Okay, we will have a word of prayer first.
Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee for Thy goodness and mercy. Thou hast gathered us together tonight unto the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is the desire of our hearts to glorify Thee, to exalt the name of Jesus—the name that is above every name. At that name every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. It is the delight of our hearts to proclaim that Jesus is Lord. He is Lord over us; He is Lord over all.
We do submit ourselves to Thee for this evening. We ask Thee, Lord, that by Thy Spirit Thou wilt quicken our understanding, quicken Thy word to our hearts, and bring us into Thy very purpose, Thy very will. We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I believe we all know that the theme of this conference is purpose, walk, and warfare. Or, if you want to, you can say will, walk, and warfare.
You will find these are the subjects especially in the Epistle to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 1 through 3, we find purpose—God’s purpose. In Ephesians 4 through 5:9, we find our walk. Then finally, in Ephesians 6:10 to the end, we find warfare.
It seems to me that this is the divine order: first purpose, then walk, and then warfare. Without knowing the purpose of God, we can hardly walk according to His will. And if we do not walk in His will, we are unable to enter into spiritual warfare.
So purpose is the first thing that we have to understand and enter into. Then you will find that walk follows, and warfare will also follow.
The burden upon me is on purpose. I would like to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, on this matter of purpose from four directions:
Now this evening, we will begin with the first one: purpose hidden in creation, particularly in the creation of man. Will you please turn to Ephesians 1? We will read from Ephesians 1:3-14.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ:
According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love:
Having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:
In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
Which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
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; in Him, I say,
In Whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His will;
To the end that we should be unto the praise of His glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:
In Whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation—in Whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of His glory.
Now turn to Genesis 1:26-28.
And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Then Genesis 2:18 and 21-24.
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
In the first passage that we have just read, Ephesians 1:3-14, we find that the word will is used three times. It is used in verse 5: “according to the good pleasure of His will”; in verse 9: “having made known to us the mystery of His will”; and again in verse 11: “Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will.”
Then again, we find that the word purpose is used twice. It is used in verse 9: “according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself”; and again in verse 11: “according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.”
So here you find two words: will and purpose. Actually, these two words are very closely linked together. Sometimes they are synonymous; they can be used interchangeably.
Our God is a personal God. That is to say, He has a personality of His own. He has a will. He is the supreme will of the universe. His will supersedes all wills, and His will governs all things.
He wills according to His good pleasure. He is absolutely free. He wills whatever pleases Him. He does not need to answer to anybody. What He is pleased with, He wills.
And His will is a mystery to us. By mystery, it does not mean something mysterious. It simply means something that is hidden in God—a secret that waits to be revealed.
Our God Himself is a great mystery. But thank God, it pleases Him to reveal His Son in us.
He not only wills according to His good pleasure—it is a mystery hidden in Him—but He exercises His will to work out what He has willed.
So here you find purpose. He purposed in Himself. He purposed in Himself even before the foundation of the world. After He has purposed, He works in order that His purpose may be fulfilled.
So this is our God: He has a will, He has a purpose, and He works out what He has willed and purposed.
Now, the purpose of God is according to Himself. In other words, if He purposes a purpose, it must be something that answers to Himself, something that satisfies Himself. So the purpose of God must be a glorious purpose—something that is far beyond what we can comprehend—because it is something which He purposes to satisfy His very being.
And this is the purpose that He desires us to enter into.
What is the purpose of God? We say it is hidden.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. When He created the heavens and the earth, He had that purpose in mind. He created the heavens and the earth for His beloved Son. He loves His Son so much. He wants to do something for Him, and it is out of this desire that He created the heavens and the earth.
When we look at the universe, it is such a tremendous creation. Even today, with all our modern science, people still do not know how this creation came into being, much less do they know why.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we do thank the Lord. We know how this world was created because we are told by God in Hebrews 11:3:
By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.
So what we see does not originate from what appears. In other words, the universe was created and formed by the word of God.
And not only that, we also know why all creation was created. Again, we are told by the word of God in Colossians 1:16-18 that when God created all things, He created all things in His Son, by His Son, and for His Son.
When He created all things, all things were designed by His beloved Son. His Son was the architect of all creation. And when it was actually created, it was created by Him. That is, He is the One Who built everything. When everything was finished, it was for Him.
Now, the reason why you find God created all things in His Son, by His Son, and for His Son is that His Son may have the preeminence over all things. Or, to put it another way, He wants His Son to be the heir of all things, to inherit all of it, that all things will be in subjection to His Son.
His Son may head up all things. All things find their meaning in His Son, and all things subsist in His Son. That is, all things are held together by His Son. He is the One Who puts all things together into perfect harmony.
So, brothers and sisters, by the word of God we know that God created all things with His Son in view. He gave all things to His Son, that His Son may have the first place in all things.
It is true that inanimate things, such as the mountains and the rivers, may not have intelligence, and yet automatically they submit themselves to the beloved Son of God.
Intelligent beings, such as the angels—even though they were not told fully by God why they were created—yet instinctively knew that they had to submit themselves to the Son of God, to the One Who created them. They had to obey Him and serve Him.
So, brothers and sisters, even though the purpose of God at that time was not yet fully revealed and was still hidden in God, all things were created in His Son, by His Son, and for His Son. In effect, He was before all creation.
So in the beginning, the heavens declared the glory of God, and the firmament showed His handiwork. The whole universe was in perfect harmony. They were in subjection to the Heir of all things. It was a wonderful, beautiful picture.
We do not know how long this continued, but by the word of God we know that, unfortunately, at a certain period of time there was a rebellion in heaven.
We get this from Isaiah 14:12-14 and from Ezekiel 28:11-19. Somehow, in time past, one of the created beings—the most intelligent, an archangel by the name of Lucifer, the brilliant star—rebelled.
If you read Ezekiel 28, you will find that when God created Lucifer, He created him with such beauty. He adorned him with such glory. He gave him such talents and such a great position. He was an anointed covering cherub. In other words, he was an anointed angel covering the throne of God.
He was very near to God. He was supposed to lead the other angels in worshiping God and God’s beloved Son. He was supposed to lead the angelic host to serve God’s will and to glorify God’s Son.
But unfortunately, because of his wisdom, his adornment, his talents, and his position, somehow he began to look into himself instead of looking at the Son and worshiping Him. Pride began to rise within his heart.
As you find in Isaiah 14, “I” began to rise up: “I will. I will rise up. I will be equal with God.”
Brothers and sisters, who is equal with God? In Philippians 2, we are told that our Lord Jesus was in the form of God, and equality with God was not something He needed to grasp at, because the Father and the Son, oh, They are equal.
Yet here you find another being, a created being, who lost his senses. He wanted to take the position of the Son of God. He wanted to be equal with God. He wanted to be worshiped instead of being a worshiper.
There was revolt in heaven. But thank God, whenever there is anyone or anything that desires to be equal with God, God is a jealous God. Immediately, judgment came upon that angel. He was cast out of the heavenly realm.
He and his followers were cast out. The dominion that God had entrusted to him in order to serve God’s purpose—that is, our universe—entered into darkness, into emptiness, and into waste and void.
We do not know how long this situation continued. But thank God, God is not a man that He should lie, neither is He the son of man that He should repent.
Shall He say, and shall He not do it?
Or shall He speak, and shall He not make it good?
The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall frustrate Him? His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Brothers and sisters, when God wills His will, when He has a purpose, He will never change. He will never give up. So we do thank God that God is working toward His purpose. In spite of what happened in heaven, God did not give up.
We do not know how long a time passed, because we are children of time, but God is the eternal God. Time is nothing to Him.
But when His time came, we are told that the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the deep. In six days, God restored the ruined earth to make it habitable. Why? Because, in the counsel of God, the recovery of the purpose of God was to be accomplished through man.
God decided that He would make man, who would be His instrument and vessel for the recovery of that original purpose of His.
So after God had restored the earth in six days and prepared it to be habitable, He created man. The Bible says in Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” And God created man in His own image.
Image refers to inward character. Likeness refers to outward form. Of the triune God, only the second Person has a bodily form.
So, in other words, when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness,” He created man in His character and also in the form of His beloved Son.
Man was created in God’s image and His likeness. Thus, of all created beings, man is the only one who has the capacity and the potential of being united with God in life.
In other words, because man was created in God’s image, he was able to receive God’s life into him and be transformed and conformed to the image of God’s beloved Son. That was how man was created.
And God said, “Let man have dominion”—dominion over the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea. God blessed them and said, “Multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it.”
Oh, brothers and sisters, we do see that in the creation of man, God hid His purpose.
Adam, as we are told in Romans 5:14, is a figure of the One Who was to come. In other words, Adam is a type of Christ.
Adam was created in the image of God and after the likeness of God. He had all the potential and ability to receive what is of God into himself and to be transformed.
But Christ is the express image of God’s being. He is that image. He is that likeness. He is God Himself.
Adam was given dominion over the things in the air, on the earth, and in the waters. But, dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is the Heir of all things.
He is given all things, not just limited to the earth, but the whole creation—the heavenly and the earthly. All things are given to the Son of God.
Adam was told to multiply and fill the earth. My brothers and sisters, this is only physical. Our Lord Jesus is to fill all things in all.
In other words, all things will have His imprint upon them. All things will have His character in them. All things will speak of Him. All things will glorify Him. He is the fullness of the Godhead, and He is to fill all in all. This is the purpose of God.
“Subdue it.” Now, in the very word subdue, it gives us a hint that something was not right.
You know, even though God had restored the earth to be habitable, and especially prepared a beautiful garden—the Garden of Eden—and put man in that garden, yet God said, “Subdue it.”
In other words, an enemy was there. Satan was cast out of heaven, and he fell into that domain that he ruled before—our universe. He was there, and all things were still without purpose. They needed to be subdued.
Subdued not only in the sense of bringing everything back into order, but also in the sense of bringing everything into subjection to the Son of God, as it was originally designed.
So, brothers and sisters, man was not only created in God’s image and given such dominion. All of this was for a reason: that man might become the instrument in God’s hand to subdue the earth and bring everything back to the feet of the Son of God.
But unfortunately, man failed. Instead of subduing all things, man was subdued by the enemy.
So what God had given to man—the dominion—again fell into the hands of Satan. That is why he is called the ruler of this world, the prince of this world, because man forfeited and surrendered it.
But, brothers and sisters, when God created man, was it Adam that God had in view? God, being omniscient, knows the end from the very beginning. He certainly knew that the man whom He created and gave such dominion and such an important task would fail. Adam would fail. God knew it.
So what God had in view when He created man was not Adam; it was Christ. The Man that God had before Him was Christ. He knew that one day His Son had to come to become a man, to be made a little lower than the angels.
It is no glory to God simply to destroy Satan by lifting His finger. God is almighty. But for God, it is to use man, who is a little lower than angels, to destroy God’s enemy.
So, brothers and sisters, even in the creation of Adam, God had the second Man in view. In the fullness of time, God would send His Son to this world to become a man. He is the Man after God’s own heart.
And through Him, all things will be subdued, brought back, and laid at the feet of God.
My brothers and sisters, when God created man, it is said that He created male and female. He created them.
Now, when we read the record, we find that when God first created man, He took the red earth and formed it into the form of man. Then He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. That was how Adam was created.
But when you come to Genesis 2, you find that after Adam was created, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a help meet for him.”
In the purpose of God, He said that it was not good for man to be alone. He wanted to give Adam a helpmate.
But before He did that, you remember the story. He brought all the animals to Adam, and Adam named them. Adam was a natural zoologist. When all these animals were led before him, he looked at each one and gave each a name.
But was it merely that God wanted Adam to name the animals that He brought all these animals before him? Certainly not.
God used the law of elimination. God brought all these animals to Adam to see how Adam would react. You see, God’s purpose was to find a helpmate for Adam, lest Adam be content with something less than what God designed for him.
So God led all these animals before him, from the lowest to the highest. And thank God, Adam looked at all these animals, shook his head, and said, “No. I cannot find my like. Nothing is like me. Not even the chimpanzee, or whatever, is like me. Therefore, it cannot be my helpmate.”
It is as if God let Adam know that he would remain a bachelor forever. Well, God put him to sleep.
Now this is the first sleep that man ever slept. I think probably when Adam was created, he was so energetic that he did not need sleep at all. Well, God put him to sleep, opened his side, and took something out of Adam.
And you know, God took that something out of Adam, and the Bible says He built it into a woman.
Then God woke up Adam and presented that which came out of him to Adam. Adam looked at her and said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” There you find the two joined together into one flesh.
Brothers and sisters, in the will of God, God gave Adam Eve, his like, to be his helpmate.
Now unfortunately, Eve was not a very good helpmate. You remember how she was deceived by the enemy, and she persuaded her husband to eat the forbidden fruit.
But, brothers and sisters, does God really have Eve in mind? Eve is a type. When God said, “It is not good for man to be alone,” the man He meant was not Adam. The Man He meant is Christ.
He said, “It is not good for My Son to be alone”—alone to inherit all things, alone to have all the glory. God said, “He needs a helpmate just like Him.”
So in the purpose of God, as we find in Ephesians 3:10-11, God has purposed in His Son even before the foundation of the world.
In Ephesians 1:9-10, you find that God purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world. And what is the purpose? That His Son should head up all things.
In Ephesians 3:10-11, God purposed in His Son even before the foundation of the world, and that purpose is that even the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies shall learn the manifold wisdom of God through the church.
So, in other words, brothers and sisters, the preeminence of Christ is God’s purpose, purposed before the foundation of the world. Likewise, the church, the helpmate of Christ, is also purposed in Christ before the foundation of the world.
God put Adam into sleep. I think after a long day of travel, a long day of meetings, and a night meeting, I think everybody is looking forward to sleep.
God put Adam to sleep—a peaceful sleep. Even though God performed surgery, it was bloodless surgery. It was painless surgery. God was the Surgeon Himself. He took something out of Adam and built a woman.
Brothers and sisters, this is not so with our Lord Jesus. Why? Because Eve was created and built before sin ever entered into the world. It was according to God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, there was no pain and no blood needed.
But the church is born differently. Why? Because sin entered the world. So our Lord Jesus, when He went to the cross, in a sense He was asleep, but it was a death. It was a painful death.
God crushed Him on Calvary’s cross. Why? Because God made Him a sin offering for the world.
Brothers and sisters, after Christ died, the soldiers saw that Christ was already dead, so instead of breaking His legs to hasten His death, one soldier thrust his spear into the side of our Lord, evidently reaching to His heart.
If you read John 19, you will find that the Apostle John was at the foot of the cross. He saw what happened. He saw that when the spear was drawn out, out of the side of our Lord came blood and water.
And he bore witness and said, “What I saw is real; it is true.” Why?
Brothers and sisters, because out of His pierced heart came blood and water. Blood for the atoning of our sins. Water is life—healing life—to those who believe in Christ Jesus.
So, brothers and sisters, the church is born out of the side of our Lord. It is born out of the very heart of our Lord Jesus—a heart of love expressed in blood and water.
You find in Ephesians 5 that He loved the church and gave Himself for her. He sanctifies her, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish.
Brothers and sisters, it is out of the side of our Lord, by the blood and the life, that the church is built.
When Eve was brought to Adam, immediately Adam knew that this was his like, because she came out of him. And they were united into one.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the church in the purpose of God? The church in the purpose of God is to be His like. In other words, the church is none other than Christ’s counterpart.
It is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him Who filleth all in all. There is nothing else but Christ Himself—Christ corporate. That is the church.
And the principle we see here is this: only that which comes out of Christ can go back and be united in one with Christ.
If there is anything in us, corporately or individually, however good it may be, if it does not come out of Christ, brothers and sisters, one day it cannot be united with Christ. It will be rejected and eliminated.
What a calling the church has: His counterpart, His helpmate.
Eve failed in her task, just as Adam failed in his task. But the church, in God’s mind and in God’s purpose, will fulfill what God has purposed.
Even though today, brothers and sisters, we feel ashamed because what we call church seems to fail Christ, just as Eve failed to be a helpmate to Adam. Instead of helping Adam accomplish the task God called him to do—to subdue all things—we find Eve was used by the enemy to lead man into slavery to sin and to the enemy.
And yet, brothers and sisters, we feel ashamed. But thank God, as Christ is victorious, the church is the conquering church. We know that one day principalities and authorities in the heavenlies shall learn the manifold wisdom of God through the church.
They are more intelligent than we are. Commentators say that in Ephesians 3, the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies are the good angels, not the evil ones, because the evil ones never learn and never want to learn.
But it is those good angels. Even though they are more intelligent than we human beings, yet they learn the manifold wisdom of God. And that is the grace of God—not that we can teach them anything, but we can show them the manifold grace of God in Christ Jesus.
And for this they worship and praise God.
So, brothers and sisters, you find that even in the very creation—in the creation of man and in the creation of Eve—we find God’s purpose hidden. Or, to put it another way, it is in view of Christ and the church that God created Adam and Eve.
So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do worship Thee because Thy purpose, which Thou hast purposed in Thyself and in Thy beloved Son, is so perfect, so good, so acceptable. We worship Thee.
We agree with Thee that Thy Son shall have the preeminence in all things. Lord, we who are the redeemed want to submit ourselves to Thee as an example to all created beings, heavenly and earthly.
We want to tell them that Thou art worthy—worthy to receive power, honor, glory, and dominion.
And Lord, we want to be the first to crown Thee King of kings and Lord of lords. We declare that by Thy grace we are Thine, and by Thy grace we want to be wholly Thine. Thou shalt have first place in our lives.
And we do humbly ask Thee to use us to be Thy instrument, to bring all things to Thy feet, to the praise of Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.