God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ–everything in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 1:9-10Ephesians 1:9-10
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
9 and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. 10 Then when the time is right, God will do all that he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.
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Background:
The apostle Paul wrote this letter, which we call the book of Ephesians, when he was in a prison in Rome. He wrote it to people in the town called Ephesus. This was about 61 years after the birth of Christ, or about three decades after Christ’s death.
At one time, Greek leaders had ruled Ephesus. Now the Romans ruled the city. It was the capital of the Roman region called Asia, and was a busy port and the center of much trade. The temple of the goddess (false female god) Diana (or Artemis) was there. The business people sold models of Diana’s temple there, but Paul’s preaching affected their trade. This caused confusion and trouble in the city Take a moment now to read Acts 19:23-41Acts 19:23-41
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
23 At that time there was serious trouble because of the Lord's Way. y the Lord's Way: See the note at .
24 A silversmith named Demetrius had a business that made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. Those who worked for him earned a lot of money.
25 Demetrius brought together everyone who was in the same business and said:
Friends, you know that we make a good living at this.
26 But you have surely seen and heard how this man Paul is upsetting a lot of people, not only in Ephesus, but almost everywhere in Asia. He claims that the gods we humans make are not really gods at all.
27 Everyone will start saying terrible things about our business. They will stop respecting the temple of the goddess Artemis, who is worshiped in Asia and all over the world. Our great goddess will be forgotten!
28 When the workers heard this, they got angry and started shouting, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!”
29 Soon the whole city was in a riot, and some men grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, who had come from Macedonia with Paul. Then everyone in the crowd rushed to the place where the town meetings were held.
30 Paul wanted to go out and speak to the people, but the Lord's followers would not let him.
31 A few of the local officials were friendly to Paul, and they sent someone to warn him not to go.
32 Some of the people in the meeting were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Everyone was completely confused, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
33 Several of the Jewish leaders pushed a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd and started telling him what to say. He motioned with his hand and tried to explain what was going on.
34 But when the crowd saw that he was Jewish, they all shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!”
35 Finally, a town official made the crowd be quiet. Then he said:
People of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that our city is the center for worshiping the great goddess Artemis? Who doesn't know that her image which fell from heaven is right here?
36 No one can deny this, and so you should calm down and not do anything foolish.
37 You have brought men in here who have not robbed temples or spoken against our goddess.
38 If Demetrius and his workers have a case against these men, we have courts and judges. Let them take their complaints there.
39 But if you want to do more than that, the matter will have to be brought before the city council.
40 We could easily be accused of starting a riot today. There is no excuse for it! We cannot even give a reason for this uproar.
41 After saying this, he told the people to leave.
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This letter is different from other letters by Paul. The main differences are:
a) he does not give any special greetings;
b) he does not send a message to any one particular person;
c) he does not talk about special problems.
The letter is in two parts. The first is the teaching part, which mainly teaches us about God’s plan for the world. This plan is for all time and it is about the gathering together of all things to Jesus Christ who is the Head. God created men and women with the design for them to be his friends. But now, because of sin, they are apart from Him and are actually His enemies.
There can be no unity in a world without Christ. One person is always against another person. Nations fight each other. Ethnic groups rival one another. If we are not careful to pay attention, we lose sight of the fact that there is a battle going on between evil and good. There is a battle between God and Satan, something most people are oblvious to because they do not know Christ.
But this is not God’s purpose for the world. There can be unity only when all things come together with Christ as Head. And this is God’s Secret Plan, to restore unity and to bring everything under His Lordship.
Unity should first be inside the church, and then it should be for all people everywhere. This unity is for the entire world and for all ages. This is what Paul teaches in the first three chapters.
God’s plan is to fix the unity that has been spoiled. The last three chapters of Ephesians teach about how God will use Christians in this plan. Paul teaches that the church is like the body of Christ. Christians must be like Christ’s hands to do Christ’s work. Christians must be like his mouth to speak for him. They must be like his feet to take his gospel to all the people in the world. God wants to deal with all the things that divide people, and He will do this in and by the church. Change will come by the good behavior of God’s people in the home and in the world, setting the example for all to see and follow.
In verses 9-10, God lets us know ‘his secret plan that Christ would complete’. He makes it possible for us to understand this, as we place our faith in Christ.
God’s plan was that Jesus Christ will be the Head (or ruler) of the whole universe (heaven and earth). God arranges the time of all things. He does this in perfect wisdom and timing. God has fixed all the ages and seasons and He has decided when they will begin and when they will end. God is now working out his plan at this very moment. You are caught up in God’s ultimate plan for the universe as you read this right now. His plan is working all the time. One day God will complete it because history is ‘his story’.
Through the ages, God is bringing everything together under his rule. The meaning of the Greek words is that God will add up everything. He will put it all under Christ as the Head.
It would be difficult for a person who is not a Christian to understand this. He would not make sense of history. Different events have taken place in different ages and to a non-Christian’s mind, they would not link with each other. Paul shows that God has a plan for the history of men and women. Once God hid this secret, but now he makes His plan plain. Christians today can now understand it, and it is their job, our job, to tell the world about it.
Philippians 2:9-10Philippians 2:9-10
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
9 Then God gave Christ
the highest place
and honored his name
above all others.
10 . So at the name of Jesus
everyone will bow down,
those in heaven, on earth,
and under the earth.
WP-Bible plugin says that because Jesus humbled himself by dying a criminal’s death on the cross as a Sacrificial Lamb for the sins of all mankind, “God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Everything and everyone will one day submit to the Headship of Christ, because He has already won the war! He is already the Victor, and we need to be God’s agents in letting people know they can either choose to voluntarily submit and serve Him now, or be forced to do it later.
Have you chosen to make Christ the Head of your life?
- Portions of the background info taken from “Christian Belief and Behaviour” by Les Painter.
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