During his Olivet Discourse, Jesus described the kingdom as having been prepared for believers "from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). The implication is that the kingdom over which Christ reigns was already planned and designed when God created mankind. The earth was made with this end in view - that there should be a kingdom. In the same way, God ordained those who would be His people before the foundation of the world.

These verses indicate that God's plan for His people goes back to the time before the creation of the universe - indeed, to "all eternity." Thus when we speak of God decreeing or determining, we do not mean that there was a time in the past when His plan was not yet formed or that it came into being at a certain time. His plan is from all eternity.

In the 33rd Psalm, the temporal plans of mankind are contrasted with the eternal plans of the Lord. The Psalmist says, "The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation." (Psalm 33:10-11).

Notice the contrast between the plans of men and the plans of God. Men's plans often fail. God's plan never does. It will continue on its course throughout all eternity.

The plan of God is unchangeable, even though it sometimes appears to change from man's point of view. We refer to this characteristic as "immutability."

When the Scriptures speak of the Lord repenting, this does not mean that His sovereign decree has been scrapped and that He has to go back to the drawing board and start over again. Rather it is a reflection that there has been a change in His actions as revealed to us. Such a revelational change should not be confused with an actual change in the person or plan of God.

Thus when God gave Isaiah a prophecy concerning the coming destruction of Assyria, He guaranteed its fulfillment by pointing to the unchangeable character of His plan.

We can conclude from this that God's plan was both determined before the creation, that it is unchangeable, and that it will continue to stand forever in this unchangeable state.

Notice the implications of the truth that Paul presents. He says that God has predestined us to enjoy certain blessings. The reason that we know that He is able to predestine us to those blessings is because He works all things in accordance to His divine plan.

The phrase "having determined" is translated from the aorist active participle of the Greek verb horizo. It is a general rule of Greek grammar that the action of an aorist participle precedes the action described by the main verb which governs it. In this case, the main verb is found in the phrase, "He made from one" and refers to the creation of man. This means that God has predetermined when and where on earth all men would live.

This is stated as a general principle in the book of Proverbs where we read: "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9).

This is illustrated many times and in many ways throughout the Scriptures. It is seen in the decision of Absalom. Prince Absalom, the rebellious son of David, sought advice from his counselors on how he might bring about the defeat of his father. After hearing the advice from two key counselors, he made a decision to follow the plan of Hushai. The was the poorer of the two plans and would ultimately lead to Abasolm's defeat and death.

We are told that the reason Absalom decided to listen to Hushai instead of Ahithophel was because the Lord had ordained it. God had set Himself to the task over defeating Absalom and to this end, He was involved in the decision-making process.

There is a significant parallel between the human action and the divine plan of that action. On the one hand, Absalom made the decision as to whose advice he would adopt. On the other hand, God had determined that he would make that decision and, according to the Biblical narrative, this was the overriding factor that caused the wrong decision to be made.

The same principle is further illustrated in the decree of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus came to power in the 6th century B.C. and within the space of a few short years, merged Babylon, Persia and Media into a single great empire. His actions were prophesied in the book of Isaiah.

Over a hundred years before the coming of Cyrus, God declared through the prophet Isaiah that this same Cyrus would perform His will by ordering the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Cyrus had not even been born when this was written.

The Lord states that He chose Cyrus to perform certain things even though Cyrus himself was an unbeliever who did not know the Lord. God is not restricted to using believers to carry out His plan. In the same way that He used Cyrus, so also He used the pharaoh of the Exodus.

It was the Lord who raised up the unbelieving pharaoh of the Exodus to his position of leadership over Egypt. He did this so that, by bringing him to defeat through the plagues and through the incident at the Red Sea, the name of the Lord might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.

Are we to take these instances of Cyrus and the pharaoh of Egypt as being the exceptions rather than the rule? Does God's plan only extend to the great and the powerful while ignoring the humble and the weak? Not at all! If there were anyone who was said to have "free will," it was the king. He could point to someone and say, "Off with his head" and that head would topple. Thus, when the book of Proverbs states the principle of God's sovereignty over rulers as a general principle, the implication is that God is sovereign over ALL men.

It has been said that man's free will flows in the channels which have been dug by the sovereignty of God. Such a concept is presented here. It is the Lord who directs men's will.

Paul takes this principle a step further to teach that the rulers themselves are placed in their positions of authority by the Lord.

Paul was not speaking in the context of a Christian king or governor. It was during the reigns of the Roman Emperors that he penned these words. He did not say that only those authorities which are obedient to divine laws are established by God, but ALL authorities.

This means that, whether a leader has taken a throne by force of arms or through inheritance or even through a national election by the vote of the "free will" of the populace, it is ultimately the Lord who places in office those whom He has chosen.

While it is true that the Lord ordains the lives of kings and princes, it is also true that He ordains the lives of peasants and peons. Job sums up the truth that the whole of a man's life has been determined by God.

The very length of a man's life is determined. It has been set by the Lord Himself. There is a sense in which it is impossible for you to "die before your time." And it is equally impossible for you to live beyond the time that God has ordered.

God's plan includes the acts of men which are sinful and evil in nature. This principles is illustrated in the sin of the sons of Jacob in selling their brother Joseph into slavery.

Joseph's brothers had exercised their own "free wills" in deciding to sell him into slavery. The slave traders had exercised their own wills in purchasing him, in taking him to Egypt and in selling him to Potiphar. Potiphar's wife had exercised her "free will" in trying to seduce Joseph and then in influencing her husband to throw him into prison. Yet in spite of the evil intentions of Joseph's brothers, the slave traders, and Potiphar's wife, God had planned these decisions for the ultimate good of His people.

In the same way, the Lord later brought about a prejudice in the hearts of the Egyptians toward the Israelites who were sojourning in their land prior to the Exodus.

The reason that Egyptian public opinion turned against the Israelites who were living in the land is said to have been because God developed this hatred in their hearts. It was He who turned their hearts in this direction.

The ultimate example of the Lord incorporating the evil actions of men in His own plan and purpose is seen at the crucifixion of Christ.

The word "predestined" used here is translated from the Greek word "pro'orizo." It is a compound word. We have already seen "orizo" used in a way that describes something which has been "determined." The use of the prefix "pro" tells us that this is something which was PRE-determined. It was decided beforehand.

Don't miss the implications of this! Both Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate, as well as a host of other jews and Gentiles, found themselves in Jerusalem doing the very things that God had predestined for them to do. We should not take this to mean that they did this against their will. They were not saying, "I don't really want to put Jesus to death, but God is countermanding my own will and so I am being forced to crucify Him." They are described as being responsible for their actions. But this responsibility in no way takes away from the fact that it took place in accordance with the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.

Here is a single passage we see God predestinating certain events to occur and, at the same time, sinful men are held responsible for their actions, being described as "godless men."

Though they had no intention of doing so, Pilate and Herod were fulfilling the will of God. They were acting according to God's plan and purpose. But they are nevertheless judged for their unrighteous intentions because they were willing participants in the death of Christ.