This week a brief note on eternal purpose. Without going into great detail here, we should remember that God is Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Eternal. Out of those attributes of His character, it is reasonable to understand that He is not making things as He goes. He holds eternity past in one hand and eternity future in the other. He has an eternal purpose and is working an eternal plan that is wrapped up in Jesus and focused on us as the object of His love in Christ, and that we might manifest that purpose in Jesus as His body, the church, the fullness of Him who fills all in all .
[Ephesian 3:8-12 NASB95] 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly [places.] 11 [This was] in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
[Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB95] 18 [I pray that] the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. [These are] in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly [places,] 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Rather than dig into the understanding of how we fit into all this manifesting Jesus to those in heavenly places. Let me turn to a passage in Ephesians that is sandwiched between these two, that deals with the more practical aspects of displaying Him and His love .
[Ephesians 2:4-10 NASB95] 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
God has loved us and by His grace He has seated us with Himself in Jesus.
Yes we have been saved by grace through faith as His gift to us, and so we do not, in fact cannot, work to please Him or gain favor.
But let us understand we have not been just saved FROM something, namely death and judgement. We have been saved UNTO something. Namely eternal life and righteousness in Jesus. And good works, … but not the kind you dream up to gain favor.
Now, most Christians know well verses 8-9 that proclaim salvation by grace through faith, even though most streams of the faith push them towards keeping it and pleasing Him by works. But vs 8-9 make it clear works have nothing to do with salvation, it and the faith that produces it come as a gift of God.
However most believers could not quote verse 10, 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them, which makes it clear that the outworking of salvation by faith is that we have been created (anew) in Christ for good works. But, these works are not stuff we dream up to try to be good, please, or appease God. No!
These are works the God, the Father, has preordained and prepared BEFOREHAND, as a part of His eternal purpose and plan in Christ for us to do.
The question is never WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? That will only lead to the frustration of Martha (see Luke 10). Serving needs and hoping we are doing what He wants, ending in stress, frustration and judgment of others.
The real question is WHAT IS JESUS DOING NOW, IN THIS MOMENT, AND…. DOES HE WANT ME TO CO-LABOR WITH HIM IN IT IN THIS SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCE. That causes us to focus on Him and what He is doing, and to listen for His direction. Just as He focussed on the Father and what He was doing in His earthly ministry. If the answer is Yes in the situation, go and do what He directs by the Spirit with His enabling. If the answer is NO in the situation rest, knowing He has other servants for this need.
The key is listening. While Martha found frustration, Mary was sitting at His feet listening to Him, so she could know how to serve Him the way He wanted to be served. Not just in a way she thought might be pleasing.
Remember we serve the Lord, not needs.
And when you are yoked (a yoke is an implement of labor) to Him you find the yoke is easy and the burden (work ) is light and you find …. imagine in the labor… you find rest for your soul. (see Matthew 11:28-30)
Much more could be said for understanding. But keeping in mind dreamed up works of self righteousness accomplishes little but bringing frustration is simply a form of leaning on your own understanding . Co-laboring with Him, under His direction, in the work the Father has preordained that you walk out in Him brings peace, rest, and accomplishes much because it is done from faith that comes from what He has spoken in the moment or circumstance.
Consider again. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
May we keep our head in the yoke and be sensitive to the voice of the Spirit as we live and move in Jesus, abiding in the vine, doing the works God has prepared for us to do.
[John 15:5 NASB95] 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.