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We need to understand what the will of the Lord is—Eph. 5:17; Col. 1:9.
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God's will is what He wants and what He intends to accomplish—Eph. 1:5, 9, 11:
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God has an eternal will, which is the source of His eternal purpose—v. 11; 3:11.
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Since God is eternal, without beginning or ending, His will is also eternal; it lies at the heart of the origin of the universe—Rev. 4:11.
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God created all things for His will so that He might accomplish and fulfill His purpose—Eph. 3:11.
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The will of God is concentrated in Christ and is for Christ to have the first place in all things; Christ is everything in God's eternal will—Col. 1:15-18; 3:4, 10-11.
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God wants to have Christ with the church; the will of God is to obtain the church as the Body of Christ—Eph. 5:32; 1:9, 22-23; 2:21-22; 4:16.
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God in Christ as the Spirit is now working within us to accomplish His eternal will to have the New Jerusalem—the wife of the Lamb filled with the glory of God for His eternal expression in the new heaven and new earth—Phil. 2:13; Eph. 3:14-21; Rev. 21:1-2, 9-11.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.1:9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself.
5:32 This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.
God’s will has a mystery, a mystery that has been hidden through the ages (Eph. 3:5; Col. 1:26). The universe is a mystery. Why is there a heaven, and why does the earth exist? Why are there so many millions of items in the universe? Why is man here on earth? All these questions are mysteries and have given rise to many different philosophies. The mystery, which is the will of God, has been made known to the church through the apostles. A will is an intention, and the will of God is God’s intention. God’s intention is intimately related to the desire of His heart. Thus, the mystery of the universe is a matter of God’s will, which is related to the desire of God’s heart. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 64-65)
Today’s Reading
In ourselves we are not the church; we are pitiful sinners. The only way we can become the church is for God in His Son to work Himself into our being. Most Christians today do not see the crucial and vital matter that God in His Son is working Himself into His chosen and redeemed ones….God’s goal is to work Himself into our being.The New Testament proves that God is working Himself into us. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all in us (Eph. 4:6; 2 Cor. 13:5; John 14:17). According to 1 John, we are in God, and God is in us (4:15). Furthermore, we abide in Him, and He abides in us (John 15:4). In Philippians 1:21 the apostle Paul could even say, “To me, to live is Christ.” In Galatians 2:20 he said that he lived no longer, but that Christ lived in him. All these verses indicate that God in the Son is working Himself into us.
The mystery of the universe is the church, and the church is a group of people into whom God is working Himself. Eventually, the church will be fully saturated with God and will consummately become the holy city, the New Jerusalem. The church will not only be saturated with God, but also mingled with Him. This does not mean, however, that we shall become the Godhead. No, this is neither what we say nor what we mean. Nevertheless, as those who are being saturated with God and mingled with Him, we shall become the very expression of God. The New Jerusalem will be the corporate expression of God. As we have pointed out a number of times, both God on the throne (Rev. 4:3) and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:11) have the appearance of jasper. This means that the entire city has the appearance of God and is the expression of God. This is the mystery of the universe.
The mystery of God’s will is to have a church constituted with those who have been saturated and mingled with God…. The mystery of the universe is that God is working Himself into us. Everything is working together for this purpose (Rom. 8:28). All things serve this goal. Everything is for God’s working of Himself into our being. This is much different from merely having a happy life. You may be very happy today, but not tomorrow. You may be happy in a meeting, but when you return home, your wife or husband may give you a difficult time. The mystery of God’s will is not that we are becoming happy people. Today is not the time for us to be fully happy, because the time is not yet ripe. Because many do not have the adequate vision or revelation, they do not know what is actually taking place in the church life. They think that we are simply here to have a good time. But this is not the mystery of God’s will. This mystery is that God is dispensing Himself into us to produce the church for Himself. This is a mystery hidden through the ages. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 65-68)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” ch. 33; Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 7