God’s Plan of Salvation – Rough outline of the individual cornerstones

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The plan of salvation provided by God for humanity contains a clear structure and a thread running through history. Individual cornerstones of the plan stand out in particular.

The Former “Mystery of God”

The plan of salvation, the gospel as a whole, was already established before the creation of our world. Once the mystery of God (Revelation 10:7), and after the fall of humanity, the description of the saving way out. Proclaimed to humanity through the prophets. The plan of salvation has several prominent cornerstones, and our time has only two more milestones to deal with. The last marks the return of Jesus Christ.

Stations of the plan of salvation

1. Adam and Eve receive God’s plan for salvation. The coming Messiah is already announced to them.
2. After the Flood, God again makes a covenant with Noah and his sons and confirms the arrival of the Savior.
3. God calls Abram (Abraham) and sends him from the land of the Chaldeans (city of Ur) to the Promised Land.
4. The people of Israel, Jacob and his descendants, are chosen by God to bring light into this world as His chosen people.
5. Jesus Christ comes to this earth as a human being and, after His baptism, performs His ministry, is crucified, and rises again on the third day. The price for sin is paid.
6. Jesus Christ begins His ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary as our High Priest (according to Melchizedek)
7. The announced apostasy with the continuing anti-Christian power for 1260 years (1260 prophetic days) unfolds
8. The Reformation brings the truth back into the light, under the greatest distress. Nevertheless, the work was not complete.
9. Persecution of the reformers and those who no longer submit to the Catholic Church, and flight to remote regions of the world (Revelation 12, woman fled into the desert)
10. The time of the prophecy about the 2300 evenings and mornings (Daniel 8:14) arrives. Jesus Christ enters the Holy of Holies to cleanse it (beginning of the judgment – 1844)
11. The setting up of the final “abomination of desolation,” in the form of the beast. The mark is installed and is to be imposed on those who refuse. A tribulation ensues, the likes of which had never been seen since the existence of humanity.
12. Return of Jesus Christ and the Salvation of the Remnant of His Faithful People

Where does it say that?

One might object that regarding the first point, nowhere in the Bible is it stated that the plan of salvation had already been given to Adam and Eve, including the announcement of a future Messiah. True, it isn’t directly stated, but the inference is easy to find.

First, after their fall into sin, Adam and Eve received a fur apron (Genesis 3:21), and second, the exact same plan of salvation applied to both of them because of the sin they had committed. At the very latest, in the case of Cain and Abel, there is clear evidence of a lamb sacrifice, which God demanded but Cain ignored. Only the blood of the lamb could symbolize the later blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and not the produce offered by Cain. Therefore, God could not accept His sacrifice.

Jesus on the Cross – Essential but not the conclusion

Point 5, the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, marks the most important milestone in the plan of salvation. However, the principle of salvation for each individual has not changed. Before Jesus Christ, in the Old Testament, people looked in their faith to the promised, future Messiah. After His earthly ministry, in the New Testament, people look back in their faith to a Messiah who had already existed. Justification through the grace of Jesus Christ based on faith has always remained unchanged.

Jesus Christ paid the absolute price for sin, with death. Thanks to God’s mercy and patience, people could continue to live on earth at any time, even though they had already sinned. This is also clearly explained in Romans 3:23-26:

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.“

There is no blanket salvation

The fundamental problem that exists in ancient Israel and also today in large parts of Christianity is the misunderstanding that with the announced, or from today’s perspective, past, vicarious death of Jesus Christ, all sins were forgiven simply by the watering can principle, and that any further sin is almost automatically forgiven.

One only needs to burn a sacrifice (today, pray for forgiveness) and everything is all right again, so why change one’s life, let alone make any effort to at least refrain from sin? God expresses precisely this annoyance in Isaiah chapter 1, where He calls all these slaughter and sacrificial rituals an abomination. Because people degenerated this sacrificial system, symbolizing Jesus Christ, into a purely formal matter.

After all, as a chosen people, they were privileged and saved. Just a few formal offerings, as required, and they would be safe. This misconception also fed the seeds for expecting the Messiah to be the national savior. He would then drive out the Romans and establish the Messianic Kingdom so that they could rule over all pagan nations.

This is precisely what Jesus Christ did not do, as it was never part of the plan of salvation. Yet such visions have remained ingrained to this day. Even today, a majority of evangelicals assume that Jesus Christ will establish His 1,000-year kingdom of peace on earth. This is exactly the same error (Info).

Following Jesus’ path after the cross

Another misconception is that everything was already over with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “It is finished,” Jesus Christ said on the cross, and this is proof that everything has been “accomplished.” Yes, it was the most important milestone on the path of the plan of salvation, but it is far from the end of the plan of salvation.

It’s primarily about following Jesus Christ, wherever He may go. Specifically, Jesus Christ entered the sanctuary as our High Priest and thus also mediator between man and God. He brought His own blood as atoning blood, was Himself without sin, and is therefore “the perfect sacrifice.”.

During the earthly mediatory service of the Levitical priests, there was a great Day of Atonement once a year (Yom Kippur, 10 of Tishri). On this day, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to cleanse the blood of the atonement sacrifices accumulated over the past year. Jesus Christ will also perform this process, and as verse 10 makes clear, this cleansing has already begun. He is already in the Holy of Holies.

The judgment of the already dead of the past began (Revelation 14:7) and will soon pass to the living. Even simple logic presupposes a final investigation before His return, namely that Jesus Christ will have a reward for everyone at His return, according to the works performed. Furthermore, it will finally be clarified who will be saved and resurrected at His return, and who will be lost.

True followers of Jesus Christ follow Him wherever He may go. Thus, believers are also encouraged to follow Him into the sanctuary and not to constantly linger in the outer courtyard, offering atoning sacrifices for the sins they have committed. In other words, to sin, ask for forgiveness, and simply carry on as before, but to set about overcoming sin.

For no sinner will ever be able to enter the Holy of Holies. Therefore, the “last 144,000” are highlighted as those who followed the Lamb wherever He went, and no deceit was found in them before God’s throne (Revelation 14:4-5). Therefore, sin was overcome, thanks to the power of God through His Holy Spirit.

A Little More Future

Humanity is currently at point 10, the ongoing judgment. There will be overlaps here. For the judgment of those still living will not be completed until the next step has already been present for a certain time. Points 11 and 12 are still future events. However, the abomination of desolation, as also described in Daniel 12, can already be vaguely discerned on the horizon.

Just as the statue of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3) took time to create, the final abomination of desolation is already in production. The mark of the beast has been fully formulated and is now only waiting to be proclaimed and take effect (Info).

The plan of salvation, once “the mystery of God, which He made known to His prophets” (Revelation 10:7), is nearing completion, for the sixth of seven trumpets has already been heard. Jesus Christ will conclude His mediatory ministry (Revelation 8:3-5), and from that point on, all judgments will have been pronounced for all people, both dead and living. From then on, there is no reason for God to delay any longer, for then it will be clear who is saved and who is lost. The final plagues (the vials of God’s wrath, Revelation 16) will follow.

The gates will soon be closed

Jesus Christ came to save from sin, not to redeem man in sin. It is therefore high time to finally leave the outer court and follow Jesus Christ into the sanctuary. The plan of salvation was not completed on the cross, but will only be complete when Jesus Christ, our High Priest, ceases His ministry in the sanctuary.

From this point on, there will be no forgiveness at all; the gates will be sealed, just as the gate of the ark was once closed, preventing anyone from entering. As was the case then, so it is today; no one will be found who actually wants to enter. God doesn’t close the gate according to a “deadline,” but only when every person has finally decided for or against Jesus Christ.

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)