The Plan of God

In due time Christ died for the ungodly.—Romans 5:6

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.—1 Timothy 2:5,6

Peter Knapp

What is the significance of the phrase "due time"? It implies, as Ecclesiastes chapter 3 affirms, that God has a time for everything, even the acting out of his plan. Why was there a right time, or a wrong time, for Christ to die? Why should there be a right time, or a wrong time, for Christ to be made known to all mankind? How can there be a wrong time to save men from evil? The answers lie in God’s treatment of time.

To Bible Students, the most well-known illustration of the Bible is the "Chart of the Ages," as promulgated by Charles T. Russell. As with any good, visual tool, the chart’s power resides in being able to communicate numerous, complex concepts in a concise and effective manner. The effectiveness of its communication, though, depends on one being familiar with the biblical concepts it purports to express. The chart is a historical representation and does not yield any self-evident truths. In order to understand what the chart symbolizes, one must be knowledgeable of biblical history.

The chart presents a two-dimensional representation of the Bible: time on the X axis and choices on the Y axis. The uniqueness of Russell’s chart is two-fold: first, his handling of time; second, his collation of previous dispensational views into a coherent framework. He divides time according to activities. God has chosen to deal with man inside the bounds of specific time periods (ages and dispensations) and the constraints of specific relationships (covenants). Those time periods, and the covenants which define them, outline the choices which God has placed before mankind at various times, and they provide a backdrop to mankind’s relationship with God throughout history.

Paul’s statement regarding God’s due time (1 Timothy 2:6) encapsulates the uniqueness of the dispensational approach to biblical interpretation. Biblical interpretation is not unlike a musician reading a page of music. Many musicians can read music with proficiency, but most are unable to explain the structure behind the music they play—the page is simply a string of notes. However, when the theory behind the music is understood, the notes become part of a larger structure of scales, chords, and a hierarchy of compositional relationships. These features can affect the perception and interpretation of the music, as well as make it possible to distinguish historical differences particular to various time periods: Beethoven is different from Bach, who is still more different from Brahms. So it is with God’s word. Rather than being a stream of disconnected and arbitrary incidents, the events of the Bible converge into a focused and directed goal—the recovery of mankind—within clearly defined historical periods.

Three Worlds

In 2 Peter 3:5-13 we find three main divisions of biblical time: "the world that was" (before the flood), "the present heavens and earth," and "the world to come" (the kingdom). Obviously, the flood makes a logical demarcation between the first two worlds, but it also places the emphasis on the role of the angels and their offspring, the Nephilim. That transgression represented one of the grossest violations of God’s order, the mixing of natures. The state of affairs which had developed indicated the extreme lawlessness which was threatening human morality. To put it briefly, there was no formal system of Godly law before the flood, there were only individual relationships.

Paul explains a principle which summarizes the situation: "Where there is no law, there is also no violation" (Romans 4:15). The biblical world before the flood was characterized by a society based on patriarchal control. As far as we are informed, the worship of God by Adam and his descendents extending to Noah, depended on the sparest fragments of information regarding God’s expectations; they were presented with remarkably few choices. God was cultivating the individual relationship during the first dispensation. No matter what the formal arrangements, God has always, ultimately, sought the individual.

Whereas the first dispensation depended solely on an individual’s relationship with God for instruction, the second dispensation, paticularly during the Jewish age, is marked by broader laws and formal order. It demonstrated, unambiguously, the nature of God’s law and mankind’s sin, and further provided a means wherein every individual could eventually find God. Ideally, though, this law must be taken to heart, as Jeremiah states: "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:33). This will be the goal of the third, and final, dispensation: God’s universal law made personal for all mankind.

This broad framework of the three worlds needs details. Within the second and third dispensations, there are numerous, significant changes in how God dealt with, and will deal with, mankind. The first dispensation was relatively brief, and requires no further discussion. However, it does provide the crucial clue to deciphering God’s many and varied actions during subsequent dispensations.

In Genesis 3:15, God promised a deliverer, a seed to crush the serpent. This promise is a chain; it stretches through history from Eden lost, all the way to Eden restored. Often lost or forgotten, but never broken, this chain represents the development of the promised seed. It is the common link, the guiding and overarching goal of every endeavor, every punishment, every blessing, and every cursing. All of God’s acts have been linked to this chain—to the rise of this seed.

The development of the promised seed provides the philosophical underpinning of the chart. It can be demonstrated that all of God’s covenant arrangements are related to this seed, upon which depends the salvation of the world. Consequently, mankind’s options have been limited by the time period in which they lived, and the covenant which defined it.

God presented Abraham with a choice: follow me, inherit an unknown land, bless all of mankind, or stay (Genesis 12). With Abraham, we have the beginning of more personal, more specific covenants, specific to the seed. Noah had been called to save a remnant of the world, whereas Abraham had been called to save all the world. Again, consider how exceptionally few, real choices mankind has had. At this time, only Abraham held the choice. At any time throughout the chart’s history ask, "What options are open to a person?" The paucity of choices is informative because it underscores God’s singleness of purpose.

A Nation Developed

Through Abraham, God set in motion the beginning of a nation. The struggles and challenges which faced Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob foreshadowed the great struggles their seed would face as a nation. In Egypt, the seed languished in slavery. What purpose could be served in enslaving his people? It is said that the best wine comes from grapes which have struggled to find water, struggled to grow, struggled to bear fruit. Mankind’s struggle with evil is not lost on God. He has responded by creating a seed born of adversity.

Eventually, the seed became a nation, but the lessons and trials of developing into a Godly, discerning people were more than Israel could bear as a whole. The privilege, yet weighty responsibility, of being God’s covenant people took a demanding toll. Through the period of the judges and the kings, Israel suffered more often than they prospered, all because they broke the covenant. In spite of their numerous wanderings, God never let the promised seed die. He preserved the seed even through destruction and captivity.

Having been sanctified by the law, Israel was separated into stars and sand, spiritual and earthly. Paul’s argument in Galatians concerning Sarah and Hagar is clear about this. The law covenant leads to Christ through consecration, not by regulations, but by the separation which they exact. The law divides clean from unclean, holy from profane, Jew from Gentile, priest from layman, and, as expressed in the spirit of law, spiritual from earthly. It is interesting to consider that if Israel, or at least enough of them, had fully realized the implication of consecration, their history would have been quite different.

The close of the old testament begins the period of time called the "silent years." After God spoke "to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways" (Hebrews 1:1,2) he stopped speaking altogether for over 400 years. The covenant, the people, and the seed continued, although dormant. God had planted, watered, nurtured, pruned, and uprooted his people, his seed; now, it lay buried, waiting to be revealed in his son.

Jesus, the True Seed

With the advent of Christ, the seed finds it truest, most real, and most important fulfillment. In the words and life of Jesus are seen the real beauty of the seed, that is, not simply in its saving power, but in its ability to empathize as it saves. This concept is carried further by Paul when he argues that the body of Christ is not one member, but many (1 Corinthians 12:14). He further asserts that "if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise" (Galatians 3:29). In both Christ, and his followers, mankind will find the true priesthood.

The covenant opened by the death of Christ, which allowed "strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12), to be one with the Son of God is the opportunity, the choice. In due time, mankind will hear the testimony of Christ and decide if they wish to become part of this seed, the sands of the sea. Israelites indeed will have the privilege of helping mankind, in that final covenant, meeting the challenge of their opportunity, their choice. That is what the plan of God is about: the right time for the right choice.

The limited choices which mankind has had throughout history should not be viewed as a shame, a missed opportunity. Life is always a gift. When Paul lists his heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, he is not simply delineating a group of people who happened to be in the right place at the right time. He is focusing on men and women who had an unshakable vision of faith. They did not lament what could have been; they took what was in their hands and bent it to their wills. They saw the time and the choice, and never looked back. That is what we should do.

The Chart of the Ages shows every facet of God’s character harmonized and unadorned. It is most powerful when seen in its simplicity. The plan pictured by this chart demonstrates God’s willingness to take responsibility for his actions, his choices. In spite of man’s failings and stubbornness, God has, time and again, acted as both just and the justifier (Romans 3:26). He has satisfied his justice in every respect, yet he has also shown grace and mercy at every opportunity.