God knows his plans, but how much is he willing to tell us?

Genesis 18:17“Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked.

The specifics of God’s plan are always revealed on a need-to-know basis. In this case with Abraham, it was part of God’s plan to let Abraham know and participate in another part of God’s plan.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-15God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. . . . And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

Romans 1:18-23God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Both the Old Testament and New have a scope of history that places God above and beyond it. God’s written revelation tells us that a certain understanding of our Creator is accessible to all people, while further understanding has been revealed in Scripture as God’s plan has progressively unfolded.

Romans 9:10-12This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.”

God may assign significant roles for us in his plans even before we are born. Our relationship with God determines whether our determined role will yield positive or negative results for us and for those around us.

Romans 16:25All glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time.

Ephesians 1:9-11God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

Ephesians 3:11-12This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

2 Timothy 1:9-10God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.

God has revealed that the centerpiece of his plan for creation was to rescue and redeem us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross on our behalf.