God’s Redemptive Plan

 God’s Redemptive Plan – Toni M. Babcock

“Come, let us return to the LORD, for he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence. Let us strive to know the LORD. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land,” Hosea 6:1-3 CSB.

This was the prophet Hosea’s call for God’s people to repent. Note how he links both God’s judgment and mercy together — ‘he has torn’ and ‘he will heal’, ‘he has wounded’ and ‘he will bind up.’ This is always God’s plan for making us aware of our sins so that we will see our need for a Savior.

In this passage from Hosea (written centuries before Jesus enters the scene) we see a kind of foreshadowing of the Savior who would die for our sins and be ‘raised on the third day’ — triumphantly ‘raising’ His people with him too, so we’d be enabled to live in His presence. The Apostle Paul assures that 

“...God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace thorough his kindness to us in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 2:4-7 CSB. 

Amazing grace! God has orchestrated His salvation out of sheer love for guilty sinners.

God the Father became the ‘Director and Producer’ of the greatest story ever told; His Son became 

‘the Author and Finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV), 

and the Holy Spirit became the ‘behind-the-scenes Influencer’ who makes sure the Director’s plans are all accomplished in His good time. Thank God as a believer! You too, are part of God’s redemptive plan.

Toni is the author of Reflections from the Heart, and The Stone Writer. Contact