Nothing Surprises God (MP 35)

The first Plan God made was also the last;
He foreknew each of Man’s stumbles and falls;
God previewed them as if they had passed—
The cures fore-planned and ready for the stalls!
For Adam’s fall, redemption introduced;
To shrink too-long life-spans, the flood would fall;
For Babel’s o’er-reach, languages confused;
Israel’s enslavement, a prophet to call!
A prophet? From where, and just when, pray tell?
Selected in advance by God, of course;
By Him to Egypt had come Is-ra-el,
And by Him would they leave there, by His force!
God’s Master Plan won’t ever need patching,
No matter what sinful men are hatching!

Scripture Quotes (NIV) [Brackets added]
Isaiah 46:9b-11—“ ‘Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me. 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 [Abram] to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.’ “

1 Peter 1:18-21—“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ [the Messiah, Jesus], a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope is in God.”

Commentary
At first glance, the Bible may seem like the story of God’s Plan for Man is a series of patches hurriedly made by Him to prop up mankind when it stumbles and falls, in order that a small remnant can limp into heaven bandaged and limping on crutches of grace. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God’s foreknowledge provided to Him the complete history of man before the universe was ever launched by Him with the Big Bang. His Plan included the cure for every foible and flaw of Man; God is no ambulance-chasing lawyer racing to accident after accident, and surprised to find Man fallen on his face again and again. He is not surprised at any sinful act—Adam’s disobedient eating of the forbidden fruit, Man’s sins and too-long life-spans that brought the flood, the arrogance of the tower-builders of Babel, or any of the disgraceful actions of today, like abortion, homosexual marriage, disintegration of two-sex families, or obsession with technology. He knew them all; in spite of that, He made Man anyway, with no change of purpose: Man, or at least those who believe in Him, will be His eternal dwelling-mate.

Isaiah the prophet quoted God Himself (above): “My purpose will stand…What I have planned, that will I do.” As one example, Peter told the Christians of Asia Minor (today’s Turkey) they “were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers ,,, with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah Jesus, who was God in the flesh)”. Peter said this in the first century after the crucifixion of Jesus (quoted above); by “forefathers’ he meant Judaism and the Mosaic Law, which was “empty” in that it offered no redemption from the first sin of Adam. The Messiah, coming to earth as Jesus of Nazareth, offered the good news of redemption; that is, the condemnation, brought to every man and woman by Adam, could be nullified by belief in Jesus as being sent by God to the human race. Life after the crucifixion, in other words, was not “empty”; it offered to all people (including us today, for we are still in the “last times”) salvation as a free gift, but only if we “believe” in Jesus as the Messiah or “Christ” promised throughout the Old Testament. This redemption was not a “band-aid” God hurriedly added to His plan because Adam fouled up His Plan—it was included in the original Master Plan. So were all the other cures for all the falls Man will suffer.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)