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Objective

In this lesson, we’ll discover that God has an eternal purpose for everything He does and see how His mighty works of creation, sustaining, governing, and redemption all flow from His unchanging plan.

Key Verse

Psalm 33:11: The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.

Introduction

When you and I make plans, we’re sometimes forced to change those plans. Something happens that we weren’t expecting—maybe the weather changes, or someone gets sick, or circumstances shift in ways we couldn’t predict. But this never happens with God. The Bible teaches us that everything God does flows from His eternal purpose and will. God never changes His mind. Nothing ever takes Him by surprise.

Isaiah tells us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. He is infinite and we are limited in understanding. But God has graciously left us a record of His intentions in Scripture. The Bible shows us that God does not do things randomly or accidentally. He has a purpose for everything He does.

This truth should give us tremendous comfort and confidence. While we often struggle to understand why certain things happen in our lives, we can trust that our God is working out His perfect plan. Unlike human rulers who change their policies or forget their promises, our God remains faithful to His eternal purposes.

Here are the main points we will explore together:

• The eternal purpose of God
• The great works of God

The Eternal Purpose of God

God is eternal and unchanging. This is why the purposes of His heart must be eternal and unchanging as well. Scripture clearly teaches this truth in both the Old and New Testaments.

Psalm 33:11: The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.

Acts 15:18: Known to God from eternity are all His works.

What exactly is the purpose or plan of God? In the Old Testament, Isaiah gives us the most complete expression of God’s eternal purpose:

Isaiah 46:10-11: I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul clearly teaches that God has an eternal purpose in all He does:

Romans 8:28-30: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Ephesians 1:11: In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

Ephesians 3:11: This was in accordance with his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Notebook Moment: How does it encourage you to know that God has an eternal purpose that cannot be changed or stopped? What worries in your life might this truth help you surrender to God?)

God’s eternal purpose is an important theme in the sermons preached in the book of Acts. In these passages we learn that even the sufferings of Christ and the salvation of the Gentiles are all part of God’s eternal plan:

Acts 2:23: This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Acts 4:27-28: Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

Acts 15:17-18: That the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’—things known from long ago.

These passages show us that God has a purpose. These passages also show us that God is able to bring about His purpose and accomplish His will. This truth is beautifully demonstrated in the mighty works of God.

The Great Works of God

Before we go on a journey, we have an idea of what we want to do. We have some plan or purpose that we want to fulfill. Before we build a house, we think about why and how and when we’re going to do it. A purpose or idea always comes before deliberate work.

This is true of God as well. His thoughts and purposes are eternal, and these are the purposes that are expressed in His great works. There is a direct connection between God’s thoughts and God’s actions:

Isaiah 14:24: The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.”

Psalm 33:9: For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

The works of God, then, are the actions that bring about God’s eternal plan. The Bible describes these as the “mighty” or “great” works of God. God is praised in the Psalms for His works. Psalm 136 gives us a beautiful example of this praise. The psalmist tells us to give thanks to the Lord because His mercy endures forever, and then describes God’s great wonders in creating, sustaining, governing, and redeeming His people.

➤ God’s Work of Creating (Psalm 136:5-9)

Why did God create the world and everything in it? The Bible tells us that God created all things for His glory:

Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Isaiah 43:7: Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

We have been recreated in Jesus Christ “for good works.” Paul tells us clearly that this is God’s eternal purpose for us. We are to reflect the glory of God as Christ lives in us:

Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

➤ God’s Work of Sustaining (Psalm 136:25)

God did not create the world and then abandon it. He did not turn His back on creation when sin entered the world. He continues to sustain all things:

Psalm 65:9-13: You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

Psalm 145:16: You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

Job 12:10: In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

The New Testament teaches us that Christ is the One who holds all things together by His power:

Colossians 1:16-17: For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

In all of this, we see God’s goodness and His faithfulness to bring to completion what He began.

➤ God’s Work of Governing (Psalm 136:15-22)

Paul taught that God is sovereign over the nations. This means that nothing happens that God does not allow:

Acts 17:26: From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

Romans 13:1-2: Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebeling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Does this mean that God approves of all that happens on earth? No, God has given people free will to choose. But what happens is allowed by God, since He alone is sovereign. And nothing takes Him by surprise. Nothing can block God’s final purposes in creation.

We know that God will ultimately judge all sin. But sometimes God steps into history and judges right now. These mighty works of God reflect His justice and sovereignty. Each of the following examples shows that God’s mighty works are for the purpose of displaying His glory. Once again, this is God’s eternal purpose in everything:

Exodus 9:16: But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Isaiah 14:24-27: The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen: I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.” This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Daniel 4:34-35: At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”

Even those who crucified Christ were subject to the rule of God. What happened to Christ is an example of the great truth that Joseph spoke about:

Acts 4:27-28: Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

Genesis 50:20: You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

(Notebook Moment: Can you think of a difficult situation in your life where you later saw how God was working for good, even though it was painful at the time?)

➤ God’s Work of Redeeming (Psalm 136:10-14, 23-24)

In the Old Testament, God’s works of salvation are pictures of God’s greatest work of redemption through Christ. Noah was delivered from the flood, and Israel was delivered from Egypt. These great rescues point forward to the ultimate rescue that God would provide through His Son.

The Apostle Paul reveals that God’s eternal purpose is completed in the redeeming work of Christ. In Ephesians 1:3-11, Paul writes a magnificent hymn of praise that shows how God “chose us in him before the creation of the world” and “predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” Paul explains that this was all “in accordance with his pleasure and will” and happened so that we might be “for the praise of his glory.” Everything about our salvation flows from God’s eternal purpose and brings glory to His name.

At the end of this hymn of praise, Paul tells the Ephesians why God has chosen to redeem us. Once again, we learn that God’s eternal purpose is for Him to be glorified in His creation:

Ephesians 1:12: In order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

(Notebook Moment: How should knowing that you were chosen by God before the creation of the world change the way you view yourself and your purpose in life?)

Conclusion

This lesson brings us back to where we started—with the difference between our planning and God’s planning. We opened by talking about how you and I sometimes have to change our plans when unexpected things happen. But God never faces this problem because His purposes are eternal and unchanging.

James gives us the proper attitude we should have when we make our plans:

James 5:13-15: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

When we say “If the Lord wills,” we’re acknowledging a beautiful truth: our lives are in the hands of a God whose plans never change and whose purposes never fail. While we are like a mist that appears for a little while, our God remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. His counsel stands forever, and the plans of His heart endure to all generations.

What comfort this should bring to our hearts! We don’t have to worry about whether God will remember His promises or whether circumstances might force Him to abandon His plans for us. The God who created the universe, who sustains all things by His power, who governs the nations, and who redeemed us through Christ—this same God has an eternal purpose that cannot be changed or stopped. His works flow from His unchanging character, and His plans will surely come to pass.

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