Tag: purpose

Ephesians 3:11 – Eternal Plan – Accomplished!

Posted on by Will

according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Truth to Learn

God has already accomplished His eternal plan.

 

Behind the Words

“Eternal” is from the Greek word aiōn, which we have seen several times recently. It refers to “an indefinitely long period of time.” The most literal translation of this word into English is “age.” The form used in this verse literally translates to “of the ages.” So, Paul is talking about God’s “purpose of the ages” or His “eternal purpose” as we have in this translation.

The word “purpose” is from prothesis, which is based on the verb protithēmi. This is made up of pro, meaning “before, in time or position” and tithēmi, meaning “to place.” Thus, prosthesis refers to a “setting forth” or “determining ahead of time.” This could also be translated as “plan.”

“Accomplished” is translated from poieō, meaning “to make” or “to do.” It is expressed in the aorist tense and indicative mood indicating action that was completed at a point in time in the past.

 

Meaning Explained

Paul began a statement in verse one that was then interrupted in verse two, and he won’t resume his original thought until verse fourteen. What appears in verses two through thirteen is a sort of parenthesis that talks about the mystery of the church age in which Gentiles and Jews are united in the body of Christ, co-heirs of God’s estate, and joint partakers of the promise of salvation through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

One fascinating thing about this parenthesis is that it closely parallels the parenthesis that we refer to as the church age. Before Christ’s first coming, God was dealing almost exclusively with the Jews. In fact, from Genesis chapter twelve through the remainder of the Old Testament, the focus is on the descendants of Abraham. However, when the Messiah (Jesus) came and was rejected by the Jews, God turned to the Gentiles. This church age (time of the church) will continue until the rapture, when the church will be removed from this earth. Then, God’s focus will once again be on the Jews as He ushers his faithful ones through “… great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21)”

During the parenthesis, the church age, God is revealing His mystery to us (His church) and to the spirit beings in heaven through us (His church). In today’s verse we learn that this is not just by accident. This is all part of God’s plan of the ages. Before He created anything, God (that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), put together a plan. This plan included the choosing of every member of the church, according to the fourth verse of the letter to the Ephesians. That plan included the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins so that we can live in His presence eternally. And, according to today’s verse, He has accomplished His plan in Jesus Christ.

 

Application

Let me urge you to take a few minutes to mentally “step away” from the world system and all of its distractions. Do you realize that you are part of God’s eternal plan, and you have been part of that plan since before He created this physical world? Not only was your salvation part of His plan, but He has completely accomplished His plan in Jesus Christ. Now – what are you going to do with this knowledge?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 1:11 – His Free Will

Posted on by Will

In Him, in whom we also obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

Truth to Learn

All of the aspects of our salvation have come about because God determined them of His own free will.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “we … obtained an inheritance” is klēroō. Literally, it means “to cast lots.”  By application it means “to allot” or “to assign something.” It is expressed here in the aorist tense (a completed action in the past) and the passive voice (something done to the subject). Thus, it refers to something that was allotted to us; that is, an inheritance which was assigned to us at a point in time in the past.

“Being predestined” is from the Greek word prooridzō, which we saw back in verse five. There we learned that it means “to establish or determine something beforehand.”

“The purpose” is from protithēmi, meaning “something put in place beforehand.”

The word “works” is from energeō, which means “to be active, to make something happen, to do something, or to work.”

The phrase “the counsel of His will” is from tēn boulēn tou thelēmatos autou. The two key words are boulēn, meaning “a wish or a desire” and thelēmatos, meaning “a determination.” We could paraphrase this as “The desire of His determination.” Thus, this expression indicates something that God determined to do simply because He wanted to do it.

 

Meaning Explained

Back in verse two we noted that the content and meaning of these verses is sort of like drinking from a fire hose. Paul has packed a lot of doctrine (teaching) into each of these verses.

Here he tells us that “In Him,” that is, in Christ, we obtained (past completed action) an inheritance from God. This is not something that we earned, but something that is freely given to us simply because we have been adopted into God’s family (see verse five). Paul also tells us that this inheritance (our adoption), our redemption, and the forgiveness of our sins were all put in place beforehand. All of this goes back to His choosing us before He created anything. This is the point in time (actually before time) when God determined the plan of salvation and set it in place. For those of you who believe that we can somehow lose our salvation, how can we possibly lose something that God put in place before the world was created?

The last phrase of this verse is a powerful statement of how our God operates. It says that God does everything He does simply because He wants to. He is not constrained to do anything. Nobody can force or even entice God to do anything. So what Paul is telling us here is that the entire plan of salvation, from His choosing us, to His adopting us, to His paying the ransom for our sins, to His casting our sins far, far away, to granting us an inheritance, is all done simply because He wanted to do it. In other words, God did not do all these things because we chose to believe the gospel message and get saved. That would be us telling God what to do. The entire plan of salvation is all His doing and only His doing.

 

Application

As hard as it is for many of us to believe, our salvation is all God’s doing. That shouldn’t make us complacent, it should make us eternally grateful and humbled before Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will! Praise God!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 3:11 – Eternal Plan – Accomplished!

Posted on by Will

Ephesians 3:11  – Eternal Plan – Accomplished!

according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Truth to Learn

God has already accomplished His eternal plan.

Behind the Words

“Eternal” is from the Greek word aiōn, which we have seen several times recently. It refers to “an indefinitely long period of time.” The most literal translation of this word into English is “age.” The form used in this verse literally translates to “of the ages.” So, Paul is talking about God’s “purpose of the ages” or His “eternal purpose” as we have in this translation.

The word “purpose” is from prothesis, which is based on the verb protithēmi. This is made up of pro, meaning “before, in time or position” and tithēmi, meaning “to place.” Thus, prosthesis refers to a “setting forth” or “determining ahead of time.”

“Accomplished” is translated from poieō, meaning “to make” or “to do.” It is expressed in the aorist tense and indicative mood indicating action that was completed at a point in time in the past.

Meaning Explained

Paul began a statement in verse one that was then interrupted in verse two, and he won’t resume his original thought until verse fourteen. What appears in verses two through thirteen is a sort of parenthesis that talks about the mystery of the church age in which Gentiles and Jews are united in the body of Christ, co-heirs of God’s estate, and joint partakers of the promise of salvation through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

One fascinating thing about this parenthesis is that it closely parallels the parenthesis that we refer to as the church age. Before Christ’s first coming, God was dealing almost exclusively with the Jews. In fact, from Genesis chapter twelve through the remainder of the Old Testament, the focus is on the descendants of Abraham. However, when the Messiah (Jesus) came and was rejected by the Jews, God turned to the Gentiles. This church age will continue until the time of the rapture when the church will be removed from this earth. Then, God’s focus will once again be on the Jews as He ushers his faithful ones through “… great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21)”

During the parenthesis, the church age, God is revealing His mystery to us (His church) and to the spirit beings in heaven through us (His church). In today’s verse we learn that this is not just by accident. This is all part of God’s plan of the ages. Before He created anything, God (that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), put together a plan. This plan included the choosing of every member of the church, according to the fourth verse of the letter to the Ephesians. That plan included the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins so that we can live in His presence eternally. And, according to today’s verse, He accomplished His plan in Jesus Christ.

Application

Let me urge you to take a few minutes to mentally “step away” from the world system and all of its distractions. Do you realize that you are part of God’s eternal plan and you have been since before He created this physical world? Not only was your salvation part of His plan, but He has completely accomplished His plan in Jesus Christ. Now – what are you going to do with this knowledge?

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:

Ephesians 1:11 – His Free Will

Posted on by Will

Ephesians 1:11  – His Free Will

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

Truth to Learn

All of the aspects of our salvation have come about because God determined them of His own free will.

Behind the Words

The word translated “we have obtained an inheritance” is klēroō. Literally, it means “to cast lots.”  By application it means “to allot” or “to assign something.” It is expressed here in the aorist tense (a completed action in the past) and the passive voice (something done to the subject). Thus, it refers to something that was allotted to us; that is, an inheritance which was assigned to us at a point in time in the past.

“Being predestined” is from the Greek word prooridzō, which we saw back in verse five. There we learned that it means “to establish or determine something beforehand.”

“The purpose” is from protithēmi, meaning “something put in place beforehand.”

The word “works” is from energeō, which means “to be active, to make something happen, to do something, or to work.”

The phrase “the counsel of His will” is from tēn boulēn tou thelēmatos autou. The two key words are boulēn, meaning “a wish or a desire” and thelēmatos, meaning “a determination.” Thus, this expression indicates something that God determined to do simply because He wanted to do it.

Meaning Explained

Back in verse two we noted that the content and meaning of these verses is sort of like drinking from a fire hose. Paul has packed a lot of doctrine (teaching) into each of these verses.

Here he tells us that “In Him,” that is, in Christ, we obtained (past completed action) an inheritance from God. This is not something that we earned, but something that is freely given to us simply because we have been adopted into God’s family (see verse five). Paul also tells us that this inheritance, our adoption, our redemption, and the forgiveness of our sins were all put in place beforehand. All of this goes back to His choosing us before He created anything. This is the point in time (actually before time) when God determined the plan of salvation and set it in place.

The last phrase of this verse is a powerful statement of how our God operates. It says that God does everything He does simply because He wants to. He is not constrained to do anything. Nobody can force or even entice God to do anything. So what Paul is telling us here is that the entire plan of salvation, from His choosing us, to His adopting us, to His paying the ransom for our sins, to His casting our sins far, far away, to granting us an inheritance, is all done simply because He wanted to do it. In other words, God did not do all these things because we chose to believe the gospel message and get saved. That would be us telling God what to do. The entire plan of salvation is all His doing and only His doing.

Application

As hard as it is for many of us to believe, our salvation is all God’s doing. That shouldn’t make us complacent, it should make us eternally grateful and humbled before Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will! Praise God!

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to: