Studies In The Kingdom Of God

Volume 1: Chapter 10: The Mystery of God's Eternal Purpose Revealed

"He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth." Ephesians 1:9-10 (emphasis mine)

When it comes to our own lives and how we live from day to day while still thinking about and planning for the future; sometimes we find ourselves thinking something like, "If I only knew what was going to happen in the future, it would be a lot easier to understand and put into perspective the things that are happening right now." We think that if we can catch a glimpse of "the big picture" of what God is doing; a basic knowledge and understanding of what is going to take place in the future, it will give us a point of reference for focusing our activities right now, as well as a hope that we can somehow be actively involved in the Kingdom activities that will bring these future events to pass. It is the desire of each one of us to be actively involved in something that is bigger than we are.

In regard to what is going to take place upon the earth as it relates to God's Kingdom, His people, and all of humanity; God has made much of His will and His purposes known to us. He has told us, "Do two men walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it? Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city, has not the Lord done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?"

In this scripture from the book of the prophet Amos, God is telling us that there are principles that govern natural behavior in creation and there are principles that govern spiritual behavior, including the behavior and activities of the Kingdom of God. One principle regarding His own behavior that God Himself has established and chosen to reveal to us is that of communicating His current and future purposes, plans, and activities to His people. Not that God tells us every detail of what He is doing and will do, but He does speak to us about those things that He considers significant to His purposes for us and for the rest of His creation.

More than just His activities and plans; through the scriptures God reveals Himself to us - His very nature and character. God tells us that He is, by nature, generous. He is a giver and not a withholder. He reveals Himself to those who seek after Him. Therefore, in accordance with His revealed nature and character, He does not shrink back from establishing and building relationships with people. In fact, God desires and actively pursues relationships with all of us. If this were not true of Him, why would He take the initiative to communicate with us about Himself, His purposes, and His activities in the first place?

As His Kingdom people, God wants us to know Him and what He is doing because He wants us to recognize and understand how the experiences of our individual lives and our corporate lives together contribute to the success and fulfillment of His overall purposes and plans...the "big picture". He wants us to know that we are significant to Him, to what He is doing now, and to what He will be doing in the ages to come. We, as followers of Christ and His Kingdom people, will be a vital part of His governmental administration when He returns to the earth to establish the Reign of God at the end of this present age, and beyond. As His Kingdom people, now, we are vital to the growth and expansion of His Kingdom on the earth, in this age.

You could say that our lives are made up of experiences that resemble individual pieces of a puzzle. These seemingly random, disjointed pieces of our Christian experience, which often do not seem to make much sense to us at the time, actually do fit together to compose a picture of what God is doing in and through our lives to accomplish His eternal purposes. Yet, this "picture" of our own individual life is but a small puzzle piece of a much larger picture – the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Our own "puzzle piece" must be joined together with the "puzzle pieces" belonging to the rest of God's people if we are to truly see the "big picture" of God's eternal purposes and plans coming to pass. This is why the community of believers and the building of relationships with one another are so important to God and His purposes. We not only see the purpose and activities of God in our own life, we see it in the lives of others.