God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. - Ephesians 1:9
Is God’s will a mystery to you? This verse tells us that God has made known to us his “secret plan.” Such are our spiritual blessings in heavenly places!
Do you think of God as a sort of celestial Agatha Christie who delights in fooling you? Do you believe that when you finally get to heaven the last chapter will tell all? Well, this is not what is meant by the word secret. God is speaking here of previously hidden truths that are now divinely revealed. He wants us to know them. Paul may have had the secret, mysterious religions of his day in mind when he used this word. These religions were secret societies whose mysteries were revealed only to initiated members. If we have been initiated into the kingdom of God, by receiving God’s Spirit, the secrets of that kingdom are ours. The same thought is found in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things—yes, the deep, secret things of God.
Spiritual truths are not found in human wisdom but rather are revealed by God. The promise of Scripture is that we have received “his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:12). Furthermore, it is God’s good pleasure that we should know them! There’s no mystery here!
For Further Study: Ephesians 1:1-14
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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