God’s Sovereign Plan and Purpose
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Ephesians 1:3-14
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. 5. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6. to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8. which he lavished upon us. 9. For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ 10. as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11. In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will, 12. we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory. 13. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14. which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
These verses are on the one hand so familiar, and yet, this morning I see them as if for the first time! These words are so very powerful! Jews used the word “bless” to express both God’s kindness to us and our thanks or praise to Him. The notes in my bible on verse 3 are longer than verses 3-14 combined! Paul has hit on some exciting, hopeful, mystical truths and he is unable to contain himself – or his message – divinely revealed and spiritually propelled!
Paul first points out Christ’s unique relationship with God. Then he goes on to explain that by gathering the Gentiles and Jews into one body of Christ, God triumphantly displays his “manifold wisdom” to the “rulers and authorities” in the "heavenly realm” It is clear that Paul envisions not only the exaltation of Christ at the end of time, but the exaltation of Christians, in union with Christ. We have already received the blessings of faith in Jesus. At the end of time, all things will be revealed, all questions answered, all mysteries solved, and all of us who believe will dwell forever in “the heavenly realm” with God the Father, with His beloved Son and they will be united in heaven and on earth with the Holy Spirit. God becomes one entity – and we become one with Him.
How then, do we wait? How can we possibly wait? I long for my inheritance as a child of God! We cannot deny God’s purpose and plan though. We cannot speed up His timing, which is perfect. We can rejoice with each other that we have heard the Good News, and that we believe. And we should be so filled with joy and gratitude that, like Paul, we are unable to contain ourselves! Preach the Good News – God in heaven has ordained us as his beloved children—Jesus Christ has carried out God’s divine plan—and the Holy Spirit empowers, enables, and emboldens us to share the truth with the whole world!
Paul spent many years imprisoned—either under house arrest, in prison—chained, certainly beaten and battered. It made no difference to him, because I think he felt closer to Jesus—shared in a small way the suffering that Jesus endured for us—freely and out of perfect love and in perfect obedience to God’s perfect plan, in order to fulfill His perfect purpose.
We were created in God’s image and likeness. We are all destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.
I hope you spend your day, bursting with joy and awe at God’s perfect plan, and expressing your gratitude to Jesus Christ by preaching the Good News to everyone you meet.
Mary
