"He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which he purposed in Him with a view to an administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens, and upon the earth."   Ephesians 1: 9, 10

"And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."   Ephesians 1: 22, 23

God Has a Goal

God definitely has a goal, a purpose, a will. These are all essentially speaking of the same thing. As we can see in Ephesians 1: 9, 10; God has a will, this will is according to His good pleasure, and He purposed this will in Christ.

We, as believers, glibly speak of Gods' will all the time. We are constantly trying to know Gods' will for our lives. It seems that His Will is always a mystery to us and that's why we are constantly praying to know it. Where does God want me to live? Where does God want me to work? Who does God want me to marry? And then, when we don't get an answer, we throw up our hands in the air in frustration and ask; well why doesn't God just tell me what He wants? What we don't realize is that God really only wants one thing. And He has already revealed His will.

The Mystery of His Will

In Ephesians, Paul tells us that God has kept a secret throughout the ages. This "secret" or mystery is His eternal purpose or will. Got kept His purpose a secret until it had been established and secured in Christ. He wanted to keep men and angels out of this until it had been secured and there was no way it could be messed up! "Knowledge is power", as they say, and God wanted to make sure that no one knew what was going on until it was too late!

Paul clearly tells us in Ephesians that now the mystery of His will has been revealed. God could now reveal His plan because the outcome had been secured in the Person and work of His Son. Paul said that it pleased the Father to reveal His Son in him. This plan, purpose, or will of God has everything to do with His Son. In fact, it says that it was the Father's good pleasure to purpose this will in Christ. So we see that Christ is the very essence and center of God's will. Actually, you could say that this secret is Christ. Since all of God's purpose and will is wrapped up in His Son.

A View to an Administration

God has been administering everything in all realms to bring together His purpose. You can imagine this to be a great symphonic performance that God is putting together. He is bringing together all the instruments, the musicians, and the equipment to one central place. He is also writing music and training the musicians to play it properly. The Holy Spirit is conducting this orchestra so that the music composed by the Father is an exact representation of His heart. He has been doing this throughout the ages and is gathering all things together to the fullness of the times. This orchestra is going to play the most beautiful symphony ever heard. This symphony is Christ!

The Sum of All Things

The purpose of this administration is to sum up all things in Christ. Our English word "sum" doesn't even come close to doing this passage justice. The word literally means to "gather together again (reunite) into one (head)". This is a work of a re-establishing, restoring, and recovering all that was lost or disconnected from Christ. God wants to put all things back in order. That order is Christ. It's as if Christ was like a magnet at the center of the universe and God is pulling and drawing everything back into its' original source. Those things that were once in Christ are now being drawn back that He may be the all in all.

Paul uses several keywords that are used again and again in relationship to God's purpose. Two of them are "fullness" and "all". The fullness is to be in His Son. That is what He is pointing out here in this passage. God is summing up all things in Christ so that He would be the fullness. So that all fulness would be in Him.

Heaven and Earth

But you may be asking: isn't all the fullness already in Christ? The answer is yes and no. This answer correlates with the two realms, heaven and earth. We know that there are two basic realms; the spiritual and the physical. Paul calls the spiritual realm the heavenlies, heavenly places, or the heavens. The physical realm is usually referred to as "the earth". God wants to bring back and reunite all things in Christ. This includes things in the spiritual realm and things in the physical realm. The heavens remain in God's order and are already in Christ. It's the earth that has the problem.

Notice that the Lord prayed; "on earth as it is in heaven". The earth (physical realm) is where all the confusion, disorder, and disruption exists. This is where the Church comes in. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Christ. He has been made Head over all things. This is an established legal fact. The Father has placed all things under His feet. Now this will become a practical reality on the earth through the Church, His body. This will happen mainly by two means.

In Your Life

The reality of the headship of Jesus Christ has not yet become fulfilled in our own individual lives. There are many things in you and me that are not Christ. That's why God is conforming us to the image of His Son. He takes us through difficult situations in order to enlarge us to make room for more of Christ. This is a lifelong process. He is all the time seeking to enlarge our capacity to know Christ more deeply and intimately.

In the Church

" which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all"

This statement will never cease to amaze me! It says that the Church is the fullness of Christ. She is the full expression and embodiment of Jesus Christ. And He is the one who fills all in all.

Brothers and sisters, the fullness of Christ is in the body. Do you want more of Christ? Do you want to know Him in a deeper way? Do you want His will to be done in your life? All of these things will take place in the body. Not in a building, not in an organization or institution, but inside of the living, breathing expression of Christ on the earth that Paul calls the body of Christ!

So here you have it. All things are been gathered up into One. He is to be the fullness of the universe. And He is to fill all things with Himself. The vehicle for His purpose is the Church. She is the fullness of Christ and all that is of Him will be expressed and manifested through her.

This is His eternal purpose. This is the will of God.

written by Milt Rodriguez