Will you please turn to Colossians 3:11?
Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
And Ephesians 1:9-10:
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.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we do realize that we are standing on holy ground. We praise and thank You for Your precious promise: where two or three are gathered together unto Your name, there You are in their midst.
We are gathered here in Your name, and we believe that You are here with us. We would remove our shoes as we approach Your holy presence, standing on the ground of Your boundless grace, and say, “Lord, what do You have to say to us?” Speak now; Your servants are hearing.
May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, in our midst. We are here for You. May You be glorified. We ask in Your precious name. Amen.
We do thank the Lord for gathering us together at this time. Every time God gives us such an opportunity, I feel that it is the longsuffering and mercy of God.
I believe, brothers and sisters, that we all believe our Lord is coming soon. As a matter of fact, He can come at any moment. How good it would be if He should come now.
But, brothers and sisters, because we are not prepared to see Him, He gives us further opportunities. He wants each and every one of us to be well prepared for Himself. He wants us to see Him face to face without shame.
So when He gathers us together here, He gives us another opportunity. We are most grateful to the Lord, and our prayer is that we will not miss the opportunity—that every one of us will be ready and open to Him.
The purpose He had even before the foundation of the world for each one of us may be fully realized. It is not just for ourselves; it is for Himself. This is the reason why we are gathered here at this time.
I believe, brothers and sisters, we all know the theme of this conference. It is taken from Colossians 3:11: “Christ is all, and in all.”
Now, we know this verse refers to the church. That is to say, Christ is everything and in all to His church. But we know from the Word of God that it is more than just the church. Of course, it is important that the church should experience Christ as all and in all, but this is for the whole universe.
So, brothers and sisters, we would like to begin this morning with the eternal purpose of God. Maybe we all have heard of this term: the eternal purpose of God. Now, what has that to do with us?
Even when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are not thinking of the eternal purpose of God; we are thinking of ourselves. As a matter of fact, everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus does so for selfish reasons.
We want to be saved that we may go to heaven. We want to be saved that our sins may be forgiven. We want to be saved that we may not go to hell. It is all selfish.
But our God condescends Himself to our level. He is willing to save even such selfish people as we are. Now, even after we are saved, probably in our Christian life we are still self-centered.
We consider ourselves as the center of the universe. Everything is for us. God is for us. Christ is for us. We are the center. Brothers and sisters, we are such self-centered persons.
For this reason, we are not concerned with the eternal purpose of God. We need to be delivered—delivered from self-centeredness to Christ-consciousness, or God-consciousness.
In the beginning, God. God is the beginning of everything.
As we find in Ephesians 1:9, He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself for the administration of the fullness of time, to head up all things in Christ.
There is such a thing called the mystery of His will. God has the greatest will in the universe, and when He makes up His will, it is according to His good pleasure.
There is something that pleases God so much. It is the center of His heart. According to His good pleasure, even before the foundation of the world—when there was nothing but God Himself—God made a will, and that will pleases Him so much.
Everything that God does afterwards is according to that will. That will governs all God’s actions. It governs Him in His creation, in His redemption, and in His recovery work. Everything is according to that will.
You can see how important it is. If there is anything that is not within that will, it does not count before God. Whatever He does is according to that will, for the accomplishment of that will.
Brothers and sisters, it is that will that governs the universe. It governs all God’s actions, and it is that will that governs each and every one of us. You can see how important the eternal will is.
Now, to put it very simply, this eternal will of God is this: He wants to head up all things in Christ.
In the heart of God, there is only one Person, and that Person is His beloved Son. Out of His love for His beloved Son, He will do all things.
This is the reason for His creation. This is the reason for His redemption. He wants His Son to be all and in all.
In other words, to head up all things in Christ means that everything will be headed up in Christ. Some versions say that God will gather up all things in Christ.
Now, what does it mean to sum up all things in Christ? Let us use an illustration, because we find it in Romans 13.
The apostle Paul is talking about all the commandments of God: “Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not be greedy. Thou shalt not covet other people’s things.” Whatever commandment it may be, they all sum up in one word, and that word is love:
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
As you read the Old Testament, there are not only the Ten Commandments, but, aside from the Ten Commandments, there are many statutes and ordinances. But whatever they are, they all sum up in love.
Because behind all these commandments, the principle that governs all these commandments is love. If you love, you will not kill. If you love, you will not commit adultery. If you love, you will not be greedy. Love is the sum of all commandments.
Now, in the same manner, Christ sums up all things—not only the things in heaven, but also the things on the earth, and even the things beneath the earth. There is no exception.
Christ is the principle of all things. Christ is the governing principle of God’s work. It is Christ who is worthwhile before God. If it is not Christ, then God will not be concerned with it.
If we are related to the eternal purpose of God, we will be accepted by God. If we are not related in our actions, thoughts, or anything else to the eternal purpose of God, then in the sight of God it is evil, and it will be rejected.
You find that even in the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus used this illustration. One day people may come to the Lord and say, “We preached in Your name. We performed miracles in Your name. We cast out demons in Your name.”
But our Lord Jesus will say, “I do not know you.” That is to say, “I do not approve of you.” You are evil in the sight of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is how important the eternal purpose of God is.
I remember, by the grace of God, when He saved me in 1935, His love filled my heart, and I did have a desire to serve Him.
I was then in high school. Some of our students came together, and we organized all kinds of religious meetings. We organized bands to go to the villages to preach. Whenever the church had any activity, we were at the front line. We tried to draw people into the building to hear the gospel. We were all on fire for the Lord.
But even though we served God, we served God according to our own will. We thought, “That is what God wants, and we will do it for Him.” We were still self-centered.
In 1935, I joined the work with Brother Watchman. For several years, I traveled around China to preach the gospel, get people saved, and gather them together.
May I say that there were four things that we emphasized:
Of course, after God’s people gathered together, we would study the Bible with them. I did that for a number of years. I felt that if that was all, then there was nothing. I became so spiritually tired.
Thank God, He moves in a mysterious way. I was in Singapore when the Second World War started, and I was stranded there. At the very last minute, God opened a way for me to escape. It was just marvelous.
There was a coastal lighter fleeing to Rangoon. That was my route, because I wanted to go through Rangoon, and the Burma Road had just begun. I wanted to take the Burma Road back to interior China.
I still remember: it was December 30. Singapore was beginning to be surrounded, and at four o’clock a small boat left Singapore. Over a hundred Chinese were on that boat. The pier was burning. We had no protection of any kind—just a little boat standing out by itself.
But thank God, there were a few brothers and sisters on that boat, so we prayed every day. God took us out.
We were supposed to go to Rangoon, but on the third day the captain announced that we could not go there. Rangoon had fallen into Japanese hands. Where should we go?
Before we boarded the boat, we had signed papers saying that they could land us anywhere in the world, and that we would be responsible. The captain announced, “We are going to Madras, India.”
I will not go into detail, because God did marvelous work. After ten days, we arrived in Madras. We were not allowed to land, but after two days of negotiation, we were able to do so.
Then I met a sister in the Lord whom I had heard of before—Lady Olga. She belonged to a noble family. Her father was a millionaire, and her husband was a titled soldier. They had all died, and she was left alone.
She had money, position, and everything that this world could offer, yet she felt that life was meaningless. She was a Christian, but she still felt that life had no meaning.
One year, before attending the Keswick Convention in England, she attended another convention founded by Mrs. Penn-Lewis. There she heard a young man speaking on the eternal purpose of God.
Suddenly, her eyes were opened, because she saw that life had meaning. Formerly, she felt life was meaningless. She had everything—but what was it? Now the horizon was opened. She knew God’s purpose, and she would live for God.
In India, she bought several houses in one of the best resort places. They were furnished with English gardens, servants, and maids. Her ministry was that every summer she would invite God’s servants to come and rest.
By the providence of God, I went to her place. I spent two and a half months there, and during that quiet time God began to speak to me. He began to reveal to me the eternal purpose of God. He began to show me that Christ is everything.
I had been preaching for years already, but I was at my end. Then the horizon was suddenly opened. There is no limit to Christ.
So, brothers and sisters, let us see that the eternal purpose of God is not just a theological term. The eternal purpose of God is most practical. It affects our whole life.
Do not consider the eternal purpose of God as something remote—something good to talk about, but not practical, not real, not living. We find that it touches every part of our living.
We need to know God’s eternal purpose. Then we will be delivered from our self-centeredness into Christ-centeredness.
Are we still self-centered? Are we thinking about ourselves as the center of the universe? Everything starts with us and ends with us. Christ is for me. God is for me. Everybody is for me.
If that is the case, we are outside of the eternal purpose of God, and our life will be a waste. No matter how good it is, if it is not God’s will and is not related to God’s purpose, it has no eternal value.
For us to live with eternal value, we need to see that Christ is everything and in all. This must be an experience. It should not be just a theory for us to think and talk about; it should be practiced in everyday life.
It affects us today, tomorrow, and forever. You see how important the eternal purpose of God is.
Do you think that you are in the center of God’s heart? No, it is Christ. Christ is the center of God’s heart.
At the heart of God, whom do you see there? Nothing but His beloved Son. Everything is for His Son. Everything is to sum up in Christ Jesus. That is the work of God through all the ages.
Shall we turn to Colossians 1:15? When God created the universe, how did He create it? We find that the whole universe—everything in the universe—was created in Him, that is, in Christ Jesus.
What does it mean to be created in Him? He is like an architect. He designed everything out of His nature and character, and He created everything.
Everything was created in Him, everything was created by Him, and everything was created for Him. He is not only the architect; He is also the engineer. He is the owner of everything. He is before all creation, and the whole creation is gathered together in Him.
This is what creation is. In the beginning, all creation praised and glorified Him. All things expressed Him and manifested His character.
Not only that, but He is all in all to His church, the body of Christ. He is the beginning, and He is all to the church.
When the universe was disintegrated because of sin, in the future He will be the One who restores everything. He will reconcile all things unto the fullness of God. This is the eternal purpose of God. This is the mystery of God’s will.
Now, brothers and sisters, we know that in the Bible there is another mystery. It is called the mystery of lawlessness, as we find in 2 Thessalonians 2.
Why do we call it a mystery? A mystery is something hidden, and it needs to be revealed. Our God is the God who reveals Himself.
In Galatians 1, Paul says that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. Our God loves to reveal. Brothers and sisters, how we need to depend upon Him.
Especially in spiritual things, we cannot depend upon our wisdom and knowledge. No matter how knowledgeable we are or how wise we are, we need revelation from God.
As our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11, “You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them unto babes.”
Brothers and sisters, before God we need to be like babes—not childish, but childlike. That is to say, we acknowledge that we know nothing. We depend upon His revelation.
May the Lord give the spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of God. It is not enough just to know spiritual things in your mind. As a matter of fact, if you only know spiritual things in your mind, it condemns you; it does not save you.
You need to receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God. Thank God, He is the One who reveals Himself. He loves to reveal His Son in us.
When you go into a home where there is a baby, the first thing you find is that the parents want to show you their baby. Our God is like that. He has a Beloved, and it is His good pleasure to show forth His Son.
But unfortunately, we find another mystery: the mystery of lawlessness. It began even before man’s original creation.
The highest created beings are the angels. They are called morning stars. There was one morning star who was created with such perfection. God gave that archangel such wisdom, such talent, and such a position. He was an anointed cherub. He was very close to God, and he probably led the angels in worshiping God.
But because of his beauty and talent, he began to be proud in himself. He began to think of himself. He was not supposed to think of himself; he was to think of God and lead the other angels to worship God. But he became self-centered.
In Isaiah 14, the passage is speaking about the king of Babylon, but suddenly there are words that cannot apply to any human person—not even the king of Babylon. The Bible speaks of the brilliant star, and he became self-centered.
Five times he spoke of himself: “I will rise up. I will sit in the council of God. I will be like the Most High.” Because of his self-centeredness, he was driven out from the throne of God.
That is the beginning of lawlessness. That is the beginning of Satan. He turned himself into the adversary of God because of his self-centeredness.
In Ezekiel 28, when God is speaking about Tyre, suddenly a description appears that cannot apply merely to the earthly ruler. It shows how, because of his wisdom and trade, he became self-centered and became an adversary of God.
This is the spirit of lawlessness. Now, to make the story short, how would God react to that? As a matter of fact, for God to annihilate this archangel would be an easy thing. He could speak a word, and it would be done—just like a grown-up trying to beat a baby.
So what is God’s strategy? His strategy is to make one lower than an angel defeat His enemy. That is the reason why man was created.
Brothers and sisters, we were not created without a reason. Why did God create man in such a unique way? He had never created anything like it.
Only when He created man did He create man in His own image, according to His own likeness. Why is man so special? Because God has a purpose for man.
Man was made a little lower than the angels, yet God intended man in the end to defeat His enemy. Brothers and sisters, we have a mission. God created us with a mission: He wants us to defeat His enemy.
How can we do that? In ourselves, we are lower than the angels. How can we defeat one higher than ourselves?
There is a way: we receive God’s life. In our own life, we are always defeated. But with the life of Christ in us—Christ is our life—we have God’s life in us, and it is by that life that we are able to defeat him.
The first man failed, and all in Adam failed. But God sent the second Man, Christ, His own Son.
He emptied Himself and came into this world. He took the form of a man, even the form of a slave. That is to say, His whole life was one of submitting Himself to God and denying Himself.
Satan tried to draw Him out, but He never yielded to temptation. He was obedient to His Father even unto death, yea, even the death of the cross.
Our Lord Jesus said, “It is finished.” The work is done. The enemy is defeated. Now He has given His life to us, and by that life we are to defeat the enemy.
Brothers and sisters, this is our mission. You can see how important it is that we are not only saved, but that we need to live by the life of Christ within us.
Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, we are still self-centered. We rely upon ourselves. Even with good intentions, we are doomed to fail.
It is wise if we really surrender ourselves to the Lord, deny ourselves, and allow His life to take charge of us. Then all the works of the enemy will be defeated in our life.
We will grow in spiritual life and become truly a sanctified church to God.
So this morning, I would just like to lay down the foundation and say that it is God’s will that we be in the eternal purpose of God. Only that life is worthwhile.
One day, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, this will be the standard of judgment: Is it Christ, or is it you?
May the Lord have mercy upon us. Do not consider this as a theological idea. There is nothing more practical than the eternal purpose of God.
May our life be connected with the purpose of God every day, so that we shall see His blessed face. May He have mercy upon us. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we do pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation. We realize that without Your revelation, we can never understand.
Our horizon will be limited to ourselves. O dear Lord, for Your own sake, we pray that You will enlarge our horizon and deliver us out of ourselves, and fill us with Christ.
May we truly testify that Christ is all and in all, to the glory of God and to accomplish God’s purpose. We ask in Your precious name. Amen.