Somewhere we lost the plot...

I don't usually transcribe something I speak on in the church, usually it's just a stream of consciousness type of thing. However, I'm gonna do just that which I rarely do. :D This is the first part of a message I brought before the fellowship last Sunday. I don't know if I will choose to post any more parts of it or not. It might depend on if anyone wants to hear it, ha. Anyway, here goes. I hope it blesses any who read it.

We all have plans. Some are big, some are small, but we have them to get through our day. Even on days when we are being "spontaneous" we still have plans. We have a plan to get up, get dressed (or not) and do whatever might lead to our "spontaneous day". God is no different. God has plans. He's always had them. From the moment He created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden there was a plan... we'll call it "Plan A". And then we all know what happened... the fall. The fall brought sin into our flesh and caused us to deviate from "Plan A". (Now, just for clarification. Yes I believe God is all powerful and all knowing. Yes I believe we have free will. Yes I believe God knows what we will choose before we choose, but we still have free will. I'm not going into that particular theological thread on this post. Just a heads up. :D ) Because of sin we can no longer move ahead in "Plan A". Now God could have cut us off there and been totally justified. Adam and Eve blew it. God could have allowed us to be stuck in our new position. But He did not. God put into motion "Plan B". Here is a very brief overview of "Plan B". God gave the law to show our sin, and God gave the sacrificial system to give a way to even approach Him. The key to the system was the shedding of blood as atonement for the sin. However, the sacrifice of animals could not erase our sin, it could only cover it for a time. Then God sent Jesus to die for us, thus satisfying the blood debt we owed. And because it was a perfect sacrifice and then Christ rose from the grave conquering sin and death, we can now ask forgiveness and rejoin "Plan A". "We rejoin 'Plan A'?" some might ask. To forgive is to what? To act as though the offense never occurred. If the offense of the fall had never occurred, then we would still be on "Plan A". So if God forgives us of that sin, we go back to "Plan A". And getting back on "Plan A" leads us to Heaven right? Heaven is the point of the plan right? I say no.

NO?!?!? And before anyone starts chasing me with pitchforks and torches, just hear me out. If Heaven is the point of the plan, why bother starting with Eden? Is the Garden of Eden the same as Heaven? Scripture tells us that Heaven has streets of Gold and mansions and a gate made out of a giant pearl... did Eden have that? Doesn't seem to according to scripture? Remember if there had been no fall and no sin we would have stayed on the course of "Plan A" and if there was no need to go to heaven since there was no sin, can we really say Heaven is the point of the plan?

One of the problems with "American Christianity" is that we've set Heaven as THE point of the plan. It can pretty much be traced back to our puritan backgrounds and the revival of Jonathan Edwards, for example. Now I am NOT bashing Jonathan Edwards and I thank God for his willingness to preach scripture. There is truth in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" but I fear it was not taken with balance. Yes it is true that if a person does not repent he or she will spend eternity in Hell. However, people ran with the "turn or burn" message and created a lot of what I call "Fire Insurance" Christians. They aren't really interested in God or finding out about Him. They just don't want to go to Hell. So if they get saved, they don't have to go to Hell.... Fire insurance.

We all have insurances in our lives... whether fire, health, auto, etc. Let me ask you this. How often do you think about your insurance in your day to day life? Most of us only think of it when it's needed (i.e. there is a fire, car accident, etc.) or when we have to pay the premiums. On those days you have to pay the premium, how fondly do you think upon your insurance salesman? If you are like me you tend to have those whispers in your mind that say "Well, we've never had a fire... we might not EVER have a fire... if I never have a fire am I just tossing away money that I could use for groceries or diapers or our missions trip this summer... is it really worth paying in the end? on a chance of something POSSIBLY going wrong?" It can easily lead to a bit of resentment. I am paying good money on something that may never occur. I don't play the lotto cause it's throwing money away at chance... is my insurance any different???

Unfortunately, many people who come to God as "Fire Insurance" begin to view Him the same way. "Well, I've never SEEN Hell... No one I know has SEEN it... who's to say there is a Hell... why do I keep paying (don't do this, don't do that) on something that MIGHT be there... wouldn't I be happier doing my own thing anyway?... and if getting out of Hell and going to Heaven is the point anyway, why doesn't God just 'poof' me outta here when I got saved?" I contend that Heaven is not THE point to the plan. But if that's so... then what IS the point of "Plan A"?

OK, I'm done for this post. I probably will post the next part, but I haven't decided yet. In the meantime if you actually read all that, I commend you... cause I am long-winded. I'd love to get thoughts/view/comments/questions/disagreements. Send em all my way. Hope and pray you are blessed by this. LATAH!