THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL. Ephesians 1:9-10 Christian mysteries are not secret knowledge known only by a few but are hidden truths that are openly proclaimed at the right time. The mystery of God’s will is not difficult to understand, but it is His will, and He knows when to reveal it to us. At the appropriate times, according to God’s plans, He will gather everything in heaven and earth—indeed, the entire universe—under the authority and perfect rule of our Lord Jesus Christ. All things will become new: a new creation, a new society, and a new dominion that will be righteous, peaceful, and perfectly functional will be committed to God’s will.
Our God is infinite in all His being, so everything He does is already known to Him completely as a finished event before the event or work has even begun. Has He set a deadline? He knows the end from the beginning. So how is it possible that He can share what is unknown to us with us? Through all wisdom and prudence by which He reveals His will, we come to understand, as those who believe and trust in Him, the marvelous design of spiritual things. The "mystery of His will" is not a deliberate intention on God's part to keep us in the dark about what He is doing or His future plans. In our sinful condition, we could not grasp anything of God because we were "dead in trespass and sins." We were spiritually dead.
However, since God, by His grace, has saved us, we can begin to see things through God's perspective as the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us and shows us what is to come. He makes His will known to us with infinite divine wisdom and understanding. He knows what we are able to understand about His will and our limitations. He understands our capacity for understanding better than we do. Believers in Ephesus are similar to us today—there is only so much we can accept by faith. They were accustomed to living by sight, so the image of Diana and all daily activities centered around what they could see and experience. Sensual living is the typical way of life for the "natural man."
Things happening around us don’t seem “to add up.” They don’t make sense to those who know the Lord, but perhaps that is because common sense isn’t as common as we think. We live in a confused society full of confused people, in a chaotic world. Things just don’t seem reasonable, and even governments struggle to establish law and order. As a result, leaders often choose to follow the will of the people rather than uphold the standards of the law. The world's religions, including contemporary Christianity, lack the moral strength or authority rooted in unchanging standards of righteousness. Bible-believing Christians with a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ are the exception. They stand out as lights shining in a dark night.
Those unseen, eternal things become real to those who live by faith. While we still deal with temporal things in daily life, a whole new dimension of existence has opened to us. By faith, we can see beyond today and tomorrow when the times we are living in and the "ages" reach their fulfillment. All prophetic teachings about Israel and its future, the church of God, and what is ahead will come true. Then, everything in heaven and earth will be united under the leadership and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We get a foreshadowing of that time when we realize that God has formed one body from Jews and Gentiles, all under Christ as the Head of the body. This took place in Ephesus and is called "One New Man," symbolizing peace between opposing groups. In a broader sense, beyond believing that Jews and Gentiles are united as one body, it is the fact that all things in heaven, where there is perfection, and on earth, where there is sinfulness, are ultimately being unified under Christ. The coming peace will be everlasting.
The mystery revealed to the Ephesians was that, amid the darkness enveloping the world, the church—comprising Jews and Gentiles—is a united body seen through its members. Today, people everywhere whom God has chosen, saved, indwelt, and empowered by the Holy Spirit are shining lights giving hope to those seeking God and His salvation.
These things have already been "purposed in Himself," but the time has not yet come for their fulfillment. "Dispensation" means that what has already been arranged as a plan will actually occur just as the arrangement has been made. At the times of this fulfillment, everything will be summed up and gathered under one Person, Christ, and all will share the same mind motivated by love for Him and will gladly submit to His one universal authority. "All things" include not only people but everything that has been affected by man's sin. Sin has created a polluted world where evidence of sin is visible almost everywhere we look. Plant life, air quality, and even animals have been adversely impacted by mankind's sins. But all of that will change when the fullness of times comes, and God's universal and eternal blessings become a reality. Everything will come together in Christ, and every being will praise Him and worship Him with genuine love and adoration.
We get a glimpse of those times in the future when redeemed people, who have already bowed in love and adoration as individuals, come together in praise and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ. He has revealed this to us through the church and allowed us to experience some of the blessings to come. When the local congregation gathers with "Jesus in our midst," we begin to understand a little of the blessings we will receive. From different families, walks of life, races, and cultures, we come together unto Him and under His authority now—giving us a small taste of what we will share with all God's people in the future.
We already experience, to some extent, the wonder of a diverse group of people brought together in Christ by the common foundation of salvation through grace alone, by faith. The Savior draws us in. He fills our thoughts and demands our devotion. In such gatherings, we catch a glimpse of future glory and the blessings that come when God's people declare "Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Like a column of figures being added up, not with the sum at the bottom like we do, but at the top as was done in the Roman Empire, Christ is the Supreme Leader of all that God is doing. Everything is being “summed up” in Him. He will bring order to what God has planned, and those He has saved by grace through faith will live in perfect harmony with Him. The motivation of love for Christ will be behind any and all service we undertake.
The church is made up of diverse people, yet they are united under one Head. The Lord Jesus is their focus. He showed His love for us by dying for our sins, and we know He has risen from the dead. Everything comes together under His authority; there is now a shared purpose. Christ Himself draws worship from the hearts of all who know and love Him. Often, we look back to see where we came from as we gather in His name to praise and worship Him. We are not all the same; in fact, each person is unique, but each one matters, and no one is insignificant to God.
Jews and Gentiles united long ago. Their fellowship in Christ revealed God's grace and the mystery of His will. That unity continues today; in God's people gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we still see it bring saints together in holy fellowship. When all of God's dealings with the world reach their final fulfillment and the Lord Jesus Christ takes His throne, heaven and earth will unite in perfect harmony. The glory of God will be universal, as it was meant to be.