Author: gat_robo

God’s Eternal Purpose

By Alfred Bouter

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will … To me … grace was given, that I should preach … the unsearchable riches of Christ, to make all see what is the fellowship¹ of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ … according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Ephesians 1:11, 3:8-11 NKJV

Standing before King Agrippa, the apostle Paul testified that Jesus the Messiah had been crucified and buried, had risen from the dead and had ascended to heaven 40 days later. From the glory of heaven He appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road.² Almost 30 years after that appearing, led by the Holy Spirit, Paul gave this king an impressive summary of what happened to him personally and how he became a servant of the One whom he had persecuted (Acts 26:8-18).

The topic of God’s “eternal purpose” is very rich and multi-faceted, expounded especially in Ephesians in several long sentences.³ The Holy Spirit has used and is using those Scriptures to enable Christians to grasp amazing things, with many practical lessons. He equips us to respond to these wonderful thoughts in worship and praise, now and throughout eternity.

Saul’s conversion opened the door for the rejected but glorified Messiah to further work in and through the former persecutor, doing so by His Spirit whom He had sent to earth. He showed Saul, known later as Paul, the greatness of God’s eternal purpose and counsel (Acts 26:16). God also gave him a special ministry to make known everywhere the preeminence of the glorified Man, Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God. Among other things, the apostle was to show how He is inseparably linked with all the believers on earth, members of His Body, the Church. They have free access into God’s sanctuary to “see Jesus … crowned with glory and honor” (Heb. 2:9).

Some Key Terms
The things we are talking about necessitate and imply two things:

• An intimate and personal relationship with the Father and the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 1:3-14),
• An understanding of how believers are linked with each other and with the glorified Son of Man. This is according to God’s “will,” “counsel,” or “purpose”;⁴ and His “good pleasure” as linked to the second Man, Jesus. There is no failure in Him whatsoever. By contrast, the first man, Adam, was marked by failure and disobedience.

God’s eternal purpose, literally the “purpose of the ages,” is from before the world’s foundation,⁵ and therefore it is beyond any possible failure. It is intimately linked with God’s “predestination” (Rom. 8:28-29) as foreordained and realized “in Christ Jesus.” This last expression we find 49 (7×7) times in the New Testament, to be distinguished from the term “in Christ.”

“Mystery” is another keyword in Paul’s ministry, occurring 21 (3×7) times in his letters, with seven others in the rest of the New Testament. In Paul’s writings, “mystery” refers to something that was unknown until the first coming of the Lord Jesus. These mysteries are still unknown to the world, but they have been revealed to God’s people. In God’s time these things will be revealed to others, at least to a certain degree, but unbelievers will have no part in them. Let’s note that there is nothing mystical about these divine mysteries. God’s truth is wholly separated from the realms of popular, mystical beliefs, and it is independent of any human system.

Without God’s salvation, no one can be introduced to the things related to His eternal purpose. Furthermore, He “has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Tim. 1:9). All has been “revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (v.10).

God’s purpose is linked to another keyword, “testimony,” because these amazing things are communicated through the gospel and linked with the Lord Jesus (v.8). It is His authority we own, even though He is rejected in the world to which this testimony is given. These things belong to a realm that is “in Christ Jesus” (v.9) – mentioned seven times in 2 Timothy – instead of being “in Adam” or “in Christ.” This last expression includes Adam and Eve after they repented and all true believers until the end of time. They are all linked with “the power of God” (v.8).

A Brief Summary
Let’s summarize the seven points related to God’s eternal purpose, or “own purpose” (v.9):

1. God’s “grace,” or “favor,” is from before “the world began” (KJV), or “before the ages began” (ESV). These expressions literally mean “before eternal times,” and they are used only here and in Titus 1:2.
2. This grace is “in Christ Jesus.”
3. This grace “now⁶ has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior,” which refers to His coming in flesh (see Jn. 1:14).
4. This grace is communicated through the gospel, the message of good news.
5. We are saved through the power of God.
6. The great Savior-God called us with a holy calling.
7. All of this is according to His purpose and grace in Christ Jesus. Not even one tiny part of this is the result of our own works. What a tremendous victory by the Lord of Glory!

The Lord had appeared to Paul and appointed him to be:

• His herald, or “preacher,” to proclaim this new message;
• His “apostle” and ambassador to officially represent Him; and
• His “teacher” to teach and expound these things doctrinally according to God’s thoughts (2 Tim. 1:11 NKJV).

As God’s special envoy, Paul had declared, or made known, “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

God’s Eternal Purpose Revealed
The revelation in the previous paragraph is intimately linked with the person who is its subject and object: our Lord Jesus Christ. It pleased God to reveal Him to Saul when he met Him on the Damascus road. God also revealed His Son in him, which implies an actual and ongoing work of God, when he met the glorified Lord Jesus (see Gal. 1:15-16). Such a work of God is taking place in all believers now, during the period of grace. God’s work continued in Paul as he became a model for all believers through the period of grace. We should note that these things did not start with Adam at the beginning of this world, nor with the giving of the law. They began only after the glorified Christ in heaven – who is the Messiah and the Son of God – revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus.

At the same time, God continued a work in Saul, which in His providence He had started from his mother’s womb (see Ps. 139). God prepared Saul so His plan that had existed from before the world’s foundation – the eternal purpose – could be revealed to and in him without any racial, social or gender distinctions or barriers (Gal. 3:28). God’s concept was radical and new, as it put the believing Jews on the same level as Gentile believers.⁷ For this reason, Paul endured much opposition and persecution, and even became a prisoner of Rome – while being a prisoner of Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:1, 4:1).

It is significant that Ephesians 3, outlining the administration of the mystery for which Paul had become a prisoner and including Paul’s prayer and worship linked with it (vv.2-21), is a parenthesis. That means it is something which the writer inserted between the rest of the teaching. It does not indicate something of lesser importance as we sometimes do by adding certain details, but it emphasizes the unfathomable greatness of this mystery revealed to Paul. This is in addition to Ephesians 1, which presents God’s counsels as to the Church, and chapter 2, which explains how God brought this counsel to fruition, or realization.

Paul always let the Scriptures speak when presenting to his audience that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, as seen in Acts 17:2-3. He is the One who revealed Himself to Saul and would continue to do so (22:14, 26:16). The eternal purpose represents something new – not yet revealed in the Old Testament. However, the new element that was revealed and is contained in the New Testament, especially in Paul’s writings, did not contradict earlier Scriptures. Sadly, they are still rejected by unbelieving Jews, for they do not acknowledge their validity.

The new revelation was not against or opposed to the Old Testament; the new simply overrode it. Paul had shared this revelation with the apostles in Jerusalem, who recognized that it came from God and then expressed their fellowship with Paul (see Gal. 1:18, 2:7-10). Thus, the 12 apostles confirmed that Paul’s ministry was given by the same Lord. Later, Paul recapped what was new with three words, that the believers from among the Jews are joined together with those from among the Gentiles: joint-heirs, joint-body and joint-sharers of the promise in Christ Jesus, communicated through the gospel (Eph. 3:6).

The King James Version reads “in Christ,” which puts what is new on the same level with what the believing Adam, Abraham or other Old Testament believers possessed, since all promises are “in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:20). However, the expression “in Christ Jesus” emphasizes what is entirely new, as linked with Christ in the glory. This new position – elsewhere summarized as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27)⁸ – implies that the believers are associated with the glorified Jesus as:

• His fellow-heirs;
• Belonging to the same body, of which Christ is the Head; and
• Being partakers of the same⁹ promise, namely of eternal life (Ti. 1:2, consider 1 Jn. 2:25) and of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).

The promise of the Messiah, as coming, belongs to Israel. It will be fulfilled when they will turn to Him as a nation (Mt. 23:39), whereas Gentiles have no part in this promise (Eph. 2:12). The new dimension and promise we are talking about, which was unknown until then, fits our theme of the eternal purpose quite well. God had prepared Paul as a special instrument to receive this new revelation – to proclaim, to teach, and to defend it – according to His all-various wisdom.

The eternal purpose revealed to and administered by Paul caused him to be cast out, hated and persecuted. But this could not prevent him from truly enjoying this “new truth” and responding to it in worship and adoration (Eph. 3:14-21). In his prayer to the Father,10 Paul expressed seven requests in view of this special ministry he had received as linked to the revelation of God’s eternal purpose. His prayer implies an example and a challenge for us today to actually enter into these things.

Incredible Wealth
We only indicate some points for further study, meditation and worship, as our main topic, the eternal purpose, links several rich concepts together. We have been blessed with all spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3) and predestined for the adoption as sons (v.4), so God can share with us – His sons, heirs and coheirs with Christ – what is precious to Him. We possess these treasures and make them our own through faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit, in a spirit of prayer, thanksgiving, praise and worship (see 1:15-20, 3:14-21). Thereby we have fellowship with the Father and the Son. Also, with each other as co-heirs, we may lift up to the Father the Beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then it is that God takes possession of His inheritance, namely in us, for His own delight and pleasure. This is indicated by these words: “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (1:18). We should distinguish this from our own taking possession of our heavenly blessings (v.3) and from the future inheritance we will enjoy when we reign with Christ (v.4). Notice that the divine “energy” that operated in raising Christ from among the dead and exalting Him above the highest heavens is the energy, power, strength and might that worked in us for salvation. It works in us already to give us our position in Christ and practically by lifting us up to Christ and associating us with Him in heaven. Through this we may bring Him what is due even before He will enter with us into His reign in public display.

ENDNOTES
1. Literally “economy,” which is sometimes translated as “administration” or “dispensation.”
2. This may have occurred about two years later, possibly 32 or 33 AD.
3. Ephesians 1:3-14,15-23, 2:1-7, 3:1-7,8-13,14-19, 4:1-7,11-16, 6:14-20.
4. The Greek word prothesis means “what is set before,” and it occurs seven times in Paul’s writings (Rom. 8:28, 9:11; Eph. 1:11, 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9, 3:10; Heb. 9:2).
5. ”Before the foundation of the world” occurs three times, related to the Father’s love of His Son (Jn. 17), to God’s counsel to choose us (Eph. 1:4) and to the Lamb’s sacrifice foreknown from before the world’s foundation (1 Pet. 1:19-20).
6. “Now” is a little word found often in Paul’s writings to indicate the present period of grace, in contrast to Judaism.
7. In fact, before a holy and righteous God, all human beings are equal, for all are sinners (Rom. 3:10-23).
8. This is not a contradiction, but it shows the other side of the same truth, that we are in Christ (a theme of Ephesians) and Christ is in us (as discussed in Colossians).
9. The Greek text reads co-heirs, co-body and co-partakers; or joint heirs, joint body and joint partakers (JND). 10. To be distinguished from Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-22, addressed to the Father of Glory, who is the triune God linked to the glorified Man, Christ Jesus.

One God, One Eternal Purpose

By Paul Palmer, Sr.

The One God
“There is one God” (Rom. 3:30 NKJV).

“God is one” (Gal. 3:20).

“There is one God”(1 Tim. 2:5).

God has been pleased to reveal Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. The Lord Jesus is the only person in the Godhead who became incarnate, “coming in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7). We would not have known about God the Father and God the Holy Spirit apart from God the Son. “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (Jn. 1:18). The Lord Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9).

We have seen from Scripture that there is one God. We also learn that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead: Father, Son and Spirit. In the Lord Jesus “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). He is Immanuel, “God with us” (Mt. 1:23).

The persons in the Godhead are eternal. “The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Dt. 33:27). The Lord Jesus “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1-2). The Word is the Lord Jesus. He is the Eternal Word, the Eternal Son. So in eternity there were three distinct, eternally divine persons.

The Eternal Purpose
There was established in eternity an eternal purpose: God’s eternal purpose. This was revealed to the apostle Paul, and in writing to the Ephesians he was at liberty to share this truth with them. He said,

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:8-11).

This eternal purpose was the plan of the Godhead in eternity. It is what the Godhead determined and established. “Plans are established by counsel” (Prov. 20:18). The persons in the Godhead counseled together, the Three in One. “As I have purposed, so it shall stand” (Isa. 14:24). “I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it” (46:11). What the apostle Paul shared with the Ephesians and the Colossians was no afterthought on God’s part. It was not conceived in time; it was from before the foundation of the world.

It was established in eternity that in time – the measured periods – the Lord Jesus would come into His own creation, suffer, bleed and die. His side would be pierced. He would rise from among the dead on the third day and subsequently enter into His glory. Christ having been glorified, the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost and baptized all believers into one body. That was the formation of the Church. The Church is composed of Jew and Gentile in one body. This is the mystery which was hid in God but is now fully revealed. This was God’s eternal purpose, that there should be a company for the Son. This unique living organism taken out of Jews and Gentiles is united together in one body, of which Christ is the head. It is the vessel through which principalities and powers in heavenly places are learning the manifold, or multi-faceted, wisdom of God.

The Lord Jesus “Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace” (Eph. 2:14-15). The Church is the “One New Man,” entirely new. In the purpose of God it was hidden in Him, but now it is fully revealed, fully made known.

Thank God we are those who have believed on the Lord Jesus and are subjects of God’s eternal purpose!

By Paul Palmer, Sr.

God Lives In Eternity

By Alan H. Crosby

God is “the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy” (Isaiah 57:15 ESV). He described Himself to Moses saying, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), emphasizing the present tense and thereby indicating that He lives in perpetual now.

Time And Place Were Created
“By Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible” (Col. 1:16). When we look up into space we are looking back into what we call “space-time.” God created it; and before it was created, there was no time or place. These things had a beginning – there was no “eternity past” or “eternity future”; there was just “now.” God created space-time where humans live, but “eternity,” where God lives, was not created!

“The Foundation Of The World”
This expression (Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:20; Jn. 17:24) is a metaphor for the beginning of space-time at creation. The very instant that it was in God’s mind that we “should be holy and blameless” (Eph. 1:4) in eternity, He knew that the blood of Christ would be necessary for this to result (1 Pet. 1:20). He foreknew that Adam and Eve would succumb to Satan’s craftiness and God the Son would have to become Jesus Christ our Savior to achieve His purposes.

We Are Creatures Of Time And Place
As creatures of space-time, we really cannot comprehend eternity! In our experience all events “take time.” Try as we may, we cannot describe a happening or an experience without bringing in “time.” We speak of things occurring rapidly or slowly, frequently or occasionally. Happenings are marked with a date, and even distances are spoken of in terms of time.

But God is an eternal being. He lives in eternity, and for Him the end and the beginning are both “now.” He can declare “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things not yet done” (Isa. 46:10). God may speak of things that to us take place in time as being immediate, or He can enter space-time and tell of things to come – prophesied in Scripture – as being future.

Up “Into Eternity”
During the rapture we “will be caught up … to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Th. 4:17). We should interpret this as being a metaphor for being taken away from the material realm, from earth, into the spiritual realm where our Lord lives. Consider what would happen to believers living in scattered parts of the world if they are literally taken “up” – they would be going in different directions. Surely not!

Change Must Occur
We will have to be changed to go out of space-time and into eternity. Scripture says, “We shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:50-51). Then, each believer will be given a “spiritual body,” a body that is quite different from our present one. These spiritual bodies will be like our Lord’s present human body (see 1 Jn. 3:2). They will be “imperishable,” having “immortality” (1 Cor. 15:42,44,53-54). Although being able to be felt and touched, having flesh and bone, these bodies will be able to pass through closed doors (Lk. 24:39-40; Jn. 20:26-27). We will not have the normal material food to obtain the energy needed, for like the Lord we will “have food to eat that [we] do not [now] know about” (4:32). Life processes in eternity will be quite different from what we know today. There will not be “death … nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

Heaven Will Not Be What We Imagine
The Word says, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). The coming changes are “revealed to us through the Spirit” (v.10). Scripture also says, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ” (Eph. 1:3 JND). Certainly the fullness of these will be wonderful beyond our imagination!

God Uses Metaphors
Things too difficult for a listener to understand are often expressed in metaphors, including in Scripture. The familiar is used to explain the unfamiliar even though the likeness is known to be imperfect.

In Revelation 15:2-3, Scripture speaks of believers “standing upon [a] glass sea, having harps of God … [and singing] the song of the Lamb.” A respected Bible commentator, H. A. Ironside, wrote that the sea of glass is a “type of the Word of God, needed for cleansing.” Thus we realize that what is spoken in this passage is a figure of speech, not a literal geographic feature of heaven.

A metaphor for life after death is the word “paradise,” used by our Lord when He said to the repentant thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43 ESV). W. E. Vine said that it is “an oriental word … denoting the parks of Persian kings and nobles … To the oriental mind it expressed the sum total of blessedness.”

The Father’s House
This is an even more delightful metaphor. Vine said that this is “metaphorically, the heavenly abode … the eternal dwelling … of believers.” It was the plan from the beginning of time, “from the foundation of the world,” that there would be human beings provided with eternal life living with our Lord in the Father’s house (See Jn. 17:2,22,24). This dwelling is not described very clearly, but the statement that there are “many rooms” tells us figuratively that there will be plenty of space for all who will believe on Him.

We will be welcomed into the Father’s house. How much better it will be for our Lord Jesus to say to us something like, “Welcome to where I dwell with My Father, into the place that I have prepared for you” than to hear Him say, as He will to some, “Depart from Me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt. 25:41). Where will your eternity be?

We hope it is with the Savior, worshiping Him for all eternity!

A Purpose That Gives Life

By Paul Alberts

Let’s think about the passing of years between toddler and adulthood. Little children tend to want to be like their daddies or mommies. Toward that end, they often try to dress like their parents or mimic their behavior. Obviously, therefore, it is extremely important that they see a good example in their parents, learning what is right by word and action (Dt. 6:6-9).

Later, having become teenagers, these same kids begin to think about other things. Many teen boys, for example, seek to develop their muscles (Prov. 20:29). Intent on that aim, effort is made and money sometimes spent to be in “good shape” physically. The years continue to pass and thoughts enter the mind of young men and women regarding long term goals and desires, such as college, careers and family. Toward those ends, a number of steps are then taken.

For the believer, choices in such matters need to be made prayerfully, seeking God’s will. Reading the Bible regularly and frequently will guide in this process. We must realize however that the Lord works through small steps. Moses did not become the leader of God’s people overnight; it took decades of training as a shepherd. David was anointed to be king years before he was granted the throne. For both, there was hardship along the way. The list of biblical examples could certainly go on, but thinking of just these two we recognize that the manner in which God worked in their lives was perfect. The failures we find in their stories are related to their own lack of faithfulness.

Before man ever sought a direction for his life, God established His own eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11), “accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We realize that God’s purpose is one that we should look at carefully, like children wanting to learn. His was a purpose that involved incredible effort and cost. We may also see that it occurred through a series of steps. These are all points that we recognize to a much smaller extent in the purposes we seek for our lives on earth. Certainly there are many more valuable details to consider, which will be addressed in the Feature articles this month. For now, let us be reminded that we who have put our trust in the Lord Jesus have been blessed through God’s purpose – one that gives life. To Him be the glory!