The Mystery of His Will

Ephesians 1.7-10 (4)

Pray Psalm 124.1-3, 8.
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say—
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us…
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

Sing Psalm 124.1-3, 8.
(Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee) 
If You had not been with us, Jesus—let all who love You say with pride—
when foes rose up to fright and seize us, they would have swallowed us alive!
Refrain v. 8
Our help is in Your Name, O LORD,
Who made creation by Your Word.

Read Ephesians 1.1-10; meditate on verse 9.
Focus on this phrase: “having made known to us the mystery of His will…” What are the key words? How do you think about them?

Preparation
1. What did God make known to us?

2. How did He do this?

Meditation
The will of God—what God intends, expects, and approves—is a mystery. That’s scary. The almighty and sovereign God of heaven and earth has a will, and it is a mystery. A mystery is something we do not know. Those who do not have eyes to see Jesus and ears to hear His Word continue in ignorance of the will of God. And that ignorance can be dangerous, since we who know God’s will understand the ultimate consequences of ignoring God and His will in this life.

How is it that we have come to know this mystery, to understand the will of God, what He intends in lavishing His grace upon us day by day? We know because He has made known His will to us. He has revealed in His Word—both in Scripture and in His Son—what His will is for the world. And He has given us His Spirit and spiritual eyes (v. 15) to see into the mystery of His will so that we respond in faith.

How is it that others come to know the mystery of God’s will? We tell them, encourage them to consider Jesus, share what knowing this great mystery has meant in our experience, and urge them to seek the Lord Jesus in His Word, that He may reveal Himself.

God has revealed His will to His saints—His chosen, predestined, adopted, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven ones: That we should know Jesus Christ and follow in the path of righteousness He has marked out for us (1 Jn. 2.1-6), and that we should be increasingly sanctified in Him.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
There are many things in God’s Word which, mysterious as they are, can be understood by His people:
The Ten Commandments are a good start (Ex. 20.1-17).
And Jesus’ summary of those in Matthew 22.37-40.

And how about Paul’s words to the Thessalonian church?
“See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, 
but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 
Rejoice always, 
pray without ceasing, 
in everything give thanks; 
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 
Do not quench the Spirit. 
Do not despise prophecies. 
Test all things; 
hold fast what is good. 
Abstain from every form of evil” (2 Thess. 5.15-22).

And those are enough understood mysteries to pursue for a lifetime.

But there are some mysteries, that not even all of Agatha Christie’s greatest detectives (including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple) will never be able to decipher or explain or fully understand. These mysteries are beyond the scope of the human mind to comprehend—being chosen by God to be loved by Him, before the world was created, His plan to adopt us, accept, redeem, and forgive us. And all this accomplished by God’s perfect Son, Jesus. We who deserve death get life instead. Who can fathom that mystery? 

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11.33).

The unsearchable and mysterious are the basis for our faith, and the crux of our obedience.
For this we do know: “we are to follow in the path of righteousness that Jesus has marked out for us; and we are to be increasingly sanctified in Him” to be more like Him. Captivatingly mysterious.

Reflection
1. Why should we expect to have a good bit of mystery in our walk with the Lord?

2. How would you explain to a new believer how to learn to live with mystery?

3. What can you do to develop more hunger for the mysteries of God’s will that He has made known to you?
The Ephesians are thus led to consider that Christ has been made known, and the gospel preached to them, not because they deserved any such thing, but because it pleased God. John Calvin (1509-1564) Commentary on Ephesians 1.9

Pray Psalm 124.4-8.
It pleases God to care for, protect, strengthen, and use us each day. Meditate with thanksgiving on all that God has revealed to you in Jesus. Devote your day to Him.

Sing Psalm 124.4-8.
(Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee)
When all their anger flared against us, the flood would us have swept away;
torrents and waters sore had drenched us were not You all our hope and stay!
Refrain v. 8
Our help is in Your Name, O LORD,
Who made creation by Your Word.

Blessed be the LORD who has not given us to our foes to be devoured.
We shall escape and rise to heaven by His eternal grace and power.
Refrain v. 8

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are looking at grace, which is the currency we use to make our way in the divine economy. In our Read Moore podcast this week, we continue our readings from the book, Such a Great Salvation.  Our Crosfigell series on Brendan of Clonfert finds the saint preparing for his second voyage to visit The Promised Land of the Saints. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.