The Goal of God's Work

Introduction

The Western Church culture has become very immersed in what God has done for me, the individual. It seems that the focus of all of the preaching that I am hearing is on how to get all that God has given or done for me. Many of the conferences and other programs present a positive, success oriented agenda that would rival any of the sales motivation meetings that I attended as the head of a national sales force back in the 80's. Jesus is presented as the key to health, wealth and prosperity and we all need to get our share because we are king's kids and it all belongs to us. Is this what the Lord intended? Did Jesus come so that I could live the American Dream? Is it all about me and my need or about God and His purpose?

Maybe we should be concerned about what God intended to begin with when He made Adam. We have gotten so self-centered that we can't see the forest for the trees. It is time for us to change our perspective and quit looking at things with the focus of how they relate to us. We need to re-focus on how things relate to God and His intention.

Time and Eternity

The dimension of spiritual reality is Eternity. It is the habitat of God and His angels and is invisible to our dimension of physical or natural reality, which we call our space-time continuum. Our physical reality is like a soap bubble floating in Eternity. It has it own self-contained structure and operates by its own God established physical laws. Time is part of the structure of our universe. Einstein illustrated this with the Theory of Relativity—space, time, mass, and speed are all related to each other mathematically. Time is not a constant but is affected by mass and speed, proving that it is a construct of God for our universe and has no application to Eternity. It is not that Eternity is just a long, long time; it is that there is no relation between time and Eternity.

In Eternity, before time or our universe existed, God purposed something within Himself that He intended to accomplish. The fullness of this intention is something that God has kept hidden in Himself.¹ It is a mystery to the rulers and authorities of Heaven.² While there are a number of books in Heaven, including the Book of Life, where various things are recorded, God did not record this mystery in any of the books of Heaven.

This mystery has to do with what God had purposed in Himself in Eternity before our space-time continuum even existed. Now, this mystery is unfolding in time and, as this occurs, it is being revealed to all in Heaven and earth.

This is something that we need to understand. God has intended to accomplish something that He purposed before He made man. All that God is doing in the earth is working toward the fulfillment or completion of His intention. There are no extraneous or hap-hazard moves of God. No emergency add-ons or changes to God's plan. He will accomplish that which He intended from the very beginning.

God's Ultimate Intention

God is not just God; He is Father. The heart of God is Father—Eternal Father. As with any father, the desire of the heart is to have sons; sons that look like him. This is true of our Heavenly Father, also. The scriptures reveal that it is the Father's desire to bring many sons to glory.³ That is the part of God's ultimate intention that relates to us personally, individually. We are to be sons

Galatians 4:7-8 NASB

(7) Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

As sons we become heirs of God. That is part of being brought to glory. God shares all that He is with us; we receive the inheritance of who He is.

So, we have in this an individual work of God in us of bringing many sons to glory to be the heirs of God and the joint-heirs of Christ; but, there is also a corporate intention in God's purpose—the “one new man”⁴, the Body of Christ in which all things will be summed up.

Ephesians 1:9-10 NASB

(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 fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him

When Jesus walked the earth in His physical body, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him. But, this was in miniature, only one human body revealing the glory of the Father. But, it is God's intention that His glory will be displayed in magnitude, one new man composed of many individual members manifesting the glory of the Father through out all creation.

To begin to see God's intention we need to look at why God created man and chose him for His own purpose. The Scriptures tell us that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world⁵. Why was it necessary for the Lamb to be slain before man was created? Think about the context in which such a statement would be made. This says that God, in His foreknowledge, knew that man would sin, that he would need a savior; therefore, God made provision to correct the sin problem before there was even a man to commit sin. Jesus offering His blood as an atonement was a part of the purpose of God before creation, before He made man. It was a necessary part of God accomplishing His intention. The blood of Jesus was not an emergency add-on to fix a problem, but, instead, was a part of the original plan of God.

When God made Adam, he had the potential to fulfill God's ultimate intention, the reason or purpose for which man had been created. The obedience of Adam's heart was tested by a single, simple command of God. Adam failed by his disobedience, which resulted in him being cut off from God and losing the potential to fulfill God's intention for man. Therefore, God sent forth the Last Adam, the second man, to atone for the first Adam's sin (and our sin in him) and restore man to the potential of fulfilling God's intention. Unlike the first, the Last Adam had a heart of obedience, which He learned by the things that He suffered⁶.

While salvation is necessary and blood atonement is necessary, this is not the ultimate intention of God, but, steps to restore man to a place where he can move into the fulfillment of God's intention. We must look beyond the trees in order to see the forest. While salvation and all of the things that accompany it are wonderful and necessary, they are means to an end, not the end itself. We must see that if we are to mature.

Why Man?

Now comes the real question. God knew that after He created man, he would sin and it would be necessary for those sins to be dealt with. Therefore, the Son would come and offer Himself as the sacrificial Lamb—the atoning life given for us to restore us to a place where we could fulfill God's purpose. The question is—why go to the trouble? Why bother? Either make man where he would not sin or not bother to make him at all. Why create an inferior creature that would be so much trouble?

In Ephesians, Paul is explaining his calling in Christ and what the Lord had entrusted to him as it relates to the Gentiles. Paul calls it a mystery that had been hidden to previous generations but had now been revealed to the apostles and prophets. This makes it a uniquely New Testament revelation of mystery as it relates to the purpose of the Church (the ekklesia, the Body of Christ) and its becoming the “one new man”.

Ephesians 3:9-11 NASB

(9) and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;

(10) so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

(11) This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

This mystery involves the revealing of the manifold wisdom of God, which, in accordance with His eternal purpose, was carried out in Christ Jesus. According to the scripture above, this is all being done to make the wisdom of God known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavens. God's instrument to do this is the “one new man”—the Church, the Body of Christ.

Now, the question becomes, why does the manifold wisdom of God need to be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavens? Don't the angels already know God's wisdom? Isn't this a given? Is it possible that something occurred or God did something that caused the heavenly rulers and authorities to question or possibly even doubt God's wisdom?

I think that the answer to these questions have to do with God's decision to create man and make him a son and an heir of God, which would include the idea of the Son of God laying aside His divinity and taking on the form of a man in order to redeem man and fulfill the purpose of God. What God is doing with man is not clear to the angels.

1 Peter 1:12 NASB

(12) It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look.

Peter makes it clear that the whole purpose of the gospel and the sending of the Holy Spirit is not fully comprehended by the angels. That is why they desire to look into it. Could it be that this is one of the areas in which the wisdom of God is not fully known or understood by the angels?

The Scriptures tell us that man was made as an inferior creature.

Hebrews 2:5-7 NASB

(5) For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.

(6) But one has testified somewhere, saying, "WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?

(7) "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;

[NOTE: The NASB puts Old Testament quotes in all capitals, which is why the bulk of the verses above are in caps.]

The writer of Hebrews is quoting from Psalm 8 concerning man and the son of man (Jesus). Man was made lower than the angels; that is, inferior to them. Even the Son of man was made lower than the angles. The Son of God humbled Himself, emptying Himself of His divinity and assumed the form of a man, a servant, a creature inferior to the angels⁷.

The phrase “for a little while” means for a period of time. Man has been made temporarily lower than the angels. Jesus humbled himself in the form of a man and was, temporarily, lower than the angels. It is God's intention that those who become like the Lord, conformed to His image, will rule with Him in the coming ages. Man will then be greater than the angels instead of lower. It appears that this has become an issue with the angels and reflects upon the wisdom of God.

The book of Hebrews mention several things about the Son and the angels.

Hebrews 1:3-4 NASB

(3) And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

(4) having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

When Jesus sat down on the right hand of the Majesty, He was in His resurrected body and that body is the body, the physical likeness, of a man. We don't know what form the Son had prior to His incarnation, but afterward, He has the body of a man—a natural body that was planted as a seed and was raised a spiritual body of the same type and nature that we will have in the resurrection. Even though He was made a little lower than the angels by His incarnation, in His resurrection, He was made much better than the angels inheriting a more excellent name. And now the angels must worship the Son, who is in the glorified likeness of a man, an inferior creature.⁸

Now, the real question is, why even bring up anything about the angels? What do they have to do with this? The writer of Hebrews goes on to say several things about angels and contrasts them and their functions with the Son.

Hebrews 1:5 NASB

(5) For to which of the angels did He ever say, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"? And again, "I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME"?

Hebrews 1:13 NASB

(13) But to which of the angels has He ever said, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET"?

He makes it clear that none of the angels have the position of the Son; none of the angels will rule at the right hand of the Father while his enemies are made a footstool. Instead, the functions of the angels are clearly stated.

Hebrews 1:14 NASB

(14) Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

The angels render service on the behalf of man, who are the ones that inherit salvation. The superior creature, the angels, serve the inferior creature, man and this by the will of God.

Why is this an issue? Why does the Hebrews' writer mention any of this? Isn't it a given that the Son is more excellent than an angel? It is like the writer of Hebrews is answering a question that we have not asked. We have to fit what is said in Hebrews into a context of the purposes of God in order to bring understanding about this. To do that we have to look at a bigger picture.

Is it possible that when Lucifer wanted to be as God and ascend to the throne of God,⁹ what he wanted was the place and position of the Son? That is what I think. It has always bothered me that Lucifer could even imagine that he could overthrow and replace God. That sounds not only stupid; it sounds absolutely moronic, but we know that Lucifer is not an idiot. However, because of his beauty and position, I can see that he could begin to think of himself more highly than he should think and begin to operate in a presumption of being of extreme importance to God. He could easily think of himself as the absolute perfection of created beings, being groomed by God to be revealed as “the son of God”. I think that makes sense and the nature of his rebellion was to exalt himself to be the son, that he would assume that exalted place and function.

The quelling of Lucifer's rebellion by God involves more than simple power. God, because He is God, could have simply spoke the word and Lucifer would have ceased to exist, or, even made it so that Lucifer had never existed. But that doesn't prove anything other than the fact that you are more powerful. If you are God, “more powerful” is a given. No one is more powerful than God.

All of the heavenly host are watching Lucifer's rebellion and God's answer to it. God chooses to prove His wisdom and His character to all who reside in the heavens. He doesn't deal with the situation with simple power; but, instead, begins a process that involves His hidden counsel, a mystery that has always been hidden within Himself.

So, God made man, an inferior creature, with the intention that through the work of the Son, incarnate as a man, He would sum up all things in Christ—one new man, manifesting the glory of God and revealing the wisdom of the mystery that He had hidden in Himself.

That is why the writer of Hebrews brings up all of this about the angels, the Son, and man. The very wisdom of God hangs in the balance as the intention of God is unfolded in time. Yes, God has chosen an inferior creature; but, God created man in such a way that He, Himself, as the Holy Spirit can dwell in man and make him capable of fulfilling the purpose of God so that the excellency may be of God an not of ourselves. We stand on the stage of time with all eternity watching the outcome, the resolution, the completion of God's ultimate intention.

The Works of Jesus

The Scriptures tell us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.¹⁰ We have interpreted this to mean the devil's works among men. However, there is an aspect of the devil's work that is in the heavenlies¹¹ and must also be destroyed. This must be done righteously by God without resorting to simple power. This is accomplished by the appearance of Jesus in the physical form of a man reversing the work of the enemy and restoring man to his potential so that, in fulfillment of God's intention, Jesus in magnitude, the one new man, composed of many glorified sons of God, replace and exceed the functions and purpose of the fallen angels by manifesting the glory of the Father throughout the new heavens and new earth in the ages to come.

The culmination of the work of Jesus has effects in the heavens and also in our space-time continuum. The Scriptures tell us that at the end there will be a great shaking of all created things.

Hebrews 12:26-27 NASB

(26) And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

(27) This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Normally we only think about this as it relates to trials, tribulations and other natural things; but, it says that there are things that must be shaken in heaven, also. The shaking removes everything that can be shaken so that only the Kingdom of God remains. In other words, God is going to shake things so hard, that anything that is not founded on or in the Lord Jesus will be shaken apart and destroyed, which includes any and all work of the enemy and the fallen angels that is a part of the heavens. This will cleanse the heavens of every taint of the enemy and his rebellion.

It is interesting that throughout the Bible there are references to the heavenly temple, wherein is the throne room of God. The Tabernacle of Moses was built as instructed by God after the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle.¹² Revelation gives many examples of various things occurring in the temple in heaven, including it being opened and the Ark of His Covenant being revealed¹³. However, in Revelation, the heavenly tabernacle disappears along with the old heavens and earth. The tabernacle of God changes to New Jerusalem, wherein is no temple because “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple”¹⁴ and God dwells with men without any further reference to a heavenly temple. Once cleansed of the taint of rebellion, the heavenly temple passes away.

All of these things are a part of the purpose of Jesus appearing to destroy the works of the devil. It is all being done as part of the manifold wisdom of God that is being revealed to creation.

The Mission of Jesus

Jesus understood His mission and that it was greater than just atoning for man's sin; even though, from our perspective, that is the most important part. From God's perspective the atonement was only one part, a means to an end.

Even by the age of twelve Jesus understood that He was to fulfill the purposes of the Father—that He should be about the Father's business. When Jesus' natural family had to travel to Jerusalem to be counted in a census, Jesus was inadvertently left behind when the family started its trip back home. After a day of traveling, they realized Jesus was not with them and returned to look for Him and found Him in the Temple discussing things with the Rabbis. Of course, Mary and Joseph were upset and chastised Jesus for putting them through the turmoil. His answer is very interesting.

Luke 2:49 NASB

(49) And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?"

Luke 2:49 KJV

(49) And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

Luke 2:49 ALT (Analytical-Literal Translation)

(49) And He said to them, "Why [is it] that you* were seeking Me? Did you* not know that it is necessary [for] Me to be [occupied] in the [things] of My Father?"

Listed above are three renderings of Jesus' answer. The NASB translated the underlined portion as an idiom and adds “house” to help make it clear. (The italics means that “house” is not in the original and was simply added by the translators.) The KJV doesn't translate the original as an idiom but rather as a normal phrase “my Father's business”. The Analytical-Literal Translation (ALT) treats is as a phrase also and renders it with the most literal translation—occupied in the things of My Father. The italicized words are added to help complete the phrases in English usage.

I like the Analytical-Literal Translation best because it makes it clear that Jesus understood His mission—His natural life was fully occupied in the things of the Father. He even stated that he only does what He sees the Father doing¹⁵. The easiest way to say this is that Jesus was fully devoted to the accomplishment of the Father's business and all of His work was to bring the purpose of the Father to completion.¹⁶ This is what He did then and is what He is doing now as our High Priest in the heavenlies.

The Gifts of Jesus

Jesus did His part of fulfilling the intention of the Father. He also gave us all that was necessary for us to complete our part, becoming sons and heirs and becoming one new man—the Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit

The first gift that He gave was actually from the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit. He even told the disciples to wait until they received the Holy Spirit¹⁷, which the Father had promised. This was necessary for they would be unable to accomplish His purpose without Him.

Jesus gave us a pretty detailed list of what the Holy Spirit would do.

We can see from this list that the Holy Spirit is the one who disciples us with the goal of conforming us to the image of Jesus. The Holy Spirit begins to make us into sons of God as He guides us into all truth.¹⁸

The Scriptures make it clear that the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit is to make known to us all that God has freely given and to teach us how to speak about these things with spiritual words arising from spiritual thoughts.

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 NASB

(12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may 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.

Romans 8:26-28 NASB

(26) In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

(27) and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

(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.

Without the Holy Spirit it would be impossible for us to come to individual maturity in the Lord and fulfill our calling in Him. The Holy Spirit works in us to bring forth the character of Jesus so that His nature is manifested through us.

The power of the Holy Spirit flows to bring to completion the purposes of God. Character is necessary to properly handle the power of God. Without character, power is dangerous and can become a corrupting influence. God withholds His power from people when it is not being used to further His plans and purposes.

The Five-Fold Ministry

Jesus gave us the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, so that we might come into individual maturity. He also provided for our corporate maturity. As already shown in this lesson, God's intention involves two components: 1) bringing many sons to glory and 2) summing up all things in Christ as one new man—the Body of Christ.

The first component of “bringing many sons to glory” involves the personal, individual work of the Holy Spirit in each of us to mature us. To accomplish the second component, both the Holy Spirit and the ascension gifts of Jesus, the so called five fold ministry, are required to sum us up and bring us corporately into the one new man—the fullness of the Body of Christ.

Ephesians tells us that when Jesus ascended, He gave gifts to men.¹⁹ Some call these the “doma” gifts because that is the Greek work used here for “gifts” as opposed to “charisma”, which is used of the gifts of the Spirit in I Corinthians 12:4. Therefore, we see that the gifts of Jesus and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are categorically different. The primary difference being that the ascension gifts are gifts of men given by Jesus to His people, His Body.

Ephesians 4:11 NASB

(11) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

The life of Jesus is expressed through these ascension gifts as indicated. An apostle is Jesus expressing Himself through a man as the Apostle. A prophet is Jesus expressing Himself through a man as the Prophet. And so on through the other ministries.

By their very nature these gifts would require some level of maturity; some level of being conformed to the image of Jesus; some level of understanding and participation in the plans and purposes of God. In other words, these gifts would require the development of the Father's heart as it relates to His ultimate intentions.

Just as the Holy Spirit distributes His gifts to each one individually as He wills,²⁰ Jesus is the one who determines His gifts as He wills. No one decides for himself that he is an apostle, or a prophet, or an evangelist, or a shepherd, or a teacher. Neither does anyone else make that decision. It is the sole decision of our Lord made with the intent of completing the purpose of the Father.

There are two purposes of the five-fold ministry: equipping the saints and building up the body

Ephesians 4:12 NASB

(12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

Equipping the saints involves helping them find their area of work and insuring that they have the proper tools and training to perform their works of service.

Building up the body involves it being fitted together, each individual properly in place and functioning so that the joints supply growth.

The next verse tells us how long the functions of the five-fold ministry are necessary.

Ephesians 4:13 NASB

(13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Notice that it is “until we all attain”. This is a corporate maturing until the Body of Christ comes “to the measure of the stature which belong to the fullness of Christ”.

The ascension gifts of Jesus are given “until”, that is, the functions which they represent are necessary until their purposes are achieved. Four areas are given that are the objectives of the work of the five-fold ministry. Once these objectives are accomplished the ascension gifts are no longer needed.

These four objectives are

1. the unity of the faith;

2. the knowledge of the Son of God;

3. a mature man; and

4. the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The objectives all relate to the corporate maturing of the Body of Christ. So, the five-fold ministry equips saints and builds the Body until these objectives are reached—until there is a corporate manifestation of the fullness of Christ in His Body.

I think these are given in the order in which the work is to be accomplished. The first two must come first in order to bring about the second two. This is important so that we don't get ahead of ourselves. Things proceed in an orderly fashion.

Those who function as five-fold ministry gifts to the Body (the real ones) all tend to move the corporate Body toward the areas that are necessary to complete the purposes of God. The false, the self-appointed five-fold ministers who assume the titles without understanding the functions, tend to concentrate on areas of order and control, imposing rules to achieve conformity to their understanding of the Church model. They major in minors without any understanding of the Father's heart and purpose.

The Process of Achieving

The Lord has provided all that is needed to complete the intention of the Father. We have received the Holy Spirit so that we can mature as sons of God. We have received the gifts of Jesus to His people so that we can mature as the corporate Body.

Maturing is a process both individually and corporately. All processes require a triggering event that starts the process and time for the process to come to completion. Being born again and filled with the Spirit triggers the individual maturing process. Coming into relationships and being baptized into the Body²¹ triggers the corporate maturing process, which includes each of us finding our place and function within the expression of the Body of Christ.

As the end times accelerate, we are moving into a new season of the Spirit—a new focus, a new emphasis. We are moving from concentrating on the individual to concentrating on the corporate—from individual maturity to corporate maturity. This season requires a new perspective on the purpose of God and the application of new understanding of what God is doing in the earth.

FOOTNOTES