God's Secret Plan: File #2

Paul's epistle to the church at Ephesus is one of his more general letters--it is not addressed to particular problems or issues (as are 1 Corinthians or Galatians); rather, Paul seems to have taken this opportunity to lay out for his readers “God's Secret Plan” (NET Bible, Ephesians 3:9), the plan which God had been working out for His people, His church.

After a greeting which is essentially similar to the opening of Paul's other letters, Paul moves into the meat of his letter. Ephesians 1:3-14 can be considered the basic thesis or big idea of Ephesians. In this section, Paul clearly lays out the plan of God for us. Before we examine this further, there are two things we should note: first, that this section, in Greek, is actually one single sentence, though modern versions break it down into three or more. The second thing to notice is that it is actually a doxology, a word of praise--the entire thing is placed in the form of a note of praise to God. The title for this section could aptly be: “To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done.” Verse 3 works as a sort of summary or introduction of all Paul has to say: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” This is the keynote. We are blessed in heavenly places, an anticipation of the later of image of our sitting with Christ. (As I mentioned previously, the first half of Ephesians is dedicated to this idea of our SITTING with Christ, enjoying blessings in His presence.)

This section is rather long and it can be hard to breakdown into individual sections. I think the best way to approach it is like this: the plan of salvation (which is the theme of this section, as the whole book) is something constructed; it is something deliberately made. With everything that is constructed--everything from a Teddy Bear to a fighter jet--there are three questions you can ask about it: Who? How? Why? Everything that is deliberately made or constructed had someone who designed it, who came up with the basic idea--then, in someway, it was taken from being a mere concept to be an actuality--and all this was done in order to fulfill some purpose. All that is true of anything crafted or manufactured--and it is also true of this plan of salvation. This passage, then, can be seen as telling us the who, how, and why of this secret plan.

First, where does this plan come from? What originated it? The answer is God. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who... has chosen us... before the foundation of the world.” (Granted, since we are calling this the “Plan of God” this answer should have been obvious from the beginning.) Throughout this passage, we are reminded that this plan is the plan of God, that it is the purpose he made, “his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.” This plan was made by God and God alone, He is the originator and designer.

We may be used to this that we miss how really startling it is. Sometimes if a debtor goes to a creditor, the creditor will be willing to negotiate some kind of settlement or even forgiveness of a debt. How often does a creditor go looking for a debtor, offering to forgive a loan without being asked? How often does the government send police out to catch outstanding criminals in order to give them pardons? In this world, that's just not the way it usually works. But when man sinned, he didn't come up with a plan of salvation and then ask God to enact it. He didn't even go to God and ask if God could find a way of salvation and then God scratched His head and say, “Well, maybe we can work something out.” God was the originator of the plan of salvation, crafting it even before the need for it arose. Like a general preparing his troops even before war has been declared, God prepared a way for man to be saved even before man sinned. This passage speaks of God's choice being “before the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8 references Jesus as being the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This was something God had planned out from the beginning. Man had no part in creating it because it was created even before man. 

It was something God came up with and executed on His own. Verse 11 says it was done “according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." There are two ideas here. First, that God originates this plan--all plans--in the counsel of his own will; He makes His decisions in Himself. The word “counsel” originally meant a senate or board, a group of men who made decisions as for a government. (Barnes, Ephesians 1:11) Just as a board or committee may meet and come to a decision: “This is what we're going to do. This is our plan”--just so, God has, in Himself, in His own will, has come to a decision, has come up with a plan. But sometimes a committee or senate may come up with a plan but be unable to put it into practice--but God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. In other words, God comes up with own plans and then He orders everything in accordance to that plan. When we make plans, we always have to leave a margin of error for unseen circumstances, for things beyond our control. But God never has to do that, for to God there are no unforeseen circumstances, there are no things beyond his control. Whatever God sets out to do gets done.

Verse 8 says that God worked “in all wisdom and prudence.” It's not entirely clear, but this seems to refer to the two phases or kinds of thinking involved in making a plan. On one side, you have the abstract side, the coming up with the general idea, the creative vision of what you want to accomplish. On the other side, you have the practical side, the stratagizing, figuring out how to put the plan into effect. Two often, these two phases of thought are separated and the men who know what to do don't know how to do it and those who know who to get things done don't know what needs done.  But God is the source of both kinds of knowledge and so planned out this secret plan with ALL wisdom and prudence, knowing both what needed to be done and how to go about getting it done.

Verse 9 lets us into the secret of God's motive in all this---it was all done “according to his good pleasure.” There are somethings in life we would do only under the threat of violence, under coercion. There are other things we would do, but only grudgingly, under slight pressure and persuasion from other people. But there are some things we do simply because we want to do them--things which we chose, in and of ourselves, to do. And that is the idea behind the Greek word translated “good pleasure.” It is that which we chose to do because we want to. And that was how God originated the plan of salvation. It was something God chose to do, not something He was talked into doing, not something He did reluctantly. God did it because He wanted to.

Verse 7 also has this thought, saying that God worked out of the “riches of his grace.” (Several commentators point out that “riches of ....” is a favorite phrase of Paul's and occurs often in his writings.) God acted out of grace, generosity or favor which is given because of the decision of the giver not the worth of the receiver--but God didn't just have a little bit of grace, He was rich in grace, He had an ample supply of grace. Very seven says that he has “abounded toward us” in His grace. The NET Bible says that “he lavished [the riches of his grace] on us.” Occasionally, when some person forgives you, they give you the feeling that they really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to scrounge up enough forgiveness for you--but God didn't plan out our salvation out of the last poor remnant of his grace, but out of the riches of his grace--the implication being that after God had bestowed all the vast amounts of grace needed to bring about the salvation of mankind, He still had plenty left.

The Bible uses the word pro-or-i-dzo to describe God's planning. KJV and most other translations give this as “predestine” but the words destine and destiny are slippery words in modern English. The literal idea of this word is to determine or mark out before hand. Adam Clarke says the original idea of the word was geographical and had to do with the marking out and determining of boundaries. He believes that Paul is thinking here of the possession of the land of Canaan and how God marked out, even before the Children of Israel entered into the land, where each tribe would dwell and what the boarders of their land would be. The basic idea here is that God planned out in advance the way of salvation. God doesn't make things up as He goes along. Just as an architect plans out all the dimensions of a house before the first nail is pounded, so God had fully laid out the plan for his church before the first sinner had sinned alone been saved. But architects are only human and sometimes have to adjust their plan based on circumstances--hence the expression, “back to the drawing board.” But God never has to take his plan back to the drawing board. It is already settled, it is planned out in advance and never needs to be changed.

We see this at work in the story of Noah. When God told Noah to build an ark, (Genesis 6:14-16) God gave Noah very specific instruction in order for him to escape the Flood. He didn't give him a multiple choice selection--He didn't give him a choice between an ark and a submarine. Godeven specifically told him the dimensions of the ark, the material to use, and the general plan. That was determined in advance. That was pre-determined or, if you prefer, predestined. When Noah (who was a preacher of righteousness) was preaching, no one could say, “I don't want to be saved on an Ark--I want to be saved in some other way.” That option simply wasn't there. The choice was simply between being saved on the Ark or being lost in the Flood. And in this matter of ultimate salvation, this plan of God, we do not get to chose the plan. Because God is the originator of the plan, He gets to set the boundaries of the plan. (And let's be honest, if it were up to us to set up the plan, we would make a dreadful mess of it.) The plan of God, the plan of salvation, is pre-destined, it is marked out ahead of time. We cannot change it. We can only chose either to accept it and be saved or reject it and be lost.

So the “Who” question--who originated or designed this plan?--is answered: the plan was crafted by God the Father, from before the foundation of the world. God didn't have to ask anyone else for advice; He didn't assemble a thinktank of the angels to come up with a plan. He didn't have to be coaxed or begged to come up with this secret plan--He founded it from before the foundation of the world, out of His own good pleasure. But what exactly is this plan which God has chosen? “How” did God accomplish this plan?

The main thing to note is that this plan is centered in Christ. The phrase “in Christ” or “by [Jesus] Christ” is found five times throughout this passage. We are blessed in Christ (v. 3), chosen in Christ (v. 4), brought unto adoption by Christ (v. 5), obtained an inheritance in Christ (v. 11), and sealed with the Holy Spirit in Christ (v. 13). Verse 6 says that we are “accepted in the Beloved.” Most commentators feel that Beloved here is another name for Christ as the Beloved Son of God, and therefore we have another reference that we are accepted in Christ. Jesus Christ is the central factor of this plan. Specifically, this plan involves the death and resurrection of Christ as the dynamic source of our salvation. Verse 7 puts it: “We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” This is the basic, central message of the gospel--that there is salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who brings redemption and forgiveness, reconciliation with God. Paul will go into further details about this later on, but the main point to grasp here is Jesus Christ was the active agent in creating our salvation. “The Father planned/The Saviour bled and died.”

This was the plan which God made. Verse 4 says that God “hath chosen us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.” From the very beginning, God had this plan and that plan included Jesus. God didn't come up with the general plan and then realize at the last minute that He needed someone to execute the plan and start looking around for volunteers. From the foundation of the world, this was always God's plan. We shouldn't picture it as if God gives us the gift of salvation and if we turn it around, we'll find some small print somewhere on it: “Made by Christ.” Jesus isn't like the mailman, leaving the gift of salvation in our mailbox and then driving on. The plan of salvation is centered in Christ.

We have salvation in Christ. Verse 13 shows how we personally enter into this salvation. By trusting and believing in Christ. Though faith we enter a vital union with Christ. Jesus described it at the union of a branch and a tree. A branch has life in it because it is connected to the tree. Paul elsewhere uses the analogy of a body. My hand has life because it is connected to the rest of my body. Just like that, we have life because we are united to Christ who is the source of life. That is why it is so important to note that we are blessed IN Christ and have an inheritance IN Christ. (In Christ is one of Paul's favorite phrases) In a sense, God has not given us salvation as a separate, independent entity. We have salvation because we are united to Christ. Paul speaks of this elsewhere, especially in Romans--we share in Christ's death and so are free of the wrath of God and we share in Christ's resurrection and so have new life. But all this is possible only in Christ.

So this salvation is provided by and in Christ? But what exactly is this salvation? What does it mean to be saved? There are many images for and aspects of salvation used in the New Testament and even throughout Ephesians. But Paul uses a specific image here: God has given us “the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself... in whom [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance... in whom [Christ] ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” (v 5, 11, 13-14) The word used in verse 5 for adoption is a legal term and seems to mean literally to place as a son. An important component of the concept here is the right of inheritance. If a man had been adopted as a son than he would receive in an inheritance from his adopted father, just as if he had been a natural child. If a man had both a biological son and an adopted son, the estate would be divided between them, just as if they had both been biological sons. One who had received the adoption of sons was, for all legal purposes, the same as a natural son, particularly in respect to the right of inheritance. (See Clarke on Romans 8:15, NET Bible note on Ephesians 1:5, and Strong #5206)

The idea here is that through Christ we become the children of God, with full access to the blessings of God. We are blessed in heavenly places because we have been adopted into the heavenly family. Just as a poor boy, adopted into a rich family, would have access and rights to a rich inheritance, so as Christians, adopted into the family of God, “we have obtained an inheritance.” We have Great Expectations.

It is important to note that this is forward-looking. Though our adoption happened in the past, our inheritance is in the future. Verses 13-14 speak of the Holy Spirit as “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” The word earnest is a legal term for a down-payment. A down-payment is part of a payment that you get to begin with as a promise that the rest is following. And the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the blessings we now enjoy as Christians, is a down-payment until the time when we come into full possession of our spiritual inheritance.

So that is the answer to the HOW question--salvation was obtained by Jesus Christ, though His death and resurrection and we, by faith in Him, receive the adoption of sons and an inheritance in God. And that brings us to the WHY question. Why did God make this secret plan? What was it he was trying to accomplish in all this? What is the final purpose of it all?

There are two sides to the answer to this question: one is our side, one is God's. On our side, the answer is verse 4. God made the plan of salvation for this purpose: that “we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” The word holy means that which is set apart for God and, by implication, that which is perfect or complete, even, that which is like God. This thought is mirrored in the word “without blame” which means “faultless” “unblameable” “unblemished” (Strong, #299)--to be holy and without blame means to be perfect so that nobody can find anything wrong with you. Specifically, it means to be like God.

We can understand this picture if we go back to the picture of Adoption and Sonship.  A father desires the best for son, whatever he views as best. In fact, you can sometimes gauge what a man thinks is really important by what he desires for his children. If he values money, then his main hope will be that his children are rich. If he values physical strength or good looks, that will be what he hopes for his children. And so the list goes on. And that is also true for God, as our father--He also desires the best for us; His end goal for us is to find the best there is to find. And the best thing there is is to be like God, to share His nature--to be holy and without blame. Before the Fall, in the beginning, that was what God created man to be and even with all that has happened since, this is still God's end goal. Everything He did and is doing and will do for us is directed to this end.

And though this may be a side note, it is important to note who God is doing this to, who He desires to be holy and without blame. “We.” Paul doesn't say “me” or “you”, he says “We.” This is God's plan for all Christians. All those who will be part of His people are headed for this destination. It is for all Christians and for the church as a whole, something Paul will have more to say about later. The church has often been pictured as a boat, and this, then, is the port for which the boat is headed. And if the boat is headed towards a certain port, than so are all the passengers on the boat. God's will is for all of us--all who are willing--to be holy and without blame before Him.

We are, in the end, to be holy and without blame before Him in love. There's debate about how to interpret the phrase “in love”--there's different ways to read it and, really, all of them are true. God desires us to be holy and without blame because of His love for us. God chose us in and by His love to be holy and without blame. And what God chose us to be was holy and without blame in our love--complete and perfect in our love for Him and for one another.

Another, closely connected reason is also given in this passage. Verse 6 speaks of the “praise of the glory of his grace.” Verse 12 says that “we should be to the praise of his glory” and verse 14 has the phrase “unto the praise of his glory.” I'm not sure exactly what this means, but it seems to have two sides. We, as humans, give various awards or tokens to recognize achievement and talent in our fellow-man--ribbons, medals, certificates and so on. They are symbols of what a man has done. But while these are useful and right in their place, there is a better test of man's achievement. If you really want to know the skill of a cook, do not look at their collection of blue ribbons--eat a sample of their food. To find the success of a teacher, don't examine their awards, examine their students. And we, as Christians, are living testimonies, living medals of God's power. Our lives, our very existence should be proof to the world of what God has done, and therefore is a kind of praise and glory to God. That is one side of it. The other side is this--the “glory of God” is the revelation of who God is. The Heavens declare the glory of God, because they show forth the attributes of God, His power and His creativitity. And as we, as Christians, become like God, as become holy and without blame in love, we more and more reflect the glory and the image of God. Just as a sliver of glass or polished metal may reflect the blazing glory of the sun, so finite human beings, redeemed by grace, may in time and in eternity reflect the magnificent wholeness of God, may be to the praise of the glory of His grace.

But there is another reason behind this secret plan of God--a final, ultimate reason. It is found in 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.”

The town of Wallace, Idaho bares the somewhat unusual distinction of being the center of the universe (per a mayoral decision in 2004). It may strike us as strange that the whole universe might revolve around one town in Idaho--but what Paul says is nearly as strange. Because of His incarnation, His death and resurrection, Jesus of Nazarus (a man who lived and died like all of us, only without sin) is the center of the universe, the linchpin of all God's plans, the one who will judge all things and to whom all things will ultimately be subject. This seems to be true in some sense beyond the simple fact that as God He is above all things anyway. He has now earned the right of conquest as well as the right of succession and so in a doubly true sense: “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 11:15) The whole plan of salvation is built around Christ and of him and by him and for him are all things and now nothing in this universe can be fully understood except in reference to Jesus.

This is the final, if-you-will, the cosmic scope of God's plan. Now Jesus is forming his kingdom in this world through his believers, but someday all things will be under his leadership in one kingdom, one church. Today some people bow to him, but one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. An old gospel song asked: “Is this vile world a friend to grace?” Now, we have to admit that it often is not. But there is coming a time when this world will die and be reborn in the image of and under the leadership of Jesus Christ. This is the final end or goal of God's secret plan--this is the thing we have been chosen to enter into. This is the kingdom in which we have an inheritance, being holy and without blame in love as testimony to the glorious grace of God.