Ephesians 3: 11-12
:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: :12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
When I read verse 11 it is almost as if if it is the reason we can have verse 12. We can have boldness and we do have access and we can have confidence because of God's eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ.
God has a purpose and a eternal one at that. Many times the purpose we have looks into the future a short distance. For instance we save money from the time we start working whether it be by us placing money in a 401K or even social security taking it from our wages, this serves a purpose, that when we become to old to work we will have a reserve of money to live on until we die. Perhaps you are looking even farther into the future and are considering your children and grandchildren and you save and place money away for them. At best the purpose you have set out to accomplish will be exhausted within a few generations ;Often though our purposes aren't even as long reaching as that and what we do today is in preparation for tonight. Now we aren't talking our purpose but God's purpose and His purpose is eternal. What He purposed before the foundations of the earth still stands today, his plans and purpose have not been and will not be frustrated. His purpose didn't consider 100 years into the future or a 1000 or even 10,000 but eternity. This brings great consolation, to consider that what God does He has an eternal purpose. Jesus' death seemed at first like a great defeat to all who seen it, the apostle left him, Israel rejected Him and the Romans crucified Him. How could such tragedy serve any purpose or bring any good? Through God's eternal purpose is how it did. We can rest assured even in the darkest situation He has a purpose and a eternal one at that. I am reminded of the man who was blind from birth so that one day Jesus could pass by, heal him and He could serve God's eternal purpose. Maybe now you are in some dark place, struggling with a situation that seems completely hopeless, remember He has a purpose to everything He does. Now our verses are dealing with God's eternal purpose in Christ but I believe the application can be made as we have made it. I can't think of a more hopeless situation than that of Jesus, the Son of God, being beaten, spit upon, and dying on a cross. Yet, in God's eternal purpose that very situation that seemed so terrible, was the very thing that God used to save sinful man, the pinnacle of the ages the mountain top of scripture. In His eternal purpose things that may seem horrible to us can be turned into the brightest markers in our memory. He has a purpose and because of His purpose we have boldness and access with confidence.
When I go to my heavenly Father I don't have to fear rejection, I don't have to fear being shut out but I can come boldly before the throne of Grace to obtain help in a time of need. He has already given us the best He had to offer, His own son, is there anything that is good for us the He will withhold? He will withhold things but we can rest assured that if He withholds it is because He has a purpose and a eternal one at that. Lastly, let's consider God's purpose from eternity past to eternity future. Before He ever separated the light from the darkness or separated the dry ground from the waters, before His Spirit moved on the face of the waters, He knew Christ would come, be rejected, and die on Calvary. He knew that countless millions would scoff and reject even after He raised Jesus from the dead and gave many infallible proofs. He knew that His will for man would be rejected and even held in contempt and in our current day that men would consider anyone who takes the Word of God seriously to be total fools. He seen the suffering and the sin and every other thing that has come or will come and He decided that it was all worth doing. I believe whole heartedly that what He seen eternity future was so wonderful that He knew that what we are experiencing now is not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to come, when all tears will be wiped away, when God and man have eternal fellowship, When He has His will on earth as it is in Heaven. When that day comes we won't consider the tiny sufferings we experienced here. In His eternal purpose we will say what a God, we'll sing Hallelujah to the Lamb, we'll stand in awe of the plan and eternal purpose of our God. Today we might say why is this happening, or I don't know how any good can come from this but rest assured He has a eternal purpose.
According to the riches of His Grace!!