[Listen to post here.]

~ ~ ~

Our lives are primarily shaped by that which we most highly esteem and around that which they most regularly revolve.  We can go through life adopting the values of our culture, being caught up in the whirlwind of worldly pursuits, pleasures, engagements and enslavements, and having our lives ultimately shaped by them, or we can pull back, lift our eyes far above the shallow and empty matrix of this world, and begin centering our lives in and upon that which is of utmost value and of supreme significance.

There is that which is of such quintessential import that the One who inhabits eternity, Who possesses all sovereignty and power, Who comprehends with infinite perfection, Who Loves with impeccable purity and unending resolve is utterly centered upon and rapturously committed to as the unfolding purpose of His existence.  All of His Energies, all of His Genius, all of His Passion are riveted and focused on the carrying out of this ONE THING.

This ONE THING is called in Scripture,“HIS ETERNAL PURPOSE.” (Ephesians 3:11)

As those who have been created in His Image and called to be His Eternal Companion, we also have been called into and unto this ONE THING.  This is the supreme vocation of man.  Unto this we have been fearfully and wonderfully fashioned, and wisely and graciously called.  This is our very reason for existence and our everlasting destiny.

When our eyes are opened to behold this Calling, it is so compelling that it beckons to the very depths of our being, drawing us out and disentangling us from this world’s insidious enmeshment.  With polarizing power it reorients and re-centers our being around that for which our heart and soul were created to find their highest joy and satisfaction in. Our spirit rejoices in its long-awaited homecoming.

As we become ruined by this re-centering Revelation, like a pot on a Potter’s wheel, we begin to become fashioned anew with a beauty and symmetry that transforms a homely, base lump of clay into an exquisite vessel of intention and design.

Character

The very nature of that around which we are revolving begins to shape the character of who we are becoming.

His eternal purpose is immutable.  It is sure; it is unfailing; it is unalterable; it is unstoppable.  Stability, unwaveringness, steadfastness, faithfulness, endurance begin to be formed into the contour of our being.

His eternal purpose is wise.  It is visionary; it is vast; it is all-penetrating; it is all-encompassing; it is faultless.  Wisdom, vision, purpose, intentionality, self-discipline and perseverance begin to mark the nature of our vessel.

His eternal purpose is good. It is love; it is joy; it is peace; it is righteousness; it is hope; it is pleasure; it is glory!  All of the virtues of the Spirit rise up within us as we abandon ourselves to this Supreme ONE “GOOD” THING!

The character of God’s eternal purpose shapes and leaves its impress upon the very character of our who we are as we are drawn to its timeless, transcendent, penultimate-significance and supra-centrality.

Content

Not only is the character of our “vessel” shaped by the nature of God’s eternal purpose, but also its content.

The eternal purpose springs ultimately out of the Love of the Father to the Son.  It is the Supreme Gift of the Father to His Beloved, and in response, the sacrificial Love of the Son back to His Father.  All things revolve around this Divine Reciprocal Love.

It is of and to the Father’s ultimate glory, pleasure and satisfaction that He has placed His Beloved Son as central, supreme and all-sufficient in the outworking of His Eternal Plan.

The eternal purpose of God is comprehensively Christ-centered.  It is fashioned according to Him.  It is focused fully upon Him.  It is filled with Him.  It is fulfilled by Him.  It is for Him.

We who have our lives apprehended by the supreme significance of, and are perpetually revolving around, God’s eternal purpose, likewise, are filled with the content of Christ and His centrality, supremacy, fullness and all-sufficiency.  Christ-centeredness is the substance of our faith, our walk, our talk, our relationships, our serving and our ministry.  Christ is what overflows our vessel.  Christ is what comes out of our pores.

Additionally, in the eternal purpose, the Father’s Gift to His Son is an eternal Companion, a Bride, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone, His Body, the Church.  So intertwined and inter-infused are the Bride and the Son that they are inseparable.

The eternal purpose is, therefore, in Christ, Church-centered (Corporate Christ-centered.) It could not be otherwise.  The two have become one.

We who are wholly committed to the pursuit of God’s eternal purpose are wholly committed to the Church, the Bride and Body of Christ.  We have given ourselves to the ingathering, the upbuilding, the full-functioning, the unifying, the maturing and the Christ-centered, Christ-manifesting expression of the Ekklesia.  This is the substance of our burden, our passion, our sacrifice, our life’s labor, our highest joys and our deepest travail.

Christ-centeredness and Church-centeredness (Corporate Christ-centeredness) are the two preeminent marks of those who have been apprehended by and have abandoned themselves to the Ultimate Purpose of the Ages.  These are God’s co-laborers; His co-visionaries; His co-emissaries; His co-dreamers.

Both the character and content of our lives are shaped by that which we most highly esteem and around that which we most regularly revolve.  God has created us for, and is calling us unto, that which HE most highly esteems and around that which HE eternally revolves.  Will we answer His Call?  Will we satisfy His Heart?  Will we embrace our Everlasting Destiny?

It begins right now…

Related:
Our Deepest Convictions
Christ the Center – Pt. 1: “Centering the Clay”
The Eternal Purpose (a manuscript excerpt)
Affirmations (1) – The Eternal Purpose, Christ, and the Church