GOD'S PURPOSE WILL PREVAIL
This post is worth reading. It is written to encourage you to
stand in faith trusting God’s ability to perform His will in your life as you
surrender to Him in faith and obedience.-- -Billy Long
We have stood on the mountain top and cried out, "This is
it!" And we have crawled on the valley floor crying, "Where did it
go?" We have said, "Lord, I'll never leave you nor forsake you"
and later denied Him before the rooster crowed. We have slept while others were
in their Gethsemanes. We have had friends walk into our Gethsemanes and betray
us with a kiss. We have seen churches fly and churches fall. We have been in
the processes of God and were not sure whether we were being pruned or
stripped, whether we were being purged and refined or burned and rejected. In
our attempts at obedience we have at times stepped out in faith not sure whether
we were stepping up or stepping off. We have been asleep in the boat during the
storm and did not know whether to stand up and say, "Peace! Be
still!" or whether to ask someone to throw us overboard to the whale.
In the midst of all of the situations above, it is easy to lose
sight of the fact that the eternal purpose of God was accomplished in Christ
Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3: 11). Instead of being in the pits of unbelief
because of our failures or that of others, we should rejoice that Almighty God
will complete the church and bring forth His kingdom. Not one jot or tittle
shall fail of what He has said regarding the church and His kingdom plan.
Jesus, while hanging on the cross, gored by the "bulls of Bashan",
bitten by demonic dogs, and "pierced by the congregation of the
wicked" (Psalms 22) which surrounded Him on Calvary, could still, in the
face of this, know that all things were accomplished and that the Scripture
concerning Himself had been fulfilled. He thus could say, "It is finished!"
(John 19: 25-30). How much more from His place of glory and authority at the
right hand of the Father, even in the face of a hostile world and a stubborn
and stiff-necked church, will He not again come to say in the proper time,
"It is finished!"?
The book of Ephesians speaks of God's purpose, God's people, God's
grace, and God's power. These are high and lofty elements; they represent the
wonderful work of God. The book also deals with the nitty-gritty areas of life
such as unity, godly living, spiritual warfare, the family, relationships, etc.
Sooner or later God's purpose, power, and grace will prevail in the
nitty-gritty, and God will reveal in His people just how much He really is able
to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:
20). He is able to subdue all things unto Himself (Philippians 3: 21). He will
complete His work.
We have faith for the past and for the future—but we think God has
trouble handling the present. We believe God controls all things. He controls
the whole—but we think He has difficulty with the parts and the particulars. We
believe He sets the boundaries of nations—but we think he has no control over
the unreasonable and trespassing neighbor who has moved the boundary lines of
our front yard. We believe, according to the scripture, that God will produce
the glorious church, that He will succeed with the whole—but we think He is
failing with the parts, with the individuals, that He controls the
"whole" but not the "each." Obviously we must realize that to
determine the boundaries of nations God must have power over the neighbor's
small plot. To be God of history, He must also be God of the moment. To control
past and future, He must control the present. He is God over all. He will
complete His work and fulfill His counsel. Not one jot or tittle shall fail of
all his good promises.
The apostle Paul experienced every type of evil from the hands of
men, including attempts to destroy his life. He experienced grief from the
failures of churches under his ministry. He was forsaken and rejected. He even
suffered at the hands of the demonic messenger of Satan sent to buffet him. Yet
in spite of all this, he spoke eloquently and with great faith concerning God's
plan for the church. He trusted in God, in God's wisdom and power. Paul began
the book of Ephesians with the phrase "Paul...an apostle by the will of
God." Having experienced God's sovereign initiative and power, and having
seen how it completely transformed him into God's faithful and passionate
servant, Paul basically proceeded to say, both explicitly and implicitly in the
book of Ephesians, that the church, the people of God, will also be transformed
and made into the perfect man by the same will of God and by the same power of
God.
God is building together a people into a habitation of God through
the Spirit. That People is His heritage, His chosen possession, through which
His great power and grace shall be demonstrated, through which the manifold
wisdom of God shall be made manifest unto principalities and powers, and
through which His life and image shall be reflected upon the earth. His kingdom
shall come. He shall bring down all principalities and powers until His enemies
are made a footstool for His feet. His glory shall cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea.
Therefore, we should not be moved away from the hope (the
confident expectation) of the fulfillment of all that is promised and
proclaimed in the gospel. The Sovereign God is administrating times and
seasons, each to its fullness, until all things are fulfilled in Christ. God's
sovereignty, His power, His grace, and His wisdom are the backdrop and
foundation for our faith and confidence. There is no place to sit down
disillusioned with God, His purpose, His plan, or His church. God is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. No matter how
discouraging our own experiences have been, God will succeed. The eternal
purpose of God the Father was accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians
3:11).
"Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God." Psalm
42: 11.
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