making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
– Ephesians 1:9-10
God’s will can be divided into two: His revealed will and His secret will. His secret will is all those things which we can never know by virtue of being created beings. How and why He does things are secret from us, for the most part. But then there are revealed things, which are for us and our children. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
God revealed the salvation of man through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God at the perfect time. God made known this great truth, and He also made known that it was planned in eternity.
At other points in the history of God’s people, similar revelations have happened. When Abraham is given the promise to be the father of all nations, God reveals His plan to enslave the people of God and then set them free to destroy the Amorites. He gives the reason, too, for the delay: the sin of the Amorites was not yet full. (Genesis 15)
What does this have to do with us? It gets to a sticky point about whether we decide to act or not. Since we are not privy to the secret things of God and since He has not revealed the perfect time for everything in our lives, then we are often content to just bide our time. If we don’t know whether it is the perfect time, we think it is best not to act. Often, though, this is simply a cover for our sin. We don’t act because, in truth, we don’t want to do the right thing.
Mystery and Time
making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
– Ephesians 1:9-10
God’s will can be divided into two: His revealed will and His secret will. His secret will is all those things which we can never know by virtue of being created beings. How and why He does things are secret from us, for the most part. But then there are revealed things, which are for us and our children. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
God revealed the salvation of man through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God at the perfect time. God made known this great truth, and He also made known that it was planned in eternity.
At other points in the history of God’s people, similar revelations have happened. When Abraham is given the promise to be the father of all nations, God reveals His plan to enslave the people of God and then set them free to destroy the Amorites. He gives the reason, too, for the delay: the sin of the Amorites was not yet full. (Genesis 15)
What does this have to do with us? It gets to a sticky point about whether we decide to act or not. Since we are not privy to the secret things of God and since He has not revealed the perfect time for everything in our lives, then we are often content to just bide our time. If we don’t know whether it is the perfect time, we think it is best not to act. Often, though, this is simply a cover for our sin. We don’t act because, in truth, we don’t want to do the right thing.