The “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” phrase may be the most misleading and destructive of all phrases used in modern Christianity. It is deceiving and makes people comfortable on their way to Hell. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) Without a doubt, if you are a born-again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, God loves you beyond the human mind’s ability to comprehend. But, the other half of this misleading phrase depends on what the word “wonderful” means to you.
Before we go further, a very important note: This phrase should NEVER be used in evangelism! It is completely man-centered and misleads non-believers. There is absolutely no biblical precedent for telling any non-believer “God loves you” or “Jesus loves you”. None! Jesus Christ, who is God, (John 10:30, Colossians 1:15-18), loves everyone, including all serial killers, rapists, despots, child molesters and worse, so much that He paid for their sins by suffering and giving His perfect life on a cross to allow them the opportunity to live in perfection forever. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 1 Timothy 2:5-6) At the same time, God’s wrath abides on everyone who has not repented and obeyed the gospel. (John 3:36) Using the “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” message will not show a person his guilt of transgressing God’s Law and his need to repent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. At best, it will bring a deceived, unrepentant non-Christian into fellowship with true Christians. It will lead people to believe they are saved from God’s wrath and Hell when they are not.
Have you read the book of Acts or Foxe’s Book of Martyrs? Ask yourself this: When Stephen preached to the council in Jerusalem Europe were burned to death at stakes for trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation rather than following the traditions of men? Missionaries have taken the gospel to unreached places and have died of terrible diseases or have been killed by natives. Wonderful? Really? What about Christians who miscarry babies, are falsely accused and punished for crimes, are paralyzed, or suffer other terrible circumstances? The orphan whose parents are persecuted and killed probably does not see God’s plan for her life as wonderful.
To most people, a “wonderful plan” for life does not include poverty, disease or much difficulty of any kind. Jesus said to His disciples, “In the world you have tribulation…”. (John 16:33) This verse alone should settle the matter, but Scripture offers many more indicators of the troubles we can expect in the following passages: Acts 5:41, Romans 8:16-17, Philippians 1:29-30, 2 Timothy 1:12, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 3:14, 1 Peter 4:12-13, 1 Peter 4:19 and Revelation 6:9-11. These are a few of the verses that apply to the suffering, persecution and non-wonderful lives of Jesus’ followers. Our hope is that the Lord is with us in the midst of the troubles we face in this fallen world. His promise is that He is with us, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
If you use the misleading “wonderful plan” phrase, especially when speaking with those who do not (yet) follow Jesus, please stop. Certainly not because I ask you, but because it obviously disagrees with Scripture. It misleads those who do not yet follow the Savior and, in a way, inoculates them against the true, biblical gospel. Once a person is deceived into believing God is thrilled with his life and wants to unveil His plan that will be wonderful for him, he does not want to hear the truth about his sin against God and the necessity of repentance and rebirth. (Luke 13:2-5, John 3:3) The “wonderful plan” message creates unrepentant, false converts and makes the evangelism process much more difficult for those of us who evangelize the lost the way Jesus did by lovingly showing people their sin with the Law and then sharing God’s grace when they are ready to repent of their sin. (Isaiah 57:15, Matthew 23:12, Romans 7:7, 1 Peter 5:5)
Now, all of the above being said, God certainly has a plan for each person. It is clear from Scripture that He is active in our lives and in world events; weaving together the tapestry of His perfect plan leading to the day when His perfect will is done on earth as it is in heaven. I’ve heard it said that we see the unsightly underside of His weaving and He is glorified by the topside of His tapestry where He sees the reality of what He is doing. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Ok. This post may have stepped on some toes. It is never my intention to offend anyone by what is written in this blog. If anyone is offended by Scripture, that is between them and the Lord. The purpose of this post and every post here is always to equip, edify and encourage followers of Jesus to do what He has commanded: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)
Thank you for reading. May the Prince of Peace give you His perfect peace through your trials! (Isaiah 26:3)
