THE PURPOSE OF GOD: FUTURE AND PRESENT
J. N. Mather
The purpose of God is mentioned in several places in the New Testament, but if we would arrive at its fulness and distinctiveness we must go to the epistle to the Ephesians generally and particularly to verse 10 of chapter 1. The word ‘purpose’ is used throughout the Bible in various contexts, but what is usually meant by divine purpose is the intent and plan of God before time was. This is defined fully in the words—“he purposed in himself ... to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth”. That is the essential theme of divine purpose. It involves the Lord Jesus, but the expression used would, I think, include the assembly as sharing in Christ’s headship.
The concept of headship appears in various places throughout the Holy Scriptures. The view of headship presented in the epistle to the Colossians is very precious to us, that the Lord Jesus is Head of the assembly. He guides and gives impressions and impulses affectionately and considerately—that is the beautiful setting in Colossians, and is especially enjoyed at the present time. That is not the highest setting of headship however; for that we must go to the epistle to the Ephesians. There we find the full setting out of what is merely suggested in the early chapters of Genesis. Adam was put over all things and gave names to the living creatures, but the Holy Spirit records—“he found no helpmate, his like”, Genesis 2: 20. Then he was provided with a helpmate to share his position as head. The proper fulness of this concept is found in the letter to the Ephesian saints—“and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”, Ephesians 1: 22, 23. That is, the assembly is the sensitive and feeling expression of Christ, and in this way God will make Himself known according to His divine purpose before time was.
The fulness of this is future. There are many things that we enjoy at the present time in the purpose of God, such as sonship, which in their proper fulness must be future. Sonship involves not only the status but also the conditions. It requires a body of glory like Christ’s body of glory. I am not, of course, denying the enjoyment of it presently, but it is in its fulness future. That is implied in Ephesians 1: 14—“the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession”. We shall not always be sons in these conditions of humiliation, we are going on to enjoy sonship in the conditions suited to it. That is divine purpose for the future.
Even the dead in Christ have not entered into the fulness of divine purpose for them; they are enjoying the Lord’s love—Lazarus is a little indication of it as he was in Abraham’s bosom (see Luke 16: 23). There was no more suffering from the privations, shame and pain of this life; he was enjoying love, the love of relationship realised. Those who have fallen asleep through Jesus are enjoying being with Him, yet they are waiting as we are waiting. So the purpose of God will be made known in its fulness. What a wonderful thing it is, not only that we are brought into the secret of His purpose (great as that is) but also that we have part in His purpose. Think of that! That is the future side of it.
Coming next to Ephesians 3, when it speaks of the purpose of God it mentions in verse 10, “now”, and the “now” relates to the “all-various wisdom of God”, being made known to no less than the “principalities and authorities in the heavenlies ... through the assembly ... according to the purpose of the ages”. That is God’s purpose for this present time and is extremely distinctive. Of course, we might feel that that was rather much to say about ourselves, and to understand it we may have to go back perhaps to the time when it was said first of all. It was said to the Ephesian saints, and it must have been true in Ephesus at that time. It was probably true in Antioch also. Our own position may be left, just for the moment.
The all-various .wisdom of God was seen in Ephesus, in the assembly there, and learned by the heavenly principalities and authorities. This is not so difficult to accept when we remember that the assembly has the Spirit of Christ. Nor is that all for we are said in Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 2: 16), to have the mind of Christ, that is the thinking faculty, Christ’s capacity or ability to think. That is not just that we have the Lord’s mind about a matter, as we sometimes say, but the assembly has the Lord’s intelligent faculty. Further, as this very book tells us, the assembly has been endowed from Christ on high with apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, not all available to us at this moment, but that endowment was all available then. If that were not enough, the apostle says, “For to one, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge”, 1 Corinthians 12: 8. So we can go over all these things and say, ‘It must have been true then, that the all-various wisdom of God would be seen in the assembly’.
Next, we come to our own position in a broken day. We cannot ignore the breakdown, and must establish whether it is feasible for the all-various wisdom of God to be seen in the assembly now, in our present conditions. The first question we must ask is whether the Spirit of God has changed, has the Spirit of Christ left the assembly? Are we less well-endowed Spirit-wise than they were in the days of Ephesus? Of course, the answer is easy. We are not less well-endowed Spirit-wise, we have the Spirit of God still with us. More than that, in the words of the Lord Jesus, “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”, Matthew 18: 20. We can have Christ in the midst. Sadly, not all the gifts are available to us, but some are, and it is still possible to get a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge: It comes back then to ourselves, responsibly. A Philadelphian, although admitting the breakdown soberly before God, would seek to walk, in conditions of smallness and humiliation, as an Ephesian would have walked in his time in the light of the truth. This would not be in outward status nor in claims, but in spiritual and moral substance. That, I believe, would be the desire of a Philadelphian saint—to be found here in much humility but walking practically, not just in the light, but in the practice of what was so preciously set forth in the assembly when it was at its height in Ephesus. Not just as in Pentecostal days, but as in the days enlightened by the fulness of the ministry from Christ on high, and given through His servant Paul.
Perhaps we should challenge ourselves and our company too, as to whether the all-various wisdom of God is being seen in our gatherings. I am not saying it is, and I am not saying it is not, but I do not think we should be complacent. It is not simply a case of getting on nicely, or of, I think this, and you think that; the standard is very, very much higher. It is that the all-various wisdom of God should be seen in our little gatherings now. What it must mean to heaven where two or three are gathered together in this way, and these authorities can look down and see in essence, in spirit, something of what was there in those most exalted days. I believe it is so, and there is nothing finer. We must, therefore, be careful and dependent and sensitive so that this might be true of us in every occasion of gathering, and perhaps most of all in our occasions for administration, in our assembly giving, for example, and in all the other things that we do. It is what is going to illuminate the world to come and set the tone for eternity. The divine purpose, beloved, is that now the purpose of God is realised and demonstrated in our gatherings. May it exercise all our hearts that we may fill it out acceptably for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Dundee
18 February 1992