A mysterious plan God predestined for the salvation of mankind
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September 01, 2024 |
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 “…but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)
Before the ages God planned the cultivation of mankind and predestined the way of salvation for them. He kept His mysterious plan for the salvation of mankind in secret until His predestined time came. What is the mysterious plan for human salvation He predestined before the ages?
The first man Adam and his wife were tempted by the serpent and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then accursed of God. But God said to the serpent symbolizing Satan in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” God gave this prophetic message on human salvation.
Here ‘the woman’ spiritually symbolizes Israel, and ‘her seed’ refers to Jesus Christ who was born among the people of Israel as written in Revelation 12:5. The phrase ‘you shall bruise him on the heel’ means Jesus would be crucified to death by wicked people under control of Satan, and the phrase ‘He shall bruise you on the head’ means Jesus Christ would defeat the devil and Satan by His crucifixion and resurrection.
God prophesied the Savior for mankind would be born of Israel, crucified to death by Satan’s evil scheme, and destroy the power of the devil ad Satan by His resurrection.
By the way, this plan for human salvation was hidden in a mysterious wisdom of God lest the devil notice and understand. The devil simply knew the seed of the woman would come and smash him on the head, so he always desired to kill her seed. He expected he would eternally rule over the world with the authority handed over from Adam if he were able to kill the Messiah.
The devil didn’t know who the seed of the woman is, so he continually attempted to kill the prophets who gained a great favor from God in Old Testament times. When Moses was born, the devil let the Pharaoh slaughter all newborn boys of Hebrew women (Exodus 1:15-22).
When the Word became flesh and Jesus was born in a human form, the devil let King Herod kill all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under. It was because King Herod was afraid that he would be dethroned if the one who was born as the king of the Jews would survive.
As God knew it in advance, He let the angel of the Lord appear in Joseph’s dream and tell him to take the Child and Mary and flee to Egypt, and then remain there until King Herod died (Matthew 2:1-18). Jesus grew in favor with God and men and when He turned 30, He began His public ministry.
Jesus went throughout all Galilee, taught in the synagogues and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, and healed every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23). The devil caused the high priests, scribes, and the Pharisees to plot all kinds of evil schemes to kill Jesus.
No evil one could touch Jesus until the time of God came because Jesus was always in the shadow of God’s wings. The wicked people’s plot to crucify and put Him to death could not be fulfilled until He finished His public ministry. When the time came, Jesus was arrested, judged, and crowned with thorns, scourged, nailed through on His hands and feet, and crucified to death in an excruciating pain.
When Jesus died on the cross, the devil expected he would rule over the world forever because he killed the seed of the woman who had been prophesied to bruise him on the head. But God’s mysterious wisdom is embedded here. When he killed the blameless Jesus, he violated the law of the spiritual world and became a tool in the fulfillment of God’s mysterious plan for salvation. -To be continued
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Manmin News 
