The

Purpose

GOD

AN
mcoli JOHN H. ESSEX
 THE PURPOSE OP GOD

God has a purpose. Of this any student of the Scrip

tures must be well aware, but are we also aware of how
few times it is mentioned in the Scriptures?
It may come as a shock when we learn that, in the
whole of God's Word, one writer, and one only, speaks
of the purpose of God. In our ignorance we may have
imagined that all Scripture was proclaiming it—that it
was being unfolded from cover to cover, from Genesis
to Revelation. But we can go right through the Old
Testament, right through the four accounts of Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John (which contain the sayings of
Jesus while He was on earth), right through the book of
Acts and halfway through Romans, before we find the
first occurrence of the noun "purpose" in connection
with God.
It is true that in the Authorized Version of the Old
Testament, there are references to a "purpose," or
"purposes," of God such as Jeremiah 51:29, "Every
purpose of the Lord shall be performed." We have exam
ined all these occurrences of the word "purpose" and
are satisfied that in no case is it a correct translation.
In fact, there is no consistency about this term, for not
only are some eight or nine different Hebrew words all
translated "purpose," but invariably they are all trans
lated far more frequently by other words, such as
"thought" and "device." Our Concordant Version of
Isaiah serves to emphasize this, by seven times using the
word "counsel" where "purpose" appears in the Au
thorized Version.
2 Only Paul Speaks of
As we penetrate more deeply into our subject, we will
see that only one writer, the apostle Paul, could speak of
the purpose of God, and then only when he had reached
a certain point in his ministry. But to clarify the posi
tion from the start, we must be careful to distinguish
between things that differ. For instance, we must not
confuse the purpose of God with the will of God. Others
besides Paul speak of the will of God, David in the
Psalms, Peter and John in their epistles, Jesus many
times. Paul himself speaks of the will of God far more
often than he speaks of the purpose of God. He refers
to the will of God in his early Thessalonian letters
before ever he proclaims the purpose of God.
What, then, is the difference between the will of God
and the purpose of God ? Quite simply, it is this: The
will of God is the expression of His desire concerning
any particular person or circumstance at any particular
time. But God's purpose always looks forward to a
consummation; it always has a final aim or an ultimate
result in view. If we may be permitted to use a con
temporary illustration, the will of a player on a football
field is to gain possession of the ball; his purpose is to
get it into the goal at his opponents' end of the field.
And so we suggest that we follow the example of Paul,
and only speak of the purpose of God when we have the
final issue, the ultimate result of God's will, in view.
Let us, then, examine the purpose of God as Paul
presents it to us. We shall find that even he is very
sparing in his usage of this term. Out of his thirteen
letters, it only occurs in three, yet these occurrences are
extremely significant. It is mentioned two times in his
great doctrinal letter to the Romans, twice in the doc
trinal part of Ephesians, and once in his last letter,
Second Timothy. Five occurrences of the noun " pur
pose" (prothesis) in all; five direct references in the
whole of God's Word to His wonderful purpose, and all
in the writings of one apostle! (In addition, there are
the Purpose of God 3
two occurrences of the verb protithemi with reference to
what God purposed—Bom. 3:25; Eph. 1:9.) Hence we
attach much importance to the letters of Paul.
But this is not to say the rest of Scripture is unim
portant, or is not relevant to God's purpose. In that
same second letter to Timothy, Paul himself says, "All
Scripture is inspired by God, and is beneficial for teach
ing, for exposure, for correction, for discipline in right
eousness, that the man of God may be equipped, fitted
out for every good act" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
The truth is that everything in Scripture has its place
in the outworking of God's purpose, but what that place
is can only be seen when viewed through the lens of the
Pauline writings. Without this lens, all is blurred and
muddled. But with the aid of this lens, which Paul
supplies, all Scripture is brought into focus and becomes
clear and distinct. Paul completes the Word of God
(Col. 1:25).
Now, as we consider the purpose of God, as revealed
through Paul, one fact stands out beyond everything
else, and that is that all is of God. There is no room for
human wisdom or human endeavor in the development of
God's ultimate design. God does not require one iota
of your assistance or of mine in effecting His intention.
If He chooses to make use of any of us to further His
design in any way, it is as instruments—as tools—
fashioned by Himself for that particular work, and not
because of anything that we can contribute of our own.
In every mention of the purpose of God, this fact is
strongly emphasized, and nowhere more so than in the
first occurrence of the verb (Rom. 3:25) :
"Being justified gratuitously in His grace, through
the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus (Whom God
purposed for a Propitiatory shelter, through faith in
His blood, for a display of His righteousness because
of the passing over of the penalties of sins which oc
curred before in the forbearance of God), toward the
4 Deliverance in Christ Jesus
display of His righteousness in the current era, for Him
to be just and a Justifier of the one who is of the faith
of Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is debarred!"
Notice here the succession of terms indicative of hu
man helplessness:

Being justified—requiring to be made right with God

gratuitously—without a cause, without anything in one
self that would give God reason for doing this
in His grace—purely as a favor, unearned, undeserved
through the deliverance—requiring a rescue act
which is in Christ Jesus, Whom God purposed—not in
oneself, but in the One Whom God appointed.

This is the first occasion in Scripture that any act of

God is referenced to His purpose, and the next outstand
ing fact that we must note is that it is centered in
Christ Jesus—not in Jesus Christ as He was on earth,
but in Christ Jesus, the risen Lord, the One Who, by
His victory over death and His resurrection from the
tomb, has proved that He has settled once and for all
time the problem of sin, and thereby paved the way for
deliverance.
It is in that great fifteenth chapter of First Corinthi
ans, which deals with vivification, that the first intima
tion is given of the ultimate goal of God's operations.
Only when Paul has stated, "Yet now Christ has been
roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those
who are reposing," can he come to the conclusion that
"God may be All in all." If some should remain in
death forever, the last statement could not be true.
Therefore again God's purpose is centered in Christ
Jesus, the risen Lord Who has conquered death.
In the verses of Romans 3 previous to this first refer
ence to God's purposing, Paul had brought the whole of
humanity, including the privileged Jew, to the same
helpless and hopeless position. "Not one is just, not
even one. Not one is understanding. Not one is seek-
Deficient in the Glory of God 5
ing out God." And even those who were under the law
were no better off than the rest in this respect, because,
the apostle adds, "by works of law, no flesh at all shall
be justified in His sight." "There is no distinction, for
all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God" (vss 10,
11, 20, 23).
"All sinned and are wanting—", and that deficiency,
try as it will, humanity can never make up. It is in the
face of this admission of human failure and human im
potence that God, through the apostle Paul, first reveals
His great purpose: He purposed Christ Jesus for a
Propitiatory shelter, that through His sacrifice God
might look propitiously — favorably — upon humanity,
and that through the deliverance which is in Christ
Jesus, He might gratuitously justify the one who is
believing. Thus the purpose of God is securely tied to
the great doctrine of justification by the faith of Christ
Jesus, and conversely, this doctrine of justification, as
proclaimed by Paul, is the first great principle to be
linked with the purpose of God.
God's purpose demands that all humanity be con
stituted righteous, and Paul goes to great lengths in the
fifth chapter of Eomans to point this out, showing that
one gift of grace is sufficient to cover many offenses, and
that however much sin increases, grace superexceeds.
For the basic principle is truly laid, "As it was through
one offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also
it is through one just award for all mankind for life's
justifying. For even as, through the disobedience of one
man, the many [descendants] were constituted sinners,
thus also, through the obedience of the One, the [same]
many shall be constituted just." Not through their own
obedience, but through the obedience of the One, and
that without any human's contribution.
Justification by the faith of Christ (Gal. 2:16) is the
first subject dealt with in connection with the purpose of
God; the second is Conciliation. It is one thing to be
6 Christ is Firstborn
justified—declared righteous—in God's sight; it is an
other thing to be drawn into family relationship with
Him. This is the theme of chapters 5 through 8 of
Romans, where we are declared to be sons of God if
indeed we are being led by His Spirit (Rom. 8:14).
Hence Paul says in verse 15, "You did not get slavery's
spirit to fear again, but you got the spirit of sonship,
in which we are crying, 'Abba, Father!' The spirit it
self is testifying together with our spirit that we are
children of God. Yet if children, enjoyers also of an
allotment, enjoyers, indeed, of an allotment from God,
yet joint enjoyers of Christ's allotment, if so be that
we are suffering together, that we should be glorified
together also."
And then, moving on to verse 28 of the same chapter,
we have a passage which begins by pressing home the
fact that God is working all together for the good of
those who are loving Him; and culminates with an em
phatic declaration (vss 35-39) that nothing can separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This
is the result of the conciliation; all the intervening
verses exude the fragrance of God's friendship, and we
notice that this also is securely attached to His purpose.
For Romans 8:28 reads: "Now we are aware that God
is working all together for the good of those who are
loving God, who are called according to the purpose
that, whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be
Firstborn among many brethren."
In the sphere of Creation, Christ is Firstborn of every
creation (Col. 1:15).
In the sphere of Justification, Christ is Firstborn from
among the dead (Col. 1:18). He was given up because
of our offenses, and was roused because of our justify
ing (Rom. 4:25).
In the sphere of Conciliation, Christ is the Firstborn
among many brethren (Rom. 8:29). We know from
The Choice is God's 7
later Scriptures that conciliation on God's side proceeds
inexorably to awaken a responsive spirit of conciliation
on the part of all His creation until eventually all on
the earth and in the heavens are reconciled to Him (Col.
1:20).

"Now we are aware that God is working.'' The Au

thorized Version omits the title "God" from this phrase,
but it is most assuredly in the extant Greek texts. In
deed, it is God Who is working all together for the good
of those who are loving Him. It is God Who foreknew.
It is God Who designates beforehand those who are to
be conformed to the image of His Son. It is God Who
calls, Who justifies, Who glorifies. Notice again how
completely all is of God. There is no room for self-
calling or self-justification or self-glorification.
But now a serious question arises. If we are called by
God, upon what basis are we called? Immediately must
come the question of choice, although choice is not men
tioned in Romans 8.* It is, however, freely mentioned
in First Corinthians 1, from verse 26, "For you are
observing your calling, brethren, that there are not many
wise according to the flesh; not many powerful, not
many noble, but the stupidity of the world God chooses,
that He may be disgracing the wise, and the weakness
of the world God chooses, that He may be disgracing the
strong, and the ignoble and the contemptible things of
the world God chooses, and that which is not, that He
should be discarding that which is, so that no flesh at all
should be boasting in God's sight. Yet you, of Him, are
in Christ Jesus..."
Consequently there is a choice, but the choice is clearly
God's. He chooses us; we do not choose Him. He
knows those who are His. We cannot choose for Him,
but once He has chosen us, He never lets us go. But

* Except by implication, e.g. verse 28.

8 The Ultimate Result
what is the basic principle upon which God makes this
choice ?
We pass on from Romans 8 to Romans 9. Picking up
at verse 9, we read, "For the word of the promise is
this: At this season I shall come and there will be for
Sarah a son. Yet, not only so, but Rebecca also is
having her bed of one, Isaac, our father. For, not as
yet being born, nor putting into practice anything good
or bad, that the purpose of God may be remaining as a
choice, not out of acts, but of Him Who is calling, it
was declared to her that 'The greater shall be slaving
for the inferior' according as it is written, 'Jacob I love,
yet Esau I hate'."
The truth of these verses is so profound and so funda
mental to our correct understanding of the Scriptures
that they should be read over and over again until they
are thoroughly assimilated.
"Not out of acts, but of Him Who is calling." This
is the principle upon which God chooses, and it is the
choice of the Potter and not the choice of the clay; the
choice of the Creator and not the choice of the creature;
the choice of the Disposer and not the choice of the one
disposed of. The purpose of God viewed as a choice
ties it securely to this principle—that this choice is not
based on our acts but on His calling.
Let us pursue this point a little further. To prove it,
Paul recalls a Scripture in Genesis 25. He relates how
Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, having no children, entreated
of the Lord. When she conceived, God revealed to her
that she should have twins, who would be the progenitors
of two streams of people. One should be more resolute
than the other, but the greater would serve the inferior.
Doubtless you remember the subsequent events how
Esau was born first, and was the stronger. By all
natural laws he should have had the birthright, but he
sold it to Jacob for something to eat and drink.
The account in Genesis reads as though Esau and
of the Will of God 9
Jacob were free agents in this matter. But were they?
In the light of Paul's statement in Eomans 9, it is clear
that they were not. This matter was decided before
they were born. The purpose of God must remain as
His choice, and God had already decided that the birth
right, and all that went with it, should be Jacob's. Was
God unfair? Has not the potter the right over the clay,
out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed,
for honor, yet one for dishonor ? That which is molded
will not protest to the molder, "Why do you make me
thus?"
The future of Esau and Jacob was decided before they
were born. Was their case unique ? Did He not decide
His choice of us before we were born? "According as
He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the
world" (Eph. 1:4). Or, if we want an earlier illustra
tion, what about Cyrus, king of Persia, whose name and
future work were foretold by Isaiah more than a hun
dred years before he was born? (See 2 Chron. 36:22, 23;
Isa. 44:28; Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15).
"That the purpose of God may be remaining as a
choice, not out of acts, but of Him Who is calling."
Paul is here enunciating a principle which appears no
where except in his writings. Elsewhere, acts are the
deciding factor. People are judged according to what
they do. In the final judgment of the dead before the
great white throne, they are judged by that which is
written in the scrolls, in accord with their acts, and are
condemned, each in accord with his acts (Rev. 20:12,
13).
If acts were the only measuring rod by which salva
tion could be attained, then all would be condemned, as
all have sinned and are lacking of the glory of God.
But Paul, as we have already seen, has linked God's
purpose with salvation, resulting from gratuitous justifi
cation in His grace. This is a justification in which acts
have no part at all, but only believing in Christ Jesus is
10 The Sovereignty of God
required (Gal. 2:16). This was in Bomans 3. Now, in
Eomans 9, Paul applies the principle still further by
declaring that God's purpose operates on it, and that
acts of individuals cannot affect God's choice. The
sovereignty of God, with all that it implies, must be
recognized if His purpose is to be understood and ap
preciated.
Paul, in Eomans, speaks of One Who is working all
together for the good of those who are loving Him and
who are, in fact, called according to His purpose. Thus
he is preparing the way for the position which he will
take up in his Ephesian epistle, when he will be speak
ing of the " purpose of the One Who is operating all
in accord with the counsel of His will." His purpose
must remain as a choice. If He has chosen us for a
part in that purpose, who are we to question it ? If the
ultimate aim of His purpose is to reconcile all on the
earth and in the heavens to Himself, it is again because
He has chosen it to be so, and who are we, His creatures,
to gainsay it?
To those who would challenge the truth of the recon
ciliation of all, I would reply, "It is God's choice, and
praise be to Him that He has chosen it to be so. Let no
one deny God the right to choose as He wills."
If He chooses to save all in grace, rather than by their
own merits, which is the way many believers would have
it, again it is His choice. Praise to Him indeed that He
has chosen thus!

If, then, we have grasped the three points that we

have so far been discussing, namely, that the purpose
of God is indissolubly linked with (1) justification by
faith, in grace and not by acts, (2) conciliation on His
part, leading to the ultimate reconciliation of all, and
(3) His own absolute, right of choice in all steps neces
sary to achieve this goal, which is that He shall be All
in all, then we are ready to pass on to the glorious por-
Blessed be the God and Father 11
trayal of that purpose in the Ephesian epistle. In this
epistle, God's purpose is illuminated with a glory that
is to be found in no other part of the Scriptures.
May we suggest that, at this point, we read the
first chapter of the Ephesian letter, and notice how we,
as members of the ecclesia which is Christ's body, are
associated with Him in the purpose of our God and
Father. We quote here from verses 3 to 12.
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing
among the celestials, in Christ, according as He chooses
us in Him before the disruption of the world, we to be
holy and flawless in His sight, in love designating us
beforehand for the place of a son for Him through Christ
Jesus; in accord with the delight of His will, for the
laud of the glory of His grace, which graces us in the
Beloved: in Whom we are having the deliverance
through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses in accord
with the riches of His grace, which He lavishes on us;
in all wisdom and prudence making known to us the
secret of His will (in accord with His delight, which
He purposed in Him) to have an administration of the
complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ—
both that in the heavens and that on the earth—in Him
in Whom our lot was cast also, being designated before
hand according to the purpose of the One Who is oper
ating all in accord with the counsel of His will, that we
should be for the laud of His glory, who are pre-expec-
tant in the Christ."
Where in Scripture is there language more majestic
than this? The purpose of God is to embrace all, but
the ecclesia has a very special part in it. In fact, it is
no exaggeration to say that God's purpose is built
around the relationship which exists between His Son
and the ecclesia, which is Christ's body, and of which
we are chosen to be members. Chosen in Him before
the disruption of the world—chosen before we were born
12 In Grace are you Saved
—before any of our acts could have the slightest influ
ence on His choice. If we examine the Scriptures care
fully, we find that acts, which come into judgment at
the great white throne, date from the disruption of the
world (cf Rev. 17:8 with 20:12). The recording of
their acts does not predate that event, but rather the
calling with which we have been called predates it.
It is a calling in grace, with the object of displaying
grace throughout the universe, as Paul tells us in
Ephesians 2:5-7, where he speaks of our being vivified
together in Christ, and roused together and seated to
gether among the celestials, in Christ Jesus, in order
that "in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying
the transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to
us in Christ Jesus."
Lest at this point we should be exalted beyond measure
at the transcendence of the glory that this prospect
puts before us, the apostle reiterates what he had already
stressed in Eomans, that "in grace, through faith, are
you saved, and this is not out of you; it is God's ap
proach present, not of works, lest anyone should be
boasting. For His achievement are we, being created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready
beforehand, that we should be walking in them" (Eph.
2:8-10).
In grace are we saved! For the laud of the glory of
His grace are we chosen! For a display of God's grace
in the eons to come are we given an allotment in Christ!
All this is in accord with His purpose to have a special
administration of the complement of the eras, to head
up all in the Christ, both in the heavens as well as on the
earth.
Once more this administration is brought to our notice
in the third chapter of Ephesians, and again it is linked
up with the purpose of God. Beginning at verse 8,
Paul says, "To me, less than the least of all saints, was
granted this grace: to bring the evangel of the untrace-
Before Times Eonian 13
able riches of Christ to the nations, and to enlighten all
as to what is the administration of the secret, which
has been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates
all, that now may be made known to the sovereignties and
the authorities among the celestials, through the ecclesia,
the multifarious wisdom of God, in accord with the
purpose of the eons, which He makes in Christ Jesus, our
Lord."

Paul's last reference to the purpose of God occurs in

the first chapter of Second Timothy—the last letter that
he wrote, and his last charge to the one whom he had
appointed to carry on the proclamation of the evangel.
This important statement begins with verse 8.
"You may not be ashamed, then, of the testimony of
our Lord, nor yet of me, His prisoner, but suffer evil
with the evangel in accord with the power of God, Who
saves us and calls us with a holy calling, not in accord
with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose and
the grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus before
times eonian."
Notice again how acts are discounted. We are not
saved and called in accord with our acts—this we never
could be! We are saved and called in accord with God's
own purpose, God's own grace, given us in Christ Jesus.
When? Before times eonian! Before the ages began!
Before anything else happened or came into being!
The gift of grace in Christ Jesus precedes all other
gifts mentioned in Scripture, just as the promise of life
in Christ Jesus precedes all other promises (cf Tit. 1:2).
Both are pre-eonian. Both date from that far distant
past when God's purpose was first conceived.
Even as this promise of life in Christ Jesus was made
when there was no one other than Christ to receive it,
so also the gift of grace in Christ Jesus was made when
there was none but Him to accept it. He received both
on behalf of all that, should subsequently eome into
14 Christ—the Complement of God
being through Him. Consequently both are all-inclusive,
all-embracing.
Colossians, the contemporary letter with Ephesians,
speaks of Christ as "the Image of the invisible God,
Firstborn of every creature, for in Him is all created,
that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible
and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or
sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him
and for Him, and He is before all, and all has its co
hesion in Him" (Col. 1:15-17).
Here Christ is portrayed as the Image of God, First
born of every creature, all in the heavens and on the
earth being created in Him.
But Paul continues,'' And He is the Head of the body,
the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among
the dead, that in all He may be becoming first, for in
Him the entire complement delights to dwell, and
through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace
through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether
those on the earth or those in the heavens."
Here we have Christ, the Complement of God, First
born from the dead, all on the earth and in the heavens
reconciled through Him.

We are now living in a day of grace. If we believe in

Christ Jesus, we are already receiving God's grace in
richest measure. With us a rescue act is already in
operation, for we are being made competent for a part
of the allotment of the saints in light, being rescued out
of the jurisdiction of Darkness, and transported into the
kingdom of the Son of God's love (Col. 1:12, 13). In
this we have in every way a prior expectancy over the
rest of creation, but not a sole expectancy. In Romans
8, Paul speaks of the expectancy of creation. "For the
premonition of the creation is awaiting the unveiling of
the sons of God." That is, creation is intuitively, in-
All has been of Him 15
stinctively awaiting the revealing of the sons of God in
glory. "For to vanity was the creation subjected, not
voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in
expectation that the creation itself, also, shall be freed
from the slavery of corruption into the glorious free
dom of the children of God" (Rom. 8:19-21). Creation
is not made subject to vanity willingly, but because it
is God's choice that it should be so. That God's purpose
may remain as a choice applies here, too.
When God's conciliatory hand of friendship has been
grasped by all in complete reconciliation, and when the
wisdom of His choosings and His appointments, that is,
His sovereignty, has been universally accepted beyond
question—in short, when God is All in all, then every
one of His creatures will rejoice in being one of His
achievements, and all in heaven and earth will be both
prepared and glad to acknowledge that of themselves
they have contributed nothing, but that
ALL HAS BEEN OF HIM.
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