God’s Eternal Purpose, Chosen in Christ, Grace Before Time, and the Finished Work of the Lamb

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carl Timothy Wray

Carl Timothy Wray is a Christian author and Bible teacher whose ministry represents more than four decades of studying, teaching, and writing the Word of God. His work extends far beyond a single book or platform and reflects a lifetime devoted to biblical teaching and making those teachings accessible to readers and students.

His ministry and publishing work include:

40+ years devoted to studying and teaching the Word of God
Author of 600+ books and biblical teaching works
15+ years teaching students through Facebook and online ministry
More than 2 million views on his YouTube teaching channel
200+ books and teachings achieving #1 search positioning on Google, Bing, and Yahoo
Founder of The Finished Work of Christ
Founder of Zion University
Founder of The Finished Work of Christ TV
Creator of The Finished Work of Christ App
An extensive multi-platform teaching ministry spanning books, television, video, web, apps, and social media

Carl Timothy Wray’s extensive library addresses major biblical themes including the Grace of God, the Finished Work of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the Book of Revelation, spiritual maturity, the sons of God, and God’s eternal purpose.

His purpose remains straightforward: to search the Scriptures, teach what he sees, and make a substantial body of biblical teaching available to those who desire to go deeper in the Word of God.

Introduction — The Purpose That Existed Before Time

Chapter 1 — Before There Was a Beginning
God’s purpose before creation and before Genesis 1:1

Chapter 2 — Chosen in Christ Before the Foundation of the World
Election, identity, and God’s purpose in Christ

Chapter 3 — Grace Given Before the World Began
Grace as eternal purpose rather than God’s response to human failure

Chapter 4 — The Lamb Slain From the Foundation of the World
The cross, redemption, and the Lamb in the eternal counsel of God

Chapter 5 — The Mystery Hidden From Ages and Generations
The mystery concealed through the ages and revealed in Christ

Chapter 6 — Adam Was Never the Final Man
The first man, the Second Man, and God’s purpose centered in Christ

Chapter 7 — Predestinated Unto the Adoption of Sons
Sonship, inheritance, maturity, and God’s eternal intention

Chapter 8 — Christ, the Center and Head of All Things
The gathering together of all things in Christ

Chapter 9 — Creation Waiting for the Manifestation of the Sons of God
Romans 8, creation’s groaning, and the liberty of the glory of God’s children

Chapter 10 — From Eternal Purpose to Finished Work
The purpose conceived before time and accomplished in Jesus Christ

INTRODUCTION

THE PURPOSE THAT EXISTED BEFORE TIME

Ephesians 1:4–5

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

There is a difference between the beginning of creation and the beginning of God’s purpose.

Genesis 1:1 declares:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

That is the beginning of the created order.

It is not the beginning of God.

It is not the beginning of Christ.

And it is not the beginning of God’s eternal purpose.

Before there was an earth, God had a purpose.

Before there was an Adam, God had a purpose.

Before sin entered the world, God had a purpose.

Before there was a serpent in the garden, before there was a law given at Sinai, before Israel became a nation, before prophets spoke, and before Jesus Christ appeared in flesh, the purpose of God already stood in Him.

This changes the place from which we begin our understanding of Scripture.

Many approaches to the Bible begin with man’s fall. Adam sinned, humanity became lost, and God developed a plan to rescue what had gone wrong.

But Scripture takes us farther back.

Paul takes us before Adam.

He takes us before creation.

He takes us before the foundation of the world and shows us a purpose already established in Christ.

The gospel is therefore greater than God’s reaction to man’s failure.

Grace is greater than an emergency provision for sin.

Christ is greater than a solution introduced after Adam fell.

The cross is not evidence that God’s original intention failed. The finished work of Jesus Christ reveals the wisdom of a God whose purpose reaches beyond the boundaries of time.

Paul wrote to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:9

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

Notice the order.

Purpose.

Grace.

Christ.

Before the world began.

If grace was given in Christ before the world began, then grace cannot merely be God’s reaction to something Adam did after the world began.

There was purpose before there was failure.

There was grace before there was law.

There was Christ before there was Adam.

There was an eternal counsel before there was human history.

This book begins there.

BEFORE ADAM

Much Christian teaching begins its explanation of redemption in Genesis 3.

Man falls.

Sin enters.

Death follows.

Humanity needs salvation.

All of those truths have their place, but if we begin only with the fall, we can unconsciously make sin the starting point of God’s purpose.

Scripture does not.

Paul repeatedly reaches beyond the foundation of the world.

He speaks of God’s eternal purpose.

He speaks of a mystery hidden from ages and generations.

He speaks of grace given in Christ before the world began.

He speaks of God’s intention to gather together in one all things in Christ.

He speaks of creation itself waiting for something yet to be manifested.

The Bible therefore tells a story larger than:

Creation → Fall → Rescue.

There is an eternal dimension:

Purpose → Creation → Redemption → Fulfillment.

The fall occurred within history.

The purpose preceded history.

That distinction is foundational to everything we will examine.

CHRIST WAS NEVER PLAN B

Jesus Christ was not introduced because Adam surprised God.

Christ is not God’s backup plan.

He is not the emergency answer to a creation that got beyond divine control.

Paul calls Christ:

Colossians 1:15–17

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Christ stands before creation.

Creation proceeds through Him.

All things consist by Him.

God’s purpose is centered in Him.

Therefore, to understand God’s purpose, we must begin with Christ rather than Adam.

Adam tells us something about humanity in the earth.

Christ reveals the Man according to God’s eternal purpose.

Paul draws this distinction clearly:

1 Corinthians 15:47

“The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

The first man is not the final revelation of God’s intention for humanity.

The Second Man is.

CHOSEN IN HIM

Ephesians does not merely say that God’s people were chosen before the foundation of the world.

It says they were chosen in Him.

Those two words are essential.

In Christ.

The eternal purpose is not centered in independent human beings trying to become acceptable to God through their own effort.

It is centered in Christ.

Our calling is in Him.

Our grace is in Him.

Our redemption is in Him.

Our inheritance is in Him.

Our sonship is through Him.

Our destiny is gathered into Him.

This is why the finished work of Christ cannot be reduced merely to forgiveness of individual sins. Forgiveness is glorious, but God’s purpose reaches farther.

God is bringing His purpose in Christ to fulfillment.

THE LAMB AND THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

Revelation presents Jesus Christ as the Lamb.

Revelation 13:8

“…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Whatever questions arise concerning the wording and interpretation of that passage, the larger witness of Scripture is unmistakable: redemption in Christ belongs to God’s purpose and foreknowledge and was not an improvised response to history.

Peter writes:

1 Peter 1:19–20

“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

There it is again.

Before the foundation of the world.

What was manifested in time had its place in God’s purpose before time.

Calvary happened in history.

The purpose behind Calvary did not originate at Calvary.

THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL

Paul speaks of:

Ephesians 1:9–10

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ…”

God’s purpose moves toward a gathering.

Everything centers in Christ.

Everything finds its proper meaning in Christ.

Everything God is accomplishing must ultimately be understood from that center.

This is why we must learn to read Scripture from God’s purpose rather than merely from man’s problem.

If we begin with man’s problem, our vision may stop when man gets rescued.

If we begin with God’s eternal purpose, salvation becomes part of something far greater.

We begin to see Christ.

We begin to see sonship.

We begin to see inheritance.

We begin to see creation.

We begin to see the kingdom.

We begin to see the finished work.

And we begin to understand why Paul could speak of “the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

WHERE THIS JOURNEY BEGINS

This study will travel backward before it moves forward.

We will go behind the fall.

Behind Adam.

Behind creation itself.

We will begin where the apostles repeatedly direct our attention:

Before the foundation of the world.

From there we will follow the purpose of God into creation, through Adam, through redemption, into sonship, through the groaning of creation, and toward the fulfillment of all things in Christ.

The central question of this book is not merely:

What happened to man?

The greater question is:

What did God purpose in Christ before the world began?

Once that question becomes the starting point, Scripture begins to open from a different direction.

Genesis 1:1 tells us when creation began.

But the gospel takes us farther back.

Before there was a beginning, there was God.

Before there was Adam, there was Christ.

Before there was sin, there was purpose.

Before there was human failure, there was grace.

And before the foundation of the world, God had already established His eternal purpose in Christ.

CHAPTER ONE

BEFORE THERE WAS A BEGINNING

GOD’S PURPOSE BEFORE CREATION

Ephesians 1:4

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”

There are truths in Scripture that cannot be understood properly if we begin too late.

If we begin with Abraham, we begin too late.

If we begin with Noah, we begin too late.

If we begin with Adam, we begin too late.

If we begin with Genesis 1:1, we have already entered the realm of creation.

The apostle Paul takes us somewhere else.

He takes us before the foundation of the world.

Before heaven and earth appeared, before light shone into darkness, before the seas were gathered together, before the earth brought forth vegetation, before the sun and moon governed day and night, before Adam breathed his first breath, God already had a purpose.

That purpose was not hidden from God.

It was hidden in God.

And that distinction is important.

God was not discovering His purpose as history unfolded. He was revealing in history what He had already purposed in Himself.

This is where we must begin.

Not with man’s failure.

Not with Adam’s transgression.

Not with the serpent.

Not with sin.

Not even with creation.

We begin with God and His eternal purpose in Christ.

GENESIS BEGINS WITH CREATION, NOT WITH GOD

Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

The Bible opens with one of the most familiar statements ever written.

But notice what Genesis does not say.

It does not say:

In the beginning God began.

God was already there.

Genesis records the beginning of the heavens and the earth. It does not record the beginning of the One who created them.

Before the beginning, God is.

Before time, God is.

Before creation, God is.

Before anything existed that could be measured by days, years, distance, matter, or human history, God is.

Moses expressed this beautifully.

Psalm 90:2

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”

Notice the language.

Thou art God.

God is not a creature contained inside His creation.

He does not owe His existence to the universe.

The universe owes its existence to Him.

Therefore, if we want to understand the purpose of creation, we cannot begin by looking only at creation.

We must look at the One from whom creation proceeded.

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD

John 1:1–3

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

John deliberately takes us to the language of Genesis.

Genesis says:

“In the beginning God created.”

John says:

“In the beginning was the Word.”

When creation began, the Word already was.

John does not introduce Christ as an afterthought in the story of humanity.

He places Him at the beginning.

Then he goes further.

Everything that was made was made by Him.

Christ does not merely enter creation later.

Creation comes forth through Him.

This completely changes the way we understand the biblical story.

If Christ is present before Adam, then Adam cannot be the starting point for understanding Christ.

We must understand Adam in the light of Christ.

If Christ is before the fall, then the fall cannot be the event that gave Christ His purpose.

Christ already stood in the purpose of God.

THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

Ephesians 3:10–11

“To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul calls it an eternal purpose.

Not a temporary purpose.

Not a purpose conceived after Eden.

Not a purpose created at Mount Sinai.

Not a purpose invented when Israel failed.

Not a purpose introduced when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

An eternal purpose.

And where was that purpose centered?

In Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is one of the great keys to understanding Scripture.

God’s eternal purpose is Christ-centered.

We often approach Scripture from a man-centered perspective.

What happened to man?

Why did man fall?

How can man be forgiven?

How can man get to heaven?

Those are legitimate questions, but they are not large enough to contain the eternal purpose of God.

God’s purpose is greater than fixing fallen humanity.

The eternal purpose concerns what God purposed in Christ.

Salvation belongs within that purpose.

Redemption belongs within that purpose.

The church belongs within that purpose.

Sonship belongs within that purpose.

The kingdom belongs within that purpose.

Creation itself belongs within that purpose.

Christ is not one subject among many.

Christ is the center.

PURPOSE BEFORE THE PROBLEM

2 Timothy 1:9

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

This verse overturns the idea that grace began after sin.

Paul says grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Think about what that means.

Before Adam sinned, grace was in the purpose.

Before man needed deliverance in history, grace was in the purpose.

Before the law exposed transgression, grace was in the purpose.

Before anyone performed a good work or a bad work, grace was in the purpose.

Therefore grace cannot fundamentally be understood as God’s emergency response to human failure.

Grace belongs to God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

Paul connects two things:

Purpose and grace.

And both precede the world.

This means the problem never came before the purpose.

The purpose came first.

Human failure appeared in time.

God’s purpose was before time.

Sin entered history.

Grace preceded history.

Adam fell within creation.

Christ stood in the purpose before creation.

The problem never surprised the Purpose.

CHRIST BEFORE ALL THINGS

Colossians 1:15–17

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Paul does not merely say Christ existed before some things.

He says:

“He is before all things.”

That statement demands our attention.

Christ stands before the created order.

Everything visible and invisible finds its origin through Him.

Everything finds its coherence in Him.

Everything ultimately must be understood in relation to Him.

This means our theology must begin where God’s purpose begins.

In Christ.

We cannot make Adam bigger than Christ.

We cannot make sin bigger than Christ.

We cannot make death bigger than Christ.

We cannot make Satan bigger than Christ.

We cannot make human failure the governing principle by which we interpret God’s eternal intention.

Christ is before them all.

ADAM CAME AFTER THE PURPOSE

1 Corinthians 15:45

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

Adam occupies an important place in Scripture.

But Adam does not occupy the highest place.

Paul identifies two representative men.

The first Adam.

And Christ.

Much of Christian theology begins with the first man and then attempts to understand the Second Man primarily as the answer to what happened to the first.

But God’s purpose does not begin with Adam.

Christ precedes Adam in purpose.

The first man appears in time.

The purpose in Christ existed before time.

That means Adam must ultimately be interpreted according to Christ—not Christ merely according to Adam.

THE FIRST MAN AND THE SECOND MAN

1 Corinthians 15:47

“The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

Here Paul reveals two orders.

The first man is:

Of the earth.

The Second Man is:

The Lord from heaven.

Adam reveals humanity according to the earthly order.

Christ reveals humanity according to God’s heavenly purpose.

Adam was formed from dust.

Christ is the image of the invisible God.

Adam received life.

Christ gives life.

Adam became a living soul.

Christ is a life-giving Spirit.

The first man was never capable of exhausting the revelation of God’s intention.

There was another Man in the purpose.

There was always Christ.

CHRIST WAS NEVER GOD’S PLAN B

One of the most damaging ways to view redemption is to imagine the biblical story something like this:

God created Adam.

Adam ruined everything.

God then had to develop another plan.

Jesus became that second plan.

The cross repaired what Adam destroyed.

That makes Christ God’s reaction to Adam.

Scripture presents something much greater.

Christ is before Adam.

Grace is before Adam.

Purpose is before Adam.

The Lamb is foreordained before Adam.

The calling is before Adam.

The choosing is before Adam.

Adam’s failure did not create God’s purpose.

Adam’s failure occurred within a creation already encompassed by a purpose established in Christ.

Christ was never Plan B.

Christ was always the center.

FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION

1 Peter 1:18–20

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

Peter makes an extraordinary distinction.

Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

But He was manifest in these last times.

There is purpose.

Then there is manifestation.

There is what God established in His counsel.

Then there is what becomes visible within history.

We must learn the difference.

Something can appear in time without originating in time.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem within human history.

But Christ did not originate in Bethlehem.

The Lamb was crucified outside Jerusalem within human history.

But the purpose of redemption did not originate outside Jerusalem.

What appeared in time revealed something rooted beyond time.

MANIFESTATION IS NOT ORIGIN

This principle deserves emphasis:

The time when something appears is not necessarily the time when it began in God’s purpose.

Christ was manifested in flesh.

That does not mean Christ began in flesh.

Grace was manifested through Jesus Christ.

That does not mean grace originated at Bethlehem.

Redemption was accomplished at Calvary.

That does not mean redemption first entered God’s mind at Calvary.

The purpose was eternal.

The manifestation occurred in time.

This distinction helps us understand many things in Scripture.

God unfolds in history what He has purposed in Himself.

CHOSEN IN HIM

Ephesians 1:3–4

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…”

Paul does not simply say:

Chosen before the foundation of the world.

He says:

Chosen us in Him.

Those words—in Him—are central to Paul’s gospel.

God’s purpose is not centered in humanity apart from Christ.

It is centered in humanity in Christ.

Everything proceeds from union with Him.

Chosen in Him.

Accepted in Him.

Redeemed in Him.

Forgiven in Him.

Made alive in Him.

Raised in Him.

Seated in Him.

Made heirs in Him.

God’s purpose is not merely to improve Adam.

God’s purpose is revealed in Christ.

THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL

Ephesians 1:9–10

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ…”

Now the purpose begins to enlarge.

Paul does not stop with individual salvation.

He speaks of all things.

God’s purpose moves toward a great gathering in Christ.

Things in heaven.

Things on earth.

All gathered in Him.

The eternal purpose therefore cannot be reduced to the question:

How do I personally get saved?

That question matters.

But God’s purpose is larger.

The gospel concerns the glory and supremacy of Christ and God’s intention to bring His creation into the fulfillment established in Him.

THE END WAS IN THE PURPOSE FROM THE BEGINNING

Isaiah 46:9–10

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”

God does not travel through history wondering how things will turn out.

His counsel stands.

His purpose stands.

His pleasure stands.

The eternal purpose is not fragile.

It does not depend upon creation successfully instructing the Creator about what to do next.

God declares the end from the beginning.

But Paul takes us even farther.

He shows us purpose before the beginning.

God does not merely know the conclusion.

He acts according to His eternal counsel.

BEFORE SIN THERE WAS GRACE

Let this settle deeply into our thinking.

Before sin appeared in history, grace existed in God’s purpose.

Before condemnation, purpose.

Before death, purpose.

Before the curse, purpose.

Before failure, purpose.

Before the first man took his first breath, God’s purpose stood in Christ.

This does not minimize sin.

It magnifies Christ.

It does not deny the fall.

It puts the fall in its proper place.

It does not make redemption unnecessary.

It reveals redemption as belonging to something greater than an emergency rescue operation.

The gospel is not the story of God desperately trying to recover His original plan.

It is the revelation of a God bringing His eternal purpose to fulfillment in Christ.

BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

This phrase appears again and again because the Holy Spirit is directing our attention beyond human history.

We are being invited to look behind the visible.

Behind creation.

Behind Adam.

Behind the fall.

Behind religion.

Behind law.

Behind human effort.

And when we look there, we do not find chaos.

We find purpose.

We find grace.

We find Christ.

This is the foundation upon which the rest of this book must stand.

If we begin with Adam, we will spend our entire theology trying to repair Adam.

If we begin with sin, we will make everything about escaping sin.

If we begin with death, we will make everything about escaping death.

But if we begin with God’s eternal purpose in Christ, then Adam, sin, redemption, resurrection, sonship, the kingdom, creation, and the ages themselves must all be understood within that larger purpose.

THE PURPOSE IS GREATER THAN THE INTERRUPTION

Human history contains darkness.

It contains rebellion.

It contains sin.

It contains death.

It contains kingdoms rising and falling.

It contains human failure on a scale beyond calculation.

But none of those things existed before God’s purpose.

They cannot therefore be the source of God’s purpose.

They entered the story later.

The purpose was already there.

That means the darkest chapter of human history can never be greater than the purpose that preceded human history.

Sin is not eternal.

Death is not eternal.

The curse is not eternal.

Adam’s failure is not eternal.

But God’s purpose is called:

The eternal purpose.

And that eternal purpose is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

WE MUST BEGIN WHERE GOD BEGAN

To understand the Scriptures, we must learn to begin where the apostles begin.

Paul repeatedly takes us backward.

Before works.

Before law.

Before Adam.

Before creation.

Before the world began.

Before the foundation of the world.

And when he takes us there, he continually finds the same center:

Christ.

Therefore the foundation of this entire study can be stated simply:

God’s eternal purpose did not begin with man’s need.

It began in Christ.

The world was created within that purpose.

Human history unfolds within that purpose.

Redemption reveals that purpose.

Sonship manifests that purpose.

And the consummation of all things will demonstrate the triumph of that purpose.

Before there was a beginning, there was God.

Before there was Adam, there was Christ.

Before there was sin, there was grace.

Before there was failure, there was purpose.

And before the foundation of the world, we were chosen in Him.

That is where our journey begins.

CHAPTER TWO

CHOSEN IN CHRIST BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

ELECTION BEGINS IN CHRIST

Ephesians 1:3–4

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”

There are two words in this passage that must never be separated from the doctrine of election:

In Him.

Paul does not merely say that God chose.

He tells us where the choosing is located.

In Christ.

Before the foundation of the world, God’s purpose was already centered in His Son.

This means election cannot properly be understood apart from Christ.

If we begin with individuals and ask which people God selected and which people He rejected, we can quickly turn election into an argument about human beings.

Paul begins somewhere higher.

He begins with Christ.

God’s purpose is in Christ.

Grace is in Christ.

Redemption is in Christ.

Sonship is through Christ.

The inheritance is in Christ.

And the choosing is in Christ.

Election therefore must be understood from the standpoint of God’s eternal purpose in His Son.

HE CHOSE US IN HIM

Ephesians 1:4

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…”

Notice carefully what Paul does not say.

He does not say:

He chose us because we were good.

He does not say:

He chose us because we kept the law.

He does not say:

He chose us because He looked through history and discovered that we would deserve His favor.

The choosing existed before any of us had performed anything.

Before good works.

Before bad works.

Before religious works.

Before human decisions.

Before the law.

Before Adam.

Before creation itself.

The choosing stands in the eternal purpose of God.

Therefore human boasting is excluded from the beginning.

No person can stand before God and say:

God chose me because I gave Him a reason to choose me.

The choosing was already in Christ before the world began.

ELECTION IS NOT A REWARD FOR PERFORMANCE

Romans 9:11

“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.”

Paul connects election with purpose.

That is the same language we have already encountered.

Purpose.

Calling.

Grace.

Election.

These truths originate in God rather than human achievement.

The children in Paul’s illustration had not yet done good or evil.

Why does Paul emphasize that?

Because he is destroying the idea that God’s purpose rests upon human performance.

Religion continually attempts to place man at the center.

Man performs.

God responds.

Man succeeds.

God blesses.

Man fails.

God withdraws.

But Paul’s gospel begins with God’s purpose.

The purpose comes before the performance.

ACCORDING TO PURPOSE

Romans 8:28

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Paul does not simply speak of people who are called.

He speaks of those who are:

Called according to His purpose.

The calling serves the purpose.

The purpose does not serve the calling.

God is not wandering through history gathering random individuals without an intention.

There is a purpose behind the calling.

To understand election, therefore, we must ask a larger question than:

Who is chosen?

We must also ask:

Chosen for what?

That question takes us directly into sonship.

PREDESTINATED TO WHAT?

The word predestination has generated centuries of debate.

But sometimes the argument becomes so focused on who is predestinated that we fail to read what Scripture says they are predestinated unto.

Paul tells us.

Romans 8:29

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Predestinated to what?

To be conformed to the image of His Son.

There is the purpose.

Christ is the pattern.

Christ is the image.

Christ is the Firstborn.

And God’s purpose involves many brethren being conformed to that image.

Predestination therefore is not merely about destination.

It concerns transformation into the image of the Son.

God’s eternal purpose has a Man in view.

That Man is Christ.

And those called according to purpose are being conformed to His image.

THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN

Romans 8:29

“…that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Paul does not present Christ as an isolated Son.

He calls Him:

The firstborn among many brethren.

The language of sonship immediately appears.

God’s purpose is not merely to rescue sinners from punishment.

His purpose reaches toward a family bearing the image of His Son.

This does not diminish salvation.

It reveals its goal.

Forgiveness is not the end of God’s purpose.

Justification is not the end of God’s purpose.

Deliverance from condemnation is not the end of God’s purpose.

These are glorious realities within something greater.

The purpose moves toward conformity to Christ.

PREDESTINATED UNTO ADOPTION

Ephesians 1:5

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

Again Paul tells us what predestination is moving toward.

Adoption.

Sonship.

Family.

Relationship.

Inheritance.

Maturity.

God is revealing His purpose in Christ.

And notice again the language:

By Jesus Christ.

Everything remains centered in Him.

Election does not lead away from Christ into theological speculation.

Properly understood, election drives us deeper into Christ.

ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

Ephesians 1:6

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

Where is our acceptance?

In the Beloved.

This is another expression of the same truth.

Chosen in Him.

Grace given in Christ.

Accepted in the Beloved.

The emphasis is not upon what Adam’s race can accomplish independently.

The emphasis is upon what God has established in His Son.

This destroys boasting.

It also destroys the endless religious struggle to manufacture acceptance before God.

Our acceptance does not originate in our religious performance.

Our acceptance is in the Beloved.

REDEMPTION IN HIM

Ephesians 1:7

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

Paul continues the same pattern.

In whom.

Redemption is in Him.

Forgiveness is in Him.

Grace abounds in Him.

Paul’s language is relentless.

He continually brings everything back to Christ.

The gospel is not fundamentally about what man accomplishes for God.

It is about what God has accomplished and purposed in Christ.

THE PURPOSE OF ELECTION IS NOT HUMAN PRIDE

Election has sometimes been taught in ways that produce the very thing it should destroy:

Pride.

A person can begin to think:

I am chosen.

They are not.

I am special.

They are rejected.

I belong to God’s favored group.

They do not.

But if election is truly understood in Christ, there is no room for boasting.

Christ is the Chosen One.

Christ is the Beloved.

Christ is the Son.

Christ is the Firstborn.

Christ is the center of God’s purpose.

Whatever we possess, we possess in Him.

Whatever calling we have, it serves His purpose.

Whatever inheritance we receive, we receive in Him.

Election should not magnify the elected.

Election should magnify Christ.

BEHOLD MY SERVANT, WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN

Matthew 12:18

“Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased…”

The language of choosing ultimately points us toward Christ Himself.

Jesus is God’s chosen One.

Peter likewise writes:

1 Peter 2:4

“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.”

Christ is chosen of God.

Precious.

The cornerstone.

Therefore our election cannot be separated from our relationship to God’s Chosen One.

We are chosen in Him.

THE CHOSEN ONE AND THE CHOSEN PEOPLE

1 Peter 2:6

“Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious…”

Christ is elect.

Then Peter speaks to the people of God.

1 Peter 2:9

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…”

The chosen people are related to the Chosen One.

The elect people are built upon the elect Stone.

The identity of God’s people flows from Christ.

This is the pattern.

Christ first.

Then the people in Christ.

Christ the Firstborn.

Then many brethren.

Christ the Head.

Then the body.

Christ the Seed.

Then those who belong to Him.

The eternal purpose is always Christ-centered.

CHOSEN FOR PURPOSE

John 15:16

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit…”

Choosing carries purpose.

Jesus chose His disciples and ordained them to bear fruit.

Election is never merely a badge to wear.

Calling carries responsibility.

Grace produces life.

Sonship leads toward maturity.

Those apprehended by the purpose of God are called to participate in that purpose.

This is why election cannot properly become a doctrine of spiritual superiority.

The chosen are chosen for God’s purpose.

A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME

Acts 15:14

“Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.”

God gathers a people.

But again the center is not the greatness of the people.

They are a people for His name.

God’s calling reveals God.

God’s purpose reveals Christ.

God’s sons reveal the Son.

God’s people become witnesses to His grace and glory.

The purpose is larger than the individual.

THE CALLING IS HOLY

2 Timothy 1:9

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace…”

A holy calling is not a calling earned by holy works.

The verse specifically says:

“Not according to our works.”

The calling proceeds from:

His own purpose and grace.

And where was that grace given?

In Christ Jesus before the world began.

This places the whole matter beyond human boasting.

Before we worked, purpose.

Before we performed, grace.

Before we achieved, calling.

Before the world began, Christ.

GRACE DESTROYS BOASTING

Ephesians 2:8–9

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Religion always finds a way to bring boasting back.

If we cannot boast about our works, we may boast about our knowledge.

If we cannot boast about our righteousness, we may boast about our doctrine.

If we cannot boast about our performance, we may even boast about being chosen.

Grace shuts every door.

Not of yourselves.

The eternal purpose gives man no ground upon which to stand independently from Christ.

Everything is in Him.

HIS WORKMANSHIP

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Notice the order.

We do not perform good works in order to become His workmanship.

We are His workmanship, and from that reality good works proceed.

Religion reverses the order.

Religion says:

Work so that God will accept you.

Grace says:

You are accepted in the Beloved; now walk according to what God has produced in Christ.

Works become fruit rather than root.

Christ is the root.

ELECTION AND THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

The doctrine of election becomes much clearer when placed where Paul places it.

Before the foundation of the world.

In Christ.

According to purpose.

According to grace.

Unto sonship.

Unto conformity to Christ.

Unto the praise of God’s glory.

Election is not an isolated theological puzzle.

It belongs to the eternal purpose.

When removed from that purpose, election easily becomes an argument.

When restored to the eternal purpose, election becomes a revelation of Christ.

GOD’S PURPOSE IS A SON PURPOSE

Hebrews 2:10

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory…”

Here again we see movement.

Many sons unto glory.

The eternal purpose is producing a people who bear the image and nature of the Son.

This is why Romans 8 connects predestination with conformity to Christ.

This is why Ephesians connects predestination with adoption.

This is why Christ is called the Firstborn among many brethren.

The purpose is a son purpose.

God is not merely collecting forgiven sinners.

He is bringing sons to glory.

THE IMAGE OF THE SON

2 Corinthians 3:18

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory…”

The goal is image.

Christ formed in a people.

Christ expressed through a people.

Christ manifested through a body.

The eternal purpose is not satisfied merely with changing our legal standing.

The life of Christ works within His people.

Grace teaches.

Grace transforms.

Grace produces.

Grace conforms.

The chosen in Christ are being brought into the image of Christ.

CHRIST IN YOU

Colossians 1:26–27

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The mystery is not merely Christ for you.

It is Christ in you.

The One in whom we were chosen becomes the One whose life is manifested within us.

The eternal purpose moves from being established in Christ before the foundation of the world to Christ being manifested in a people within history.

This is not merely positional language.

It becomes vital.

Christ lives in His people.

FROM POSITION TO MANIFESTATION

There is a difference between what God declares concerning us in Christ and the manifestation of that reality in our lives.

We are chosen in Him.

But the image of the Son must be manifested.

We are called according to purpose.

But the purpose must work itself into expression.

We are sons.

But sons mature.

We possess an inheritance.

But an inheritance must be entered.

God’s purpose is not merely to give us terminology.

His purpose is to manifest Christ.

ELECTION SHOULD PRODUCE HUMILITY

If everything begins in God’s purpose, where can man boast?

If choosing is in Christ, where can man boast?

If calling is according to grace, where can man boast?

If acceptance is in the Beloved, where can man boast?

If redemption is through His blood, where can man boast?

If transformation comes through beholding Christ, where can man boast?

True election leaves man with nothing to boast in except the Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:30–31

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

That is the proper conclusion.

IN CHRIST BEFORE TIME

We return to where Paul began.

Ephesians 1:4

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…”

Before Adam existed, the purpose was in Christ.

Before Abraham was called, the purpose was in Christ.

Before Moses received the law, the purpose was in Christ.

Before David sat upon a throne, the purpose was in Christ.

Before prophets spoke, the purpose was in Christ.

Before Jesus was manifested in Bethlehem, the purpose was in Christ.

Before the cross appeared in history, the purpose was in Christ.

Before the foundation of the world:

In Christ.

Those two words protect the doctrine of election from becoming centered upon man.

They bring us continually back to God’s Son.

We were not chosen so that we could spend eternity admiring ourselves for being chosen.

We were chosen in Him.

Called according to His purpose.

Predestinated to be conformed to His image.

Accepted in the Beloved.

Redeemed through His blood.

And brought toward the manifestation of His life.

Election begins in Christ.

Election continues in Christ.

Election reaches its purpose in Christ.

The eternal purpose has never changed its center.

The center is Christ.

CHAPTER THREE

GRACE GIVEN BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

GRACE WAS NOT GOD’S EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO SIN

2 Timothy 1:9

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

If we understand this one verse, it changes the way we understand grace.

Paul does not say grace began when Adam fell.

He does not say grace began when the law failed to make men righteous.

He does not say grace began at Bethlehem.

He does not even say grace began at Calvary.

Paul says grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Before creation.

Before Adam.

Before sin.

Before law.

Before condemnation.

Before human failure.

Grace was there.

This means grace cannot properly be defined merely as God’s response to sin.

Grace belongs to something much greater.

Grace belongs to God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

PURPOSE AND GRACE

2 Timothy 1:9

“…not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace…”

Paul joins two great words:

Purpose.

Grace.

They belong together.

God’s purpose is gracious.

God’s grace serves His purpose.

Neither originated in man’s works.

Paul specifically says:

“Not according to our works.”

This immediately removes human performance from the foundation.

Before any human being performed a righteous act, there was grace.

Before any human being performed a sinful act, there was grace.

Before there was anything called human works, God’s purpose and grace stood in Christ.

Grace is therefore older than human performance.

Grace is older than law.

Grace is older than sin.

Grace is older than Adam.

BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

Those words deserve to be heard without rushing past them.

Before the world began.

Where were you?

Where was Adam?

Where was Moses?

Where was Israel?

Where was religion?

Where were human works?

None of them had appeared.

Yet Paul says grace had already been given in Christ Jesus.

This tells us where grace originates.

Not in human need.

Not in human merit.

Not in human failure.

In Christ.

Grace proceeds from God according to His purpose.

THE GOD OF ALL GRACE

1 Peter 5:10

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus…”

Peter calls Him:

The God of all grace.

Grace is not merely something God possesses in small supply and distributes reluctantly.

Grace reveals something about God Himself.

God is gracious.

Grace flows from His nature and purpose.

This is why grace cannot be understood merely as a temporary arrangement between law and judgment.

Grace is rooted in God.

And because God is eternal, the purpose of grace reaches beyond the boundaries of time.

GRACE CAME BEFORE LAW

John 1:17

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

The law came through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

This does not mean grace had no existence before Jesus appeared historically.

Paul has already told us grace was given in Christ before the world began.

John is speaking about manifestation.

Grace was manifested in Jesus Christ.

The law had a historical entrance.

Grace had an eternal foundation.

The law belongs to a particular administration within history.

Grace belongs to God’s purpose in Christ.

NOAH FOUND GRACE

Genesis 6:8

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

Noah lived long before Moses.

There was no Sinai.

There were no tablets of stone.

There was no Levitical priesthood.

Yet Scripture says:

Noah found grace.

Grace did not wait for the New Testament to exist.

Grace was already operating.

Why?

Because grace does not originate with Moses or with man’s religious systems.

Grace originates in God.

ABRAHAM AND THE PROMISE

Romans 4:13

“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”

Abraham lived before the law.

Paul deliberately uses Abraham to demonstrate that God’s dealings cannot be reduced to the Mosaic covenant.

The promise preceded the law.

Faith preceded the law.

The purpose was already moving.

Paul continues:

Romans 4:16

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed…”

Why by grace?

So the promise might be sure.

If the promise rests finally upon man’s ability to perform, the promise is only as secure as man’s performance.

But if the promise rests upon grace, its foundation is God.

THE LAW CAME AFTERWARD

Galatians 3:17

“And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul…”

Paul’s argument is based upon order.

Promise first.

Law afterward.

The law cannot come later and overthrow what God established beforehand.

This same principle becomes even greater when we move back before creation.

If grace was given in Christ before the world began, then law cannot be the eternal foundation of God’s relationship with His people.

Grace preceded it.

Purpose preceded it.

Christ preceded it.

LAW CANNOT BE THE ETERNAL FOUNDATION

The law has its God-given place in Scripture.

But law is not eternal purpose.

Moses is not the center of eternal purpose.

Christ is.

The tablets of stone are not the center.

Christ is.

Human performance is not the center.

Christ is.

If we make law the lens through which everything must be understood, we begin too late.

Paul takes us beyond Sinai.

Beyond Abraham.

Beyond Adam.

Before the world began.

And what does he find?

Purpose and grace in Christ.

GRACE IS GREATER THAN FORGIVENESS

Grace certainly brings forgiveness.

But grace cannot be reduced to forgiveness.

Titus 2:11–12

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

Grace teaches.

Grace works.

Grace transforms.

Grace does not merely erase yesterday.

Grace operates in us today.

Grace is the activity of God bringing His purpose to manifestation in a people.

This is why grace is not permission to remain unchanged.

Grace is power for transformation.

GRACE TEACHES

Religion often assumes that law is the great teacher of righteousness.

But Paul says:

Grace teaches us.

Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness.

Grace teaches us to live soberly.

Grace teaches us to live righteously.

Grace teaches us to live godly.

Grace does not say:

“Sin does not matter.”

Grace says:

Christ matters so completely that His life is now becoming the governing reality within you.

Grace does not lower God’s purpose.

Grace brings us into it.

GRACE AND THE FINISHED WORK

Ephesians 2:8–10

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…”

Notice the order.

Grace.

Salvation.

His workmanship.

Good works.

Religion reverses the order.

Religion says:

Good works.

Then perhaps acceptance.

Then perhaps salvation.

Grace says salvation is God’s gift, and from what God has accomplished comes a life that produces fruit.

We do not work to complete Christ’s finished work.

We work because His life is working in us.

HIS WORKMANSHIP

Paul says:

“We are his workmanship.”

That changes everything.

The believer is not primarily a self-improvement project.

We are God’s workmanship.

God is working.

God is forming.

God is producing.

God is bringing His eternal purpose into manifestation.

This does not make us passive.

It establishes the source of the work.

Philippians 2:13

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

God works in us.

Grace is not God standing far away waiting to see whether we can make ourselves acceptable.

Grace is God working His purpose in His people.

WHERE SIN ABOUNDED

Romans 5:20

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

Paul does not merely say grace matched sin.

Grace much more abounded.

Sin does not set the measurement of grace.

Grace exceeds it.

Adam’s transgression cannot become greater than God’s purpose.

Death cannot become greater than God’s life.

Condemnation cannot become greater than justification.

Human failure cannot become greater than divine grace.

Paul deliberately contrasts the two realms and continually declares the superiority of what comes through Christ.

MUCH MORE

Romans 5 repeatedly uses language that religion sometimes seems afraid to use.

Romans 5:15

“…much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ…”

Romans 5:17

“…much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

Much more.

That is Paul’s measurement.

Adam did something terrible.

But Christ did something greater.

Sin had consequences.

Grace has greater consequences.

Death reigned.

But those receiving abundance of grace reign in life by Jesus Christ.

The gospel does not announce a Christ barely capable of repairing Adam’s damage.

It announces the triumph of grace.

THE FIRST ADAM DOES NOT DEFINE GRACE

If we begin our theology with Adam, grace can look like repair.

Adam breaks.

Christ fixes.

Adam loses.

Christ restores.

But when we begin before the foundation of the world, we see something larger.

Grace existed before Adam had anything to break.

Therefore Adam cannot define grace.

Christ defines grace.

Adam’s failure may reveal our need for grace within history, but it did not create grace in God’s purpose.

Grace was already there.

GRACE REIGNS

Romans 5:21

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Sin reigned.

But sin does not receive the final word.

Grace reigns.

Notice that Paul does not present grace as weak sentimentality.

Grace has a kingdom word attached to it:

Reign.

Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ.

Grace has authority.

Grace has purpose.

Grace has an outcome.

Grace moves toward life.

THE THRONE OF GRACE

Hebrews 4:16

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

What kind of throne does Hebrews reveal?

A throne of grace.

A throne speaks of government.

Authority.

Rule.

Dominion.

And the throne is characterized by grace.

Grace is not weakness.

Grace is divine government operating according to the nature and purpose of God.

The One sitting upon the throne is not nervous about the outcome of His purpose.

Grace reigns.

GRACE AND SONSHIP

Galatians 4:4–5

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Redemption has a purpose.

That we might receive the adoption of sons.

Grace does not merely take us out of something.

Grace brings us into something.

Out of bondage.

Into sonship.

Out of condemnation.

Into acceptance.

Out of Adam.

Into Christ.

Out of death.

Into life.

The eternal purpose is moving toward mature sonship.

NO LONGER A SERVANT

Galatians 4:7

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Grace changes identity.

No more servant.

A son.

And if a son:

An heir.

This is why God’s eternal purpose cannot be reduced to escaping punishment.

God is producing sons.

God is bringing a family into inheritance.

God is conforming a people to the image of His Son.

Grace serves that purpose.

GRACE IS CHRIST-CENTERED

John 1:14

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us… full of grace and truth.”

Grace is not merely a doctrine.

Grace is revealed in a Person.

Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth.

If we want to understand grace, we look at Christ.

If our doctrine of grace produces something unlike Christ, we have misunderstood grace.

Grace reveals Him.

Grace forms Him.

Grace magnifies Him.

Grace brings God’s people into conformity to Him.

THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE

Ephesians 1:7

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

Paul does not speak of the poverty of grace.

He speaks of:

The riches of His grace.

Then he goes further.

Ephesians 2:7

“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Notice the scale.

Ages to come.

Exceeding riches.

Grace is not merely something that gets us through a moment of conversion.

God intends to display the exceeding riches of His grace in the ages to come.

Grace reaches from before the world began into the ages to come.

That is not an emergency provision.

That is eternal purpose.

GRACE BEFORE TIME AND GRACE IN THE AGES TO COME

Consider the span Paul gives us.

Before the world began: grace.

In this present age: grace.

In the ages to come: grace.

Grace reaches backward beyond creation and forward beyond the present age.

Why?

Because grace belongs to God’s purpose in Christ.

The law entered within history.

Sin entered within history.

Death entered within history.

But grace is rooted in a purpose that precedes them and reaches beyond them.

THE EXCEEDING RICHES

Religion often teaches people to approach God as though grace were almost exhausted.

One more failure and God may run out.

One more mistake and the supply may be gone.

But Paul uses language like:

Riches.

Exceeding riches.

Abundance of grace.

Much more abound.

The apostle does not seem worried that somebody might accidentally make grace sound too large.

He is magnifying the greatness of what God has accomplished in Christ.

GRACE DOES NOT MAGNIFY SIN

Some people become uncomfortable when grace is preached strongly because they fear it will encourage sin.

Paul faced the same objection.

Romans 6:1–2

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Paul’s answer is not to weaken grace.

He reveals identity.

Dead to sin.

Grace does not tell the believer:

“You are a sinner, so try harder.”

Grace reveals what God has accomplished in Christ.

The answer to sin is not less grace.

The answer is understanding what grace has done.

SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION

Romans 6:14

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

This verse is astonishing.

Paul does not say sin loses dominion because we are under more law.

He says:

Sin shall not have dominion over you because you are under grace.

Grace breaks dominion.

Grace produces freedom.

Grace establishes another government.

Under grace, Christ becomes the governing reality.

FROM LAW TO LIFE

Law commands life from the outside.

Grace supplies life from within.

Law says:

Do.

Grace reveals:

Done in Christ—and now His life works in you.

Law exposes the weakness of flesh.

Grace reveals the sufficiency of Christ.

Law can identify sin.

Grace brings the life that overcomes its dominion.

This is why the finished work does not produce passivity.

It produces life.

CHRIST IN US

Galatians 2:20

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”

Here is grace in operation.

Not merely Christ forgiving Paul.

Christ living in Paul.

This is the vital dimension of the finished work.

The gospel does not merely change records in heaven.

It produces the life of Christ in a people.

Paul says:

“Christ liveth in me.”

Grace brings the eternal purpose into living manifestation.

NOT I, BUT CHRIST

Those words summarize the end of religious boasting.

Not I.

But Christ.

Not my righteousness.

Christ.

Not my ability.

Christ.

Not my religious achievement.

Christ.

Not my flesh attempting to imitate spirituality.

Christ living in me.

Grace removes man from the throne and reveals Christ as the source of life.

MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT

2 Corinthians 12:9

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Grace is sufficient.

Why?

Because grace rests upon God’s strength rather than ours.

Human weakness does not bankrupt divine grace.

Our limitations do not exhaust God’s resources.

Grace continually directs us away from confidence in flesh and toward sufficiency in Christ.

THE PURPOSE OF GRACE

Why grace?

Not merely so sinners can be forgiven.

Not merely so guilt can be removed.

Not merely so people can receive a ticket to heaven.

Grace serves the eternal purpose.

Grace brings salvation.

Grace calls.

Grace teaches.

Grace transforms.

Grace establishes sonship.

Grace brings inheritance.

Grace reveals Christ.

Grace works His life into His people.

Grace brings God’s purpose toward manifestation.

BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

We return again to Paul’s words:

2 Timothy 1:9

“…according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

This one verse places grace beyond the reach of human boasting.

You did not invent it.

Religion did not invent it.

Moses did not invent it.

Adam’s failure did not invent it.

Grace was already in Christ.

Before the world began.

That means God’s grace is not trying to catch up with human failure.

God’s purpose has always been ahead of history.

GRACE CAME FIRST

Before law:

Grace.

Before works:

Grace.

Before Adam:

Grace.

Before sin:

Grace.

Before condemnation:

Grace.

Before the world began:

Grace in Christ Jesus.

Sin appeared later.

Death appeared later.

Law appeared later.

Human religion appeared later.

But grace was already rooted in the eternal purpose of God.

Therefore we must never allow something that appeared later to become greater in our theology than something established before the world began.

Sin is not greater than grace.

Adam is not greater than Christ.

Law is not greater than promise.

Death is not greater than life.

Human failure is not greater than God’s eternal purpose.

GRACE WILL FINISH WHAT PURPOSE BEGAN

The grace that existed before the world began is the grace operating in God’s people now.

And Paul tells us God intends to display its exceeding riches in the ages to come.

Grace stretches from eternity into time and from time into the ages ahead.

The purpose began in God.

The purpose is centered in Christ.

The purpose is administered by grace.

And the purpose will reach its appointed fulfillment.

Before Adam stood upon the earth, grace stood in Christ.

Before sin entered the world, grace stood in Christ.

Before law was written upon stone, grace stood in Christ.

Before man had anything to boast about—or anything to be ashamed of—grace stood in Christ.

Grace was not God’s emergency response to the fall.

Grace was part of His eternal purpose before the world began.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

CALVARY WAS MANIFESTED IN TIME, BUT THE PURPOSE WAS ETERNAL

Revelation 13:8

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

There is a phrase in this verse that reaches beyond Calvary, beyond Bethlehem, beyond Adam, and beyond the visible history of redemption:

The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Jesus Christ was crucified at a particular moment in human history.

There was a cross.

There was a place.

There was a historical manifestation.

But the purpose revealed at Calvary reaches beyond that historical moment.

The cross was not God’s desperate response to an unexpected catastrophe.

The Lamb belongs to the eternal purpose.

Before Adam fell, Christ stood in the purpose of God.

Before sin entered the world, redemption stood in the purpose of God.

Before death began to reign, the Lamb stood in the purpose of God.

Calvary happened in time.

But the wisdom revealed at Calvary was rooted in eternity.

THE LAMB WAS FOREORDAINED

1 Peter 1:18–20

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

Peter gives us language that is impossible to miss.

Foreordained before the foundation of the world.

Manifest in these last times.

Those are two different dimensions.

There is purpose.

And there is manifestation.

There is what existed in the counsel of God.

And there is what appeared within human history.

The Lamb was manifested in time.

But the Lamb was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

This distinction is essential.

MANIFESTATION IS NOT ORIGIN

We established this principle earlier, but nowhere is it more important than at the cross.

The time when something becomes visible is not necessarily the time when it originated in God’s purpose.

Jesus was manifested in Bethlehem.

He did not originate in Bethlehem.

The Lamb was manifested at Calvary.

The purpose of the Lamb did not originate at Calvary.

Grace was manifested through Jesus Christ.

Grace did not originate when Jesus was born.

Redemption was accomplished within history.

The purpose behind redemption existed before history.

God reveals in time what He purposed beyond time.

CALVARY DID NOT SURPRISE GOD

Acts 2:22–23

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs…

Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”

Peter does not describe the crucifixion as an event that caught heaven by surprise.

He speaks of:

The determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

Men acted wickedly.

Human responsibility is not removed.

Yet behind the historical event stood divine counsel.

The cross was not evidence that God’s purpose had lost control.

The cross became the place where God’s wisdom and purpose were manifested.

THE COUNSEL WAS ALREADY THERE

Acts 4:27–28

“For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”

Again Scripture reaches behind the visible actors.

Herod was there.

Pilate was there.

The Gentiles were there.

Israel was there.

But the apostles saw something greater than human conspiracy.

They saw the counsel of God.

The historical actors did not create God’s purpose.

They moved within a history that God already comprehended.

The cross was not God’s defeat.

The cross revealed God’s wisdom.

CHRIST CRUCIFIED — THE WISDOM OF GOD

1 Corinthians 1:23–24

“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”

The world looked at the cross and saw weakness.

God revealed power.

The world saw foolishness.

God revealed wisdom.

The world saw defeat.

God was accomplishing redemption.

This is the mystery of the cross.

God’s wisdom does not always look like human wisdom.

The cross looked like the end.

It became the revelation of a beginning.

THE HIDDEN WISDOM

1 Corinthians 2:7–8

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

There it is again.

Before the world.

Paul says this wisdom was ordained before the world.

The princes of this world did not understand what they were participating in.

They saw Jesus.

They saw a cross.

They saw weakness.

They saw an opportunity to destroy Him.

They did not understand the eternal purpose being manifested.

Had they known, Paul says, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The cross was hidden wisdom coming into manifestation.

THE CROSS AND THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

We often speak of the cross only in relation to sin.

And certainly the cross deals with sin.

But the cross belongs to a purpose larger than sin.

If Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world, then Calvary cannot be understood merely as a reaction to Adam.

The cross reveals God’s eternal wisdom in Christ.

The Lamb is not an afterthought.

The Lamb stands in the purpose.

This does not make sin insignificant.

It makes Christ greater than sin.

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD

John 1:29

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

John did not say:

Behold man’s Lamb.

He said:

The Lamb of God.

The Lamb originates in God’s purpose.

The Lamb belongs to God.

The Lamb reveals God’s provision.

And what does the Lamb do?

Taketh away the sin of the world.

The answer to sin does not arise from humanity.

It comes from God.

GOD WAS IN CHRIST

2 Corinthians 5:18–19

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them…”

This is one of the most important truths concerning reconciliation.

God was in Christ.

The cross must never be pictured as a loving Jesus trying to persuade an unwilling God to forgive humanity.

God was in Christ reconciling.

Father and Son are not working against each other.

The cross reveals the reconciling purpose of God.

GOD SO LOVED

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…”

The cross begins in love.

God loved.

God gave.

The Son came.

The Lamb was offered.

Redemption proceeds from divine love.

The cross does not create God’s love for humanity.

The cross manifests it.

God did not begin loving because Jesus died.

Jesus was given because God loved.

LOVE BEFORE THE CROSS

If we misunderstand this order, we can develop a distorted picture of God.

We can imagine humanity standing under an angry God until Jesus steps between them and convinces the Father to become merciful.

But Scripture says:

God so loved that He gave.

Love came first.

The giving manifested the love.

The cross revealed what was already in God’s heart and purpose.

And if the Lamb was foreordained before the foundation of the world, then the love manifested at Calvary belongs to the eternal counsel.

CHRIST DIED FOR US

Romans 5:8

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Again, the cross demonstrates love.

God commendeth His love.

Calvary reveals God’s disposition toward humanity in its fallen condition.

While we were sinners.

Before we cleaned ourselves up.

Before we became religious.

Before we demonstrated worthiness.

Christ died for us.

Grace acts from God toward man.

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

Ephesians 1:7

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

Redemption is in Christ.

Through His blood.

According to grace.

These truths belong together.

The blood is not a religious token.

It speaks of the giving of life.

Christ gives Himself.

The Lamb pours out His life.

Redemption is accomplished not through silver, gold, religious achievement, or human sacrifice.

It is accomplished through Christ.

REDEEMED BY THE LAMB

Revelation 5:9

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed… to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

The Lamb stands at the center of Revelation.

Not the beast.

Not Babylon.

Not the dragon.

Not judgment.

The Lamb.

The book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

And when heaven worships, heaven sees the Lamb.

The Lamb is worthy.

The Lamb was slain.

The Lamb redeems.

The Lamb opens the book.

The Lamb stands in the throne.

If we read Revelation and become more impressed with the beast than the Lamb, we have missed the center.

THE LAMB IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE

Revelation 5:6

“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne… stood a Lamb as it had been slain…”

Look at the location.

In the midst of the throne.

The slain Lamb is not lying defeated outside the government of God.

He stands in the midst of the throne.

The cross and the throne are not enemies.

The Lamb who was slain reigns.

Sacrifice and government meet in Christ.

Grace and government meet in Christ.

Redemption and kingdom meet in Christ.

The Lamb stands.

A LAMB AS IT HAD BEEN SLAIN

John sees a Lamb bearing the marks of sacrifice, yet standing.

This is resurrection language.

The Lamb was slain.

But the Lamb stands.

Death happened.

But death did not have the final word.

The cross cannot be separated from resurrection.

A gospel that leaves Jesus on the cross is incomplete.

The Lamb who died now lives.

I AM HE THAT LIVETH

Revelation 1:18

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore…”

This is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Was dead.

Alive for evermore.

Death becomes something in His past.

Life defines His present and His future.

Christ did not merely survive death.

He conquered it.

THROUGH DEATH HE DESTROYED THE POWER OF DEATH

Hebrews 2:14

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death…”

Notice God’s wisdom.

Through death, Christ deals with the power of death.

What looked like Satan’s victory became the place of his defeat.

What looked like weakness became power.

What looked like the end became triumph.

The wisdom was hidden.

THE LAST ENEMY

1 Corinthians 15:26

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

Death is an enemy.

It is not God’s eternal purpose.

Death appeared within history.

God’s purpose preceded it.

And Scripture announces death’s destruction.

Death therefore cannot be ultimate.

Christ is ultimate.

Life is ultimate.

The eternal purpose is ultimate.

DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM

Acts 2:24

“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

What a statement.

It was not possible.

Death encountered a life it could not contain.

The grave encountered a Man it could not imprison.

The purpose of God could not terminate in a tomb.

The Lamb arose.

THE CROSS REVEALS THE END OF THE OLD MAN

The cross does more than provide forgiveness for what we have done.

It deals with what we were in Adam.

Romans 6:6

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed…”

Paul does not say merely that our sins were dealt with.

He says:

Our old man is crucified with Him.

The cross reaches the Adamic identity.

The finished work is deeper than behavior modification.

God deals with the old man at the cross.

CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

Galatians 2:20

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”

Paul does not stand outside the cross merely admiring what happened to Jesus.

He identifies with it.

I am crucified with Christ.

Then:

Nevertheless I live.

Then:

Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

This is finished-work language.

The cross terminates one order.

Resurrection introduces another.

Not I.

Christ.

FROM ADAM INTO CHRIST

The cross is the great dividing line between two orders.

Adam.

Christ.

Old creation.

New creation.

Death.

Life.

Flesh.

Spirit.

The cross is not merely God’s attempt to make Adam behave better.

The cross brings the old man to an end and opens the revelation of life in Christ.

A NEW CREATION

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Where is the new creation?

In Christ.

Again the eternal center appears.

In Him.

Chosen in Him.

Grace in Him.

Redemption in Him.

New creation in Him.

God’s answer is consistently Christ.

IT IS FINISHED

John 19:30

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

These words stand at the center of the gospel:

It is finished.

Not:

It is beginning to be accomplished.

Not:

I have done My part; now humanity must finish it.

Not:

Perhaps this will work.

It is finished.

Something was accomplished at Calvary that human effort cannot improve.

RELIGION TRIES TO FINISH WHAT CHRIST FINISHED

The religious mind struggles with finished work because religion survives by keeping man busy attempting to accomplish what only Christ can accomplish.

Religion says:

Do more.

Try harder.

Earn acceptance.

Become worthy.

Pay the debt.

Christ says:

It is finished.

The believer’s obedience does not finish the cross.

Our works do not complete redemption.

Our faithfulness does not add power to the blood.

We live from the finished work, not toward an unfinished one.

THE LAMB TOOK AWAY SIN

Hebrews 9:26

“…but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

Christ offered Himself.

The sacrifice is not repeated endlessly.

He appeared to put away sin.

The writer of Hebrews continually emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ’s offering.

ONCE FOR ALL

Hebrews 10:10

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Once for all.

The sacrifice does not need improvement.

It does not need repetition.

It does not need assistance from human religious effort.

The Lamb accomplished the work.

ONE SACRIFICE

Hebrews 10:12

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

He offered.

Then He sat down.

The priest under the old covenant continually stood because the work continued.

Christ offered one sacrifice and sat down.

Sitting speaks of completion.

The work is accomplished.

BY ONE OFFERING

Hebrews 10:14

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

One offering.

Not many.

One Lamb.

One sacrifice.

One finished work.

Religion continually wants to add something.

Hebrews continually brings us back to the sufficiency of Christ.

THE CROSS AND THE THRONE

The Lamb who said, “It is finished,” is the Lamb John sees in the midst of the throne.

The finished work leads us into divine government.

The One who died reigns.

The One who was rejected is Lord.

The One crowned with thorns is crowned with glory.

The cross was not the end of Christ.

It was the defeat of the old order.

WORTHY IS THE LAMB

Revelation 5:12

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”

Heaven does not spend eternity mourning a defeated Lamb.

Heaven worships a victorious Lamb.

Worthy is the Lamb.

The cross has become glory.

The sacrifice has become triumph.

The Lamb reigns.

THE LAMB WILL PREVAIL

Revelation 17:14

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings…”

The Lamb overcomes.

That almost sounds like a contradiction to the natural mind.

A lamb appears weak.

Kings appear powerful.

Empires appear powerful.

Beasts appear powerful.

But Revelation declares:

The Lamb shall overcome them.

Why?

Because He is:

Lord of lords.

King of kings.

The slain Lamb is the reigning King.

THE LAMB WAS ALWAYS IN THE PURPOSE

Now we return to where this chapter began.

Before Bethlehem:

The Lamb.

Before Calvary:

The Lamb.

Before Adam:

The Lamb in the purpose.

Before sin:

The Lamb in the purpose.

Before death:

The Lamb in the purpose.

Before the foundation of the world:

Christ foreordained.

This does not mean the historical cross was unnecessary.

It means the historical cross manifested an eternal counsel.

What God purposed became visible.

What was foreordained was manifested.

THE CROSS DID NOT CREATE THE PURPOSE

Calvary did not create God’s eternal purpose.

Calvary revealed it.

The blood did not convince God to become gracious.

Grace sent the Lamb.

The cross did not persuade God to love.

Love gave the Son.

Christ did not die to rescue God’s purpose from failure.

Christ died according to the purpose.

This is a completely different way of seeing redemption.

THE LAMB REVEALS THE HEART OF GOD

If you want to know what God is like, look at Christ.

If you want to know what divine power looks like, look at Christ.

If you want to know what divine love looks like, look at Christ.

If you want to know what divine government looks like, look at the Lamb in the throne.

God’s answer to human violence was not greater violence.

God’s answer to sin was the Lamb.

God’s answer to death was resurrection life.

God’s answer to Adam was Christ.

FROM FOUNDATION TO THRONE

The Lamb appears before the foundation in purpose.

The Lamb appears in history at Calvary.

The Lamb rises from death.

The Lamb ascends.

The Lamb stands in the midst of the throne.

The Lamb opens the book.

The Lamb overcomes.

The Lamb reigns.

The story moves from eternal purpose through finished work into kingdom manifestation.

And the center never changes.

The center is Christ.

THE LAMB HAS THE FINAL WORD

Sin does not have the final word.

Adam does not have the final word.

Death does not have the final word.

The grave does not have the final word.

The beast does not have the final word.

Babylon does not have the final word.

Human kingdoms do not have the final word.

The Lamb has the final word.

The One foreordained before the foundation of the world is the One standing in the midst of the throne.

The One crucified in weakness is revealed in power.

The One rejected by men is declared Lord of lords and King of kings.

The One who said, “It is finished,” will bring God’s eternal purpose to its appointed fulfillment.

Before the world began, the purpose stood.

Before Adam fell, the Lamb was foreordained.

Before sin entered, grace was given in Christ.

And when the purpose entered history in its redemptive fullness, heaven’s answer was not a new plan.

It was the manifestation of the One who had always stood at the center:

The Lamb of God.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE MYSTERY HIDDEN FROM AGES AND GENERATIONS

WHAT GOD PURPOSED BEFORE TIME WAS REVEALED IN CHRIST

Colossians 1:26–27

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Paul speaks of a mystery.

Not a mystery because God had no answer.

Not a mystery because God’s purpose was uncertain.

A mystery because something established in God had not yet been fully revealed within history.

It was hidden.

Then it was manifested.

It was concealed through ages and generations.

Then the veil was pulled back.

And when Paul tells us the heart of the mystery, he does not point us toward a religious system.

He points us toward Christ.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The mystery is Christ.

The glory is Christ.

The hope is Christ.

The purpose is Christ.

Everything comes back to Him.

HIDDEN DOES NOT MEAN ABSENT

Colossians 1:26

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations…”

Something can be hidden and still be real.

The purpose existed before people understood it.

Grace existed before people understood it.

Christ stood in the eternal purpose before humanity saw the fullness of that purpose.

Hidden does not mean nonexistent.

It means unrevealed.

The mystery had been in God.

Now it was being made known.

THE MYSTERY WAS IN GOD

Ephesians 3:9

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”

Paul tells us exactly where the mystery had been hidden:

In God.

Not lost.

Not missing.

Not forgotten.

Hidden in God.

The mystery was not waiting for man to invent it.

The mystery belonged to God’s eternal counsel.

And notice again the connection with Christ:

Who created all things by Jesus Christ.

Creation itself is Christ-centered.

The mystery is Christ-centered.

The revelation is Christ-centered.

GOD REVEALS WHAT HE HAS PURPOSED

God does not improvise truth.

He reveals it.

There is a great difference.

Improvisation means developing a response because something unexpected occurred.

Revelation means making known what was already present.

Paul consistently uses the language of revelation.

Mystery.

Hidden.

Made known.

Manifested.

Revealed.

These words tell us that God’s purpose was not being invented as history moved forward.

It was being unveiled.

THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY

Romans 16:25–26

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

But now is made manifest…”

Paul calls his preaching:

The revelation of the mystery.

Again:

Kept secret.

Then:

Made manifest.

The gospel is revelation.

Something God purposed is being made known.

This means the gospel is not merely good advice about how people should live.

It is an announcement concerning what God has accomplished and revealed in Christ.

THE GOSPEL UNVEILS CHRIST

Galatians 1:15–16

“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,

To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen…”

Paul’s calling was not merely to learn facts about Jesus.

God was pleased:

To reveal His Son in me.

That language is profound.

Revelation moves inward.

Christ is not merely a historical figure Paul studies from a distance.

Christ is revealed in him.

This becomes the basis of his ministry.

CHRIST IN YOU

Colossians 1:27

“…Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

These words reveal the vital dimension of God’s eternal purpose.

We were chosen in Christ.

Grace was given in Christ.

Redemption is in Christ.

Now Paul speaks of:

Christ in you.

There is a divine exchange of emphasis.

We in Christ.

Christ in us.

Union.

Life.

Participation.

Manifestation.

The eternal purpose is not merely a legal arrangement written somewhere outside us.

The life of Christ enters His people.

THE HOPE OF GLORY

What is the hope of glory?

Paul answers:

Christ in you.

Not improved flesh.

Not stronger human effort.

Not greater religious discipline as an end in itself.

Christ in you.

The hope of glory is the indwelling Christ coming into manifestation.

Glory is connected to Christ being revealed.

This means glory is not merely somewhere we go.

Glory is something of Christ that is manifested.

FROM CHRIST FOR US TO CHRIST IN US

The gospel contains both.

Christ for us.

Christ in us.

Christ died for us.

Christ lives in us.

Christ reconciled us.

Christ is formed in us.

Christ justified us.

Christ is transforming us.

The finished work does not stop at what happened for us historically.

It produces a living expression of Christ within His body.

CHRIST FORMED IN YOU

Galatians 4:19

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”

Paul’s ministry goal was not simply to get people to agree with a doctrine.

He wanted:

Christ formed in them.

This is deeper than information.

The mystery produces formation.

Christ becomes visible through a people.

The eternal purpose moves toward manifestation.

REVELATION MUST BECOME FORMATION

We can know words without knowing life.

We can memorize doctrine without manifesting Christ.

We can understand theological concepts and still remain spiritually immature.

Paul’s burden goes beyond understanding.

He travails until Christ is formed.

Truth must move from the mind into life.

Revelation must become formation.

Formation must become manifestation.

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

Ephesians 3:3–4

“How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery…

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.”

Paul calls it:

The mystery of Christ.

That keeps the mystery from becoming speculation.

Mysteries in Scripture are not invitations to invent strange theories.

The mystery has a center.

Christ.

If our interpretation takes us away from Christ, we are moving away from Paul’s mystery.

REVEALED BY THE SPIRIT

Ephesians 3:5

“Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”

The mystery is revealed by the Spirit.

This means spiritual truth cannot be reduced merely to natural intellect.

Study matters.

Reading matters.

Context matters.

Sound interpretation matters.

But revelation ultimately requires the Spirit of God opening truth.

The same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures reveals Christ through them.

WHAT IS THE MYSTERY?

Paul continues.

Ephesians 3:6

“That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.”

Here Paul emphasizes an important dimension of the mystery.

Gentiles are brought into the same body.

Fellowheirs.

Same body.

Partakers of promise.

In Christ.

God’s purpose extends beyond natural boundaries.

Race cannot contain it.

Nation cannot contain it.

Old covenant distinctions cannot contain it.

Christ forms one body.

ONE BODY IN CHRIST

Ephesians 2:14–16

“For he is our peace, who hath made both one…

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity…

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross…”

Christ makes both one.

The cross destroys walls.

The purpose is not endless division.

The purpose is reconciliation.

One body.

One new man.

One Spirit.

One Lord.

One faith.

One God and Father.

The mystery reveals unity in Christ.

ONE NEW MAN

Ephesians 2:15

“…for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”

Notice the location:

In Himself.

The new man exists in Christ.

God is not simply trying to make different groups tolerate each other.

He creates something new in Christ.

One new man.

This language takes us beyond human categories.

The new creation has a new center.

THE OLD DIVISIONS LOSE THEIR POWER

Galatians 3:28

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is not denying natural distinctions within earthly life.

He is declaring that none of them determines spiritual standing in Christ.

The new creation is governed by another identity.

In Christ Jesus.

Old categories do not determine inheritance.

Christ does.

THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL

Ephesians 1:9

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”

Again, mystery is connected to purpose.

Purposed in Himself.

The mystery originates in God.

Then Paul tells us where the purpose is going.

GATHERING TOGETHER ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

Ephesians 1:10

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”

This is one of the largest statements in Paul’s writings.

All things in Christ.

The mystery stretches beyond individual salvation.

The eternal purpose moves toward a gathering in Christ.

Heaven and earth.

All things.

In Him.

Christ becomes the great point of convergence.

GOD’S PURPOSE IS NOT FRAGMENTATION

The fallen world is fragmented.

Nations against nations.

People against people.

Religion against religion.

Man divided within himself.

Creation subjected to vanity.

But God’s purpose moves in another direction.

Gathering.

Reconciliation.

Unity.

Christ.

What is scattered in Adam is gathered in Christ.

THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST

Colossians 1:18

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

The mystery leads us to headship.

Christ is Head.

Christ has preeminence.

The church does not exist to magnify itself.

The church exists under the Head.

Ministry does not exist to magnify ministers.

Ministry exists to reveal Christ.

Everything returns to His preeminence.

THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE

This phrase should govern every doctrine.

Does Christ have preeminence?

In salvation?

In prophecy?

In church?

In sonship?

In kingdom?

In Revelation?

In grace?

In eternal purpose?

If our teaching makes another subject larger than Christ, something has become disordered.

Christ is not merely present.

He is preeminent.

THE MYSTERY AND THE CHURCH

Ephesians 3:10

“To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”

The church has a purpose.

It is not merely a religious organization meeting weekly.

Through the church, God’s manifold wisdom is to be made known.

The church becomes a demonstration.

The body reveals the Head.

The people of God manifest something of God’s eternal wisdom.

THE CHURCH IS A WITNESS

The church is not merely called to speak.

The church is called to demonstrate.

A divided church cannot fully demonstrate reconciliation.

A condemned church cannot fully demonstrate grace.

An immature church cannot fully demonstrate sonship.

A powerless church cannot fully demonstrate kingdom.

God’s purpose calls for manifestation.

The church is meant to embody what it proclaims.

THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD

The word manifold speaks of great variety.

God’s wisdom is not one-dimensional.

His wisdom is revealed through redemption.

Through reconciliation.

Through grace.

Through sonship.

Through the body of Christ.

Through resurrection.

Through the kingdom.

Through the gathering of all things in Christ.

The mystery is rich because Christ is inexhaustible.

RICHES THAT CANNOT BE SEARCHED OUT

Ephesians 3:8

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

Paul calls them:

The unsearchable riches of Christ.

You can search Christ for a lifetime and never exhaust Him.

Grace.

Wisdom.

Righteousness.

Redemption.

Life.

Glory.

Kingdom.

Sonship.

Inheritance.

All are found in Him.

THE MYSTERY IS NOT A PUZZLE TO SOLVE

Many people hear the word mystery and immediately think of something confusing.

But biblical mystery is not primarily a puzzle created to frustrate people.

It is truth once hidden and now revealed.

The point of the mystery is not permanent confusion.

The point is revelation.

Paul wanted people to see.

THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Ephesians 1:17–18

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened…”

Paul prays for enlightened eyes.

They already had natural eyes.

They needed spiritual perception.

You can read the words of Scripture and still miss the purpose.

The eyes of understanding must be opened.

REVELATION IS IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM

Paul prays for:

Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Again Christ is the center.

True revelation does not merely make us fascinated with revelation.

It makes us know Christ.

If revelation produces pride, we have missed something.

If revelation produces superiority, we have missed something.

If revelation produces endless speculation but little Christ, we have missed the center.

THE RICHES OF THE GLORY

Colossians 1:27

“…what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Paul combines:

Riches.

Glory.

Mystery.

Christ in you.

God’s purpose is not poverty of spiritual life.

There are riches in Christ.

There is glory in Christ.

There is life in Christ.

And that Christ dwells in His people.

THE TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS

2 Corinthians 4:7

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Christ in us is treasure in earthen vessels.

The vessel is not the treasure.

The minister is not the treasure.

The organization is not the treasure.

The personality is not the treasure.

Christ is the treasure.

This keeps ministry in proper perspective.

The vessel carries something greater than itself.

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE POWER IS OF GOD

Why does God place treasure in earthen vessels?

So that no one mistakes the source.

The power is of God.

Grace is of God.

Life is of God.

Revelation is of God.

The vessel participates, but the glory belongs to God.

That destroys spiritual celebrity.

It destroys human boasting.

Christ remains preeminent.

HIDDEN WISDOM AND PRESENT REVELATION

1 Corinthians 2:7

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.”

Again Paul reaches before the world.

The wisdom was ordained before the world.

The mystery was hidden through ages.

Now it is revealed.

God’s purpose runs consistently through Scripture.

What existed in eternal counsel becomes visible in the fullness of time.

THE SPIRIT SEARCHES THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD

1 Corinthians 2:10

“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

There are deep things of God.

Paul does not tell believers to remain forever on the surface.

The Spirit searches the deep things.

God reveals.

This does not give us permission for wild speculation.

The Spirit who reveals is the Spirit who inspired Scripture.

True depth will remain anchored in Christ and the Word.

WE HAVE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT

1 Corinthians 2:12

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

Why has the Spirit been given?

Among other reasons:

That we might know.

God desires His people to understand what He has freely given.

Ignorance is not spiritual maturity.

God reveals His purpose so His people can walk in it.

THE MYSTERY AND MATURITY

1 Corinthians 2:6

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect…”

The word speaks of maturity.

There are dimensions of truth that require spiritual growth to comprehend responsibly.

A child can hear truth.

But maturity enables deeper discernment.

God’s purpose is not to keep His people permanently immature.

CHRIST IS GOD’S MYSTERY REVEALED

Colossians 2:2–3

“…to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Where are the treasures?

In Christ.

All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

This means the pursuit of divine mystery ultimately leads us deeper into Him.

Christ is not a doorway we walk through and then leave behind while searching for deeper things.

He is the depth.

DO NOT MOVE BEYOND CHRIST

There is always a temptation among those hungry for deeper revelation to move beyond simplicity in Christ.

They begin searching for something nobody else knows.

Something secret.

Something spectacular.

Something that makes them different.

But the deepest revelation does not move away from Christ.

It moves deeper into Christ.

There is no advanced revelation that makes Christ unnecessary.

THE FULLNESS DWELLS IN HIM

Colossians 2:9–10

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

And ye are complete in him…”

All fullness in Him.

Complete in Him.

The mystery does not reveal spiritual lack.

It reveals fullness.

The believer’s journey is learning to live from the fullness already located in Christ.

COMPLETE IN HIM

Religion continually tells people something is still missing.

You need another experience.

Another formula.

Another rule.

Another person between you and God.

Paul says:

Ye are complete in Him.

Maturity does not mean moving away from that completeness.

Maturity means awakening to it and walking in it.

THE MYSTERY NOW MANIFEST

Colossians 1:26

“…but now is made manifest to his saints.”

There comes a now in God’s purpose.

Something once hidden becomes visible.

Something once spoken in shadow appears in fulfillment.

Something prophesied becomes manifested.

Christ is revealed.

The mystery enters manifestation.

WHAT WAS HIDDEN IS NOW PROCLAIMED

The apostles were not commissioned to keep the mystery secret.

They preached it.

They wrote it.

They taught it.

They gave their lives to announce it.

The mystery once hidden became the gospel openly proclaimed.

This is why the church should never make Christ inaccessible through unnecessary religious complexity.

What God has revealed should be declared.

CHRIST IN YOU — THE CENTER OF THE MYSTERY

We return to Paul’s central declaration.

Christ in you.

Not merely Christ in history.

Not merely Christ in heaven.

Not merely Christ in doctrine.

Christ in you.

The eternal purpose has entered human vessels.

The Life that existed before the world began now dwells in His people.

The Son who stood in God’s purpose now forms His image within a body.

The mystery moves toward manifestation.

THE HOPE IS GLORY

Christ in you is:

The hope of glory.

What is coming forth?

Glory.

What is the source?

Christ.

What is the hope?

Christ.

What is the mystery?

Christ.

The purpose is not to reveal a better Adam.

The purpose is to reveal Christ.

FROM HIDDEN PURPOSE TO VISIBLE CHRIST

Before the world:

Purpose hidden in God.

Through the ages:

Mystery concealed.

In the fullness of time:

Christ manifested.

Through the gospel:

Mystery revealed.

In the church:

Christ formed.

In God’s sons:

Christ manifested.

In the consummation:

All things gathered in Him.

The entire movement is from hidden purpose to visible expression.

THE MYSTERY HAS A FACE

The mystery is not ultimately a chart.

It is not a timeline.

It is not a theological system.

It is not a secret code.

The mystery has a face.

Jesus Christ.

When God’s hidden purpose becomes visible, Christ appears.

When God’s grace becomes visible, Christ appears.

When God’s love becomes visible, Christ appears.

When God’s glory becomes visible, Christ appears.

When God’s sons mature, the image of Christ appears.

THE PURPOSE OF REVELATION

Revelation is not given merely to satisfy curiosity.

It carries responsibility.

If Christ is revealed to us, Christ should be manifested through us.

If we see grace, we should become gracious.

If we see reconciliation, we should become reconcilers.

If we see sonship, we should grow into maturity.

If we see Christ, our lives should increasingly express Him.

Revelation that never becomes life remains incomplete in its effect.

THE MYSTERY IS STILL CHRIST

After all the ages.

After all the prophets.

After all the shadows.

After all the ceremonies.

After all the covenants.

After all the theological arguments.

The mystery is still Christ.

Christ in you.

Christ among His people.

Christ as Head.

Christ as Firstborn.

Christ as the hope of glory.

Christ gathering all things into Himself.

The purpose has never changed its center.

HIDDEN FROM AGES — NOW MADE KNOWN

The mystery did not originate when Paul preached it.

Paul received revelation of something already established in God.

It did not originate when Christ was manifested in flesh.

Christ manifested what belonged to eternal purpose.

It did not originate with Adam.

Adam appeared within a purpose already established.

It did not originate with creation.

The purpose was before the foundation of the world.

And now God has made known the mystery.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

This is the hidden wisdom.

This is the eternal purpose moving into manifestation.

This is the treasure in earthen vessels.

This is the mystery of His will.

This is the gathering of all things.

This is the revelation of God’s Son.

And at the center of it all remains the One who was there before creation ever began:

Christ.

CHAPTER SIX

ADAM WAS NEVER THE FINAL MAN

THE FIRST MAN MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE LIGHT OF THE SECOND MAN

1 Corinthians 15:45–47

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

If we begin with Adam and never move beyond Adam, we will misunderstand the purpose of God.

Adam was first in manifestation.

He was not first in eternal purpose.

Adam appeared in the earth.

Christ stood before the foundation of the world.

Adam was made a living soul.

Christ is revealed as a life-giving Spirit.

Adam was of the earth.

Christ is the Lord from heaven.

One is first in order of manifestation.

The other is first in supremacy, purpose, and glory.

This distinction matters.

Adam was never the final revelation of what God intended for man.

Christ is.

THE FIRST MAN IS OF THE EARTH

1 Corinthians 15:47

“The first man is of the earth, earthy…”

Adam’s origin is earthly.

He is formed from the dust.

He belongs to the created order.

He is real.

He is important.

He has a place in God’s unfolding plan.

But he is not ultimate.

The first man is not the full expression of the eternal purpose.

He is the first man.

Not the final man.

THE SECOND MAN IS THE LORD FROM HEAVEN

Paul does not merely call Christ another Adam.

He calls Him:

The second man.

And then he distinguishes Him from the first:

The Lord from heaven.

This tells us that Christ is not simply repairing Adam.

He represents another order.

Another man.

Another source.

Another life.

Another headship.

Another creation.

The first man belongs to the earth.

The Second Man belongs to heaven.

THE LAST ADAM

1 Corinthians 15:45

“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

Paul calls Christ:

The last Adam.

Why last?

Because the Adamic order reaches its conclusion in Him.

Christ does not come as another man in an endless line of Adams.

He brings the old order to its end.

In Him, the first man’s reign is terminated.

In Him, another life appears.

The last Adam ends one order.

The Second Man begins another.

LIVING SOUL AND LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT

Adam was made:

A living soul.

Christ is:

A life-giving Spirit.

Adam received life.

Christ gives life.

Adam was dependent.

Christ is the source.

Adam lived.

Christ makes alive.

This is a tremendous contrast.

The first man can never become the source of the life that belongs to the Second Man.

The life of the new creation must come from Christ.

THE PURPOSE WAS ALWAYS CHRIST

Colossians 1:16

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…”

If all things were created through Christ, then Christ stands prior to Adam in purpose.

Adam did not create Christ’s place in God’s plan.

Christ stands before Adam.

Creation comes through Him.

This means Adam must be interpreted inside a Christ-centered purpose.

Not the other way around.

ADAM WAS NOT GOD’S FINAL IMAGE

Genesis 1:26

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

This verse has been read many ways.

But the New Testament gives us a clear revelation of the One who perfectly expresses God.

Colossians 1:15

“Who is the image of the invisible God…”

Christ is the image.

Not merely an image.

The image of the invisible God.

Therefore any understanding of God’s image in humanity must ultimately be interpreted through Christ.

CHRIST IS THE IMAGE

Hebrews 1:3

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…”

Christ is the express image.

He reveals God perfectly.

Adam cannot do that.

No fallen man can do that.

No religious system can do that.

Christ reveals the Father.

Christ is the standard.

Christ is the pattern.

Christ is the image.

THE PURPOSE IS CONFORMITY TO CHRIST

Romans 8:29

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…”

Notice the destination.

Not conformity to Adam.

Conformity to Christ.

God is not restoring His people merely to some idealized version of Adam.

He is conforming them to the image of His Son.

That is higher.

That is deeper.

That is the eternal purpose.

THE IMAGE OF THE SON

The standard is not the garden.

The standard is Christ.

The goal is not merely returning to what Adam had.

The goal is conformity to the Son.

That means God’s purpose moves beyond restoration.

It moves toward transformation.

From the image of the earthy to the image of the heavenly.

AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHY

1 Corinthians 15:49

“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

Paul clearly places two images before us.

The image of the earthy.

The image of the heavenly.

The first describes what we have known in Adam.

The second describes what is revealed in Christ.

The gospel moves us toward the heavenly image.

FROM EARTHY TO HEAVENLY

The movement of God’s purpose is not merely from bad behavior to good behavior.

It is from one image to another.

From Adam to Christ.

From earthy to heavenly.

From living soul to life-giving Spirit.

From mortality toward immortality.

From corruption toward incorruption.

From the old man toward the new man.

This is a change of order.

IN ADAM AND IN CHRIST

1 Corinthians 15:22

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Paul presents two corporate realities.

In Adam.

In Christ.

Adam represents one realm.

Christ represents another.

Death belongs to Adam’s realm.

Life belongs to Christ’s realm.

The gospel announces a transfer of identity.

THE TWO MEN

Much of Scripture can be understood through the contrast between two men.

The first man.

The Second Man.

Adam.

Christ.

The natural.

The spiritual.

The earthy.

The heavenly.

Death.

Life.

The old creation.

The new creation.

Once we see this, Scripture begins to organize around a central truth:

God’s purpose is moving humanity out of the first man and into the Second Man.

THE FIRST MAN BROUGHT DEATH

Romans 5:12

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin…”

Sin entered through one man.

Death followed.

Paul does not minimize Adam’s effect.

The first man’s disobedience had enormous consequences.

But Romans 5 never stops with Adam.

It continually turns toward Christ.

THE SECOND MAN BRINGS LIFE

Romans 5:17

“For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

Notice Paul’s emphasis:

Much more.

Adam does not get the final word.

Christ surpasses him.

Death reigned.

Grace reigns more abundantly.

The first man’s effect is real.

The Second Man’s effect is greater.

ONE MAN’S DISOBEDIENCE AND ONE MAN’S OBEDIENCE

Romans 5:19

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Again we see two men.

One disobedience.

One obedience.

One order producing sin and death.

One order producing righteousness and life.

The gospel is not merely advice to Adam’s children to behave better.

It is a declaration about the obedience of another Man.

CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE

This is essential.

Our standing before God is not rooted in our ability to reproduce Christ’s obedience through human effort.

It is rooted in His obedience.

He fulfilled.

He accomplished.

He finished.

We participate in what He has done.

This again destroys boasting.

THE OLD MAN

Romans 6:6

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him…”

Paul does not say the old man needs endless repair.

He says the old man is crucified.

The cross is God’s judgment upon the old order.

The Adamic man is not being renovated into Christ.

He is brought to the cross.

THE NEW MAN

Ephesians 4:24

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

There is a new man.

Not an improved old man.

A new man.

Created after God.

Righteousness.

Holiness.

This new man belongs to the Christ order.

CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…”

Where is the new creation?

In Christ Jesus.

Again the location matters.

God is not trying to improve the flesh until it becomes spiritual.

He brings forth new creation in Christ.

IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The determining phrase is:

In Christ.

New creation is not found in Adam.

It is found in Christ.

That is why religious reform cannot produce new creation.

Only Christ can.

THE NEW CREATION IS NOT SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Self-improvement may change habits.

Education may change thinking.

Discipline may change behavior.

But none of those things creates a new man.

The gospel does not merely offer Adam an upgrade.

It reveals another Man.

Christ.

And in Him there is new creation.

PUT OFF THE OLD MAN

Colossians 3:9–10

“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”

Again the language is not repair.

Put off.

Put on.

Old man.

New man.

And the new man is renewed according to the image of the Creator.

The movement is toward Christ’s image.

CHRIST IS ALL

Colossians 3:11

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew… but Christ is all, and in all.”

What defines the new man?

Christ is all.

The old order is dominated by earthly distinctions.

The new man is defined by Christ.

This is not the annihilation of personality.

It is the end of Adamic identity as the governing center.

GOD IS NOT PRODUCING BETTER ADAMS

This point must become clear.

God is not spending the ages trying to make Adam successful.

He is bringing forth the life of Christ.

The goal is not a stronger first man.

The goal is the manifestation of the Second Man.

Religion continually tries to polish Adam.

Grace reveals Christ.

FLESH CANNOT PRODUCE SPIRIT

John 3:6

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Jesus makes the distinction absolute.

Flesh produces flesh.

Spirit produces spirit.

You cannot educate flesh into Spirit.

You cannot discipline flesh into Spirit.

You cannot make Adam become Christ through enough rules.

There must be new birth.

YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN

John 3:7

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Why new birth?

Because the problem is deeper than behavior.

The issue is source.

Birth determines nature.

The old order produces according to its nature.

The Spirit produces according to divine life.

BORN OF GOD

John 1:12–13

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God…

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

The new life is:

Born of God.

Not bloodline.

Not flesh.

Not human will.

God.

The eternal purpose produces a people whose identity comes from above.

THE SECOND MAN BRINGS SONSHIP

The Second Man is not merely another individual.

He is Firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:29

“…that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

The Christ order produces sons.

One Son becomes the pattern for many sons.

This is not equality with Christ in His unique lordship.

It is conformity to His image.

THE FIRSTBORN

Firstborn means there is a family dimension to the purpose.

Christ has preeminence.

Christ is first.

Christ is Head.

But God’s purpose includes many brethren.

Sonship belongs to the eternal purpose.

This is why Adam cannot be the final man.

Adam does not reveal the fullness of sonship.

Christ does.

A SON REVEALS THE FATHER

John 14:9

“He that hath seen me hath seen the Father…”

Jesus reveals the Father.

This is sonship at its highest.

The Son expresses the Father.

Therefore, as Christ is formed in a people, the purpose moves toward a corporate expression of divine nature.

Not human pride.

Not religious status.

Manifestation of the life of Christ.

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS

Romans 8:19

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Creation is waiting.

For what?

Not merely for more religious activity.

For manifestation.

The sons of God revealed.

This is directly connected to the eternal purpose.

The life of Christ must come into visibility.

CREATION IS WAITING ON THE SECOND MAN ORDER

Creation has experienced the consequences of the first man.

Vanity.

Corruption.

Groaning.

Death.

But creation is waiting for the manifestation of another order.

The sons of God.

A people conformed to Christ.

A people bearing heavenly image.

A people in whom the life of the Second Man is manifested.

THE FIRST MAN CANNOT DELIVER CREATION

Adam cannot rescue Adam.

Flesh cannot redeem flesh.

Human effort cannot produce resurrection.

The answer must come from another source.

Christ.

This is why all creation’s hope is tied to the manifestation of God’s sons.

Because the sons bear the life of the Son.

THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE SPIRIT

Romans 8:23

“And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves…”

We have firstfruits.

That means something greater remains.

The Spirit within us is evidence of the coming fullness of God’s purpose.

We have tasted the life of the age to come.

But the purpose moves toward manifestation in the whole man.

WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION

Romans 8:23

“…waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Paul connects adoption with bodily redemption.

This takes sonship beyond terminology.

It moves toward immortality.

Toward incorruption.

Toward the victory of life over death.

The Second Man order is a resurrection order.

MORTALITY MUST BE SWALLOWED UP

2 Corinthians 5:4

“…not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

There is the direction of God’s purpose.

Mortality swallowed by life.

Not life barely surviving mortality.

Life swallowing mortality.

This is the power of the Second Man.

THE HEAVENLY IMAGE

1 Corinthians 15:49

“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

We have borne one image.

We shall bear another.

This verse describes transition.

Earthy.

Heavenly.

Adam.

Christ.

Mortality.

Immortality.

Corruption.

Incorruption.

The image of the Second Man is the destination.

THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION

1 Corinthians 15:53

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

Paul does not leave the gospel at forgiveness.

He takes us all the way to immortality.

The work of Christ reaches the body.

Death itself is confronted.

The purpose moves toward life without corruption.

DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY

1 Corinthians 15:54

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

That is where the Second Man takes us.

Adam introduced us to death.

Christ brings us into victory over death.

The first man cannot be final because death is not final.

The Second Man reveals the final direction of God’s purpose.

Life.

CHRIST IS THE RESURRECTION

John 11:25

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life…”

Jesus does not merely say:

“I teach resurrection.”

He says:

I am the resurrection.

Again everything is personal and Christ-centered.

Resurrection is not merely an event.

It is rooted in Him.

LIFE IS IN THE SON

1 John 5:11–12

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

He that hath the Son hath life…”

Where is life?

In His Son.

This agrees with everything Paul teaches.

Grace in Christ.

Choosing in Christ.

Redemption in Christ.

New creation in Christ.

Life in Christ.

Everything is centered in the Second Man.

ADAM CANNOT BE THE MEASURE OF CHRIST

One of the great mistakes of theology is measuring Christ primarily by Adam.

Adam lost something.

So Christ restores exactly that.

But Christ is greater than Adam.

The Second Man is greater than the first.

The heavenly is greater than the earthy.

The life-giving Spirit is greater than the living soul.

The purpose is greater than the fall.

RESTORATION IS NOT LARGE ENOUGH

God certainly restores.

But the eternal purpose is larger than restoration.

Restoration returns something to a former condition.

Transformation brings something into a greater condition.

God’s purpose moves humanity toward the image of Christ.

That is more than Eden.

It is more than Adam before the fall.

It is Christ.

CHRIST IS THE END OF THE SEARCH

If we ask:

What does God want man to become?

Look at Christ.

What does mature sonship look like?

Look at Christ.

What does true humanity look like?

Look at Christ.

What does the image of God look like?

Look at Christ.

The answer is not Adam.

The answer is Jesus Christ.

THE NEW MAN AFTER GOD

Ephesians 4:24

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The new man reflects God.

This is what Adam could only point toward.

Christ brings the reality.

The new man is not created according to human tradition.

He is created after God.

FROM FIRST MAN TO SECOND MAN

This is the movement of the gospel.

From Adam to Christ.

From death to life.

From flesh to Spirit.

From old creation to new creation.

From natural to spiritual.

From earth to heaven.

From corruption to incorruption.

From mortality to immortality.

From the image of the earthy to the image of the heavenly.

THE SECOND MAN IS THE FINAL REVELATION

Adam had a beginning.

Christ is before all things.

Adam received life.

Christ gives life.

Adam came from earth.

Christ is the Lord from heaven.

Adam brought death.

Christ brings life.

Adam is the first man.

Christ is the Second Man.

Adam is not the final revelation.

Christ is.

GOD’S PURPOSE HAS ALWAYS HAD CHRIST IN VIEW

Before Adam was formed:

Christ.

Before Eden:

Christ.

Before sin:

Christ.

Before death:

Christ.

Before creation:

Christ in the eternal purpose.

Adam entered a story whose center was already established.

Adam was never that center.

Christ was.

ADAM WAS NEVER THE FINAL MAN

This truth changes the entire direction of our understanding.

We are not destined merely to return to Adam’s beginning.

We are called into Christ’s fullness.

We are not called merely to recover earthly image.

We are called to bear heavenly image.

We are not called to become improved living souls.

We are called to participate in the life of the life-giving Spirit.

God’s purpose is not trapped in Genesis 3.

It reaches back before Genesis 1 and forward into resurrection glory.

The first man had his place.

But the eternal purpose always had another Man in view.

The Man in whom we were chosen.

The Man in whom grace was given.

The Man foreordained before the foundation.

The Man in whom all things consist.

The Man who is the image of the invisible God.

The Man who is the Firstborn among many brethren.

The Man who conquered death.

The Man who gives life.

Adam was never the final man.

Christ is.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PREDESTINATED UNTO THE ADOPTION OF SONS

SONSHIP WAS IN THE PURPOSE BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

Ephesians 1:4–5

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

Paul does not leave predestination undefined.

He tells us what God predestinated us unto.

Adoption.

Sonship.

Family.

Relationship.

Inheritance.

Maturity.

The eternal purpose of God is not merely to rescue people from judgment.

It is to bring forth a people in the image of His Son.

Before the foundation of the world, sonship was already in the purpose.

Before Adam.

Before law.

Before sin.

Before redemption appeared in history.

God’s intention was already centered in Christ and moving toward a family.

PREDESTINATION HAS A DESTINATION

The word predestination has often produced more argument than revelation.

But Paul gives us the destination plainly.

Romans 8:29

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…”

Predestinated to what?

Conformity to Christ.

The purpose is not merely that we arrive somewhere.

The purpose is that we become something.

That something is:

The image of the Son.

This is why predestination cannot be properly understood apart from sonship.

God’s purpose is forming Christ in a people.

THE IMAGE OF HIS SON

If the purpose is conformity to the image of Christ, then Christ is the pattern of sonship.

We do not define sonship by human ambition.

We define sonship by Jesus Christ.

The Son reveals the Father.

The Son obeys the Father.

The Son expresses the Father.

The Son carries the nature of the Father.

The Son walks in union with the Father.

The Son lives from the Father.

That is the pattern.

THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN

Romans 8:29

“…that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Christ is Firstborn.

That word implies family.

There is One with preeminence.

And there are many brethren.

Christ remains unique in His lordship and supremacy.

But God’s purpose is not to leave Him as an isolated Son.

The eternal purpose includes a many-membered family bearing His image.

MANY SONS UNTO GLORY

Hebrews 2:10

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory…”

There is the purpose again.

Many sons unto glory.

Not merely forgiven sinners.

Not merely religious servants.

Not merely people trying to survive until heaven.

Sons.

And they are being brought somewhere:

Unto glory.

God’s purpose has movement.

It has maturity.

It has fulfillment.

SONSHIP IS MORE THAN A TITLE

It is possible to possess the language of sonship without walking in maturity.

A title can be given immediately.

Maturity develops.

A child belongs to the family from birth.

But he must grow.

So it is spiritually.

Our identity in Christ is established by grace.

But God’s purpose moves us toward maturity in that identity.

AS MANY AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT

Romans 8:14

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

Paul connects sonship with spiritual government.

The sons of God are led by the Spirit.

Not dominated by flesh.

Not governed by fear.

Not controlled by religious bondage.

Led by the Spirit.

This is one mark of mature sonship.

FROM SLAVERY TO SONSHIP

Romans 8:15

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Paul contrasts two spirits.

Bondage and fear.

Adoption and relationship.

The gospel does not bring us back into slavery.

It brings us into the cry:

Abba, Father.

Sonship knows God differently.

Not merely as Judge.

Not merely as Lawgiver.

Not merely as distant Sovereign.

Father.

ABBA, FATHER

This is not casual language.

It is covenant intimacy.

It speaks of belonging.

It speaks of identity.

It speaks of relationship established by the Spirit.

The Spirit of adoption produces a cry from within.

Not:

“Perhaps God will accept me.”

But:

“Abba, Father.”

Grace creates confidence in relationship.

THE SPIRIT BEARS WITNESS

Romans 8:16

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

Sonship is not merely external doctrine.

There is inward witness.

The Spirit bears witness.

God does not only tell us from the outside that we belong.

He works within us.

The life of sonship becomes internal.

IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS

Romans 8:17

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…”

Sonship carries inheritance.

A servant may work in the house.

A son inherits.

Paul connects:

Children.

Heirs.

Christ.

Glory.

This is not merely about possessions.

The inheritance is bound up with the life and glory of Christ.

THE HEIR IS CHRIST

Hebrews 1:2

“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things…”

Christ is:

Heir of all things.

Then Romans speaks of believers as joint-heirs with Christ.

Again, everything depends upon union with Him.

There is no independent inheritance apart from the Son.

The inheritance is in Christ.

SONSHIP AND INHERITANCE CANNOT BE SEPARATED

If we speak of sons, we must eventually speak of inheritance.

If we speak of inheritance, we must speak of maturity.

A child may legally possess an inheritance and still be too immature to administer it.

Paul makes this point in Galatians.

THE HEIR AS A CHILD

Galatians 4:1

“Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.”

This is a powerful picture.

The child is an heir.

Legally, the inheritance belongs to him.

But experientially he may live almost like a servant because he has not matured.

This reveals an important truth.

Position and maturity are not identical.

We may possess sonship in Christ and still need to grow into the administration of that sonship.

UNDER TUTORS UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME

Galatians 4:2

“But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.”

There is an appointed time.

The Father has maturity in view.

The child is not meant to remain under tutors forever.

There is a movement toward responsible sonship.

Toward inheritance.

Toward maturity.

Toward representation.

THE FULLNESS OF THE TIME

Galatians 4:4–5

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son…

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Notice again the purpose of redemption.

That we might receive the adoption of sons.

Redemption is not the final destination.

It opens the way into sonship.

We are redeemed unto something.

God’s purpose has always had sons in view.

NO MORE A SERVANT

Galatians 4:7

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

No more servant.

Son.

Heir.

Through Christ.

This is one of the great movements of grace.

Religion is comfortable with servants because servants can be controlled by fear.

Grace reveals sons.

Sons are led by relationship.

SERVANT MENTALITY AND SONSHIP

A servant asks:

What must I do to avoid punishment?

A son asks:

What pleases my Father?

A servant lives from fear.

A son lives from relationship.

A servant works for acceptance.

A son works from acceptance.

A servant sees inheritance as wages.

A son receives inheritance by birthright.

The gospel changes the governing mentality.

THE SON KNOWS THE FATHER

John 17:25–26

“O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee…

And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it…”

Jesus reveals the Father.

Sonship is rooted in knowing Him.

Not merely knowing facts about God.

Knowing the Father.

Christ came to reveal God’s name, nature, and heart.

SHOW US THE FATHER

John 14:8–9

“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father…

Jesus saith unto him… he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…”

Jesus is the perfect revelation of sonship because He perfectly reveals the Father.

The Son does not draw attention to Himself independently of the Father.

He reveals the Father.

This becomes a pattern for mature sons.

SONS REVEAL THE FATHER

If Christ is the Firstborn among many brethren, and if we are being conformed to His image, then mature sonship must carry the Father’s nature into manifestation.

Love.

Mercy.

Truth.

Righteousness.

Grace.

Faithfulness.

Compassion.

Authority.

Holiness.

Sonship is not merely privilege.

It is representation.

SONSHIP IS RESPONSIBILITY

A son carries the family name.

A mature son represents the household.

He does not merely receive inheritance.

He learns to administer it.

This is why God’s sons require maturity.

Authority without maturity produces damage.

Inheritance without character produces waste.

God is not merely giving power.

He is forming sons.

THE SON CAN DO NOTHING OF HIMSELF

John 5:19

“The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do…”

This is one of the clearest descriptions of mature sonship.

Dependence.

Union.

Obedience.

The Son does not operate independently.

He sees the Father.

He does what the Father does.

True sonship is not self-exaltation.

It is complete dependence upon the Father.

I SEEK NOT MINE OWN WILL

John 5:30

“I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

Sonship is surrendered.

The Son does not live from self-will.

He lives from the Father’s will.

This is the exact opposite of the independent spirit of Adam.

Adam reached independently.

Christ submitted completely.

THE OBEDIENT SON

Philippians 2:8

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Christ’s sonship is revealed in humility and obedience.

He did not use His identity for self-promotion.

He humbled Himself.

Therefore mature sonship is not about claiming spiritual rank.

It is about carrying the nature of Christ.

LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU

Philippians 2:5

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

What mind?

The mind of humility.

The mind of service.

The mind of obedience.

The mind that does not grasp for self-exaltation.

This is sonship.

Not spiritual ambition.

Christlike nature.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CHILD AND A SON IN MATURITY

Scripture sometimes uses terms for children and sons in ways that emphasize different stages of growth.

The point is not to build rigid terminology beyond what the text supports.

The principle is simple:

God intends growth.

Birth is the beginning.

Maturity is the goal.

We are not meant to remain spiritually childish.

GROW UP INTO HIM

Ephesians 4:13–15

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ…

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things…”

There is the measure.

The stature of the fullness of Christ.

God is not measuring us against each other.

Christ is the measure.

The purpose is growth into Him.

NO MORE CHILDREN

Ephesians 4:14

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…”

Spiritual childhood is unstable.

Every new voice can move it.

Every fear can shake it.

Every doctrine can carry it away.

Maturity brings stability.

Sons know the Father.

Sons know the voice.

Sons know the purpose.

STRONG MEAT BELONGS TO THE MATURE

Hebrews 5:13–14

“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age…”

God intends His people to grow.

Milk is not wrong.

It is necessary at the proper stage.

But permanent infancy is not the purpose.

There must be development.

Discernment.

Maturity.

SONSHIP AND DISCERNMENT

Mature sons learn to discern good and evil.

They are not controlled merely by external rules.

The Word has worked within them.

The Spirit has trained them.

They have learned the nature of the Father.

This is higher than merely asking:

“Is this technically forbidden?”

Maturity asks:

“Does this express Christ?”

THE FATHER DISCIPLINES SONS

Hebrews 12:6–7

“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth…

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons…”

Sonship includes discipline.

Not condemnation.

Discipline.

The Father corrects because He is committed to maturity.

Grace does not mean God leaves His sons immature.

Grace trains.

Grace teaches.

Grace corrects.

FOR OUR PROFIT

Hebrews 12:10

“…but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”

The Father’s discipline has purpose.

Participation in His holiness.

Again, sonship is about nature.

God wants His character formed in His people.

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

2 Peter 1:3–4

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…

That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…”

This does not mean humanity becomes God.

It means God’s life and character are communicated to His people through Christ.

We become participants in what comes from Him.

Love.

Holiness.

Faithfulness.

Righteousness.

Life.

The purpose is transformation.

CHRIST FORMED IN A PEOPLE

Galatians 4:19

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”

Again Paul reveals the goal.

Christ formed.

Not merely rules followed.

Not merely meetings attended.

Not merely doctrines confessed.

Christ formed.

The eternal purpose becomes visible in a people.

SONSHIP IS CHRIST MANIFESTED

The measure of sonship is not how often we use the word son.

The measure is Christ.

Can the Father’s nature be seen?

Is there humility?

Is there truth?

Is there grace?

Is there obedience?

Is there spiritual maturity?

Is there love?

Is there authority without self-exaltation?

Sonship is the manifestation of Christ’s life.

CREATION WAITS FOR MANIFESTATION

Romans 8:19

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Creation does not wait merely for the existence of sons.

Paul says:

Manifestation.

The sons must become visible for what they are.

The life inside must come outside.

The purpose must move from identity to expression.

MANIFESTATION MEANS REVELATION

A hidden son cannot fulfill the full purpose of representation.

The Father’s nature must be revealed.

Christ must be seen.

This is why spiritual maturity matters beyond the individual.

Creation itself is connected to the manifestation.

CREATION WAS SUBJECTED TO VANITY

Romans 8:20

“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.”

Creation is under frustration.

Vanity.

Decay.

Corruption.

Yet Paul inserts a powerful word:

Hope.

Creation’s present condition is not its final condition.

CREATION SHALL BE DELIVERED

Romans 8:21

“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Look at the connection.

Creation’s deliverance.

The liberty of God’s children.

Sonship is connected to cosmic purpose.

The gospel is bigger than private spirituality.

God’s purpose reaches creation.

THE GLORIOUS LIBERTY

What liberty?

Freedom from corruption.

Freedom from death.

Freedom from bondage.

The liberty belonging to God’s children.

This is where the eternal purpose is moving.

Not merely toward religious people.

Toward sons in glory.

WE GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES

Romans 8:23

“…even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Paul does not pretend the full purpose is already visibly complete.

There is groaning.

There is waiting.

There is expectation.

We have the Spirit.

But we await bodily redemption.

Sonship reaches all the way into the mortal body.

THE REDEMPTION OF THE BODY

This is where many teachings about sonship stop too early.

Sonship is not merely spiritual identity.

Paul connects adoption to:

The redemption of our body.

God’s purpose reaches mortality.

Death itself must be conquered.

The body belongs to the purpose.

MORTALITY SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE

2 Corinthians 5:4

“…that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

This is not escape from God’s purpose for creation.

It is life conquering mortality.

The direction is not death swallowing life.

Life swallows mortality.

That is resurrection.

That is the power of Christ.

THE SPIRIT OF HIM THAT RAISED JESUS

Romans 8:11

“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you… he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

The same Spirit.

The Spirit that raised Christ.

Dwelling in us.

And Paul’s expectation reaches the mortal body.

This is sonship moving toward fullness.

SONSHIP AND RESURRECTION

Christ’s sonship was demonstrated in resurrection power.

Romans 1:4

“And declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead.”

Resurrection and sonship meet in Christ.

The Firstborn from the dead becomes the pattern of the new creation.

God’s sons belong to resurrection life.

THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD

Colossians 1:18

“…who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Firstborn from the dead.

Again the language of family.

Again the language of preeminence.

Again Christ stands as the pattern.

The family of God is a resurrection family.

THE MAN-CHILD AND MATURITY

Revelation 12:5

“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”

Revelation gives us imagery of mature, overcoming sonship.

The child is associated with rule.

Government.

Throne.

This is not merely infancy.

There is a governmental dimension.

Spiritual maturity leads toward responsible participation in God’s rule.

SONSHIP AND THE THRONE

The throne is not about personal ego.

It is about divine government.

To share in Christ’s rule means to share in His nature.

The Lamb rules.

Therefore sons who reign with Him must learn the nature of the Lamb.

Authority separated from the Lamb’s nature is not kingdom authority.

HE THAT OVERCOMETH

Revelation 3:21

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame…”

Again there is participation.

Christ overcame.

The overcomer shares His throne.

But the pattern remains Christ.

As I also overcame.

We do not invent another way.

The Son establishes the pattern.

THE THRONE BELONGS TO MATURE SONS

A child may belong to a king’s family and still be unprepared to govern.

Government requires maturity.

Wisdom.

Character.

Discernment.

Humility.

Faithfulness.

This is why God forms sons before entrusting authority.

The purpose is not simply to place crowns on immature heads.

The purpose is to reproduce the nature of the King.

THE LAMB GOVERNS THE THRONE

The One in the throne is the Lamb.

That means divine government carries sacrificial love.

Authority and grace are not enemies.

Power and humility are not enemies.

Kingdom and service are not enemies.

They meet in Christ.

Mature sons learn the same nature.

SONSHIP IS NOT SPIRITUAL CELEBRITY

Any doctrine of sonship that produces superiority has lost sight of the Son.

Jesus humbled Himself.

Jesus served.

Jesus washed feet.

Jesus gave His life.

Jesus obeyed the Father.

The mature son is not obsessed with being recognized as a son.

He is occupied with revealing the Father.

THE SON CAME TO SERVE

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

This destroys self-exalting ideas of sonship.

The Son serves.

The Son gives.

The Son lays down His life.

Therefore sonship and servanthood are not enemies when servanthood flows from identity rather than bondage.

A SON CAN SERVE WITHOUT BECOMING A SLAVE

Jesus knew who He was.

That is why He could serve without insecurity.

The difference is source.

Bondage serves for acceptance.

Sonship serves from acceptance.

Bondage serves from fear.

Sonship serves from love.

Bondage asks for recognition.

Sonship can wash feet.

KNOWING WHERE HE CAME FROM

John 13:3–5

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

He riseth from supper… and began to wash the disciples’ feet…”

Notice the connection.

Jesus knew His identity.

He knew His authority.

He knew His origin.

He knew His destiny.

And what did He do?

He washed feet.

True identity produces humble service.

MATURITY IS CHRISTLIKENESS

We must never confuse maturity with complexity.

A person can know complicated doctrine and remain immature.

Maturity is Christlikeness.

Truth expressed in love.

Authority expressed in service.

Revelation expressed in humility.

Power expressed through the Lamb’s nature.

That is mature sonship.

THE WHOLE CREATION IS WAITING

The stakes are larger than personal spiritual growth.

Creation groans.

Creation waits.

Creation hopes.

And Paul connects that hope with the manifestation of God’s sons.

This reveals how central sonship is to the eternal purpose.

THE PURPOSE WAS A FAMILY FROM THE BEGINNING

Before the foundation of the world:

Chosen in Christ.

Predestinated unto adoption.

Conformed to the image of the Son.

Firstborn among many brethren.

Many sons unto glory.

This is not an afterthought.

Family was in the purpose.

Sonship was in the purpose.

Christ was in the purpose.

THE FATHER’S GOOD PLEASURE

Ephesians 1:5

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

Notice the Father’s attitude.

Good pleasure.

Sonship is not something God reluctantly permits.

It belongs to His pleasure.

His will.

His purpose.

God desires a family in Christ.

BORN OF INCORRUPTIBLE SEED

1 Peter 1:23

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible…”

The new birth comes from incorruptible seed.

The new creation has another source.

This life carries another destiny.

Corruption does not define its origin.

Life does.

HIS SEED REMAINETH

1 John 3:9

“Whosoever is born of God… his seed remaineth in him…”

Again we see divine life within.

Seed.

Birth.

Nature.

Growth.

Sonship is organic.

God places His life within a people.

That life develops toward maturity.

BEHOLD WHAT MANNER OF LOVE

1 John 3:1

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…”

John cannot speak of sonship without speaking of love.

What manner of love.

Sonship is rooted in the Father’s love.

Not fear.

Not condemnation.

Love.

NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD

1 John 3:2

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be…”

Notice both dimensions.

Now are we.

Present identity.

It doth not yet appear what we shall be.

Future manifestation.

Identity now.

Full manifestation coming.

That is exactly the movement we have been tracing.

WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR

1 John 3:2

“…but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

The purpose comes back to likeness.

Like Him.

Again Christ is the measure.

Not Adam.

Not religion.

Not human achievement.

Christ.

SEEING HIM TRANSFORMS US

2 Corinthians 3:18

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory…”

Transformation comes through beholding.

We see Christ.

We are changed.

The image forms.

Sonship matures.

The life becomes visible.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

Maturity is progressive manifestation.

The identity is established in Christ.

But the expression deepens.

Glory to glory.

Christ formed.

Christ revealed.

Christ expressed.

This is the Father’s purpose.

THE DESTINATION OF PREDESTINATION

So what is the destination?

Not theological superiority.

Not spiritual elitism.

Not merely escaping judgment.

Not merely reaching heaven.

The destination is:

Conformity to the image of the Son.

Adoption.

Inheritance.

Maturity.

Glory.

Manifestation.

PREDESTINATED UNTO SONSHIP

Before creation, God had Christ in view.

And in Christ, He had a family in view.

The Firstborn.

Many brethren.

The Son.

Many sons.

The Heir.

Joint-heirs.

The image.

A people conformed to that image.

This is eternal purpose.

SONS WHO REVEAL THE FATHER

The ultimate evidence of sonship is not what we call ourselves.

It is what we reveal.

Jesus said:

He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

That is the pattern.

As Christ is formed in us, the Father is increasingly expressed through our lives.

His grace.

His truth.

His love.

His holiness.

His righteousness.

His compassion.

His authority.

FROM ETERNAL PURPOSE TO MANIFESTATION

Before the foundation:

Sonship purposed.

In Christ:

Sonship established.

Through redemption:

Sonship received.

By the Spirit:

Sonship witnessed within.

Through maturity:

Sonship developed.

In manifestation:

Sonship revealed.

In resurrection:

Sonship brought into fullness.

The purpose moves from eternity into expression.

MANY SONS UNTO GLORY

We end where Hebrews takes us.

Many sons unto glory.

The story is larger than man’s fall.

Larger than law.

Larger than religion.

Larger than individual rescue.

God has an eternal family purpose in Christ.

He is conforming a people to His Son.

He is maturing heirs.

He is forming His nature in them.

He is bringing sons into glory.

He is preparing a people capable of bearing His government without abandoning the Lamb’s nature.

And creation itself waits for that purpose to come into manifestation.

Before the world began, God did not merely have salvation in mind.

He had sons in mind.

Before Adam, there was Christ.

Before bondage, there was adoption.

Before corruption, there was glory.

Before creation ever began its groaning, God had already determined the direction of His purpose:

The Firstborn among many brethren.

Many sons unto glory.

A people conformed to the image of His Son.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHRIST, THE CENTER AND HEAD OF ALL THINGS

GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE IS TO GATHER ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

Ephesians 1:9–10

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”

The eternal purpose has a center.

That center is Christ.

God’s purpose is not moving toward endless fragmentation.

It is moving toward gathering.

Not toward confusion.

Toward order.

Not toward many competing heads.

Toward one Head.

Not toward humanity finding meaning apart from God.

Toward all things finding their proper place in Christ.

Paul says God will:

Gather together in one all things in Christ.

That statement is enormous.

It reaches beyond individual salvation.

Beyond one congregation.

Beyond one nation.

Beyond one age.

Beyond one part of creation.

The purpose includes:

All things.

And the gathering point is:

Christ.

THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL

Ephesians 1:9

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will…”

God has a will.

And that will has a mystery connected to it.

Something once hidden is being revealed.

Paul does not present God’s purpose as random.

There is intention.

There is direction.

There is fulfillment.

There is an appointed fullness.

And the will of God moves toward Christ.

PURPOSED IN HIMSELF

Ephesians 1:9

“…according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”

Again the purpose originates in God.

Not in Adam.

Not in human failure.

Not in human religion.

Not in the devil.

In Himself.

God’s purpose proceeds from His own counsel.

This is why the purpose cannot finally be defeated by something that entered the story later.

Sin entered later.

Death entered later.

Rebellion entered later.

The purpose was already in God.

THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULLNESS OF TIMES

Ephesians 1:10

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times…”

Paul speaks of fullness.

There is an administration of God moving toward completion.

History is not without direction.

Ages are not disconnected fragments.

God is working toward fulfillment.

The eternal purpose unfolds through time.

What was established before time enters manifestation within time and moves toward fullness.

ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

Ephesians 1:10

“…he might gather together in one all things in Christ…”

This is the heart of the matter.

God is gathering in Christ.

Everything God is doing must eventually be understood from that center.

Salvation in Christ.

Redemption in Christ.

Sonship in Christ.

Inheritance in Christ.

New creation in Christ.

Reconciliation in Christ.

Life in Christ.

Glory in Christ.

And ultimately:

All things in Christ.

CHRIST IS NOT ONE SUBJECT AMONG MANY

We often divide theology into subjects.

Salvation.

Grace.

Faith.

Kingdom.

Church.

Prophecy.

Revelation.

Sonship.

Eternal life.

Judgment.

Resurrection.

But all of these subjects must eventually come back to Christ.

He is not one theological category standing beside the others.

He is the center through which the others must be understood.

ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM

Colossians 1:16

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…”

Creation itself begins in Christ.

All things were created by Him.

Visible and invisible.

Heaven and earth.

Thrones.

Dominions.

Principalities.

Powers.

Paul is establishing Christ’s supremacy over the entire created order.

ALL THINGS WERE CREATED FOR HIM

Colossians 1:16

“…all things were created by him, and for him.”

Not merely by Him.

For Him.

That reveals purpose.

Creation has a destination.

It is Christ-centered.

The universe does not ultimately exist for Adam.

It exists for Christ.

Humanity does not ultimately exist for itself.

Everything finds purpose in relation to Him.

HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS

Colossians 1:17

“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Before Adam:

Christ.

Before creation:

Christ.

Before history:

Christ.

Before all things:

Christ.

And not only is He before all things.

Paul says:

By Him all things consist.

The One who began creation sustains it.

ALL THINGS CONSIST IN HIM

Creation is not independent.

Its coherence is found in Christ.

The visible world can appear fragmented.

Nations divide.

People divide.

Systems divide.

But beneath the fragmentation, God’s purpose is still moving toward Christ.

He is the One in whom all things ultimately find order.

HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY

Colossians 1:18

“And he is the head of the body, the church…”

The church has a Head.

Not a denomination.

Not a preacher.

Not a bishop.

Not an institution.

Christ.

Every ministry is subordinate to Him.

Every gift is subordinate to Him.

Every member receives life from Him.

The body does not create the Head.

The Head gives life and direction to the body.

THE BODY MUST FOLLOW THE HEAD

A body disconnected from its head is dead.

A church disconnected from Christ may retain activity, organization, tradition, and terminology, but it has lost its source.

Christ is not merely supposed to be mentioned.

Christ must govern.

The body must respond to the Head.

THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE

Colossians 1:18

“…that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Not some things.

All things.

Preeminence means first place.

Supremacy.

The highest position.

Christ is not competing for attention.

He is Lord.

The eternal purpose places Him above all.

WHEN CHRIST LOSES PREEMINENCE

Any doctrine can become distorted when the doctrine becomes more important than Christ.

Grace can become a slogan.

Sonship can become spiritual pride.

Prophecy can become obsession.

Church can become institution.

Ministry can become personality.

Revelation can become speculation.

But when Christ has preeminence, everything returns to order.

CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY AND POWER

Colossians 2:10

“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”

Christ is not merely Head of the church.

He is Head over principalities and powers.

The spiritual world is not divided between equal opposing forces.

Christ is supreme.

The believer should never develop a worldview in which darkness becomes nearly equal to Christ.

It is not.

ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME

Matthew 28:18

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

How much power?

All power.

Where?

Heaven and earth.

That settles the matter of ultimate authority.

Christ reigns.

FAR ABOVE ALL PRINCIPALITY

Ephesians 1:20–21

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion…”

Not slightly above.

Far above.

Paul wants the church to see the exalted Christ.

The risen Christ.

The enthroned Christ.

The supreme Christ.

EVERY NAME THAT IS NAMED

Ephesians 1:21

“…and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.”

Christ’s supremacy is not temporary.

It spans ages.

This world.

The world to come.

Every name.

Every authority.

Every system.

Christ is above all.

ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET

Ephesians 1:22

“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.”

Again:

All things.

Under His feet.

Christ’s position is one of victory.

The church must learn to see from His position rather than from fear.

THE CHURCH IS HIS BODY

Ephesians 1:23

“Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

This is one of the most profound statements in Ephesians.

The church is His body.

The body expresses the Head.

The body becomes the vessel through which the life of Christ is manifested.

This is not merely organizational language.

It is living union.

CHRIST FILLS ALL IN ALL

Paul uses enormous language.

Filleth all in all.

Again, the eternal purpose is larger than private salvation.

Christ is filling.

Christ is gathering.

Christ is heading.

Christ is reconciling.

Christ is bringing all things toward Himself.

ONE HEAD — MANY MEMBERS

1 Corinthians 12:12

“For as the body is one, and hath many members… so also is Christ.”

Many members.

One body.

The body is diverse.

But it is not divided in source.

Christ is the life of every member.

No member is the entire body.

No member can say another member is unnecessary.

The Head gives each member its place.

UNITY DOES NOT MEAN SAMENESS

God’s purpose gathers without erasing distinction.

The hand is not the eye.

The eye is not the foot.

Different functions.

One body.

Different gifts.

One Spirit.

Different members.

One Head.

Unity in Christ is not mechanical uniformity.

It is living order.

THE BODY GROWS FROM THE HEAD

Colossians 2:19

“And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered… increaseth with the increase of God.”

Growth comes from the Head.

We do not manufacture spiritual growth through human organization alone.

The body receives nourishment from Christ.

Hold the Head.

That is Paul’s answer.

HOLDING THE HEAD

This phrase should be written across every ministry.

Holding the Head.

When Christ remains Head, gifts remain servants.

Ministers remain servants.

Organizations remain servants.

Doctrine remains servant.

Everything serves the revelation of Christ.

CHRIST IS THE CORNERSTONE

Ephesians 2:20

“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.”

The cornerstone determines alignment.

Everything in the building must relate properly to that stone.

Christ determines the line.

Not tradition.

Not culture.

Not popularity.

Christ.

A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD

Ephesians 2:21

“In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.”

Again:

In whom.

The building grows in Christ.

The members are fitted together in Christ.

The temple is in the Lord.

God is constructing a corporate dwelling place.

A HABITATION OF GOD

Ephesians 2:22

“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

God’s purpose includes a dwelling.

Not merely individuals visiting God.

A habitation.

God dwelling in a people.

Christ the cornerstone.

The Spirit inhabiting the temple.

The body becoming the expression of divine life.

CHRIST IN THE MIDST

Matthew 18:20

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

The center of gathering is Christ.

Not merely gathering for gathering’s sake.

Gathered in His name.

Christ in the midst.

This reflects the larger purpose.

Everything gathers toward Him.

I WILL DRAW ALL MEN UNTO ME

John 12:32

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

Christ draws.

The cross becomes a gathering point.

Again the movement is toward Him.

The gospel does not ultimately gather people around a preacher.

It gathers people to Christ.

RECONCILING ALL THINGS

Colossians 1:19–20

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself…”

Paul again uses:

All things.

Reconciliation is larger than we sometimes imagine.

The cross belongs to God’s gathering purpose.

Peace has been made through the blood of Christ.

WHETHER THINGS IN EARTH OR THINGS IN HEAVEN

Colossians 1:20

“…by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

Heaven.

Earth.

The scope reaches creation.

Christ stands at the center of reconciliation.

This does not mean we should build doctrines beyond what Scripture supports.

But we should allow Paul’s language to remain as large as Paul makes it.

GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING

2 Corinthians 5:19

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself…”

Again reconciliation is Christ-centered.

God in Christ.

World reconciled to Himself.

The direction is toward relationship.

Alienation gives way to reconciliation.

Hostility gives way to peace.

Distance gives way to union.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

2 Corinthians 5:18

“…and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

The church participates in the purpose.

We do not invent the reconciliation.

We announce it.

We demonstrate it.

We embody it.

A reconciled people becomes a witness to the reconciling God.

CHRIST OUR PEACE

Ephesians 2:14

“For he is our peace, who hath made both one…”

He does not merely give peace.

He is our peace.

Again truth becomes personal in Christ.

Peace is found in Him.

Unity is found in Him.

Reconciliation is found in Him.

BREAKING DOWN THE MIDDLE WALL

Christ breaks walls.

Walls between peoples.

Walls created by hostility.

Walls created by religious superiority.

Walls created by fleshly identity.

In Christ, a new humanity appears.

ONE NEW MAN

Ephesians 2:15

“…for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”

The one new man exists:

In Himself.

God’s answer to division is not merely negotiation between old identities.

His answer is new creation in Christ.

THE PURPOSE MOVES TOWARD ONE

One body.

One Spirit.

One hope.

One Lord.

One faith.

One baptism.

One God and Father.

The eternal purpose is gathering.

This is the opposite of Babylonian confusion.

God brings order in Christ.

ONE LORD

Ephesians 4:5

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

The confession of the church is simple.

One Lord.

Christ.

No competing headship.

No divided loyalty.

One Lord.

EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW

Philippians 2:9–11

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Here again the purpose moves toward universal acknowledgment of Christ’s lordship.

Every knee.

Every tongue.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

The exaltation of Christ glorifies the Father.

THE NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME

The final issue is lordship.

Not man’s name.

Not denominational names.

Not political names.

Not religious names.

The name above every name is Jesus Christ.

The purpose strips false glory from everything else.

THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD

Revelation 11:15

“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

Revelation sees the movement of history toward divine government.

The kingdoms do not remain forever independent.

The Lord reigns.

Christ reigns.

The eternal purpose reaches kingdom manifestation.

THE LAMB IN THE THRONE

Revelation 7:17

“For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them…”

The center remains the Lamb.

The throne does not replace the Lamb.

The Lamb occupies the throne.

This tells us what God’s government is like.

The One who reigns is the One who gave Himself.

CHRIST’S KINGDOM IS NOT ADAM’S KINGDOM

Human government is often built on control.

Fear.

Force.

Ambition.

Competition.

The kingdom of Christ reveals another nature.

Righteousness.

Peace.

Joy in the Holy Ghost.

The government of the Lamb.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Romans 14:17

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

The kingdom is not merely external regulation.

It is spiritual reality.

Righteousness.

Peace.

Joy.

In the Holy Ghost.

Christ rules from within a people before His government is expressed through them.

CHRIST MUST REIGN

1 Corinthians 15:25

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

Paul is certain.

He must reign.

Not may reign.

Not hopefully reign.

Must.

The eternal purpose is moving toward the complete triumph of Christ.

THE LAST ENEMY

1 Corinthians 15:26

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

Christ’s reign reaches all the way to death itself.

This is how comprehensive the purpose is.

Not merely improved behavior.

Not merely improved society.

Death destroyed.

Life victorious.

ALL THINGS UNDER HIM

1 Corinthians 15:27

“For he hath put all things under his feet.”

Again:

All things.

Paul’s language keeps reaching toward fullness.

Christ’s lordship is complete.

The purpose moves toward all things being properly subjected to God.

GOD ALL IN ALL

1 Corinthians 15:28

“…that God may be all in all.”

This is one of the greatest statements of consummation in Scripture.

God all in all.

Everything has moved toward divine fullness.

The purpose that began in God reaches fulfillment in God.

Christ’s reign brings creation into order.

FROM ALL THINGS TO ALL IN ALL

All things created by Him.

All things created for Him.

All things consist by Him.

All things under His feet.

All things gathered in Him.

All things reconciled through Him.

God all in all.

The biblical movement is unmistakably Christ-centered.

THE PURPOSE IS BIGGER THAN OUR PERSONAL STORY

We naturally read Scripture asking:

What does this mean for me?

That matters.

But the eternal purpose asks an even greater question:

What is God doing in Christ?

Our salvation belongs inside His purpose.

Our calling belongs inside His purpose.

Our sonship belongs inside His purpose.

We are participants, not the center.

Christ is the center.

THE CHURCH MUST RECOVER THE CENTER

Whenever the church loses Christ as center, something else fills the space.

Personality.

Institution.

Politics.

Tradition.

Money.

Success.

Fear.

Prophecy obsession.

Doctrinal pride.

But none of these can carry the eternal purpose.

Only Christ can.

PREACH CHRIST

1 Corinthians 2:2

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

Paul knew many truths.

Yet he knew the center.

Christ.

The cross.

Everything else must remain ordered around Him.

WE PREACH NOT OURSELVES

2 Corinthians 4:5

“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

This is ministry in proper order.

Not ourselves.

Christ Jesus the Lord.

The minister becomes servant.

Christ receives preeminence.

THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

2 Corinthians 4:6

“…to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Where do we see the glory of God?

In the face of Jesus Christ.

The purpose has a face.

The glory has a face.

The revelation has a face.

Christ.

CHRIST IS THE INTERPRETIVE CENTER

If we want to understand grace:

Look at Christ.

If we want to understand judgment:

Look at Christ.

If we want to understand kingdom:

Look at Christ.

If we want to understand sonship:

Look at Christ.

If we want to understand Revelation:

Look at Christ.

If we want to understand eternal purpose:

Look at Christ.

ALL THE PROMISES IN HIM

2 Corinthians 1:20

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen…”

Again:

In Him.

The promises find their certainty in Christ.

Christ is God’s Yes.

Christ is God’s Amen.

The purpose is not suspended upon man’s uncertain performance.

It is established in God’s Son.

THE ALPHA AND OMEGA

Revelation 22:13

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

Christ stands at both ends.

Beginning.

End.

First.

Last.

Alpha.

Omega.

The story begins with Him.

The story ends in Him.

And everything between must finally serve His purpose.

THE FIRST AND THE LAST

If Christ is First and Last, there is no place in the eternal purpose where He becomes secondary.

He is not simply the entrance to Christianity.

He is the entire journey.

We do not begin with Christ and graduate to something deeper.

There is nothing deeper than Christ.

THE PURPOSE RETURNS EVERYTHING TO CHRIST

Before the foundation:

Christ.

Creation:

Through Christ.

Redemption:

In Christ.

Reconciliation:

Through Christ.

Sonship:

Conformed to Christ.

Church:

Body of Christ.

Kingdom:

Reign of Christ.

Consummation:

All things gathered in Christ.

The center never moves.

CHRIST IS THE CENTER OF THE AGES

Ages come.

Ages go.

Kingdoms rise.

Kingdoms fall.

Religious systems appear.

Human ideas change.

But Christ remains.

The eternal purpose is not built around temporary conditions.

It is built around the eternal Son.

ALL ROADS OF PURPOSE LEAD TO CHRIST

Every major thread we have followed reaches the same center.

Chosen in Him.

Grace in Him.

The Lamb foreordained.

The mystery revealed.

The Second Man.

The Firstborn among many brethren.

The Head of the body.

The Reconciler.

The King.

The One under whose feet all things are placed.

There is no rival center.

THE ETERNAL PURPOSE IS CHRIST-CENTERED

This must become more than a theological statement.

It must become the way we see everything.

Christ above fear.

Christ above sin.

Christ above death.

Christ above religion.

Christ above institutions.

Christ above principalities.

Christ above powers.

Christ above every name.

Christ above all.

GATHERED INTO ONE

The fractured creation is not God’s final word.

The divided body is not God’s final word.

Human hostility is not God’s final word.

Death is not God’s final word.

God’s purpose moves toward gathering.

Toward reconciliation.

Toward headship.

Toward life.

Toward Christ.

ALL THINGS FIND THEIR PLACE IN HIM

The hand finds its place in the body.

The body finds its life in the Head.

Creation finds its purpose in the Creator.

The sons find their image in the Firstborn.

The redeemed find their life in the Lamb.

Everything finds order when Christ occupies the center.

CHRIST, THE CENTER AND HEAD OF ALL THINGS

Before there was creation, Christ stood in the purpose.

Through Him all things were made.

For Him all things were made.

By Him all things consist.

In Him redemption is found.

Through Him reconciliation comes.

Under Him all authority is placed.

In Him the body is joined.

Through Him sons are brought to glory.

To Him every knee bows.

Through His reign the last enemy is destroyed.

And in the fullness of God’s purpose, all things are gathered into Him.

The eternal purpose does not end with man at the center.

It ends with Christ having the preeminence.

The purpose does not end with scattered pieces.

It ends with gathering.

It does not end with competing kingdoms.

It ends with the reign of the Lord and His Christ.

It does not end with death.

It ends with life.

It does not end with fragmentation.

It ends with God all in all.

Christ is not merely part of God’s eternal purpose.

Christ is its center.

CHAPTER NINE

CREATION WAITING FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD

THE GROANING CREATION IS WAITING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD TO BE REVEALED IN HIS SONS

Romans 8:19

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

There are verses in Scripture that open a door into something much larger than individual salvation.

Romans 8:19 is one of those verses.

Paul looks beyond the believer.

Beyond the church meeting.

Beyond personal blessing.

Beyond the forgiveness of sins.

He sees creation itself waiting.

Waiting for what?

Not another religious movement.

Not another denomination.

Not another human system.

Not another generation of spiritual children remaining immature.

Creation waits for:

The manifestation of the sons of God.

This means sonship is not merely a private spiritual experience.

It belongs to the eternal purpose.

And creation itself has an interest in its fulfillment.

THE EARNEST EXPECTATION OF CREATION

Romans 8:19

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth…”

Paul describes creation almost as though it were standing on tiptoe.

Watching.

Expecting.

Waiting.

There is something ahead.

Creation’s present condition is not its final condition.

There is an expectation built into the purpose of God.

The world we see now is not the finished picture.

CREATION IS WAITING

Creation waits because creation has been affected by the first man.

Through Adam came sin.

Through sin came death.

Corruption entered.

Mortality entered.

Vanity entered.

Groaning entered.

But if the first man affected creation, the purpose revealed in the Second Man reaches creation also.

Christ’s work is not smaller than Adam’s failure.

It is greater.

SUBJECTED TO VANITY

Romans 8:20

“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.”

Creation was subjected to vanity.

Emptiness.

Frustration.

Futility.

Decay.

Something is wrong with the present order.

Paul does not romanticize creation’s present condition.

There is beauty in creation.

But there is also bondage.

Life and death exist side by side.

Birth and decay.

Growth and corruption.

Beauty and violence.

The whole creation carries evidence that something is unfinished.

SUBJECTED IN HOPE

But Paul does not end with vanity.

He adds:

In hope.

That changes everything.

Creation’s subjection is not hopeless.

God has a purpose beyond the present bondage.

Vanity does not have the final word.

Corruption does not have the final word.

Death does not have the final word.

Hope is built into the purpose.

CREATION SHALL BE DELIVERED

Romans 8:21

“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Paul does not say creation will simply be abandoned to corruption.

He says:

Creation itself shall be delivered.

Delivered from what?

The bondage of corruption.

Delivered into what?

The glorious liberty of the children of God.

This is one of the largest promises in Romans.

THE BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION

Corruption is bondage.

Everything in the present natural order decays.

Bodies age.

Plants die.

Animals die.

Systems collapse.

Structures deteriorate.

Nothing in the present creation permanently escapes corruption.

Paul calls that condition bondage.

And bondage is something from which creation is to be delivered.

GLORIOUS LIBERTY

The destination is not merely less corruption.

It is:

Glorious liberty.

The liberty belongs to the children of God.

This means the freedom of God’s sons and the freedom of creation are connected in Paul’s vision.

The destiny of creation is tied to the manifestation of God’s family.

THE WHOLE CREATION GROANETH

Romans 8:22

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

Paul hears creation groaning.

Not one part.

The whole creation.

But the groaning is not described merely as the groan of death.

Paul adds another image:

Travail.

Birth pains.

That matters.

Travail means something is being brought forth.

GROANING IS NOT THE SAME AS DEFEAT

There is a groaning that comes from hopelessness.

But there is also a groaning associated with birth.

Paul chooses the language of travail.

The present pain is connected to something coming.

Creation groans because the present order is not the final order.

Something must be born into manifestation.

TRAVAIL SPEAKS OF BIRTH

A woman in travail is not dying because she is in pain.

She is bringing forth.

The pain has purpose.

It points toward manifestation.

This does not make suffering insignificant.

It places suffering within expectation.

Something is coming forth.

WE ALSO GROAN

Romans 8:23

“And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves…”

Creation groans.

And we groan.

Paul includes believers in the same expectation.

We have received something real.

The Spirit.

But what we possess now is called:

Firstfruits.

THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE SPIRIT

Firstfruits are not the whole harvest.

They are evidence that the harvest has begun.

The Spirit within us is real.

The life of Christ within us is real.

Sonship is real.

But there remains a fullness.

The firstfruits point forward.

WE HAVE THE SPIRIT — YET WE WAIT

This is where mature theology must hold two truths together.

We possess.

And we wait.

We are sons now.

And manifestation remains.

We have life now.

And mortality remains.

We have the Spirit now.

And bodily redemption remains.

We are complete in Christ positionally.

And yet the purpose is still moving toward full manifestation.

WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION

Romans 8:23

“…waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Paul defines the dimension of adoption he has in view:

The redemption of our body.

This is crucial.

Sonship does not end with an inward spiritual experience.

God’s purpose reaches the body.

The mortal body.

The corruptible body.

The body belongs to redemption.

THE BODY IS NOT OUTSIDE THE PURPOSE

Some religious thinking treats the body almost as though it were a temporary inconvenience that God intends to discard.

Paul does not speak that way.

He speaks of:

The redemption of the body.

God’s purpose is not merely to rescue a spirit from matter.

The purpose reaches creation.

It reaches embodiment.

It reaches mortality.

It reaches the whole man.

MORTALITY MUST BE DEALT WITH

1 Corinthians 15:53

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

Paul uses the word:

Must.

Not perhaps.

Not possibly.

This corruptible must put on incorruption.

This mortal must put on immortality.

The gospel moves toward the conquest of mortality.

MORTALITY SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE

2 Corinthians 5:4

“…that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

What swallows what?

Life swallows mortality.

Not death swallowing life.

Not corruption swallowing purpose.

Life swallows mortality.

That is where the eternal purpose is moving.

LIFE IS GREATER THAN DEATH

The first man brought death into human experience.

The Second Man brings life.

If God’s purpose stopped at forgiveness while death continued forever unchallenged, the last enemy would remain standing.

But Scripture does not permit that conclusion.

Death is an enemy.

And Christ must reign until every enemy is under His feet.

THE LAST ENEMY SHALL BE DESTROYED

1 Corinthians 15:25–26

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

Death has an expiration.

Christ does not.

Death entered history.

Christ stood before history.

Death is temporary.

Life is eternal.

The purpose is therefore on the side of life.

CREATION’S HOPE IS RESURRECTION LIFE

What creation needs is not merely better management.

Creation needs deliverance from corruption.

That requires more than human progress.

More than political reform.

More than technological advancement.

More than environmental stewardship, though responsible stewardship matters.

The deepest problem is corruption itself.

And corruption requires resurrection life.

THE SPIRIT THAT RAISED JESUS

Romans 8:11

“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you… he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

The Spirit within us is resurrection Spirit.

The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us.

Paul takes that truth directly toward the mortal body.

This is not abstract theology.

The resurrection life of Christ is the hope of bodily redemption.

THE SAME SPIRIT

Not another Spirit later.

The same Spirit who raised Christ.

Dwelling now.

The firstfruits are already present.

The power of the age to come has already entered God’s people by the Spirit.

The harvest has begun.

SONSHIP IS A RESURRECTION REALITY

Christ is the Son.

Christ is also the Firstborn from the dead.

These truths belong together.

Colossians 1:18

“…who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

The family God is bringing forth is a resurrection family.

Sonship ultimately belongs to life beyond death’s dominion.

DECLARED THE SON WITH POWER

Romans 1:4

“And declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead.”

The resurrection vindicates and manifests the Son.

Death could not hold Him.

The grave could not define Him.

Resurrection revealed the power of His life.

And the sons are being conformed to His image.

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS

Romans 8:19

“…waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Paul does not say creation waits for the creation of sons.

It waits for manifestation.

The sons exist in purpose.

The sons exist in identity.

But the sons must be revealed.

Something hidden must become visible.

MANIFESTATION MEANS WHAT IS INSIDE COMES OUT

Christ in you is the hope of glory.

But hope moves toward manifestation.

Christ within becomes Christ expressed.

The Father’s nature becomes visible.

The life within begins governing the vessel.

Grace becomes visible.

Love becomes visible.

Righteousness becomes visible.

Authority becomes visible.

Life becomes visible.

POSITION AND MANIFESTATION

There is a difference between what God declares in Christ and what has been fully manifested in experience.

In Christ:

We are accepted.

We are righteous.

We are sons.

We are seated with Him.

We possess eternal life.

Yet in experience:

We mature.

We learn.

We overcome.

We are transformed.

We wait for bodily redemption.

The legal reality precedes the vital manifestation.

WHAT IS TRUE MUST BECOME VISIBLE

The purpose of God is not satisfied with truth remaining only on paper.

The sons must manifest the Son.

The church must manifest Christ.

The new creation must become visible.

Resurrection life must swallow mortality.

The eternal purpose moves from decree to expression.

CHRIST WAS MANIFESTED

1 John 1:2

“For the life was manifested, and we have seen it…”

John says:

The life was manifested.

The eternal Life entered visibility.

Christ appeared.

They saw Him.

Touched Him.

Heard Him.

Manifestation means the invisible purpose becomes visible expression.

THE SONS FOLLOW THE PATTERN

The Son was manifested.

Now the sons are to be manifested.

Christ is the Firstborn.

Many brethren follow.

The life revealed perfectly in Him is formed progressively in His body.

This does not diminish His uniqueness.

It magnifies His fruitfulness.

EXCEPT A CORN OF WHEAT FALL INTO THE GROUND

John 12:24

“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

Christ is the grain.

The cross is the planting.

Resurrection brings multiplication.

The purpose is not one isolated grain.

Much fruit.

The life in the Firstborn reproduces itself in many sons.

MANY BRETHREN

Romans 8:29

“…that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Christ is not ashamed of the family.

He is Firstborn among many brethren.

The purpose multiplies the image of the Son.

One Christ remains Head and Lord.

But His life appears in many members.

THE EARTH WAITS FOR FRUIT

A seed hidden in the ground may carry life.

But the purpose of seed is manifestation.

Root.

Stalk.

Fruit.

Harvest.

Likewise, Christ within His people is not intended to remain hidden forever.

The life must mature.

Fruit must appear.

CREATION DOES NOT NEED RELIGIOUS PERFORMANCE

Creation has seen plenty of religion.

What creation needs is life.

The groaning world is not waiting for better church branding.

It is waiting for the manifestation of God’s sons.

A people carrying the nature of the Son.

A people governed by the Spirit.

A people in whom resurrection life is becoming visible.

AUTHORITY MUST COME FROM LIFE

The manifestation of sons includes authority.

But kingdom authority is never independent from divine life.

Authority without Christ’s nature becomes domination.

Authority with Christ’s nature becomes service and government according to the Lamb.

The sons must carry both.

Power.

Nature.

THE KINGDOM BELONGS TO THE SON

Psalm 2:7–8

“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son…

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance…”

Sonship and kingdom are connected.

The Son receives inheritance.

The Son carries government.

And those conformed to Him participate in His reign.

HE THAT OVERCOMETH

Revelation 3:21

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame…”

The throne is shared under Christ.

But notice the qualification:

As I also overcame.

The pathway is Christ’s pathway.

The nature is Christ’s nature.

The victory is Christ’s victory operating in His people.

THE MAN-CHILD

Revelation 12:5

“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”

Revelation presents birth imagery tied to rule and throne.

A child is brought forth.

Government appears.

The imagery fits the larger biblical pattern:

Travail.

Birth.

Sonship.

Maturity.

Throne.

Manifestation.

THE WOMAN TRAVAILED

Revelation 12:2

“And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”

Again we hear travail.

Romans 8 speaks of creation travailing.

Revelation 12 speaks of a woman travailing.

Birth is coming.

Something hidden is being brought into manifestation.

FROM WOMAN TO MAN-CHILD

The woman carries life.

The man-child is brought forth.

There is a distinction between carrying and manifesting.

Between seed and mature expression.

Between earnest and fullness.

Between conception and birth.

God’s purpose moves toward manifestation.

CREATION GROANS FOR THE BIRTH

Romans 8 and Revelation 12 both use the language of travail because God’s purpose has a bringing-forth dimension.

Creation groans.

The woman travails.

Sons are manifested.

The life hidden in purpose enters visibility.

This is not a dead mechanical plan.

It is living birth.

THE FIRSTFRUITS POINT TO FULLNESS

Romans 8:23

“…which have the firstfruits of the Spirit…”

Firstfruits mean more is coming.

Pentecost gave the earnest.

The Spirit was poured out.

The church received a genuine deposit.

But the firstfruits should never be mistaken for the entire harvest.

God’s purpose moves toward fullness.

THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT

Ephesians 1:13–14

“…ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession…”

The Spirit is called the earnest.

A deposit.

A guarantee.

The earnest is real, but it points toward the full inheritance.

The Spirit in us tells us God has more purpose ahead.

EARNEST IS NOT THE SAME AS FULLNESS

If someone pays an earnest deposit, the deposit is real.

But it is not the entire transaction.

Likewise, the Spirit we have received is real.

But Scripture itself points toward fullness.

Redemption of the purchased possession.

Redemption of the body.

Manifestation of sons.

Liberty from corruption.

GOD HAS NOT LOST INTEREST IN THE BODY

The body is part of the purchased possession.

The body is part of redemption.

The body is part of sonship.

The body is part of resurrection.

The body is part of manifestation.

God does not save one portion of man and abandon the rest.

The purpose reaches the whole man.

SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY

1 Thessalonians 5:23

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless…”

Paul sees wholeness.

Spirit.

Soul.

Body.

The eternal purpose is not fragmentary.

God works toward a complete expression.

THE WHOLE MAN BELONGS TO CHRIST

Our spirit belongs to Christ.

Our mind belongs to Christ.

Our body belongs to Christ.

Our relationships belong to Christ.

Our calling belongs to Christ.

Everything is being gathered under one Head.

The whole person comes under the government of the Son.

OUR BODY IS FOR THE LORD

1 Corinthians 6:13

“…Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.”

Paul gives dignity to the body.

The body is:

For the Lord.

It is not spiritually irrelevant.

The body belongs to divine purpose.

GOD SHALL RAISE US UP

1 Corinthians 6:14

“And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.”

Resurrection is the destiny of the body.

God raised Christ.

God will raise His people.

The pattern is the Firstborn.

THE BODY OF OUR HUMILIATION

Philippians 3:20–21

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…”

The language is transformation.

Our present bodily condition is not final.

Christ’s glorious body becomes the pattern.

FASHIONED LIKE HIS GLORIOUS BODY

Again the destination is likeness to Christ.

Spiritually.

Morally.

And ultimately bodily.

Sonship reaches resurrection glory.

The image of the heavenly Man comes into manifestation.

WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM

1 John 3:2

“…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

The purpose is likeness.

Not independence.

Not equality of lordship.

Likeness.

The Firstborn reproducing His image in many brethren.

BEHOLDING PRODUCES TRANSFORMATION

2 Corinthians 3:18

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory…”

The sons mature by beholding the Son.

The transformation is into:

The same image.

Christ remains the pattern.

The more clearly Christ is seen, the more the image is formed.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

There is development.

Growth.

Transformation.

Manifestation.

We are not static.

The purpose moves.

The Spirit works.

The image deepens.

The life of Christ becomes more visible.

THE CREATION WAITS FOR A PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE CHRIST

Not in physical appearance.

In nature.

In spirit.

In government.

In love.

In righteousness.

In grace.

In truth.

In life.

Creation waits for a people in whom the Son is manifest.

THE SONS DO NOT SAVE CREATION INDEPENDENTLY OF CHRIST

This must remain clear.

The sons are not another Christ.

They do not replace Christ.

They do not become independent redeemers.

Everything they possess is derived from Him.

Everything they manifest is His life.

Everything they administer comes under His Headship.

Christ remains Lord.

THE BODY EXPRESSES THE HEAD

A body does not act independently from a healthy head.

The Head directs.

The body expresses.

Christ is Head.

The sons are members.

The manifestation is therefore the expression of the Head through the body.

CHRIST IN YOU IS THE HOPE OF GLORY

Colossians 1:27

“…Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Now Romans 8 helps us see where that hope is moving.

Christ in you.

Then manifestation.

Christ within.

Then glory revealed.

Seed.

Then harvest.

Firstfruits.

Then fullness.

GLORY SHALL BE REVEALED IN US

Romans 8:18

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Paul does not merely say glory revealed to us.

He says:

In us.

That connects directly to manifestation.

There is glory to be revealed in God’s people.

And the next verse says creation waits for the manifestation of the sons.

ROMANS 8 HAS ONE CONTINUOUS THOUGHT

Suffering.

Glory.

Manifestation.

Creation.

Vanity.

Hope.

Deliverance.

Groaning.

Firstfruits.

Adoption.

Bodily redemption.

These are not disconnected subjects.

They belong together.

Paul is describing the movement from present limitation toward future glory.

PRESENT SUFFERING IS NOT THE MEASURE OF FUTURE GLORY

The groaning may be intense.

The mortality may feel overwhelming.

The corruption may appear dominant.

But Paul says present suffering is not worthy to be compared with coming glory.

He refuses to measure the purpose by present pain.

GLORY IS GREATER

Corruption is real.

Glory is greater.

Groaning is real.

Manifestation is greater.

Mortality is real.

Life is greater.

Death is real.

Resurrection is greater.

The present condition cannot define the eternal purpose.

HOPE THAT IS SEEN IS NOT HOPE

Romans 8:24

“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope…”

Much of the purpose is not yet fully visible.

That does not make it unreal.

We return to the principle of hidden and manifested.

God purposed before.

God reveals in time.

God brings into manifestation.

WE WAIT WITH PATIENCE

Romans 8:25

“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Expectation is not passivity.

Biblical patience is endurance.

We continue walking in the Spirit.

Growing.

Maturing.

Overcoming.

Serving.

Manifesting Christ in the measure we possess while expecting fullness.

WE DO NOT DESPISE THE FIRSTFRUITS

Because we expect fullness, we must not despise what God has already given.

The Spirit now is real.

Grace now is real.

Sonship now is real.

Transformation now is real.

Healing of relationships now is real.

Deliverance from sin’s dominion now is real.

The firstfruits matter.

BUT WE DO NOT CALL FIRSTFRUITS THE HARVEST

We must also refuse to stop short.

There remains bodily redemption.

There remains the destruction of death.

There remains creation’s deliverance.

There remains the fullness of Christ’s reign.

There remains manifestation.

The purpose continues.

THE KINGDOM IS ALREADY AND STILL COMING INTO FULLNESS

Christ reigns now.

Yet Paul says He must reign until every enemy is under His feet.

The kingdom is real.

Yet its full victory is still being manifested.

The Spirit is real.

Yet the full inheritance remains.

Sonship is real.

Yet manifestation remains.

This tension runs throughout the New Testament.

HE MUST REIGN

We return again to:

1 Corinthians 15:25

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

The purpose is moving.

The reign is active.

Enemies are being subdued.

The last enemy is death.

The final direction is victory.

THE THRONE IS THE PLACE OF GOVERNMENT

The sons are connected to the throne because God’s purpose includes participation in Christ’s government.

But the throne cannot be separated from the Lamb.

This is essential.

The reigning sons must carry the reigning Lamb’s nature.

THEY SHALL REIGN IN LIFE

Romans 5:17

“…they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

Notice the phrase:

Reign in life.

Not reign in death.

Not reign through condemnation.

Not reign through fear.

In life.

By Jesus Christ.

ABUNDANCE OF GRACE PRECEDES REIGNING

Paul connects reigning with:

Abundance of grace.

The kingdom of God is not administered by fleshly domination.

Those who reign in life must first receive grace.

The nature of the government comes from Christ.

THE SONS MANIFEST THE KING

The sons do not advertise themselves.

They reveal the King.

When the Head is expressed through the body, Christ becomes visible.

This is why true sonship always magnifies Him.

CREATION’S DELIVERANCE IS CONNECTED TO CHRIST’S VICTORY

The sons have no independent victory.

Christ overcame death.

Christ defeated the grave.

Christ ascended.

Christ reigns.

Christ pours out the Spirit.

Christ forms His image in His people.

Christ brings many sons to glory.

The entire purpose remains Christ-centered.

THE FIRSTBORN LEADS THE FAMILY

Hebrews 2:10

“…in bringing many sons unto glory…”

Christ does not merely stand in glory and tell us to find our own way there.

He brings many sons.

He is Captain.

Forerunner.

Firstborn.

Head.

The purpose succeeds because He leads it.

THE FORERUNNER

Hebrews 6:19–20

“…which entereth into that within the veil;

Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus…”

A forerunner goes ahead because others follow.

Christ has entered.

The Head has gone before the body.

The Firstborn establishes the pathway.

WHERE THE HEAD GOES, THE BODY FOLLOWS

Christ died.

We died with Him.

Christ was raised.

We are raised with Him.

Christ is seated.

We are seated with Him.

Christ is glorified.

The purpose moves toward glory in His body.

Union makes His story the pattern of ours.

RAISED WITH CHRIST

Colossians 3:1

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth…”

Paul speaks as though resurrection has already entered the believer’s identity.

We are risen with Christ.

Yet bodily resurrection remains.

Again:

Position.

Then manifestation.

YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST

Colossians 3:3

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Hidden life.

There is that theme again.

Our life is hidden with Christ.

But hidden is not the end.

WHEN CHRIST SHALL APPEAR

Colossians 3:4

“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

Hidden.

Then appearing.

Life concealed.

Then life manifested.

This is the pattern of eternal purpose.

CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE

Paul does not say Christ merely gives us life.

He says:

Christ, who is our life.

If Christ is our life, then manifestation means His life becoming visible through us.

That is sonship.

APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY

The life hidden in Christ moves toward appearance in glory.

Romans 8 says glory shall be revealed in us.

Colossians says we shall appear with Him in glory.

The sons move from hidden identity toward manifested glory.

THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL BE FILLED

Habakkuk 2:14

“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

God’s purpose is not small.

The earth filled with the knowledge of His glory.

Not pockets.

Not fragments.

Filled.

The glory of God is moving toward manifestation in creation.

THE GLORY OF THE LORD

Isaiah 40:5

“And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together…”

Again:

Glory revealed.

Manifestation.

God’s purpose moves toward visibility.

The hidden glory becomes known.

ARISE, SHINE

Isaiah 60:1

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”

Light must shine.

Glory must become visible.

What God has placed within cannot remain concealed forever.

DARKNESS DOES NOT CANCEL THE LIGHT

Isaiah 60:2

“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth… but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

Darkness may be present.

But darkness does not define the purpose.

The Lord arises.

Glory is seen.

The answer to darkness is manifestation of light.

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

Matthew 5:16

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Again the purpose of manifestation is not self-glory.

The Father receives glory.

True sonship reveals the Father.

THE FATHER MUST BE SEEN

Jesus revealed the Father perfectly.

The sons are conformed to the image of Jesus.

Therefore the mature expression of sonship reveals the Father’s nature.

The manifestation is ultimately about God being known.

CREATION WAITS FOR THAT REVELATION

Creation has seen the image of Adam for thousands of years.

War.

Fear.

Competition.

Death.

Greed.

Corruption.

Self-preservation.

Religion.

Division.

Creation is waiting to see another image.

Christ.

THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY

1 Corinthians 15:49

“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

The manifestation of sons is the manifestation of heavenly image in an earthly realm.

This is why creation waits.

The heavenly Man must be expressed.

THE EARTHY IMAGE IS NOT FINAL

We know what Adam looks like.

We have borne that image.

But Scripture gives another promise.

We shall bear the image of the heavenly.

The purpose is not trapped in the first man.

It moves into the Second.

THE SECOND MAN IS THE KEY TO CREATION’S FUTURE

If Christ is the Second Man and the Firstborn from the dead, then creation’s future must be read through Him.

His resurrection is not merely one isolated miracle.

It is firstfruits.

It reveals what kind of life wins.

CHRIST THE FIRSTFRUITS

1 Corinthians 15:20

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

Again:

Firstfruits.

Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of harvest.

His risen body is proof that death does not own the future.

AFTERWARD THEY THAT ARE CHRIST’S

1 Corinthians 15:23

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

Order.

Christ first.

Then those who belong to Him.

The Firstborn leads.

The family follows.

THEN COMETH THE END

1 Corinthians 15:24

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father…”

The purpose has an end.

Not an end meaning collapse.

An end meaning goal.

Completion.

Fulfillment.

Christ’s reign moves everything toward the Father.

THE PURPOSE ENDS IN GOD ALL IN ALL

1 Corinthians 15:28

“…that God may be all in all.”

Creation’s groaning does not end in groaning.

It ends in divine fullness.

The purpose does not end in death.

It ends in God all in all.

The beginning was God.

The end is God all in all.

And Christ stands at the center of the entire movement.

CREATION IS NOT WAITING IN VAIN

The wait has purpose.

The groaning has hope.

The travail points toward birth.

The firstfruits point toward harvest.

The Spirit points toward redemption.

The sons point toward manifestation.

The resurrection of Christ points toward victory over death.

Nothing is wasted.

THE PURPOSE IS ALREADY WORKING

We do not need to wait until the final manifestation before participating in the purpose.

Every time Christ is expressed now, the future breaks into the present.

Every act of grace.

Every act of reconciliation.

Every victory over flesh.

Every expression of love.

Every mature response.

Every life governed by the Spirit.

These are firstfruits of the coming fullness.

THE KINGDOM COMES FROM WITHIN OUTWARD

God forms sons before sons manifest kingdom.

He writes His nature within.

He teaches them by the Spirit.

He conforms them to Christ.

Then what is inward becomes visible.

Government begins with nature.

SONSHIP WITHOUT NATURE IS DANGEROUS

To teach authority without character is dangerous.

To teach throne without Lamb is dangerous.

To teach reigning without grace is dangerous.

To teach sonship without humility is dangerous.

God’s mature sons must carry the nature of Christ.

THE LAMB IS THE PATTERN OF THE SONS

The Lamb conquers by a nature unlike the beast.

The beast devours.

The Lamb gives Himself.

The beast controls.

The Lamb serves.

The beast exalts itself.

The Lamb humbles Himself.

Yet the Lamb reigns.

That is kingdom mystery.

THE SONS MUST LOOK LIKE THE LAMB

If sons are to share Christ’s throne, they must share Christ’s nature.

Otherwise they would reproduce the very system the Lamb overcomes.

The purpose is not to place religious flesh in power.

The purpose is to manifest Christ.

CREATION WAITS FOR CHRIST IN A PEOPLE

That may be the simplest way to say Romans 8:19.

Creation waits for Christ to be manifested in His sons.

Not another independent life.

His life.

Not another kingdom.

His kingdom.

Not another glory.

His glory.

THE HOPE OF GLORY HAS A CORPORATE EXPRESSION

Christ in one believer is glorious.

Christ in a body is a corporate witness.

Many members.

One life.

Many sons.

One Firstborn.

Many expressions.

One Head.

This is the mystery moving toward manifestation.

A BODY FILLED WITH THE HEAD

Ephesians 1:22–23

“…gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

The church is called His body.

The body exists to express the Head.

When the body matures, the Head becomes more clearly visible.

UNTO A PERFECT MAN

Ephesians 4:13

“Till we all come… unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

There is a corporate man coming to maturity.

Not disconnected spiritual celebrities.

A body.

A man.

The stature of Christ.

The fullness of Christ.

THE MEASURE IS CHRIST

Not our church size.

Not our title.

Not our platform.

Not our reputation.

Not our following.

The measure is:

The stature of the fulness of Christ.

That is maturity.

WHEN CHRIST FILLS THE BODY, CREATION SEES THE SON

The individual member reveals only a measure.

The corporate body reveals something larger.

Many members together express the fullness of the Head.

The purpose moves toward a body mature enough to manifest Christ.

FROM FIRSTFRUITS TO HARVEST

We have firstfruits.

The purpose moves toward harvest.

We have an earnest.

The purpose moves toward inheritance.

We have sonship.

The purpose moves toward manifestation.

We have resurrection life within.

The purpose moves toward bodily redemption.

We have Christ in us.

The purpose moves toward glory.

THE GROAN WILL GIVE WAY TO GLORY

Creation groans now.

But groaning is not eternal.

Corruption is not eternal.

Vanity is not eternal.

Death is not eternal.

Christ is eternal.

Life is eternal.

The purpose is eternal.

CREATION’S FUTURE IS NOT DEFINED BY ADAM

Adam affected creation.

But Adam is not Head of God’s eternal purpose.

Christ is.

Therefore creation’s destiny must ultimately be interpreted through Christ, not Adam.

The Second Man has the final word.

THE RESURRECTION CHANGES THE FUTURE

If Jesus remained dead, there would be no basis for this hope.

But He arose.

The resurrection is God’s declaration that death cannot terminate the purpose.

The grave lost its claim on the Firstborn.

And the Firstborn is leading many sons into glory.

THE STONE WAS ROLLED AWAY

The empty tomb announces more than one man’s survival.

It announces the invasion of resurrection life into the realm of death.

A new creation has begun.

A new Man stands.

The firstfruits have appeared.

Harvest must follow.

BECAUSE I LIVE

John 14:19

“Because I live, ye shall live also.”

Our hope rests in His life.

Not our strength.

Not our religious performance.

Because He lives.

We live.

The purpose succeeds because Christ lives.

THE SONS LIVE FROM HIS LIFE

The manifestation of sons is therefore not the demonstration of extraordinary human ability.

It is the demonstration of Christ’s life in human vessels.

Treasure in earthen vessels.

Power of God.

Life of Christ.

Glory of the Father.

THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS

2 Corinthians 4:7

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Why earthen vessels?

So no one mistakes the source.

The vessel remains dependent.

The glory belongs to God.

THE LIFE OF JESUS MADE MANIFEST

2 Corinthians 4:10–11

“…that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

Paul uses the word manifest again.

Where?

In our mortal flesh.

The life of Jesus manifested in mortal vessels.

This is Romans 8 in living form.

LIFE MANIFESTED IN MORTAL FLESH

The mortal body is not merely waiting for some future event.

Even now, Christ’s life can be manifested through it.

Compassion through hands.

Truth through lips.

Service through action.

Righteousness through conduct.

Love through relationships.

The future fullness casts its shadow backward into the present.

WE CARRY THE BEGINNING OF THE AGE TO COME

The Spirit within us is firstfruits.

The resurrection life of Christ has already entered.

This is why believers can live contrary to the spirit of the present age.

We carry another life.

Another government.

Another nature.

Another hope.

CREATION NEEDS A DEMONSTRATION OF ANOTHER ORDER

The world knows Adam’s order.

Self-preservation.

Competition.

Violence.

Fear.

Death.

It needs to see Christ’s order.

Love.

Life.

Grace.

Reconciliation.

Service.

Righteousness.

Peace.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

Matthew 5:9

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

The sons carry the Father’s nature.

They make peace.

They do not merely proclaim sonship.

They demonstrate it.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

Matthew 5:44–45

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies…

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…”

Again sonship is connected with nature.

The Father gives.

The Father shows mercy.

The sons reflect Him.

Manifestation begins now.

BE YE THEREFORE PERFECT

Matthew 5:48

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Maturity is Father-likeness.

The word points toward completeness.

The purpose is not childish reaction.

It is mature divine nature expressed through human life.

CREATION WAITS FOR MATURE SONS

Not merely born children.

Mature sons.

Those led by the Spirit.

Those carrying the Father’s nature.

Those conformed to the Son.

Those who can handle authority without becoming beastly.

Those who can reign in life.

THE MANIFESTATION BEGINS WITH NATURE

Before government is outward, government must be inward.

Can Christ rule our thoughts?

Our words?

Our emotions?

Our reactions?

Our ambitions?

Our relationships?

The throne must first be established within the life.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN

Luke 17:21

“…for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The government of God begins internally.

Christ reigns in a people.

Then the life of the kingdom becomes visible through them.

RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, AND JOY

Romans 14:17

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

This is kingdom nature.

Righteousness.

Peace.

Joy.

Spirit.

The sons manifest this nature.

CREATION WAITS FOR LIBERTY

Not religious bondage.

Not condemnation.

Not fear.

Liberty.

But liberty is not independence from God.

It is freedom from corruption so creation can function according to divine purpose.

True liberty brings creation under the Headship of Christ.

THE LIBERTY OF GLORY

Romans 8 connects liberty with glory.

The liberty comes from God’s children entering the fullness of what God purposed.

As sons are liberated from corruption, creation itself shares in that liberty.

The purpose expands outward.

GOD’S PURPOSE IS COSMIC IN SCOPE

The gospel begins personally but does not end privately.

God saves individuals.

God forms a body.

God brings sons to glory.

God reconciles all things in Christ.

God delivers creation from corruption.

God destroys death.

God becomes all in all.

This is a vast purpose.

PERSONAL SALVATION BELONGS INSIDE ETERNAL PURPOSE

Personal salvation matters deeply.

But we should ask:

Saved for what?

Called for what?

Redeemed for what?

Filled with the Spirit for what?

The answer continually leads toward participation in God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

SAVED AND CALLED ACCORDING TO PURPOSE

2 Timothy 1:9

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling… according to his own purpose and grace…”

Saved.

Called.

Purpose.

Grace.

Before the world began.

The same thread runs through everything.

GRACE PREPARES THE SONS

Sons are not matured through law.

Grace teaches.

Grace transforms.

Grace supplies life.

Grace breaks sin’s dominion.

Grace brings sons into Father’s house.

Grace produces the character necessary for manifestation.

THE FINISHED WORK IS THE FOUNDATION OF MANIFESTATION

The sons do not manifest Christ by trying to complete what Christ left unfinished.

They manifest Christ by living from His finished work.

The cross deals with the old man.

The resurrection brings the new.

The Spirit forms Christ.

The purpose moves toward glory.

MANIFESTATION IS NOT HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT

No one can boast:

“I manifested sonship because I was more spiritual than everyone else.”

The whole purpose is grace.

Chosen in Christ.

Grace before time.

Redeemed by the Lamb.

Raised in Christ.

Spirit given.

Image formed.

Every stage destroys boasting.

THE GLORY BELONGS TO GOD

When the sons are manifested, the Father is glorified.

When creation is delivered, Christ is glorified.

When death is destroyed, Christ is glorified.

When all things are gathered, God is all in all.

No part of the purpose ends with man receiving ultimate glory independent of God.

THE PURPOSE IS FATHER-CENTERED THROUGH CHRIST

Christ reveals the Father.

Sons reveal Christ.

The Spirit forms Christ in the sons.

Creation sees the glory.

The whole movement returns everything to God.

THE EARTH SHALL SEE HIS GLORY

The eternal purpose will not remain invisible forever.

The life will manifest.

The sons will mature.

The glory will be revealed.

Creation will be delivered.

Death will be defeated.

Christ will reign.

FROM GROANING TO MANIFESTATION

Romans 8 gives us a movement:

Groaning.

Hope.

Firstfruits.

Waiting.

Adoption.

Redemption.

Glory.

Manifestation.

Liberty.

The purpose does not leave creation in groaning.

It moves creation toward glorious liberty.

THE GROANING CREATION HAS A HOPE

This world may look like corruption has won.

It has not.

Death may look permanent.

It is not.

The sons may look immature.

God is still forming them.

The purpose may look hidden.

It will be manifested.

THE LIFE IS ALREADY IN THE SEED

When a seed is buried, the harvest is hidden.

But the life is already present.

Christ is the Seed.

The Spirit is the earnest.

The sons carry the life.

The harvest will come.

BEFORE THE FOUNDATION, THE PURPOSE STOOD

Creation is groaning now.

But before creation ever groaned, God had already established His purpose in Christ.

Before corruption:

Purpose.

Before death:

Life.

Before Adam:

Christ.

Before the world:

Grace.

Before the groaning:

Glory stood in the eternal counsel.

CREATION CANNOT OVERTURN THE PURPOSE THAT PRECEDES IT

Nothing created can become greater than the purpose of the Creator.

Sin cannot.

Death cannot.

Corruption cannot.

The devil cannot.

Human failure cannot.

All entered within a creation whose ultimate purpose was already established in Christ.

THE MANIFESTATION IS COMING FROM CHRIST

The sons are manifested because Christ is formed.

The glory appears because Christ is their life.

The liberty comes because Christ has conquered corruption and death.

Everything comes from Him.

CREATION WAITS FOR THE SON IN THE SONS

The Firstborn has already appeared.

The Firstborn has already overcome.

The Firstborn has already risen.

The Firstborn already reigns.

Now many brethren are being conformed to His image.

Creation waits for that life to become visible.

THE SON IS THE PATTERN

The manifestation cannot look unlike Jesus.

If it is prideful, it is not mature sonship.

If it is cruel, it is not the Lamb.

If it dominates for personal glory, it is not the kingdom.

If it magnifies man, it has missed the Head.

The manifestation must look like Christ.

THE WORLD HAS SEEN ENOUGH ADAM

The world knows Adam.

The world knows flesh.

The world knows religious pride.

The world knows human ambition.

The world knows death.

Creation waits for another Man to be seen in a people.

Christ.

THE IMAGE OF THE SON WILL BE REVEALED

This is where predestination leads.

This is where sonship leads.

This is where grace leads.

This is where the mystery leads.

This is where the finished work leads.

Christ formed in His people.

Christ manifested through His body.

The image of the Son revealed.

CREATION WAITING FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD

The whole creation groans.

But the groan is not hopeless.

It is travail.

The Spirit has already given the firstfruits.

The sons already possess identity in Christ.

But the purpose moves toward manifestation.

The mortal must put on immortality.

The corruptible must put on incorruption.

Death must be swallowed up in victory.

Creation must be delivered from the bondage of corruption.

And the children of God must enter the glorious liberty prepared in Christ.

The world has seen the consequences of the first man.

God’s purpose is moving toward the manifestation of the Second Man in a many-membered body.

Before the foundation of the world, the purpose was established.

Before creation began to groan, glory was already in God’s counsel.

Before mortality appeared, life stood in Christ.

Before Adam, there was the Son.

And creation now waits for the eternal purpose to move from hidden reality into visible expression:

The manifestation of the sons of God.

CHAPTER TEN

FROM ETERNAL PURPOSE TO FINISHED WORK

WHAT GOD PURPOSED BEFORE TIME, CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED IN HISTORY

Ephesians 3:11

“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We began this book before the foundation of the world.

Before Adam.

Before sin.

Before law.

Before human history unfolded.

There was already purpose in God.

That purpose was centered in Christ.

Grace was given in Christ before the world began.

The Lamb was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

The mystery was hidden in God and later revealed.

Sonship was in the purpose.

The gathering of all things in Christ was in the purpose.

Now we come to the point where eternal purpose enters history and becomes accomplished work.

The purpose was eternal.

The accomplishment took place in time.

And Jesus Christ declared:

It is finished.

THE PURPOSE CAME BEFORE THE WORK

2 Timothy 1:9

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

Paul places purpose before history.

Grace before history.

Christ before history.

Therefore the finished work of Christ cannot be understood merely as God’s reaction to man’s failure.

The work carried out in time expresses a purpose that already existed before time.

Calvary reveals eternal purpose.

It does not invent it.

CHRIST CAME TO DO THE FATHER’S WILL

Hebrews 10:7

“Then said I, Lo, I come… to do thy will, O God.”

Christ came with purpose.

His life was not accidental.

His ministry was not improvised.

His death was not an unexpected tragedy.

He came to do the Father’s will.

Everything moved toward fulfillment.

THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

John 1:14

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”

The eternal entered time.

The invisible became visible.

The Word who was with God in the beginning entered human history.

The purpose took flesh.

Christ did not begin at Bethlehem.

He was manifested there.

The One who stood before creation stepped into creation.

THE PURPOSE WAS MANIFESTED

1 Peter 1:20

“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

There are two realities in this verse.

Foreordained.

Manifested.

Foreordained before the foundation.

Manifested in time.

That distinction has guided this entire book.

What appears in history may have existed in God’s purpose long before its manifestation.

Christ was manifested in time.

But the purpose was eternal.

JESUS CAME TO FINISH THE WORK

John 4:34

“My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

Jesus understood His mission.

He came to finish.

Not merely begin.

Not merely demonstrate.

Not merely make something possible.

He came to accomplish the Father’s work.

This language matters.

The gospel rests upon accomplishment.

I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK

John 17:4

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

Before the cross, Jesus spoke with certainty.

The work the Father gave Him was reaching completion.

His life had revealed the Father.

His words had revealed truth.

His obedience had fulfilled the Father’s will.

Now the final act of redemption stood before Him.

IT IS FINISHED

John 19:30

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

Three words carry the weight of eternal purpose entering fulfillment:

It is finished.

Jesus did not say:

“It has begun.”

He did not say:

“I have done my part; now humanity must complete the rest.”

He said:

It is finished.

The cross is accomplishment.

THE FINISHED WORK RESTS ON CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE

Romans 5:19

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Adam disobeyed.

Christ obeyed.

The finished work rests upon the obedience of the Second Man.

This is why salvation cannot finally rest upon human performance.

The decisive obedience has already been accomplished by Christ.

ONE OFFERING

Hebrews 10:14

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

One offering.

Not repeated offerings.

Not endless sacrifices.

One offering.

The finished work is complete because the sacrifice is complete.

Nothing can be added to the blood of Christ.

Nothing can improve the sacrifice of the Lamb.

ONCE FOR ALL

Hebrews 10:10

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Once for all.

The old covenant continually repeated sacrifices because those sacrifices could never complete the work.

Christ offered Himself once.

The repetition ended because fulfillment came.

HE SAT DOWN

Hebrews 10:12

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

Under the old covenant, the priest’s work continued.

Christ offered one sacrifice and sat down.

Sitting speaks of completion.

The sacrifice was accepted.

The work was accomplished.

The Lamb who was slain is now enthroned.

REDEMPTION WAS ACCOMPLISHED IN CHRIST

Ephesians 1:7

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

Redemption is:

In Him.

Forgiveness is:

In Him.

Grace is:

In Him.

Everything returns to Christ.

The finished work is not a doctrine separated from Him.

Christ Himself is the center of the finished work.

GOD WAS IN CHRIST

2 Corinthians 5:19

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself…”

At the cross, God was not standing far away from redemption.

God was in Christ.

Reconciling.

The finished work reveals the heart of God.

The Father and Son were not working toward opposite purposes.

Redemption came from God’s own eternal counsel.

RECONCILIATION HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED

2 Corinthians 5:18

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…”

Paul speaks of reconciliation as accomplished.

God has reconciled us through Christ.

The ministry of the church is therefore not to create reconciliation.

It is to proclaim reconciliation.

The message flows from a finished work.

THE CROSS DEALS WITH THE OLD MAN

Romans 6:6

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him…”

The finished work is more than forgiveness of individual acts.

The cross deals with the old man.

The Adamic order meets its judgment in Christ.

God does not merely pardon the old creation and leave it unchanged.

The cross opens the way for new creation.

WE DIED WITH CHRIST

Romans 6:8

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”

Union with Christ means His death becomes ours.

His resurrection becomes ours.

The finished work is not merely something we observe from a distance.

By faith, we participate in what He accomplished.

RISEN WITH CHRIST

Colossians 3:1

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above…”

The finished work does not end at the grave.

Christ arose.

Therefore the gospel is not merely crucifixion.

It is crucifixion and resurrection.

Death and life.

The old man judged.

The new creation raised.

MADE ALIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM

Ephesians 2:5

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…”

Made alive together with Christ.

Again the work is His.

Life comes from union with Him.

The finished work creates a new basis of existence.

Not Adam.

Christ.

RAISED UP TOGETHER

Ephesians 2:6

“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Notice Paul’s language.

Quickened together.

Raised together.

Seated together.

The finished work moves from cross to throne.

Christ is not hanging forever on the cross.

He is risen and seated.

Our identity follows Him.

THE FINISHED WORK LEADS TO THE THRONE

The Lamb who was slain is also the Lamb in the midst of the throne.

Sacrifice and government meet in Christ.

The cross was not defeat.

It was victory.

Resurrection declared that victory.

Ascension placed the victorious Christ in the seat of authority.

CHRIST IS SEATED ABOVE ALL

Ephesians 1:20–21

“…when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion…”

The finished work brings us to an exalted Christ.

Far above.

Not struggling for victory.

Victorious.

Not negotiating with death.

Having conquered death.

Not beneath principalities.

Far above them.

GRACE FLOWS FROM FINISHED WORK

If the work were unfinished, grace would become uncertain.

But the work is finished.

Therefore grace rests upon accomplishment.

We do not earn what Christ accomplished.

We receive.

BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED

Ephesians 2:8

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

Grace and finished work belong together.

If salvation were primarily our accomplishment, it would be wages.

But Paul calls it gift.

The work belongs to Christ.

The receiving belongs to faith.

NOT OF WORKS

Ephesians 2:9

“Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Finished work removes boasting.

No man can stand before God and say:

“I completed what Christ lacked.”

Christ lacked nothing.

The work is finished.

WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…”

Grace does not eliminate good works.

It places them in proper order.

We are not saved by good works.

We are created in Christ unto good works.

Works become fruit.

Not foundation.

FROM WORKING FOR GOD TO GOD WORKING IN US

Philippians 2:13

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

The finished work changes the source of spiritual life.

We stop trying to produce divine life from human strength.

God works in us.

Christ lives in us.

The Spirit leads us.

Grace teaches us.

The life originates from God.

CHRIST LIVETH IN ME

Galatians 2:20

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”

Here the finished work becomes personal.

Crucified with Christ.

Christ living in me.

The old center gives way to a new center.

Paul does not say:

“I became strong enough to imitate Christ perfectly.”

He says:

Christ liveth in me.

THE FINISHED WORK PRODUCES A FINISHED FOUNDATION

A foundation does not need to be laid every morning.

Once it is laid correctly, the building proceeds from it.

Christ is the foundation.

The cross is accomplished.

The resurrection is accomplished.

The victory is accomplished.

We build from what He has done.

NO OTHER FOUNDATION

1 Corinthians 3:11

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

The church has one foundation.

Jesus Christ.

Not law.

Not human effort.

Not denominational tradition.

Not religious performance.

Christ.

RELIGION TRIES TO FINISH WHAT CHRIST FINISHED

This is one of religion’s great errors.

Christ says:

It is finished.

Religion says:

“Not quite.”

Religion continually places the believer back under the burden of trying to complete his own acceptance.

Do enough.

Pray enough.

Fast enough.

Perform enough.

Suffer enough.

Maybe God will finally accept you.

But the gospel says acceptance is in the Beloved.

ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

Ephesians 1:6

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

Accepted.

Where?

In the Beloved.

Our acceptance is located in Christ.

The eternal purpose and the finished work meet in Him.

FROM FINISHED WORK TO LIVING MANIFESTATION

Finished does not mean nothing remains to be manifested.

Christ’s redemptive work is finished.

But the fruit of that work continues to unfold in His people.

The foundation is finished.

The building grows.

The Seed has accomplished His work.

The harvest comes forth.

The Head is complete.

The body matures into Him.

THE WORK IS FINISHED — THE PURPOSE IS BEING MANIFESTED

This distinction keeps us from confusion.

The work of redemption does not need repeating.

The sacrifice does not need repeating.

Christ does not need to be crucified again.

But what He accomplished must be revealed in creation and in His people.

The finished work produces ongoing manifestation.

CHRIST FORMED IN US

Galatians 4:19

“…until Christ be formed in you.”

The work is finished.

Yet Christ is being formed.

There is no contradiction.

The accomplished work provides the basis for the developing manifestation.

We grow because the foundation is secure.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

2 Corinthians 3:18

“…are changed into the same image from glory to glory…”

Transformation does not mean the cross was incomplete.

Transformation is the fruit of the cross.

The Spirit takes what Christ accomplished and brings it into expression within us.

THE SPIRIT MAKES THE FINISHED WORK VITAL

The finished work is historical.

It happened.

The Spirit makes that accomplished reality living within the believer.

Christ died.

The Spirit reveals our death with Him.

Christ rose.

The Spirit makes His resurrection life real within us.

Christ reigns.

The Spirit brings our lives under His government.

THE PURPOSE MOVES FROM DECREE TO MANIFESTATION

Before the world:

Purpose.

In history:

Accomplishment.

In the believer:

Revelation.

Through maturity:

Manifestation.

In the end:

Fullness.

The same purpose runs through the whole story.

THE CROSS DID NOT CHANGE GOD’S MIND

The cross revealed God’s heart.

God did not begin angry and become loving after Jesus died.

The Lamb was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

Grace was given before the world began.

Love belonged to the purpose.

The cross is the manifestation of that eternal love.

GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE

Romans 5:8

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

The cross demonstrates love.

It does not create love.

The love was already in God.

Calvary makes that love visible.

THE FINISHED WORK REVEALS THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

At the cross, eternal purpose enters human history in decisive form.

The Lamb is slain.

Sin is dealt with.

The old man is crucified.

Reconciliation is accomplished.

Grace is revealed.

Death is confronted.

Resurrection follows.

The Son is exalted.

Everything belongs to one purpose.

THE RESURRECTION DECLARES VICTORY

Acts 2:24

“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

Death could not hold Him.

Why?

Because death could not cancel eternal life.

The eternal purpose could not end in a tomb.

The stone had to move.

Christ had to rise.

BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO

John 14:19

“Because I live, ye shall live also.”

This is the confidence of the finished work.

Our hope does not rest in our ability to keep ourselves alive spiritually.

It rests in Christ’s life.

Because He lives.

We live.

THE PURPOSE WILL REACH ITS END

Philippians 1:6

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it…”

God finishes what He begins.

That principle reflects His eternal nature.

He purposes.

He accomplishes.

He manifests.

He completes.

HE IS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER

Hebrews 12:2

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”

Jesus is not merely the Author.

He is the Finisher.

He begins.

He completes.

Our confidence therefore remains fixed on Him.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS

That may be the simplest conclusion to this entire book.

Look to Jesus.

Before the foundation:

Jesus.

In creation:

Jesus.

In redemption:

Jesus.

In the cross:

Jesus.

In resurrection:

Jesus.

In sonship:

Jesus.

In the throne:

Jesus.

In the gathering of all things:

Jesus.

FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION TO IT IS FINISHED

We began before time.

We end at the finished work.

But these are not two unrelated doctrines.

They are one story.

The purpose before the foundation becomes the work accomplished in Christ.

The Lamb foreordained becomes the Lamb crucified.

Grace given before time becomes grace manifested in history.

The mystery hidden in God becomes Christ revealed.

The Son in eternal purpose becomes the Firstborn among many brethren.

What God purposed, Christ accomplished.

THE PURPOSE WAS NEVER IN DANGER

The fall did not defeat it.

Sin did not rewrite it.

Law did not replace it.

Death did not end it.

The grave could not hold it.

The purpose stood in Christ before all these things appeared.

And the finished work proves that God’s purpose was greater than every interruption.

CHRIST HAS THE FINAL WORD

Adam does not have the final word.

Sin does not have the final word.

Law does not have the final word.

Death does not have the final word.

Religion does not have the final word.

Christ does.

And His word from the cross was:

It is finished.

FROM ETERNAL PURPOSE TO FINISHED WORK

Before there was a beginning, there was purpose.

Before Adam, there was Christ.

Before sin, there was grace.

Before failure, there was the Lamb.

Before the world began, God had already purposed in Christ.

Then the eternal Word entered time.

The Lamb was manifested.

The Son obeyed.

The cross was endured.

The blood was shed.

Redemption was accomplished.

The grave was conquered.

Christ arose.

Christ ascended.

Christ sat down.

And the purpose that existed before creation stood revealed in history through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

We do not begin with man’s failure.

We begin with God’s purpose.

We do not end with Adam.

We end with Christ.

We do not end with an unfinished redemption waiting for human effort to complete it.

We end where Jesus ended the work:

“It is finished.”

The eternal purpose was in Christ before the world began.

The finished work was accomplished by Christ in time.

And everything God has purposed continues to move toward its fullness under one Head:

Jesus Christ our Lord.

God’s Eternal Purpose, Chosen in Christ, Grace Before Time, and the Finished Work of the Lamb

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carl Timothy Wray

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE PURPOSE THAT EXISTED BEFORE TIME

BEFORE ADAM

CHRIST WAS NEVER PLAN B

CHOSEN IN HIM

THE LAMB AND THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL

WHERE THIS JOURNEY BEGINS

CHAPTER ONE

BEFORE THERE WAS A BEGINNING

GOD’S PURPOSE BEFORE CREATION

GENESIS BEGINS WITH CREATION, NOT WITH GOD

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD

THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

PURPOSE BEFORE THE PROBLEM

CHRIST BEFORE ALL THINGS

ADAM CAME AFTER THE PURPOSE

THE FIRST MAN AND THE SECOND MAN

CHRIST WAS NEVER GOD’S PLAN B

FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION

MANIFESTATION IS NOT ORIGIN

CHOSEN IN HIM

THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL

THE END WAS IN THE PURPOSE FROM THE BEGINNING

BEFORE SIN THERE WAS GRACE

BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

THE PURPOSE IS GREATER THAN THE INTERRUPTION

WE MUST BEGIN WHERE GOD BEGAN

CHAPTER TWO

CHOSEN IN CHRIST BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

ELECTION BEGINS IN CHRIST

HE CHOSE US IN HIM

ELECTION IS NOT A REWARD FOR PERFORMANCE

ACCORDING TO PURPOSE

PREDESTINATED TO WHAT?

THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN

PREDESTINATED UNTO ADOPTION

ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

REDEMPTION IN HIM

THE PURPOSE OF ELECTION IS NOT HUMAN PRIDE

BEHOLD MY SERVANT, WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN

THE CHOSEN ONE AND THE CHOSEN PEOPLE

CHOSEN FOR PURPOSE

A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME

THE CALLING IS HOLY

GRACE DESTROYS BOASTING

HIS WORKMANSHIP

ELECTION AND THE ETERNAL PURPOSE

GOD’S PURPOSE IS A SON PURPOSE

THE IMAGE OF THE SON

CHRIST IN YOU

FROM POSITION TO MANIFESTATION

ELECTION SHOULD PRODUCE HUMILITY

IN CHRIST BEFORE TIME

CHAPTER THREE

GRACE GIVEN BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

GRACE WAS NOT GOD’S EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO SIN

PURPOSE AND GRACE

BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

THE GOD OF ALL GRACE

GRACE CAME BEFORE LAW

NOAH FOUND GRACE

ABRAHAM AND THE PROMISE

THE LAW CAME AFTERWARD

LAW CANNOT BE THE ETERNAL FOUNDATION

GRACE IS GREATER THAN FORGIVENESS

GRACE TEACHES

GRACE AND THE FINISHED WORK

HIS WORKMANSHIP

WHERE SIN ABOUNDED

MUCH MORE

THE FIRST ADAM DOES NOT DEFINE GRACE

GRACE REIGNS

THE THRONE OF GRACE

GRACE AND SONSHIP

NO LONGER A SERVANT