Graduate 182: Advent & Ephesians, Day 10
"...with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth."
In yesterday's entry, I think I got a little carried away. When I really start to think about what is involved in the idea of being caught up into the very life of the Trinity--into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--I do get a little overwhelmed. I think it is very worthwhile to take some time to just meditate on all that is encompassed in that. It really is marvelous. At the same time, however, there is a danger that we need to watch out for.
Sometimes the excitement that comes from thinking about these truths remains very abstract. And I think that is a problem. This truth about our life in God is not the sort of thing that we're supposed to just think about and enjoy or even just meditate on or just dwell on. Sometimes, unfortunately, the people who are most ready to talk loudly and enthusiastically about life in God are the same people who are most ineffective in bringing that truth to bear on everyday life. But it is only when those truths actually do touch our everyday life that we begin to grasp them in their fullest extent.
What does it mean to partake of the divine nature? What does it look like to be united to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Again, our answer comes in the example of Jesus Christ. The kind of life that He lived, the things He did, the way He related to people, the healing power of His words, the comfort of His touch, the grace in His manner, the confidence He exemplified, the sincerity and genuineness of His heart, the strength of His convictions, and the pervading goodness of His whole life--all of these came from the life that He enjoyed in relationship with the Father and the Spirit.
When we become united to Christ, in salvation, that is the first step in a process whose ultimate goal is the complete re-ordering of our life after the pattern of the life of Christ and of God. Apart from God, we do our best to order our lives in a way that is good. We look for happiness, wholeness, wellness, security, fulfillment, and blessedness. But when our lives are separated from God, it is impossible to achieve the order that is required to reach those goals. We are constantly threatened by various dangers and forces that would undermine our goals. We are constrained to expend enormous quantities of time and energy to try and get what we want. We constantly have to manage our resources, our environment, other people, and ourselves in order to get by. In many cases, we are forced to compromise our principles and ideals in order to stay in control. And there's no guarantee, when all is said and done, that we will have accomplished what we set out to do.
But when we lay down this project of trying to control our own lives, and, instead, choose to follow the way of Jesus Christ and come under His authority, then our lives begin to move in a new pattern and rhythm. Jesus invites us into a relationship that is, in its core and essence, good and full of love, grace, peace, mercy, safety, and strength. Everything that we really wanted are to be found in God alone, who is good. And when our lives are ordered and oriented with God at the center, then our lives will also be good.
This is God's plan and recipe for a good world: that it be ordered and centered around Him. Is that ego-centric? No. Because that really is the best possible way that everything could be. Because at the center of God's nature is goodness. So, we see in the text, that God made known to us the mystery of His will "with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth."
--
So God's plan for His people--the mystery of His intention to bring people into relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; His choice, adoption, redemption, and forgiveness--is part of this larger plan to bring all things together in Christ. That is God's intention and purpose (see v. 9).
A couple interesting things to note: Paul's reference to the "fullness of time" completes an arch that began in v. 4 where he speaks of a time before the foundation of the world. Paul has been emphasizing throughout these verses how God has been carefully and deliberately unfolding a plan that began "before the foundation of the world" and will be completed in "the fullness of time." The idea is that God has been in control at every stage and that every stage has been purposeful. There is an emphasis, again, placed on God's sovereignty, but also on His goodness. God has a plan; it is a good plan; and you can be sure that He will bring it to completion.
The completion of that plan will involve the establishment of a suitable "administration" and the "summing up of all things in Christ." Here metaphors of stewardship and oversight are appropriate. Christ will be placed as head over all things. (Cf. Philippians 2:9-11) God is already ordering the events and circumstances of history to lead them to this final end. And what this final end consists in is just the ordering of all things in the cosmos under the authority of the Son of God. Francis Foulkes puts the point this way: "All things were created in Christ (Col. 1:16). Through sin endless disorder and disintegration have come into the world; but in the end all things will be restored to their intended function and to their unity by being brought back to the obedience of Christ (cf. Col. 1:20)." (Foulkes, 61-62)
And here, again, we are brought back to the practical application that I was discussing at the beginning of this entry. When Paul talks about all things being summed up in Christ, he clarifies that statement by saying, "things in the heavens and things upon the earth." Nothing is to be excluded. The spiritual and the physical, the sacred and the secular, the lofty and the mundane--everything--is to be brought under the authority of Jesus Christ and ordered according to His will. That is the goal. And as we move towards that goal--as we direct and order our lives according to that plan--we will increasingly experience how good that way of living really is. That was Jesus' reason for coming--so that we would no longer be cut off from the source of life and love and hope and power. Now, through Jesus Christ, we can partake of those gifts and begin to enjoy the life that God intended for us in relationship with Him.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
In yesterday's entry, I think I got a little carried away. When I really start to think about what is involved in the idea of being caught up into the very life of the Trinity--into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--I do get a little overwhelmed. I think it is very worthwhile to take some time to just meditate on all that is encompassed in that. It really is marvelous. At the same time, however, there is a danger that we need to watch out for.
Sometimes the excitement that comes from thinking about these truths remains very abstract. And I think that is a problem. This truth about our life in God is not the sort of thing that we're supposed to just think about and enjoy or even just meditate on or just dwell on. Sometimes, unfortunately, the people who are most ready to talk loudly and enthusiastically about life in God are the same people who are most ineffective in bringing that truth to bear on everyday life. But it is only when those truths actually do touch our everyday life that we begin to grasp them in their fullest extent.
What does it mean to partake of the divine nature? What does it look like to be united to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Again, our answer comes in the example of Jesus Christ. The kind of life that He lived, the things He did, the way He related to people, the healing power of His words, the comfort of His touch, the grace in His manner, the confidence He exemplified, the sincerity and genuineness of His heart, the strength of His convictions, and the pervading goodness of His whole life--all of these came from the life that He enjoyed in relationship with the Father and the Spirit.
When we become united to Christ, in salvation, that is the first step in a process whose ultimate goal is the complete re-ordering of our life after the pattern of the life of Christ and of God. Apart from God, we do our best to order our lives in a way that is good. We look for happiness, wholeness, wellness, security, fulfillment, and blessedness. But when our lives are separated from God, it is impossible to achieve the order that is required to reach those goals. We are constantly threatened by various dangers and forces that would undermine our goals. We are constrained to expend enormous quantities of time and energy to try and get what we want. We constantly have to manage our resources, our environment, other people, and ourselves in order to get by. In many cases, we are forced to compromise our principles and ideals in order to stay in control. And there's no guarantee, when all is said and done, that we will have accomplished what we set out to do.
But when we lay down this project of trying to control our own lives, and, instead, choose to follow the way of Jesus Christ and come under His authority, then our lives begin to move in a new pattern and rhythm. Jesus invites us into a relationship that is, in its core and essence, good and full of love, grace, peace, mercy, safety, and strength. Everything that we really wanted are to be found in God alone, who is good. And when our lives are ordered and oriented with God at the center, then our lives will also be good.
This is God's plan and recipe for a good world: that it be ordered and centered around Him. Is that ego-centric? No. Because that really is the best possible way that everything could be. Because at the center of God's nature is goodness. So, we see in the text, that God made known to us the mystery of His will "with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth."
--
So God's plan for His people--the mystery of His intention to bring people into relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; His choice, adoption, redemption, and forgiveness--is part of this larger plan to bring all things together in Christ. That is God's intention and purpose (see v. 9).
A couple interesting things to note: Paul's reference to the "fullness of time" completes an arch that began in v. 4 where he speaks of a time before the foundation of the world. Paul has been emphasizing throughout these verses how God has been carefully and deliberately unfolding a plan that began "before the foundation of the world" and will be completed in "the fullness of time." The idea is that God has been in control at every stage and that every stage has been purposeful. There is an emphasis, again, placed on God's sovereignty, but also on His goodness. God has a plan; it is a good plan; and you can be sure that He will bring it to completion.
The completion of that plan will involve the establishment of a suitable "administration" and the "summing up of all things in Christ." Here metaphors of stewardship and oversight are appropriate. Christ will be placed as head over all things. (Cf. Philippians 2:9-11) God is already ordering the events and circumstances of history to lead them to this final end. And what this final end consists in is just the ordering of all things in the cosmos under the authority of the Son of God. Francis Foulkes puts the point this way: "All things were created in Christ (Col. 1:16). Through sin endless disorder and disintegration have come into the world; but in the end all things will be restored to their intended function and to their unity by being brought back to the obedience of Christ (cf. Col. 1:20)." (Foulkes, 61-62)
And here, again, we are brought back to the practical application that I was discussing at the beginning of this entry. When Paul talks about all things being summed up in Christ, he clarifies that statement by saying, "things in the heavens and things upon the earth." Nothing is to be excluded. The spiritual and the physical, the sacred and the secular, the lofty and the mundane--everything--is to be brought under the authority of Jesus Christ and ordered according to His will. That is the goal. And as we move towards that goal--as we direct and order our lives according to that plan--we will increasingly experience how good that way of living really is. That was Jesus' reason for coming--so that we would no longer be cut off from the source of life and love and hope and power. Now, through Jesus Christ, we can partake of those gifts and begin to enjoy the life that God intended for us in relationship with Him.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 12:28 PM
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