God's Ultimate Purpose #2

God is administering all things. He is governing and directing all things, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, all of it. God incorporates it into the one great eternal purpose that He has to glorify Christ. Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello again, I'm Bill Wright. Today Don wraps up a message titled, God's Ultimate Purpose, part of our current series, Secure in Christ Forever. Last time, Don offered the first two of three points to help us understand what our universe is all about and why it exists in the first place, to glorify Christ.

We saw that there is obvious disorder in the universe and here on earth, a huge rebellion going on. We were also reminded that God has disclosed His purposes and Ephesians 1 is a treasure trove of revelation. On today's program, Don will discuss the destination of God's purpose.

So have your Bible handy as we join our teacher now, continuing to teach God's people God's Word in the Truth Pulpit. And so God has disclosed His purpose and now as we move into verse 10, we're going to see what that purpose is. Here's point number three, the destination of His purpose.

We've seen the disorder of the universe, we've seen the disclosure of God's purpose, and now in verse 3 we see the destination of His purpose. Where is history going? What are all the great philosophical streams of human thought?

All of the motions of nations which rise and fall? All of the great thinking of minds and the great discoveries and the scientific inventions? On the, you know, humanly speaking, the highest order of human achievement. Where is the highest orders of human achievement going? Where are those lower orders of human rebellion? Where is it all going to come out?

Do you ever ask questions like that? Scripture asks and answers them. Scripture tells us. Scripture teaches us. Think beyond this world.

Think beyond your self-centered thinking about life. Look beyond, look up, look beyond the horizon and say, where is all of this going? And here in verse 10, God's ultimate purpose is disclosed. In a stunning economy of words, in an utter simplicity of supremacy, Scripture gives the answer when it says in verse 10, God has made known to us the mystery of His will with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times. Paul hasn't told us what the mystery is just yet.

He says it's with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times. That is. Here it is. Here's the mystery. Here's the intention. Here is God's ultimate purpose for the universe.

You hear the thunder, right? God thundering forth to us the purpose of the universe. That is, the summing up of all things in Christ. Things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Now, just a preliminary observation. Paul says the summing up of all things. And then he explains what he means by all things. It's the things that are in the heavens and things that are on the earth. Those things that are on land and those things that are in the skies of creation. And it's just a statement to expand the concept that nothing is left out. What you see and what you don't see, past, present, and future. What's on earth and what's everywhere else. The physical realm, the spiritual realm, all things are included in the purpose of God. Beloved, there is no stray detail in the universe.

There is no random occurrence. There is no atom in the universe that will thwart the will of God. There is no sinner who will reject Christ and thereby thwart what God in purpose for the universe. God accomplishes His purposes because He is God, which means He is the supreme authority over all and nothing thwarts His ultimate will. Even the rebellion of men He turns to accomplish. This one great purpose found in Ephesians 1-10.

The word administration gives the idea that God governs the universe and He is moving by the power of His hand. He is moving everything and funneling it to this one great climax that Paul describes here in verse 10. You can step back for a moment.

It's okay to do this. To step back for a moment and say, wow, what this means, the macro sense in which we've talked about here today, let me make it personal as well. What this means is the glorious liberty of this for your life and your hope and your spiritual condition is this, is that even in your own life, your successes and your failures, the things that have rejoiced you, the things that have shattered your heart, your obedience to Christ and your sin before you came to Christ, the people that have wronged you, the people who have blessed you. However you want to expand and define that, God is taking everything that has ever happened in your life and He is sweeping it into the accomplishment of this great purpose, this great overarching purpose, that which you cannot understand, that which brings you low and humbles you and grieves you all things. God is administering all things. He is governing and directing all things, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, all of it. God doesn't miss a beat.

He hasn't lost track of a single incident. Somehow in an incalculable display of His perfect omniscience and sovereign decree, God takes all of that and incorporates it into the one great eternal purpose that He has to glorify Christ. Nothing in your life, beloved, has escaped the ultimate purpose of God. It's all there.

It's all included. And even in these times right now where things might seem just particularly bleak and black, here in verse 10 you have the ray of light that shines light on the darkness. It says in verse 10 that God is administering the universe to accomplish the purpose which He has revealed to His people and that purpose is to sum up all things in Christ.

In light of the disorder of the universe, let me say it this way. God is not a bystander to human rebellion. God is not a bystander to demonic rebellion. God is not a bystander to your unrewarded obedience. God is not indifferent to the sorrow of this life.

To the contrary, God is moving all of macro and all of micro history toward a supernatural conclusion that will display the glory of Christ in its incontestable splendor. There is a purpose, in other words, beloved, for it all. The incomparable Martyn Lloyd-Jones said this, and I quote, There is nothing higher than this, nothing beyond God's final purpose. It is bigger and greater than our personal salvation. In this verse, we are transported above the matter of our personal salvation into the realm of ultimate things, God's grand comprehensive final ultimate purpose. The human mind can never contemplate anything greater. God gives us no greater privilege than to be allowed to look into this.

End quote. This is the mystery. I haven't explained it yet. In case you were wondering, man, did I miss something?

You haven't missed it. Look at verse 10 with me again. We want to look at this just with some care, fitting of God's ultimate purpose. God has made known to us the fact that he is administering the universe suitable to the fullness of the time. When everything has accomplished its purpose, when the fullness of everything has been done, this is what the outcome will be. God is moving it in that direction, and he has made it known to us. That is, here it comes, the summing up of all things in Christ.

You roll off eight English words. The summing up of all things in Christ in eight simple English words comes out of the mouth the whole purpose of the universe. And everything that's ever happened, God is going to sum it up in Christ. What does it mean to sum it up? Well, to sum up, that word means to summarize.

It describes, watch this, stick with me now, because we're seeing from God's Word what the purpose of the universe is. That matters. That's pretty important. That's more important than anything. That word describes the focal point at the end of a speech that shows how each part of the speech relates to the whole.

Think about it this way. When an attorney gives his closing argument at the end of a trial, and he's standing before the jury box, and he's describing what they have just seen and heard, sometimes over a few hours, sometimes over days or weeks if it's a really long trial, when an attorney gives his closing argument, he is summing up the case. He pulls together the evidence. He talks about the different testimony that the witnesses gave, the evidence that was introduced, and he says, here's how it all fits together, and because it fits together like this, there's only one conclusion for you to reach. You should render a verdict in favor of my client. He's taken all of the individual parts of that entire trial, he summed it up in a logical, orderly way, and come to a conclusion that says this is the only outcome possible of what has been displayed to you. You should render a verdict in favor of my client.

That attorney has to account for every part of the case to persuade the jury to render the correct verdict. Beloved, multiply that by infinity. Multiply it by exponential infinity if there is such a concept. Multiply it by the millennia. Multiply it by the billions of people who have ever lived. Multiply it by the myriads upon myriads of angels. Scripture is saying that God is going to take all of that, including all of the disorder of the universe, and He is going to bring it to a climax that results in the glory of Christ being put on perfect display. We don't see it now. Without the revelation of Scripture, we couldn't imagine this kind of outcome because it seems like wickedness has run amok, that there is no more restraint on it.

Even the authorities that are entrusted with maintaining law and order are corrupt. How could there ever be anything good and worthy to come out of that? And yet, Scripture says that there is most certainly a coming time when Christ will return to earth. There is coming in the future the conquest of Satan, the subdual of the nations. Christ will subdue the nations in His righteousness. He will gather His people together. He will judge the wicked. Christ is going to, by an exercise of His omnipotent right arm of power, judge it all. Subdue it all.

Bring it all under His authority. And there will be a universal proclamation without dissent that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Turn over a couple of books to the book of Philippians just to remind you of a familiar passage.

Here we see the outcome of it all. There will be nothing left on the stage but Christ and a universal acclamation of His lordship. Verse 9, Philippians chapter 2.

For this reason also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Redeemed believers and elect angels will shout in triumph at His glory when He has brought all things under His feet. Demons, Satan, and the unrepentant will be cast into hell and their rebellion shown to have its end. Christ lord over the rebellious having cast them into prison never to come out again. Christ with His redeemed people shouting and declaring His glory.

And our privilege now is to have a foretaste of that as we say Jesus Christ is Lord here in this life. In other words, beloved, things in heaven and things on earth will be brought into line. Rebellion will be punished and then forbidden forever. The redeemed people of Christ whom He gave His life to secure will be there to acclaim and proclaim and announce and join in proclamation Jesus is Lord.

Voluntarily giving glory the wicked forced under the power of compulsion to acknowledge it themselves before they are sent away. And there will not be any longer a rebellious strand in the universe. It will all be brought into submission to Christ.

This is history's destination. All things will be subdued to Christ. All creation will acknowledge His Lordship. Christ will restore order. And the inconceivable objection of creation of man, of demons, to the rule of God will be banished forever. It will be silenced. And all that will be left will be this redeemed people of Christ.

This universe restored to where it should be. Now look at 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24. When Christ has returned and judged and rewarded the saints and it's all subdued to Him and He is at the very pinnacle.

No more challenge to His authority and reign. And it's all going to be underneath Him. Then will come a climactic display of inexpressible divine glory. In a way that I don't pretend to understand Christ will somehow hand over all of that to the Father as a great gift of intra-trinitarian love and the eternal state will begin. Chapter 15 verse 24 of 1 Corinthians 15. Then comes the end when He, meaning Christ, hands over the kingdom to the God and Father when Christ has abolished all rule and all authority and power for He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. Christ will subdue it all. All of creation will acknowledge His lordship and then Christ will take it and say, Father, here is what I have purchased.

I give it to you because I love you. This is unspeakable glory. God before time began appointed Christ to redeem a people that would join in this. At the top of the circle that we've been describing here, God alone in His glory through the rebellion of man at the cross, Christ was rejected in the most heinous display of rebellion. But then coming out of the cross, the resurrection, the proclamation of the gospel, people coming to saving faith in Christ, proclaiming His glory while God gives them breath on earth, and then all of this comes to a great climax when Christ comes to earth, quashes rebellion forever, and the redeemed people say glory to Christ, He is Lord over all. And then at that great final moment, Christ, you hear the rain, right?

This is no accident. Christ hands it over to the Father and the full harmony of it all has been restored. Creation is back to where it was at the beginning except that now there is a redeemed humanity praising God in addition to it. And the fullness of the revelation of the glory of God will be complete. Christ over all, the Father given it all, and this great expression of intra-Trinitarian love will be complete. It has pleased God in His incomprehensible kindness to us, not only to choose us, adopt us, and redeem us, it has pleased Him to make known to us, His people, His purpose for the universe.

We know the outcome of history before it happens. And beloved, in one way or another, this great climax of Christ handing it all over to the Father somehow, we're going to see it with our own eyes. We're going to be part of the gift.

We're going to participate in that great inexpressible time. God has saved you for such a time as that if you're a Christian. And to realize that that will be part of our future experience, that we will actually witness and participate in that, that we will be part of what Christ hands over to the Father, it shatters the mind, it humbles the heart.

What should you do? Bow in worship. Silence your hearts, silence your tongue, recognize that God has displayed things of unspeakable glory, that sinful men should not by right be entitled to, and yet in kindness He has made it known to us. There is a purpose greater than our lives that is at work in the gospel.

There is a purpose at the work in history that transcends the greatest human leaders who have ever lived. Wars will be silenced. Nations will be subdued to the very things that God has shown us in Scripture.

And we get to know it in advance. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. To the praise of His glory, to the praise of His glory, to the praise of His glory! And all of God's people said, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, and Amen. The things God has revealed to us in Scripture are indeed so exceedingly wonderful, it really boggles the mind that the Lord would be mindful of us. Sadly, these truths are invisible to non-believers, but we must continue to proclaim those truths anyhow. Pastor Don Green will have more of our series, Secure in Christ Forever, next time on The Truth Pulpit, so plan to join us.

Right now though, Don's back in studio with some closing thoughts. Friend, one of the things that I'm always mindful of when I'm here in studio, is I'm mindful that there are people out in the audience that are like I used to be, thinking that they were Christians, but not really having the life of God in their soul. You've perhaps read the Bible or gone to church, but you've never really turned your life to Christ in repentance and saving faith.

I was like that. I know what it's like to be self-deceived. I just encourage you, if you've just viewed Christianity as something kind of casual and not all that important, my friend, examine yourself, see if you're truly born again, and let that work of God in your heart lead you to truth, lead you to the Scriptures, so that you would enter into the profound life that belongs only to those who are true Christians. Thanks, Don. And friend, we hope you'll visit thetruthpulpit.com to learn more about our ministry and to get free copies of this series and plus much more. That's all at thetruthpulpit.com. And now for Don Green, this is Bill Wright. We'll see you again next time as our teacher continues teaching God's people God's Word from the truth of God.