#504 God BEGINS His Eternal Purpose BEFORE the Foundation of the World!
God DOES NOT BEGIN His Gospel Or Purpose with Redemption and Man’s Needs!
Man Attempts to BEGIN His Gospel With “Salvation” and Man’s Needs!
For that Reason Man’s Gospel Stops Short Of God’s Purpose!
January 2, 2012
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Eph 1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
2Ti 1:9 who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.
Since God determined EVERYTHING BEFORE the foundation of the world and then predestined us according to His PREDETERMINED PURPOSE, this END is non-negotiable. God then, in this dispensation, has saved us and called us according to that predestined purpose! Any other goal or viewpoint or gospel or concept is totally irrelevant! For that reason, our Gospel must BEGIN before the Foundation of the World. That means that even though God chose us in Christ before the world began, our GOSPEL must begin BEFORE Calvary. For example; Before man sinned and was excommunicated from God’s immediate Presence, God had already purposed for man to be in Christ. God decided “the end from the beginning” out of His Absolute Sovereignty so any other concept of a final conclusion is irrelevant!
Eph 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
Administration G3622 οἰκονομία oikonomia
Thayer Definition: 1) the management of a household or of household affairs
1a) specifically, the management, oversight, administration, of other’s property
1b) the office of a manager or overseer, stewardship
1c) administration, dispensation
When we add “THE FULNESS OF TIMES” to this Oversight or Administration we can easily relate the final “Summing up (gathering togethering into one) of all things in Christ” to the Administration of the Kingdom Government of God. Having been predestined according to His purpose narrows this theme down to the Kingdom of God and the final end of all things that was determined before the Genesis one creation. Of course the earth already existed in Genesis but it was submerged in water. God divided the waters below from the waters above and the earth was restored to dry ground once again. Technically, the earth was NOT created in Genesis one but restored to an inhabital condition.
We might sum this up by saying that “Before the earth was restored for habitation, God had already pre-determined the end from the beginning and predestined us to fulfill His Eternal Purpose. Therefore, because man had fallen so far from God’s Purpose, Jesus died to pay the price of our redemption! Therefore, He “saved us” and then called us according to God’s pre-determined plan and purpose. The purpose of REDEMPTION is so we can fulfill His Purpose! Redemption should properly be related to God and His Purpose rather than just to man’s need of salvation. Redemption then should be God-centered and not just man-centered as is the sole focus of the popular Gospel of Salvation.
The option given is; To “be saved so we can fulfill our plan and purpose” or, according to the modern gospel, to “be saved from hell” so we can escape eternity in terrible distress and make heaven our home. This religious concept is falty at very best! This man-centered focus and emphasis is NOT based upon God’s plan but is an invention of man. We call “Man’s Plan” the “Gospel of Salvation” while God calls His Plan and Purpose “The Gospel of the Kingdom.”
Mat 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The fact is clearly stated that we are already predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son! Why? Jesus is the prototype Son but just the First Born Son. Now God has determined to bring many sons to this same glory. This single fact must over ride all the irrelevant things that man preaches about being “saved.” When this “gospel of salvation” then fails to emphasize God’s purpose for salvation it leaves the church with a half salvation that appears to be complete with forgiveness of sins. However, when it intentionally disregards the goal “to be conformed to the image of His son,” to enable us to function in eternity, it is ignoring God’s purpose for salvation. Then to totally ignore the growth process necessary to fulfill God’s Predetermined Purpose should certainly be considered as ministerially criminal!
If all the ministries are NOT working together to fulfill what God purposed before the foundation of the world then we should ask ourselves if we are just wasting the short time we were given on the earth to complete our part of the preparation in our generation.
It appears one reason so many ministries just focus upon the irrelevant is simply because they don’t understand even our basic calling to prepare the believers to take their place in eternity.
The “Gospel of the Kingdom” begins in the “BEFORE REALM” while the “Gospel of Salvation” begins in the “AFTER REALM.” The “Gospel of the Kingdom” begins in the heart of God before the world was restored and man placed on it. The Gospel of the Kingdom begins long BEFORE man sinned. The “Gospel of Salvation” begins AFTER man sinned. “Salvation” in the Kingdom Realm is so man can be equipped to fulfill God’s Creative Purpose. “Salvation” in the Earth Realm is so man can escape hell and make heaven his home. In the “Kingdom Realm” man is obligated to obey God and do His will, to grow up in all things into Christ and be conformed to the Image of His Son.
In the religion of the “Earth Realm Gospel of Salvation,” God is obligated to man to provide all his needs, bless man, heal him and then provide an eternity of vacation time of glory in this Eternal Disney Land called heaven. All man needs to do to “be saved” is believe something about Jesus.
To sum this thought up we could say; The visible church is determined to win as many souls as possible so they can enjoy an eternity of glorious entitlements. Their method is “accept Jesus as personal Savior.” The Kingdom Church is intent upon preparing a Kingdom of Priests who are fully equipped to take their place in the Government of the world yet to come! Their goal is Preparing the saints to be conformed to the image of Jesus and for each saint to grow up in ALL THINGS into Christ. This the very minimum requirement to participate in the body of our High Priest. That means to become a Kingdom of Priests.
What was in the heart of God before He began this Realm of Creation can only be known by the Holy Spirit. Why? All this took place before there was anyone else but the Almighty God. If the Holy Spirit does not reveal these things we have no other option to investigate these “Before Realms!” We are totally dependent upon God to reveal these “thoughts” in the spiritual dimensions.
1Cor 2:6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
1Cor 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
There is no question that it is God’s Purpose to reveal the many hidden things, described as “the depths of God,” to us through the Ministry of the Holy Spirit! It is God’s purpose that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit. This hidden wisdom seems to be given to believers but certainly to the ministries because Paul said these are the things I speak.
This section of scriptures describes the function of ministry better that any other section that I have found. It also establishes the limitations of “natural man” ministry because a valid New Covenant ministry is beyond his capacity to understand spiritual things. For that reason the natural man is eliminated from ANY spiritual ministry BEFORE he begins. Of course the “natural man” refuses to believe that so the Seminaries are full of those who will waste their life in irrelevant activity and waste the time of all those who come to listen to their learned bablings from the pulpit. Why? Because the natural man is limited to natural thoughts that originate in the dirt dimension where Adam must get his provision by the sweat of his brow.
Just because a “minister” speaks in tongues or mentions the word “kingdom” or “priesthood” or “sonship” does not mean that he will minister spiritual things that have been given by the Holy Spirit. Some of the deadest messages are coming from the Pentecostal groups. Some are just preaching the Gospel of their Wives or the Gospel of the Sunday School or the Gospel of Serving the Minister (which is equivalent of serving God.) Some are focusing upon the Gospel of Evangelism to build up the numbers of natural men in the pews to increase the offering.
Is this statement too harsh? Yes, for the average church that only intends to maintain the status quo, this is very offensive! Why? Because it pin points the basic problem in the visible church and what is destroying the church, from inside. Many of the ministers are harming the church far more than the devil ever did! The “ministry of the flesh” is not even recognized now, in the natural light ministries, as being offensive to God!
Maybe we could pray and fast and ask God to restore 1 Corinthians 2 experience to the church. Or we could just do the will of God and move our meetings into that “Kingdom Realm” where all these things are normal and supplied by the Holy Spirit. Why waste our time praying when God already told us how it is supposed to work? Well, because praying and fasting looks more spiritual to those who don’t have a clue. It also gives the natural man something to do so he thinks he is a functioning Christian.
If I boldly told the natural man that he cannot be a functioning Christian in the New Covenant dispensation, would that be an attack on the church or just a confirmation of what Paul wrote?
1Cor 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Those who dwell in the natural light realm always ask; But why offend the natural man with eternal Truth because he is doing the best he can and at least he attends the meetings and supports the church? The natural man is more faithful than the spiritual man and causes me much less trouble! At least the natural man is not always whinning and criticizing my uninspired and foolish messages. After all, some of the largest churches in USA are made up of natural persons who have confessed Jesus as personal Savior and are “saved” according to our requirements so what makes your opinion relevant? Why do you criticise “their success.” Is it just because you think you are a failure as a minister because of your church history?
It is true that I wasted many years in irrelevant ministry and produced very little that qualifies for participation in God’s Eternal Purpose! For that reason I am concerned for others who are following in the same path that I was on. This produced a pitiful result for me so why should you end up doing the same thing I did?
If we could determine that the pulpit and pew system has failed to bring the church to perfection, maybe we should try to find the proper and predestined system that will work. According to church history, the pulpit and pew system was established about the time of Constantine and was carried on into the Catholic Church and then re-used by the Luthern Church and about every denomination and church since. The “pastoral system” has had nearly 500 years to prove its effectiveness in bringing the church to perfection. It obviously has not worked effectively or been successful when evaluated by the eternal goal.
But, has it kept a lot of people from hell? Probably, but now, at least, we see the Eternal Purpose of God has been ignored by the current church systems. Then is anything working according to God’s predestined plan? Yes! We can be assured that the Church He is Building is coming to the perfection necessary to complete God’s purpose. How do we know that? Because, He is not wasting His time on irrelevant activity. How do we know that? Because we have read Revelation chapters 2 and 3. But what has that got to do with us? That was spoken 1900 years ago to some backward churches in Asia and NOT to the modern church in America.
Christ Jesus is still building the exact same church today that He was building in Revelation 2 and 3. He is NOT building a different church for USA. Why? There is just one Eternal Church that has been in the process of being built since the First New Covenant Pentecost in Acts 2. This Eternal Church will be the New Jerusalem in the Tabernacle of God and the functioning Government of the World Yet To Come.
But is all this really important for us in 2012? Not if you will be content to take up your eternal place on the New Earth. However, that is NOT how God called us to His Eternal Purpose! The New Earth is the boobie prize for those who want to be saved but nothing more. Well brother, to be a functoning Christian is not a high priority for us but we don’t want to go to hell so what is the very minimum requirement to be “saved?” All we want is just to get in the first gate.
OK, we understand your desire. But how do you know that will be acceptable to God who already decided the proper end for the New Covenant Christian and may not be willing to negotiate a different purpose for you. What if He classifies you as one only fit for outer darkness?
Mat 25:25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 29 “For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 “And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Many preachers will make these parables about “the saved and the unsaved” rather than about multiplying what was given to you. First we need to recognize that we were sold into slavery by our sin and rebellion. Jesus redeemed us (purchased us back to become His slaves) so we are expected to produce something for Him and His cause, as “saved” people!
Rom 6:21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
When the outward church lost this revelation of being enslaved to God, the result was “Just accept Jesus as personal Savior” and you are free and eternally “saved.” To fully believe that you MUST ignore the “slave,” with an excuse, being thrown into the Outer Darkness. In the Gospel of the Half-Priced Sale, the outer darkness is just for unbelievers until they repent. However, this Kingdom parable is speaking about those who have been purchased off the auction block as believers! They were given something valuable which they didn’t use but instead invented an excuse that they had not lost what was given. That excuse might work in the “Gospel of the Give-Aways” but NOT in the Kingdom. In the visible church there are both overcomers and those who produce nothing which we call the under comers. In the New Jerusalem there are ONLY overcomers.
Rev 21:7 “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
If we spend our life ministering to the undercomer because they are more agreeable than the overcomers, what excuse can we use for this failure of ministry. If I warn the “undercomer” that he may be in deep eternal trouble, does that make me an enemy of the church? There are enough warnings in the Bible about these thing that they should NOT be offensive!
Heb 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
Heb 10:26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
These scriptures are so clear that there is no need to try to explain them. They just say what they say and that is eternally true. Some will hear and some will not but we still need to speak about these things. Why? Because, Christianity is about fulfilling His Eternal Purpose!