Genny, Issy and Chrissy
(He has a plan indeed )
‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope’ Jeremiah 29:11
God always has a plan, a glorious plan to those WHO ARE HIS COVENANT PEOPLE. The promise above is not for ALL people. It is given to those who have entered into a covenant with Him. The promise above is for the nation Israel. And it will be fulfilled in the future in the second Advent of the Lord Jesus.
Israel rejected their king, the Lord Jesus in His first advent, they crucified Him. God then set Israel aside and punished them for hundreds of years now. Now, there is no spiritual Israel, the Israel right now is an apostate Israel. It is an Israel that has no covenant with God. They have no right relationship with God.
So what is God doing after they [Israel] rejected Jesus? God set them aside out of His favor. God is now calling all people in all nations. He is now building His Church, a people distinct from Israel [Romans 11]. When the number of people is completed to constitute the Church, He will take the Church to Himself [1 Thes. 4:13-18], then the end of the age will usher in and He will rebuild Israel again in His second coming and reign on earth for 1000 years [Revelation 20:1-7) then eternity will ensue.
The Church Age is the Christian Age. The word ‘church’ is from the Greek word ‘ekklesia’ or ‘called out.’ It is derived from two words in Greek ‘kaleo’ meaning ‘to call’ and ‘ek’ meaning ‘out.’ Thus, it means the “called out ones.” He is now calling all sinners out of the life of sin all over the world through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ [ 2 Thes. 2:14].
His plan for all who repent and trust in the good news is that they will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. [Romans 8:29-30]. His desire for those who have not yet heard the gospel is for them to be evangelized and hear His salvation in Christ. This age is the age of grace, the Church age or the Christian Age. ThatÂ’s why all over the world many, many churches and Christian groups abound. But the time will come when this age will end and the Great Tribulation [Revelation chapters 4-19] will come in, it is a period of seven years when GodÂ’s anger will be poured out to those who did not respond positively to His offer of salvation and forgiveness of sins in Christ. By then the Church will have been taken from the earth [1 Thes. 4:13-18].
Today God classed people into three different groups: a)the Jew or the Israelite, [whom God has set aside for now but will be in GodÂ’s favor again as predicted in numerous prophecies in the Old Testament] b)the Church of God or the Christians whatever denomination or group they are in as long as they repent and trust on the work of Jesus on Calvary for salvation and c)the Gentile [non-Israelite and non-Christian people all over the world including Singaporeans who have not repented and trusted in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ].
“Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks [meaning Gentiles, they call the Gentiles as Greeks because most Gentiles in the first century spoke Greek] or to the church of God [His new covenant people, Christians]” 1 Corinthians 10:32
You are obviously not an Israelite, so two choices only remain for you, either you are a Gentile in the eyes of God or a member of the Church of God. Which are you?
To be a member of the church of God and avail of His glorious plan, one must repent and trust in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, then and only then can you be assured that God indeed has a plan for you, a glorious plan that is, which He will fulfill in His time and in His way.
The Age of the Church is fast going to itÂ’s end, the time to repent and trust in the saving work of the Lord Jesus for salvation is NOW.