God's ultimate plan by Richard Roy

God’s ultimate plan. ‗God‘s ultimate plan is to unify all of creation under the headship of Christ‘. 1 ‗The divine purpose is to sum up all things

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‗[The] quality of the Church‘s corporate life has everything to do with fulfilling its role in the world. As it embodies the unity it already possesses, the Church fulfils its calling to be the paradigm of the cosmic unity which is the goal of the salvation God provides in Christ (cf. 1:10).‘ 3

Text: ‗… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me‘ (John 17:21-23). In our text is found the Fathers‘ primary purpose of Jesus‘ advent, life and death; that is, to unite his creation together into his loving Fatherhood (Eph 3:14-15). This is the place of ultimate fulfilment, peace and meaning in life. It is God‘s grand plan for eternity; to have all his creation together with and in him (John 17:24; Eph 1:9-10; Col 1:19-20). The kind of unity portrayed in the text is phenomenal. In the same way that the Father and the Son are one, Jesus prayed that all who trust in him would also be one in him, or more correctly, ‗one in us‘ meaning one with the Trinity. Astoundingly God is inviting us into the life of the Father, Son and Spirit, into an intimate and ‗thrilling communion‘.4 This is the truest expression of family since family originated in the Trinity. The Father longs for his estranged creation as portrayed in the parable of the waiting Father (usually called the parable of the Prodigal Son – Luke 15:11-31). In light of the Father‘s purpose, a good question to ask is, ‗What is the Father doing?‘, so that we, like Jesus, may only do the Father‘s work‘ (John 5:17, 19). Jesus said that the Father is always working. There is no passivity with God; his Spirit is constantly at work. Second, in tandem with the Father, Jesus said that he also worked and thus only did what he saw the Father doing. To answer the question, ‗what is the Father doing?‘, let‘s consider further his purpose in sending Jesus to live, die and rise again. Regarding his earthly ministry, Jesus said: ‗I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd‘ (John 10:16). The gathering of people who were not of Jewish origin was part of Jesus‘ mandate. The result of gathering these ‗sheep‘ was that there would be one new people of God made up of Jews and non-Jews. This purpose is further confirmed in John‘s comment that, ‗He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one‘ (John 11:51-2). The high priest predicted that Jesus‘ death was for the people of Israel and specifically that they might be brought together and made one. In addition, he confirmed Jesus‘ previous statement about sheep that were not of ‗this pen‘, saying that his death was ‗not only for that nation‘ but that both Jews and other nations would be gathered into one fold. In relation to the Father‘s purpose in Christ, Paul affirms John words, saying, ‗And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ‘ (Eph 1:9-10). Paul also said: ‗For God was pleased to

Arthur G. Patzia, ‗Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon‘, in New International Biblical Commentary, ed. W. Ward Gasque (Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1984), 10: 155. 2 Andrew T. Lincoln, ‗Ephesians‘, in Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1990), 42: 344-345. 3 Lincoln, ‗Ephesians‘, 42: xciv. 4 J. G. Millar, ‗People of God‘ in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, eds. T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001).

have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross‘ (Col 1:19-20). The Father‘s supreme goal, therefore, in Christ‘s ministry, sufferings and resurrection was the gathering together of a new community; the new people of God, the church. In addition, and secondary to his church, the Pauline verses say that ‗all things in heaven and on earth‘ are to be gathered together into one because of the cross. In this may be implied every condition in creation that is in disorder such as poverty, injustice, and the environment. One conclusion to be drawn from what we have discovered to be God‘s ultimate plan is the importance of the church. We may say, therefore, that the church is his objective; not that the church has an objective, but that it is the goal. The Father‘s goal is to gather all who believe into union with himself through the redemptive work of Christ and by means of the Spirit so that there may be one family. In light of this purpose, to say that the purpose of the church is mission is to state the reverse of the case. The purpose of mission is the church. The church is God‘s objective; mission is the means to this end. Regarding the church in the Father‘s purpose, consider Bilezikian‘s comments: The finality of the church in God‘s purposes shows that the church is not just the most important thing that God is doing in history. The church is the only thing that God is doing in the world that will last through time and eternity, because it is the only earthly reality that will survive time and last throughout eternity.5 Similarly, J. G. Millar says, In one sense, to write about the people of God is to attempt to encapsulate the whole of biblical theology. The entire Bible speaks of God‘s plan to create his people, in his place, under his rule. He commits himself to working with one people, and follows this commitment through to the end, though he extends the scope of his people infinitely through the work of Christ. The Bible ends not simply with Eden restored, but with the glorious realised vision of God with his covenant people in thrilling communion and a perfect, recreated environment.6 In the light of Millar‘s comments about the ultimate purpose of God being his ‗glorious realised vision‘ of ‗his covenant people in thrilling communion‘, the maturation of the church in its union with Christ is our great task (cf. Col 1:28-29; Eph 4:11-16). Part of that task is gathering those whom God will add to his church (evangelism and missions), the growth of the church into Christ being our primary mission. In addition to Millar‘s eloquent mention of the union of the Father and his people in ‗thrilling communion‘, notice his reference to the environment. In this regard (i.e., in relation to Eph 1:9-10; Col 1:19-20), Patzia says, In other words, it is not just the church (humanity) that has been reconciled; the reconciliation wrought by Christ extends to the entire cosmic order. By doing this, Paul shows the Colossians that every part of the universe is included in the reconciling work of Christ. His love has no limits!7 Among his other comments on Ephesians 1:10, Patzia reaffirms that ‗God‘s ultimate plan is to unify all of creation under the headship of Christ‘.8 If then, as Patzia says and this paper purports, that the ultimate plan of the Father is to unify all creation under (or even better, into) Christ, then our ministry goals need to be adjusted accordingly if we are to truly do what the Father is doing. Adding to Patzia‘s comments on Ephesians 1:10, John Stott says, ‗In the fullness of time, God‘s two creations, his whole universe and his whole church, will be unified under the cosmic Christ 5

Gilbert G. Bilezikian, Christianity 101 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1993), 194 (Bilezikian‘s chapter on the church should be read to fully understand his position – which I believe is correct). 6 Millar, ‗People of God‘. 7 Patzia, ‗Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon‘, 10: 33. 8 Ibid., 10: 155.

who is the supreme head of both‘.9 In saying this, Stott clearly outlines God‘s ultimate plan, a plan that originated in heart of God before time began but was put into effect through Christ‘s saving work and is now carried out by the Spirit, but will be completed ‗in the fullness of time‘. Since this is the Father‘s objective, it must be ours as well. A longer but crucial quote in this regard from Andrew T. Lincoln‘s introduction to the Book of Ephesians follows: Ephesians is supremely concerned with the unity of the Church. The writer exhorts the Church to maintain the unity it already possesses and stresses that the essential ingredient for achieving the harmony of unity in diversity is love (4:1-16). For him, the quality of the Church‘s corporate life has everything to do with fulfilling its role in the world. As it embodies the unity it already possesses, the Church fulfils its calling to be the paradigm of the cosmic unity which is the goal of the salvation God provides in Christ (cf. 1:10).10 What Lincoln says here is momentous. He says that in fulfilling its mandate to be unified with the Father, Son and Spirit, and therefore with the body of Christ, the Church fulfils its calling! In doing so, Lincoln says that it becomes a paradigm of the ultimate cosmic unity! In addition, he states clearly that the goal of salvation through Christ is just this unity! These are critical words for contemporary mission. Before pursuing the subject of the church‘s mission, we ask the important question, ‗if Christ‘s death was crucial in the fulfilment of God‘s ultimate goal, just what took place on the cross?‘ According to Paul, the middle wall of partition was demolished making the two (Jews and Gentiles) one in Christ (Eph 2:11-22). He also declared that the law was ‗nailed to the cross‘ (Eph 2:15; Col 2:14). In addition, Paul said that all contrary powers in heaven and on earth were demolished through the cross (Col 2:15). We also know from Paul and other biblical authors that Christ carried our separation from God, our sorrows and our sins on the cross (Matt 8:17, 27:46; Rom 4:25; 1 Pet 2:24). It appears that in some mysterious way, in Christ sharing our humanity and therefore being our representative, he carried, absorbed or subsumed into himself on the cross all the ills of creation (cf. Rom 8:18-25; Col 1:20). His wounds are now forever part of the Godhead (cf. John 20:27-28; Rev 5:6). As Spurgeon said, ‗I can conceive, first, that the wounds of Christ in heaven will be a theme of eternal wonder to the angels‘.11 In bearing all the ills of creation, the cross has become the cause of liberty and unity – heaven and earth being healed and made one. As J. R. Levison says, Indeed, Paul argues that God reconciled ―all things‖ (ta panta) through Christ, including presumably the entire natural world. If 2 Corinthians 5:16–17 provides a glimpse of the beginning of the new creation, other passages presage the completion of the new creation. According to Romans 8:18–25 ―the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay‖ (Rom 8:21), while, according to Ephesians 1:10, ―all things … things in heaven and things on earth‖ will be gathered up in Christ (see 1 Cor 15:2428).12 According to Paul‘s statements just noted, it is to be expected that his own mission statement would be very clear. This is certainly the case as seen in just one example from Colossians 1:28-29, where he declared his assignment to be to ‗present everyone mature (or complete) in Christ‘. He said that he ‗struggled and toiled‘ for this purpose and that he had the ‗energy‘ of the Spirit to ‗powerfully‘ inspire him to do it. Maturity, or completion in Christ, means two primary things. First, it means being brought to a state of ethical and spiritual wholeness, or we might say holiness 9

John Stott, The Message of Ephesians‘, in The Bible Speaks Today, ed. John Stott (Leicester: IVP, 1979), 44. Lincoln, ‗Ephesians‘, 42: xciv. 11 Charles Haddon Spurgeon, ‗The Wounds of Jesus‘, in The New Park Street Pulpit, 254, Delivered on Sabbath Evening, 30 January 1859, at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, URL: http://www.spurgeon.org/ sermons/0254.htm, accessed 18 April 2007. 12 J. R. Levison, ‗Creation and New Creation‘, in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1997), 189-190. 10

(sanctification), after the image and model of Christ himself. Second, maturity in Christ means being mature in our union or relationship with Christ. In other words, our oneness with Christ is fully developed; we have come to ‗complete unity‘ with the Trinity according to Jesus‘ prayer in John 17. The former, sanctification, cannot be achieved without the latter (maturity in our union with Christ) because they are one and the same. In practical terms, what this meant for Paul was that in every person and church that he encountered he sought to foster continual growth in their relationship with Christ with the obvious fruit of corporate unity and personal holiness. Whether or not a person was ‗unsaved‘ or ‗being saved‘ (a converted believer in Christ), Paul sought their union with Christ or their continued growth in that union. Union with Christ is a constant process ‗until the day of Christ‘ (1 Thess 5:23-24). As a result, Paul spoke a great deal about Christ, about ‗in Christ‘, ‗by Christ‘, ‗through Christ‘ and ‗with Christ‘, etc. He even said that he was determined to know nothing among his churches save Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:2); that for to him to live was Christ (Phil 1:21) and that he would not boast about anything save the cross of Christ (Gal 6:14). If we are to do the Father‘s work, we will be well placed to pay particular attention to the words and work of Paul as he carried out the work of the Spirit. In this regard, since the Father‘s purpose was and is the gathering together and functional unity of the new people of God in Christ (as the paradigm of cosmic unity), it is consequently the present work of the Holy Spirit since he is Christ‘s replacement to bring into effect everything for which Jesus suffered (John 14:16-18). Consider these Pauline passages: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Cor 12:4-5, 11, 13). Fee‘s comment on this passage is enlightening. He says that although we mine these passages for information about spiritual gifts, the intended purpose of the passage is to show the ‗unity in diversity‘ of God‘s people brought about through the work of the one Spirit of God; an example of God‘s ultimate purpose.13 Paul also wrote: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men‘s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ‘s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ‘s behalf: Be reconciled to God‘ (2 Cor 5:17-20). Note the goal and the implied work of the Spirit here. R. P. Martin believes that the nearest we come to the centre of Paul‘s theology is found in these verses among others; that is, the ministry of reconciliation – the gathering together of God‘s creation in Christ. This ministry may only be accomplished through the work of the Spirit who makes us ‗competent‘ (2 Cor 3:6).14 Paul said further: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:3-6).

Gordon D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson, 1994), 178-182. 14 Ralph P. Martin, ‗Centre of Paul‘s Theology‘, in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1993), 92-95.

Note the unmistakable manner in which Paul reinforces the goal by speaking of the ‗unity of the Spirit‘. Indeed this goal was their ‗heavenly calling‘. Paradoxically, the goal was one that they already possessed in Christ though the Spirit but had to be ‗maintained‘ by making ‗every effort‘ to do so. Thus the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Unity working to achieve God‘s purpose of gathering together the people of God and all creation in Christ. This is the present work of the Spirit and therefore must be our work. Consequently, to use one example, labouring in union with other believers is not just a superior strategy; it is working in tandem with the Holy Spirit to achieve the Father‘s ultimate goal – which is unity. In light of this, as we labour in harmony with the Spirit, we will also discover along with Paul (cf. Col 1:29) that we have his strength, wisdom and all requisite (and infinite) resources. Finally, union with Christ and his people is our heavenly calling, the thing for which Christ prayed (John 17:21-23), the purpose of Christ‘s saving work on the cross, and the mission of Paul to which we also commit. For example, Paul urged: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received … Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:1-6). Later in the chapter, Paul added: It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God‘s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Eph 4:11-16). Note the very evident functions and their ultimate goal here. The so-called five-fold ministry gifts are given to the church ‗until we all reach unity in the faith‘, ‗the knowledge of the Son of God‘ and maturity in ‗the whole measure of the fullness of Christ‘ (an amazing statement); the ministry of the word is to produce growth ‗into‘ Christ; and that from Christ flows the life that results in the whole church being built ‗up in love‘. In light of Ephesians 4:1-16 and many other passages, the implications are palpable that we labour tirelessly with the Spirit‘s power for the union of people in Christ, with each other and for all creation because it is the Father‘s principal purpose and the Spirit‘s present work. This is what God is doing on earth and is what we should be doing too. Therefore, in light of this reality, evangelism and mission are components of God‘s ultimate plan to gather together everything to himself and in himself. ‗Saving souls‘, therefore, is nothing more or less than people being reconciled to God through Christ. This is much more than ‗right standing‘, it is union with the Trinity. Consequently, it can be said that rather than the church existing for mission, mission exists for the church. Fee‘s comments on this are telling. He says, ‗One of the serious weaknesses of much traditional Protestant theology is its proclivity toward a soteriology devoid of ecclesiology. That is, the tendency is to focus on salvation in an individualistic way that loses the ‗people of God‘ dimension of Paul‘s soteriology‘.15 Further, he says that for Paul, ‗―salvation in Christ‖ has the creation of a

Gordon D. Fee, Pauline Christology : an Exegetical-Theological Study (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007), 484.

people for God‘s name as its goal and that his concern is especially to be seen as being in continuity with the people of God as constituted by a former covenant‘. 16 As noted above, the importance of the church and its ongoing growth into Christ its Head cannot be over-estimated. The church is God‘s supreme work in Christ through the Spirit. For the church Jesus died (Eph 5:25). In addition, the saving work of the Spirit continues after initiation into the Christian life. It is far from the mark to consider that once a person is converted that the work is largely done and therefore we must always be active evangelising. The perfection of the church is paramount. For ‗without holiness we will not see the Lord‘ (Heb 12:14) and without the continual growth of believers in their union with Christ and each other, there will be failure to fulfil the very reason for the Church‘s existence. Social justice, environmental management and compassion ministries are vital endeavours too because if done in Christ‘s name they have the function of gathering together in and to Christ those things that are out of harmony with him. Injustice, environmental mismanagement and poverty are not congruent with Christ‘s death and his purpose to bring all things together under one head, even Christ. As Lincoln says, ‗Both [the Colossians‘ and Ephesians‘] passages appear to presuppose that the cosmos has been plunged into disintegration on account of sin and that it is God‘s purpose to restore its original harmony in Christ‘.17 © Richard Roy - Tuesday, 6 May 2008

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Fee, Pauline Christology, 486. Lincoln, ‗Ephesians‘, 42: 33.