Ephesians 1:11

In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 

Paul continues with the theme of heading up all things in Christ that he started in verse 10, and now he is talking about us being part of those all things.

While all the things he mentioned in verse ten are in the future, the ones in verse 11 have already happened. We have been claimed as God's own possession. We are special.

GOD'S WILL

And now we come to another familiar word that we have been encountering since the beginning of this book: the WILL of God.

• Verse 1: Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (Ephesians 1:1)
• Verse 5: What God did in adopting in predestining us for adoption as his legal heir through Jesus Christ was according to the pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:5)
• Verse 9 talks about the mystery of His will that is revealed to us according to His good pleasure (Ephesians 1:9)
• Now, in verse 11, we are encountering His will when Paul mentioned the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11)

In another place, Paul emphasized the need for us to understand God's will (Ephesians 5:17).

And Paul is a very confident preacher of the gospel. That conviction does not emerge from wishful thinking; it was borne out of the understanding of what the will of God is. And not just any god, but the Creator of heaven and the earth, to whom both the dead and the living are alive in His sight. He is the incomparable One, the reason we can reason. The all in all. The Master of the universe.

A central part of Paul's drive is his understanding of God's will regarding salvation. He was careful elsewhere to say he did not learn what he preached, but he got it through the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). This is first-order revelation, complete with a visit to the third heaven, where he heard what was not legal for him to speak of (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

When Paul says, "the counsel of His will," he focuses on the details of execution (Ephesians 1:11). There is "will" expressed in where we are going, and there is "will" expressed in how we are going to get there.

And the latter is the counsel of His will. It is about the details.

When Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18), that is the overarching destination. And the Holy Spirit was poured out to ensure that, down the centuries, certain things are accomplished to achieve that (Acts 2:33).

When Paul mentioned the mystery of God's will (Ephesians 1:9), it is to tell you that not everyone knows it.

It is not like the air you breathe, which everyone has access to. This knowledge would help us understand why there is a dividing line between the old and new covenants. It would begin to help us understand that the cross is a defining fulcrum of history.

The pleasure of His will speaks to the divine feeling and how much of a priority it is, and that God is not an automaton. He can't be because we are made in His image. The pleasure of His will means this is not an afterthought. This is something deep-seated and intense.

Also, this passage tells us that the will is not a wishful thing; Jesus was the multipurpose hammer for the execution of that will.

"ACCORDING"

• Verse 5: our predestination as His legal heir is according to the pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:5)
• Verse 7: redemption and forgiveness according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7)
• Verse 9: His revealing to us was according to His good pleasure (Ephesians 1:9)
• Verse 11a: we were predestined according to His purpose (Ephesians 1:11)
• Verse 11b: He accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11)

This tells us God's laser-sharp drive and unbending focus, like a guided missile aiming for those objectives, regardless of opposition, in spite of it, and even incorporating it. There is no stopping God.

Look at what God said that Isaiah wrote:

"The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead they water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat. In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend" (Isaiah 55:10-11).

The creature, reality itself, moves by the pleasure of God. So while I said pleasure is a feeling, that greatly understates it, because we are talking about God here.

Look at what God's displeasure did.

For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God's children. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. (Romans 8:18-25)

Whatever negative things Paul described in that passage were predicated on the sin in the Garden of Eden and the consequent divine displeasure (Genesis 3:17-19).

Conversely, God's pleasure with man revealed in Christ is the reason that we would have a new heaven and a new earth, where there would be no history of God's displeasure (Revelation 21:1).

The Holy Spirit’s grief is the way to get us back into alignment with His will (Ephesians 4:30) or to move us in that direction (the rod of the shepherd in Psalm 23). And His pleasure is what we mirror as we are along His will, which is called “the joy of the Lord” (Nehemiah 8:10) (the staff of the shepherd in Psalm 23).

God is driving things to a culmination. God's will, the pleasure of His will, sets things in motion and sustains them. His project will not be abandoned.

Hallelujah!

Rejecting Money-For-Blessings Schemes in the Church

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