of the earth because they had taken on disobedience, the sin nature passed down to them from their ancestors Adam and his wife Eve. But there was one man and that man's family that God chose not to destroy with the rest of the world, and that man was Noah.
God talked with Noah and told him that He was going to destroy every human being on the face of the earth, but He was going to spare Noah and his family. God told Noah that human beings were going to be destroyed by a flood. Not only humans' but also everything that had the breath of life in them.
God commanded Noah to build an ark for him and his family, and for the animals that He was going to spare from the flood. It took Noah one hundred years to build the ark, and when it was completed Noah and his family, and the animals went into the ark and God shut them in. Genesis 7:16
As it is written:
Genesis 6:5-14
5 God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time.
6 And God regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was saddened.
7 God said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for I regret that I made them.
8 But Noah found favor with God.
9 This is the line of Noah. Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.
10 Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness.
12 When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth,
13 God said to Noah, I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make it an ark with compartments and cover it inside and out with pitch.
As it is written:
Genesis 6:17-18
17 For My part, I am about to bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life; everything on earth shall die.
18 But I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, with your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives.
As it is written:
Genesis 8:1
1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
As it is written:
Genesis 8:15-17
15 God spoke to Noah and said,
16 Come out of the ark, together with your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives.
17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and everything that creeps on earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
As it is written:
Genesis 9:1
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.
THE TEN GENERATIONS FROM NOAH TO ABRAHAM
From the three sons of Noah, God chose the family line of Shem to bring His plan for redemption into the world. Shem was the father of Arphaxad, the grandfather Selah, the great grandfather of Eber, the great- great grandfather of Peleg, the 6th grandfather of Reu, the 7th grandfather of Serug, the 8th grandfather of Nahor, the 9th grandfather of Terah, and the 10th grandfather of Abraham.
Terah was the nineth generation from Shem. Terah lived in the land of Ur and was the father of three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah and his family left Ur in route to Canaan. They settled in Haran before journeying on to Canaan. While in Haran, Terah died.
Abraham Chosen by God to Be the Father of Nations
Abram was told by God to go and live in the land of Canaan. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and he became the father of Israel.
As it is written:
Genesis 12:1-3
1 The Lord had said to Abram, go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
THE GENERATIONS FROM ABRAHAM TO JESUS OUR REDEEMER
The generations from Abraham to our Redeemer, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; are written in the Gospel of Matthew: chapter one, verses one through sixteen.
As it is written:
Matthew 1:1
1 The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
As it is written:
Matthew 1:2-6
The 14 Generations from Abraham to David:
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Hezron, Ram, Aminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David.
As it is written:
Matthew 1:7-11
The 14 Generations from David to the Carrying Away to Babylon:
Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jeconiah.
As it is written:
Matthew 1:12-16
The Generations from the Exile in Babylon to Jesus the Christ:
Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Sadoc, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, and Jesus.
As it is written:
Matthew 1:17
17 So, all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
GOD'S PLAN FOR REDEMPTION FULFILLED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS
As it is written:
Romans 5:12-21
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned:
13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
21 So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore, God sent His Son, Jesus, in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering; in order to condemn sin in the flesh. The only way that the human race could be redeemed was through the blood of Jesus. Jesus gave His life, so that the human race could have the right to eternal life.
As it is written:
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
As it is written:
Matthew 20:28
28 Just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
As it is written:
Hebrews 10:5-7
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for Me.
6 With burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll, I have come to do your will, O God.
As it is written:
Hebrews 10:10
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
As it is written:
Romans 3:24-25
24 And all are justified [made righteous] freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement [reconciliation between sinful people and the Holy God], through the shedding of His blood, to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.
As it is written:
Romans 8:1
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Isaiah 44:22
And it is so, in the name of Jesus