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1. From the beginning,
(from the first) God has had a plan* for His creation-for the world
He made.
He planned for day and night,
for rainy season and dry season, for the color of animals to protect
them from danger.
"In
the beginning God made the heavens and the earth from nothing . .
. God saw all that He had made and it was very good." (Gen. 1:1,
31, NLV)
"There
is a special time for everything. There is a time for everything that
happens under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NLV)
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2. In God's plan,
God sent Jesus into our world (point to a map or globe-using an encircling
motion) to tell us about the love of God.
"Jesus Christ shows
us what God is like." (2 Corinthians 4:4b, CEV)
"God was in Christ.
He was working through Christ to bring the whole world back to Himself.
God no longer held men's sins against them." (2 Corinthians 5:19,
NLV)
"The Son shines with
the shining-greatness of the Father. The Son is as God is in every
way. It is the Son Who holds up the whole world by the power of His
Word. The Son gave His own life so we could be clean from all sin.
After He had done that, He sat down on the right side of God in heaven."
(Hebrews 1:3, NLV)
"God loved the people
of this world so much that he gave his only Son (Jesus), so that everyone
who has faith in him will have eternal life and never die. God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him
to save them!" (John 3:16-17, CEV)
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3. The time and place for
Jesus' birth are a part of God's plan.
Many years before his birth, men of God told people about the birth
of Jesus.
"Bethlehem
. . .from you One will come who will rule for Me in Israel. His coming
was planned long ago, from the beginning." (Micah 5:2, NLV)
"A young
woman, who has never had a man, will give birth to a son. She will
give Him the name Immanuel."-(Isaiah 4:14, NLV) [Immanuel = "God
with us."-Matthew 1:23.]
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4. From the beginning, God has had a
wonderful plan for YOU.
King David, one of the Old Testament writers, said to God:
"You
are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, and I praise
you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do
is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt. Nothing about me is hidden
from you! I was secretly woven together deep in the earth below, but
with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was
born, you had written in your book everything I would do." (Psalms
139:13-16, CEV)
"For
I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, plans for well-being
and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah
29:10, NLV)
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