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Building up believers and the New Testament church

His Ultimate Goal

"For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." (I Corinthians 15:27,29)

If we are going to give ourselves to God's working, the working that will bring us to all the Lord has designed us to be in union with Him, we need to see the purpose of God. God's purpose encompasses many things, but His ultimate goal is to bring us to a perfect oneness with Himself. God is the center of everything and each one that comes to Him must first be brought into a relationship with God, and then brought to know fellowship with Him. God has designed this to be accomplished by His indwelling and union with each member of His family. We need to know the greatness of His power toward us who believe, according the working of His mighty power (Ephesians 1:19). As Paul prayed, we pray "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Ephesians 1:17).

Man was created by God, for God and for His purpose. God has a plan and it is revealed to us by the Spirit. The plan of God is to bring us into His purpose. The purpose of God is God Himself. God is complete within Himself and works in us so that we may be complete in Him, and that He may be all and in all. We have been made for Him, and can only find our completion in Him. What love He has showed forth in His plan of bringing man back to Himself! In this time, the New Covenant is the outworking of God's purpose. By it He is working all things according to His purpose and plan.

Jesus said in His prayer in the 17th chapter of John, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one..." This is the purpose of God that is being worked out in the lives of those who believe. This believing is not just knowing the truth; it is an active faith which is moving in union with God.

Speaking to the Corinthians, Paul tells them what God's purpose is and how it will all work out. "For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all" (I Corinthians 15:27,29). This purpose has been in the heart of God from the very beginning, and is being worked out by God according to His plan and in His order. The plan and order of God are to bring us who believe to the fullness of His purpose in life.

God has made each member of His body alive in every way that He might work all things. We are born again by God--made alive spiritually unto God. He quickens, makes alive our mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in us, so that we are not debtors to the flesh to be controlled by the flesh (Romans 8:12) but that we might live by the Spirit and know His control in each of our lives. God's purpose is to make us a part of His family. He does this by adoption, making us sons by putting His divine nature within us when we receive His promise, the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:5).

Everything that God is doing is in union with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him" (Ephesians 1:10). In Christ, God has made all one, breaking down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, making in himself of twain one new man, that He might reconcile both unto God in one body. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. (See Ephesians 2:15-19.) We are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

God made man with a choice; thus we need to choose Him and then go on to move in union with Him so that God's purpose might be realized by us. This cannot be done separate from Christ. We must be one with Him and move as one with the Lord. It is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." God has only one plan to bring us to His one purpose. It is the Lord who is working in us the will to do His good pleasure. All working is of God by His Spirit. It is the Lord who has revealed His purpose. He does not have another purpose or another plan. We must know that God is working in and by His Spirit. All areas of the working of God are revealed by the Spirit, and He goes on to work all things by His Spirit.

All that God is doing in His plan to bring us to His purpose is being done in God's nature, love. Man is not being forced to do the will of God, but does it by obedience to His leading in love. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (I John 3:1). God has revealed His love to us and we move in love in our expression to others. This affects our attitudes and behavior toward the family of God and toward the world around us.

If we are moving in union with the Lord, His purpose is being worked in us and through us. The purpose of God is God Himself being worked in us by Himself. This is the outworking of the New Covenant. But in order to move in the purpose of God, we must see the purpose of God. May we diligently seek God that He might reveal it to us and that we might move on in it.

His Ultimate Goal