Oftentimes, I feel that we are involved with many things. And yet, somehow, they are just things.
Oftentimes, we find ourselves occupied with things. These things may be of God. Maybe we are occupied by certain truths, and these truths can very well be real. Or we may be occupied with some experiences, and these experiences also may be real.
And yet, because we are occupied with these different things—truths and experiences—we sometimes find that one truth can divide us against another truth; one experience can war against another experience. These things may all be of God and very important, but they can divide us.
We can notice the trees and forget the forest. So I think one thing is very necessary for God’s people: to see the whole counsel of God, the overall plan of God. We need to have a broad panoramic view of what God’s plan is.
And if we can be occupied with this plan, then, brothers and sisters, I believe everything—every truth and every experience—will fall into its proper place. That will help God’s people to be really one, in life and in purpose.
So this point, I feel led to share with you, brothers and sisters: the whole plan of God. Now, this is a tremendous subject. We could spend conference after conference on this, but this morning we would just like to bring out the main points.
Probably, brothers and sisters, you can take these points with you, and the Lord will unveil and continue to reveal in you, that we may gain more and more inward knowledge.
Now, what is the whole plan? That which is related to His purpose and will, that which explains all His operation and all His work—what is that plan? What is that counsel?
I believe the plan of God consists of three things:
I believe that these three things are included in the counsel of God, in the whole plan.
Now, of course, God’s plan must be concerning His Son, because His Son is the center of His love. His Son is the center of His thought.
I will read just a few sample verses. Ephesians 1, beginning with verse 9:
Making known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him
unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times,
to sum up all things in Christ,
the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth.
Then Ephesians 1:22:
And He put all things in subjection under His feet,
and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.
Colossians 1:18:
And He is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things He might have the preeminence.
And Colossians 1:19-20:
For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell;
and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself,
having made peace through the blood of His cross;
through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
Hebrews 1:2 says:
At the end of these days spake unto us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the worlds.
Here we find that, in the counsel of God, there is Christ—God’s only begotten Son. God so loves His Son that He wants to give everything to His Son. For this reason, He created all things, in order that He might have something to give to His Son.
All things are created for the Son. All things are created by the Son. And all things are created in the Son.
Why are all things created in Him? Because everything is designed by the Son. It bears the character of the Son. He has characterized all the created things. It comes out of His thought, out of His design. It expresses His wisdom and His character. Therefore, all things are created in Him.
And, of course, all things are created by Him, because He is the instrument. He is the One who actually created all these things.
All things are created for Him because it is the will of the Father that, after all things are created, all these things will be given to the Son. He is to head up all things. Everything is to be summed up in Him, to be headed up in Him. The Father has made Him Head over all things.
Now, this is the eternal will of the Father.
Because God has such a will, therefore you find creation. All things are created for Him, that He may have the first place in all.
You know, it says in Colossians 1—and it is a tremendous passage—beginning from verse 15:
Who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
God is invisible, and yet the Son is the image of the invisible God. No one has ever seen the Father, but the Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him.
When we see the Son, we see the Father. He is the image; He is the expression of the substance of God. Just like when you see the light, you know the sun. You cannot look at the sun, but the light tells you of the sun. It is the Son Who is the image of the invisible God.
He is the firstborn of all creation. Now, how should this word be understood? “Firstborn” here cannot be interpreted as the first to be created.
The word “firstborn” gives you the idea, first, of priority. He is before all creation. He is not listed among the creation. He is prior to all creation. He is uncreated. He is the One Who created all things.
That is the meaning of the word “firstborn.” It does not mean that He was the first to be born, the first to be created, and then others followed.
In Exodus 4:22, God said, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.” Now, certainly Israel was not the firstborn among the nations. So far as God’s plan is concerned, it simply means that Israel has a priority over all the nations before God.
Second, “firstborn” means sovereignty. In other words, He is not only the One Who is before all creation, but He has sovereignty over all.
In Psalm 89, God told David, “I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” He has sovereignty over all things. And this is what Christ Jesus is.
He has priority over all, and He has sovereignty over all things. He is the First One.
Not only is He the firstborn of all creation, but He is the firstborn from among the dead.
There were people who were raised from the dead before Christ. We find that in the Old Testament, and we find that in the New Testament. Our Lord Jesus Himself raised the dead. And yet Christ is the firstborn from among the dead. Why is He called that?
In Him is the real meaning of resurrection. All resurrection takes its answer from Christ. And He is the beginning of the church. It is of Him that the church comes into being.
Now, why does God give Him this place as the firstborn of all creation, as well as the firstborn from among the dead? It is because God wants Him to have the first place in all. God wants Him to have the preeminence in all.
The first place here does not mean that He is first, you are second, somebody else is third, and so on and so forth. The first place in the Scriptures means that He is the first, He is the last, and He is all that is in between. That is to say, He is all and in all. He is everything, everywhere.
Now, this is the plan. God’s plan is that, someday, Christ will be all and in all. Someday He will have the first place in all. All things will be summed up in Him. He is Head over all.
But we know that, after creation came into being, something happened. An archangel rebelled against God.
In the rebellion of that archangel, he was actually trying to grasp for himself the place that God had given to His only begotten Son.
God’s will is that His Son should have the first place in all things. But here was an archangel who wanted to compete with the Son. He wanted to have that first place. And because of that, it was rebellion.
Because of that, he turned himself into the devil, the adversary, and he was cast down. God will not allow anything or anyone to compete with His Son. God will not give the first place to anyone other than to His beloved Son.
If there is any desire to compete, that is a state of rebellion, and that turns you into something else. Because of this rebellion, the universe entered into confusion.
All things, as it were, were scattered, shattered, broken into pieces.
And then the love of God began to move upon the ruins. We find in the book of Genesis how God restored the earth in six days. On the sixth day, He created man according to His image.
In creating man, He had a desire: not only that man might be a vessel to Him, but that man might also be an instrument for His purpose.
How unfortunate that, instead of eating the tree of life, man took the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead of depending upon God, man declared independence from God, and he fell into the hands of the enemy. With man, the curse came upon creation.
Ah, brothers and sisters, we thank God that God did not give up His man. God never gave up man, whom He created.
God began to work, and in the fulness of time He sent His only begotten Son into this world to be a man—the man that God had in mind when He first created man.
We find that in this Man, in Christ, He reconciled all things to Himself.
Not only in the plan of God were all things created for Him, but when all things began to be broken away, He came to reconcile all things to the fulness of God.
When He reconciles all things to the fulness of God, man must first be reconciled. That is why you find that salvation must first come to man. We are to be the firstfruits of all the creatures, and it is through man that all things shall be brought back.
Thirdly, you find that God has made Christ, His Son, the Heir of all. Having created all things and reconciled all things to Himself, He will receive all things from the Father at the end of all.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is the central point: the Son, our Christ, is everything to God, and He must be everything.
But then you find that, in the counsel of God, there is a second element: the church.
God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.” Spiritually speaking, you find that God says it is not good for His Son to be alone. God will make Him a Body to match Him.
That is why Ephesians 1 tells us that He is Head over all things to the church:
Which is His body,
the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
Not only do we have this in Ephesians 1:22-23, but we also have it in Ephesians 3:10-11:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places
might be made known through the church
the manifold wisdom of God,
according to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here we find that, in the whole plan of God, there is Christ in the center, but there is that which is related to Christ: the church. The church is to be His Body, the fulness of Him Who filleth all in all.
Out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue, and every people, God gathers together a people unto Himself. This is the church of God.
A body is that which joins to the head in one. A body contains all the riches of the head, and the body expresses the personality of the head.
What is the church? The church contains all the riches of Christ. Here, brothers and sisters, we are saved to be the Body of Christ. It is our privilege, and we should learn to know all the riches that are in Christ—not just a little bit of Christ.
That does not represent the Body. The Body is the fulness of Him Who filleth all in all.
But unless, individually and collectively, we know Christ to be all and in all in our lives, we will not be able to truly represent Him, the fulness of Him Who filleth all in all.
In other words, God’s purpose is that Christ should have the first place in all things. Now, this must first become real in the church. This must first become real in each of our lives.
Is Christ all and in all in your life? You may be all right, and He may be in your life; but is there anything in our lives in which He is not all and in all? He is there, but there is something else. Listen: He must be all and in all.
That is the reason why, brothers and sisters, God leads us through many, many experiences. We know why the Holy Spirit deals with every avenue of our lives.
Not only in our religious life, but even in our home, even in our will, even in our emotional life, even with our country, even with our children—you will find that the Holy Spirit is trying to make Christ all and in all.
It takes a long time to learn something. We are children; the Holy Spirit is our Tutor.
As we learn to let Christ be all and in all in our lives, individually and together, you will find that the church is truly the Body of the Head, the fulness of Him Who filleth all in all.
And when God is able to obtain that leadership, the church will lead all things to Christ.
In Romans 8, we are told that the whole creation is in earnest expectation, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.
The whole creation is now in bondage, subject to corruption. It was not willingly subjected to that corruption. It is man who has put creation into such subjection. The whole creation groans.
And we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit are groaning with it. For what? For the liberation, the liberty of the sons of God.
Brothers and sisters, the church is to lead the whole creation to Christ. When Christ is able to be all and in all to the church—Head over all things to the church—the church will lead all things to Christ.
Not only that, but the church is God’s instrument to defeat the enemy.
On the cross, the Head has already crushed the enemy. On the cross, our Lord Jesus has already conquered. He has disarmed the principalities and powers and openly put them to shame. The victory of Christ on the cross is complete. The Head has overcome, and now it is for the Body.
Not only to claim that victory, but to apply that victory over all things.
It is the privilege of the church to apply the victory of the Head over all things and bring all things into subjection to Christ.
As the church is doing that, the enemy is completely defeated. Brothers and sisters, what a privilege and what a responsibility!
But then you find the third element in the whole counsel of God, and that means the overcomers.
God’s purpose concerning His church is that this church should join with Christ and be that vessel, be that instrument, to bring all things to Christ.
And yet, sad to say, even before the first century was out, in the New Testament you already find there was failure. The church in general did not allow Christ to be all and in all.
The whole church should be able to instruct others, but here you find that, because of the failure of the whole church, Paul told Timothy to entrust to faithful men those things which they would be able to teach others also.
Why? Because in the same chapter we are told that the church has become a great house, with vessels unto honor and vessels unto dishonor—gold and silver vessels, and vessels of wood and earth.
If anyone purifies himself from these, he shall be sanctified, meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work.
In other words, you find that in the church, because of the failure of the church, faithful people are to be the gold and the silver, fit for the Master’s use.
Not all Christians are content to be vessels of wood and earth. God can still use them for certain purposes. They may be used to serve the house, but that is not sufficient.
In order to serve the Lord, you have to be a vessel unto honor—that is, gold and silver. Those speak of the divine nature of God and the redemptive work of Christ. There should not be any mixture of wood and earth in the place.
Again, you find in the book of Revelation, in the seven letters to the seven churches, that God is calling for overcomers. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh…”
Some brothers and sisters may ask, “Are the overcomers in the eternal plan of God?” Yes, but they are a contingency.
You know, God knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows that man will fall, and therefore He prepared redemption for man. But can you say redemption is the purpose of God?
Is redemption the purpose of God? It is as if God made man sin. God was not responsible for the failure of man. Certainly that is not God’s purpose.
Redemption is the way of God. God has a way to rescue, to regain, and to restore. But certainly it is not God’s will for man to fall into sin and then for Him to go into all the trouble to rescue man.
It is in the plan, but it is a way, not the purpose.
See, the overcoming principle in the Scriptures is the way of God, not the purpose of God. It is God’s contingency plan.
In other words, God prepares beforehand for any contingency. God does not intend that it should happen, but should it happen, God is never at a loss. There are in His hands contingency plans to work back to His original purpose.
So, dear brothers and sisters, I believe that the overcoming principle in the Bible is God’s contingency plan. It is in the eternal purpose of God, but it is God’s way, not God’s desire.
Why? Because God’s purpose is that all His people should overcome.
Therefore, you find in 1 John 5:
And who is he that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now, of course, all who are regenerated believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. All who believe in the Lord have faith in Christ, and because of that, the whole church should overcome. It is the will of God that the whole church should be an overcoming church.
The Body is to apply the victory of the Head. It is the purpose of God that the whole church shall be overcoming.
Because the majority of God’s people do not see God’s purpose, the majority of God’s people are satisfied. They are content merely to go to heaven. All they want is to be saved.
They do not press on to maturity. They do not respond to the Lord. They have no heart for God’s purpose.
Because of this, there have to be overcomers. The overcomers are not some special class. No, no. The overcomers are simply those who are normal—those who are all for God.
In Revelation 2 and 3, at the beginning of each letter, Christ reveals Himself to that church. The revelation of Christ constitutes the testimony of Jesus and testifies to the truth.
But when we fail to respond to that revelation, when in our lives we do not correspond to the revelation that we have seen, we have failed. That is the reason why God calls for overcomers.
Overcomers are simply those in the church who respond to the revelation they receive and who correspond with what they have seen.
Who are the overcomers? The overcomers are those who are faithful to that which they have received from the Lord in a time of general depression and falling away.
Who are the overcomers? The overcomers are those who press on toward the end. As Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” These are the overcomers.
Who are the overcomers? In Revelation 12, they overcome Satan because of the blood of the Lamb.
Not that they are perfect. The overcomers are not perfect—far from it. But they overcome by the value of the blood of the Lamb. They have their robes washed white in the blood.
The overcomers are those who have the testimony, the word of their testimony. In other words, their whole life is the testimony of Jesus.
What is the testimony of Jesus? Jesus is Lord. That is the testimony of Jesus. He is the Lord of all.
The overcomers are those who show forth that testimony. They declare that Christ is Lord of all, and in their lives they allow Christ to be all and in all. Because of that, they are not ashamed to speak for Him.
You will find that the focus of the conflict of the ages, in the beginning, was upon Christ Jesus. The conflict of the ages came upon Him, and what a conflict He went through.
We hardly understand. Oftentimes, when we read the Scriptures, we treat them mechanically. But when our Lord was born in Bethlehem, why did such conflict come? Because the focus of the conflict of the ages was centered upon Christ. And He overcame.
After that, you find that the conflict of the ages focused upon the church. Why? The church is to be that special instrument for God. And what conflict the church went through.
If you read the book of Acts, you see what persecution came upon the church. But when the church began to decline, Satan turned his attention elsewhere.
The focus changed to the overcomers. In Revelation 12, you find the vision of the woman travailing to give birth, and the dragon standing before the woman.
He does not attack the woman directly. He knows that it is not merely the woman. It is the man-child in the woman. He is waiting for the man-child to be born. He will do all he can to prevent that man-child.
The focus has changed to the overcomers. Oh, brothers and sisters, those who want to go on with Him, those who want to follow Him to the end—whithersoever the Lamb goeth, they follow Him—you will find the enemy coming against them, because they have become the focus of the conflict.
But they love not their lives even unto death. The last thing that Satan can do is threaten you with death. But they love not their lives unto death. Why? Because the sting of death has already been taken away.
“Where, O death, is thy victory?” Christ has already obtained the victory. They are willing to go all the way, even unto death. Because of that, they overcome.
There will be no more place for the enemy in the heavens. He will be cast down upon the earth, and the kingdom of God will come.
So here, brothers and sisters, you find an outline of the whole plan of God.
Now, this morning, we have just brought these few points. May the Lord make them real to all His people.
Our glorious and concerned Father, we pray that Thou wilt give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of Thyself, that we may see Christ as Thou seest Him.
Oh, may He have the first place in all things. May we see what a high calling Thou hast called us unto, even to be joined with Him in one, in life and in work.
Oh, Lord, we pray that we may find our place, that we may respond to Thee in all the time.
May the New Jerusalem be filled with Thy glory. Oh, may Christ be all and in all.