The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s big strategic plan. Church leaders can glean some helpful tips by reflecting on all the strategic planning that went into the Gospel.
Elements of God’s Big Strategic Plan – The Gospel
The first chapter of Romans provides some elements that characterized God’s plan to send Jesus.
1) Advanced Planning
… the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. (Rom. 1:2)
Sending Jesus to be our Savior was not an after-thought but rather something God planned in advance and kept pointing to in order to prepare people for His coming. He then could point back to the groundwork He laid through the prophets, in what we now have as Old Testament Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Gal. 3:8).
Lesson for Leaders: Keep an eye on the big picture.
2) Purposeful Planning
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17)
The Gospel reveals so much about God such as His righteousness (Rom. 1:17), power (1 Cor. 1:22-24; Rom. 1:16), wisdom (Eph. 3:10-11), love (Jn. 3:16), grace (2 Tim. 1:9-10), and more. Nothing about God’s plan of salvation contradicts His character. It provides the only way to truly relate with such a God — by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).
Lesson for Leaders: Have a worthwhile purpose and align your planning to it.
3) Detailed Planning
… regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David … (Rom. 1:3)
… and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 1:4
Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. (Rom. 1:5)
… preaching the gospel of his Son … (Rom. 1:9, 15)
God not only planned specifics about Jesus (i.e., His lineage along with many other details about His coming) but also how the Gospel message would be carried out into the world.
Lesson for Leaders: Pay careful attention to details, considering all the logistics, resources, and people needed to carry out the plan.
4) Prioritized Planning
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Rom. 1:16)
God sent Jesus so all who believe can be saved but He began with the Jews with whom He had a prior covenant relationship. He would eventually bring the two groups together into one Body to be His Church (Eph. 3:6).
Lesson for Leaders: Know where to start, which steps to take first, so you have a good foundation upon which to build.
More: Resources about the Gospel
All Posts about Strategic Planning:
- Strategic Planning Biblically Defined
- At the Core of Strategic Planning
- Trust God Yet Consult with Others?
- Outcome of Strategic Planning
- A Christ-like Pattern for Strategic Planning
- A Christ-like Perspective in Strategic Planning
- Power Struggles in Planning
- God’s Big Strategic Plan
- More Lessons about Strategic Planning from the Gospel
- Where Prayer Takes Our Strategic Planning
- Where the Holy Spirit Takes Our Strategic Planning
- Help in Forming a Strategic Planning Team
- Test Plans Against God’s Word
- How the Resurrection Affects Strategic Planning
I’m blessed by this piece. Thank you