“It is of immense help, in contemplating the manifold activities and energies of God, to be able to gather everything into one inclusive, comprehensive, and concrete issue. The Bible, from Genesis to the Revelation, covers a wide range and includes a vast amount of matter, but it has one all-governing and conclusive objective. The purpose of God is one, and only one. It is always referred to in the singular; ”Called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). ”According to the purpose….” (Eph. 1:11). “According to the eternal purpose” (Eph. 3:11). ”According to His purpose and grace” (2 Tim. 1:9). It is not a variety or number of things; it is just one.
And what is the one, single, comprehensive purpose? The answer is Christ! “His Son, Jesus Christ.” And when we ask further, What about His Son? The answer is, to have Him fill all things and to have all things in Him. That this is so is made clear in the definite statements of Scripture; ”In Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible… all things have been created through Him, and unto Him.” ”For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell” (Col. 1:16,19). ”Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the worlds (ages)” (Heb. 1:2).
So, then, in the counsels of God, all things must head up in Christ. God’s occupation is with bringing Christ in, and bringing into Christ. If we would be “God’s fellow-workers”, this must be our single-eyed aim and business. This defines precisely the purpose of the Church.”
Related posts and pages:
Co-Laboring With God
Shaped by God’s Eternal Purpose
“IN”: Incorporation
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Christ-Centered Christianity 