God’s Eternal Purpose and the Human Heart
Lloyd Gardner
January 23, 2014
Shortly after beginning His ministry Jesus came to His hometown of Nazareth. He had lived here His whole life and had only been away for a few weeks before He returned to pay them a visit. These were His neighbors, school friends and relatives. They had watched Him grow up from a baby to a grown man. This was Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter. They knew this man as well as you can know any man in the natural. And He knew them.
On the Sabbath Jesus, as had been His custom His whole life, went to the synagogue where the town would gather for scripture reading, prayer and teaching. Jesus was invited to come forward and read the scripture for the day. They handed Him a scroll of the prophet Isaiah and He carefully opened it to a certain place and began reading.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18, 19; NKJV).
To the dismay of the people Jesus stopped reading in the middle of the sentence and did not finish the words, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” It was synagogue custom for the one reading the scripture to then sit down and offer an explanation of the passage. Jesus did so but it may not have been what they expected.
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” He said.
Jesus had more to say on that day in applying the scripture to their lives but let’s focus on what Jesus told them about the purpose of His ministry. The Spirit had anointed Him for a purpose from eternity. He had used this messianic passage from the prophet Isaiah to announce why He was here.
The Spirit had anointed the Son of God to set the captives of His enemy free from their prisons, oppression and brokenness. He was the prophesied, victorious warring Messiah who accepted that before He would come riding on a glorious white horse in judgment, He would have to come riding on a humble donkey with redemption and healing for those in the prisons of Satan.
But let me zero in on one phrase of the passage: “he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.” Jesus knew that peoples’ hearts are broken beyond repair and healing was not possible outside of His anointed mission. His eternal calling as the Christ, the Anointed One, is to heal the broken hearts and make His followers whole.
Jesus demonstrated this mission throughout His earthly visit. He forgave the woman caught in adultery and set her free. He revealed the brokenness in the woman at Jacob’s well and turned her into a preacher of His message to her city. He turned old scrooge like, rich tax collector Zacchaeus into a gracious giver through a simple dinner date. Hated and despised tax collector Matthew became an ardent follower and writer of one the Gospels about Jesus. On and on the story goes as Jesus reaches His healing hand toward the hearts of people He encountered. He came to heal the broken hearted.
Your heart is His target. If you are called to be part of His bride, He cherishes your heart and desires to set it free. This is what He came for. This is why He died and lives triumphantly even now among us all. His eternal purpose requires your heart to be healed and then given solely to Him. As the Shulammite lover of the king declares, “I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me” (Song 7:10).
When they asked Jesus about the greatest commandment He did not hesitate: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). “With all your heart.” That says it all. This is the greatest commandment because it covers everything else. It is the totality of God’s desire for us—a heart fully given to Him.
The sermon on the mount is Jesus’ statement of His divine purpose for our lives. There He tells us that those who see God are not those with seminary degrees or perfect church attendance. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). If you want to see and know God you must be willing to let Jesus cleanse your heart and make it pure.
Religious folks are all concerned about the rules, regulations and programs of their religion. Jesus was and is concerned about their hearts. He defined adultery as what happens in a man’s heart (Matt. 5:28). Everything He did and said had to do with our hearts because His eternal purpose depends upon the human heart. Satan had stolen and broken the hearts of the first humans and their descendants. Jesus would undo this treachery by providing a way for hearts to be healed.
What Jesus said of the generation living during His lifetime could well be spoken of the present generation: “For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them” (Matt. 13:15).
That generation and this one desperately need to understand with their hearts and turn to Him so He can heal. Our hearts have grown dull because of the bombardment of Satan and his world system. Even many of our churches place their religious agendas before caring for the hearts of the people. But Jesus came and ever lives to heal the brokenhearted.
The heart is the battleground and Satan knows this more than we do. This is why he opposes it with all his strength and strategy. He will not have churches becoming real communities of healing. But if we want healed and whole hearts we must embrace the journey toward wholeness despite the opposition it brings.
If God’s eternal purpose is dependent upon healing our broken hearts, it follows that He has provided a way for that to take place. Enter, the church, the ekklesia of God, hospital and training ground for the healing of the human heart. Yes, the redemption Jesus provided on the cross provided the answer in forgiveness, but it is the church that is called to minister this redemption to one another and the world.
Our hearts are dull and unresponsive. It’s time to have our ears and eyes opened so that we can understand and know who to turn to so He can heal our hearts. To Jesus the church was not a program or institution of man but a community of people being healed toward completeness and victory over hell (Matt. 16:18). It was never meant to be a frightened people cowering behind doors of oppression but a people with the keys to open heaven and unleash it on earth (v. 19). It is the binding and loosing, decision-making body of the One who heals the brokenhearted.
I’m talking about the ekklesia of Christ, the counsel of the key-holders, the knights of the round table of the King with swords in their hands and courage in their hearts. I’m talking about a community of committed who understand who they are and are willing to be the hands of Jesus to one another and to a hurting generation. This is the church Jesus died to liberate and sent His Holy Spirit to empower.
Jesus personally demonstrated church life when He fulfilled His earthly ministry. He not only taught truth but demonstrated it in the things He did. What He did among other things is gather around Him a small band of followers who would allow Him to be Guest of honor and lead them toward wholeness.
O yes, the multitudes were impressed with Him but He “…did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people” (John 2:24). Instead, He entrusted Himself to a small motley crew that would allow Him to reach their hearts. When Jesus said, “on this rock I will build my church” He was talking about the rock of the receptive heart. Peter had received from the Father into His heart the revelation of who Jesus was and then confessed what was in his heart from his mouth: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:17, 18).
Why did this motley crew change the world? Because they saw miracles? Because they heard great teaching? Because Jesus was so charismatic? Because Jesus had a great reform program? None of the above. Many people saw these things and remained unchanged.
Of course the resurrection of Jesus was the final nail in the coffin of their unbelief, but it was because He reached and changed their hearts that this band of regular men and women became world changers. And He did it by demonstrating the kind of community life that was the cocoon in which transformation could take place. He taught His disciples how to care for one another’s hearts in close intimate fellowship.
When the Holy Spirit came He filled those hearts and continued the heart to heart fellowship Jesus had begun. On the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit baptized the first believers they began to experience more than gifts and power and spiritual authority. They began to see both the wine and the wineskin of God’s new paradigm. They saw the continuation of the church life that retained the heart changing lifestyle that Jesus had demonstrated while with them for three and a half years.
So, what kind of church life was this? It was thousands of new converts coming together in homes throughout the city to meet in small enough groups and close enough proximity to care for one another’s hearts. They “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The word fellowship here is koinonia, which is sharing in common. It is the common flowing of the life and truth of Christ among people. That cannot happen in large groups and it cannot happen even in small groups that are not free to share and serve as the Spirit leads.
The early disciples knew inherently that the community life demonstrated by Jesus could not survive in large buildings, or in the stifling restrictions of religion. O yes, they met in large numbers in the temple as often as possible to celebrate and proclaim this new life, but it was in the smallness of home gatherings that they drew strength from one another (Acts 2:46; 5:42). That kind of intimate fellowship continued throughout the first century and beyond until men got their hands on the church (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 2: Acts 8:3).
Paul continued this understanding of church life. In Ephesians 4:11, 12 he says that the five equipping ministries are to equip the saints for the work of serving one another to the building up of the church. We serve one another in one way by watching over one another’s hearts. This requires vulnerability, accountability and a desire to walk in truth. Out of such devotion unity and knowing Christ are deepened (v. 13). It is impossible otherwise.
Jesus demonstrated this servant attitude when He washed His disciples’ feet in the upper room before His death. He told them, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15). In the servant’s role Jesus was demonstrating the church life they were to see later. They were to serve one another and teach others to do so as well. So Paul tells us that the equipping gifts to the body are to prepare the saints for serving one another.
Most translations use the word “ministry” here. I refuse to do so because the word “ministry” has come to mean something Paul and Jesus did not intend. In most churches “the minister” among us is the one in the preeminent position. The saints are to serve one another. They are to wash the spiritual dirt from one another as we all journey toward cleanness and wholeness.
It is in this atmosphere of truth and serving that Christians can grow and the body of Christ can be strengthened and built up. Paul says it this way: “…speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4: 15). Truth motivated by love is like the air we breathe. It is the atmosphere in which all spiritual things grow. Without it spiritual things are stifled and begin to wither.
But we’re not talking about only doctrinal truth, as valuable as it is. Like King David we must come to the point where we say to God, “…you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart” (Ps. 51:6). We must be true to our hearts and help others to do the same. That requires the atmosphere of church life that allows the bearing of our hearts. It requires the risk of vulnerability that many cannot bear. Paul assures us that in that atmosphere of truth we will “…grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Many of today’s Christians never grow up. It must be that we are not allowing truth in the “inward being,” the heart. We need to find an answer to that dilemma.
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it spring the issues of life,” wrote king Solomon (Prov. 4:23; NKJV). The word for “keep” means “to guard.” We must be diligent to guard our hearts, for everything God intends for us flows forth out that treasure store. To treat our hearts lightly is like leaving our house unlocked with many valuables in plain sight. Our hearts are valuable beyond measure and we must treat them accordingly.
That guarding is our individual responsibility but a small community of believers, who know how important this is to God’s eternal purpose, can help one another guard their hearts. Some people are so broken that they need others to come along and help them mend. That is church life as designed by God, demonstrated by Jesus and conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Paul speaks of the church as a spiritual body with each member having a part. He says that each of us should “have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25). Out of desperation to be whole and help others to be whole we must find an expression of church life that provides a context for that care.
We are being surrounded by the enemy, his followers and his culture. I believe we are in for a spiritual war like never before experienced by God’s people. We are experiencing merely the beginning of this war even now. Political turmoil, economic disaster, pharmaceutical madness, violence and immorality are sweeping the nation because it is denying God. Life will soon change for many of us and we will need courageous hearts healed from the past ravages if we are to face these future challenges.
Do you really believe that church as usual will be enough to protect our hearts and lives from this growing attack of evil? I think not. At this point the church on many fronts is compromising instead of repenting. I believe with all of my heart that God is calling His people to ask Him how we should conduct ourselves as a church in order to prepare our hearts.
We know that many of you in the traditional church have given your hearts to God and you allow Him to handle your hearts in His gentle hands. We know this because many of you are in our lives even now and we appreciate you all. You are living testimonies to the grace of our God. Our message is simply aimed at encouraging all believers to make sure they are in a form of church life that enables them to care for their hearts and help care for the hearts of others. There must be intimacy, vulnerability and accountability led by the Holy Spirit. There must be an atmosphere of truth in which our hearts are open to others.
I have struggled for days about how to end this message. How can I end this message about God’s eternal purpose and our hearts without further discouraging the hearts of so many? This morning in my walk with Jesus He gave me the ending.
Tell them to come to me with their hearts, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and they will find rest for their souls. Very few of My people are willing to truly give Me their hearts because of the cost to them. I paid the ultimate price to set you free. Come.
Lloyd Gardner
January 23, 2014
Shortly after beginning His ministry Jesus came to His hometown of Nazareth. He had lived here His whole life and had only been away for a few weeks before He returned to pay them a visit. These were His neighbors, school friends and relatives. They had watched Him grow up from a baby to a grown man. This was Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter. They knew this man as well as you can know any man in the natural. And He knew them.
On the Sabbath Jesus, as had been His custom His whole life, went to the synagogue where the town would gather for scripture reading, prayer and teaching. Jesus was invited to come forward and read the scripture for the day. They handed Him a scroll of the prophet Isaiah and He carefully opened it to a certain place and began reading.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18, 19; NKJV).
To the dismay of the people Jesus stopped reading in the middle of the sentence and did not finish the words, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” It was synagogue custom for the one reading the scripture to then sit down and offer an explanation of the passage. Jesus did so but it may not have been what they expected.
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” He said.
Jesus had more to say on that day in applying the scripture to their lives but let’s focus on what Jesus told them about the purpose of His ministry. The Spirit had anointed Him for a purpose from eternity. He had used this messianic passage from the prophet Isaiah to announce why He was here.
The Spirit had anointed the Son of God to set the captives of His enemy free from their prisons, oppression and brokenness. He was the prophesied, victorious warring Messiah who accepted that before He would come riding on a glorious white horse in judgment, He would have to come riding on a humble donkey with redemption and healing for those in the prisons of Satan.
But let me zero in on one phrase of the passage: “he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.” Jesus knew that peoples’ hearts are broken beyond repair and healing was not possible outside of His anointed mission. His eternal calling as the Christ, the Anointed One, is to heal the broken hearts and make His followers whole.
Jesus demonstrated this mission throughout His earthly visit. He forgave the woman caught in adultery and set her free. He revealed the brokenness in the woman at Jacob’s well and turned her into a preacher of His message to her city. He turned old scrooge like, rich tax collector Zacchaeus into a gracious giver through a simple dinner date. Hated and despised tax collector Matthew became an ardent follower and writer of one the Gospels about Jesus. On and on the story goes as Jesus reaches His healing hand toward the hearts of people He encountered. He came to heal the broken hearted.
Your heart is His target. If you are called to be part of His bride, He cherishes your heart and desires to set it free. This is what He came for. This is why He died and lives triumphantly even now among us all. His eternal purpose requires your heart to be healed and then given solely to Him. As the Shulammite lover of the king declares, “I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me” (Song 7:10).
When they asked Jesus about the greatest commandment He did not hesitate: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). “With all your heart.” That says it all. This is the greatest commandment because it covers everything else. It is the totality of God’s desire for us—a heart fully given to Him.
The sermon on the mount is Jesus’ statement of His divine purpose for our lives. There He tells us that those who see God are not those with seminary degrees or perfect church attendance. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). If you want to see and know God you must be willing to let Jesus cleanse your heart and make it pure.
Religious folks are all concerned about the rules, regulations and programs of their religion. Jesus was and is concerned about their hearts. He defined adultery as what happens in a man’s heart (Matt. 5:28). Everything He did and said had to do with our hearts because His eternal purpose depends upon the human heart. Satan had stolen and broken the hearts of the first humans and their descendants. Jesus would undo this treachery by providing a way for hearts to be healed.
What Jesus said of the generation living during His lifetime could well be spoken of the present generation: “For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them” (Matt. 13:15).
That generation and this one desperately need to understand with their hearts and turn to Him so He can heal. Our hearts have grown dull because of the bombardment of Satan and his world system. Even many of our churches place their religious agendas before caring for the hearts of the people. But Jesus came and ever lives to heal the brokenhearted.
The heart is the battleground and Satan knows this more than we do. This is why he opposes it with all his strength and strategy. He will not have churches becoming real communities of healing. But if we want healed and whole hearts we must embrace the journey toward wholeness despite the opposition it brings.
If God’s eternal purpose is dependent upon healing our broken hearts, it follows that He has provided a way for that to take place. Enter, the church, the ekklesia of God, hospital and training ground for the healing of the human heart. Yes, the redemption Jesus provided on the cross provided the answer in forgiveness, but it is the church that is called to minister this redemption to one another and the world.
Our hearts are dull and unresponsive. It’s time to have our ears and eyes opened so that we can understand and know who to turn to so He can heal our hearts. To Jesus the church was not a program or institution of man but a community of people being healed toward completeness and victory over hell (Matt. 16:18). It was never meant to be a frightened people cowering behind doors of oppression but a people with the keys to open heaven and unleash it on earth (v. 19). It is the binding and loosing, decision-making body of the One who heals the brokenhearted.
I’m talking about the ekklesia of Christ, the counsel of the key-holders, the knights of the round table of the King with swords in their hands and courage in their hearts. I’m talking about a community of committed who understand who they are and are willing to be the hands of Jesus to one another and to a hurting generation. This is the church Jesus died to liberate and sent His Holy Spirit to empower.
Jesus personally demonstrated church life when He fulfilled His earthly ministry. He not only taught truth but demonstrated it in the things He did. What He did among other things is gather around Him a small band of followers who would allow Him to be Guest of honor and lead them toward wholeness.
O yes, the multitudes were impressed with Him but He “…did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people” (John 2:24). Instead, He entrusted Himself to a small motley crew that would allow Him to reach their hearts. When Jesus said, “on this rock I will build my church” He was talking about the rock of the receptive heart. Peter had received from the Father into His heart the revelation of who Jesus was and then confessed what was in his heart from his mouth: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:17, 18).
Why did this motley crew change the world? Because they saw miracles? Because they heard great teaching? Because Jesus was so charismatic? Because Jesus had a great reform program? None of the above. Many people saw these things and remained unchanged.
Of course the resurrection of Jesus was the final nail in the coffin of their unbelief, but it was because He reached and changed their hearts that this band of regular men and women became world changers. And He did it by demonstrating the kind of community life that was the cocoon in which transformation could take place. He taught His disciples how to care for one another’s hearts in close intimate fellowship.
When the Holy Spirit came He filled those hearts and continued the heart to heart fellowship Jesus had begun. On the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit baptized the first believers they began to experience more than gifts and power and spiritual authority. They began to see both the wine and the wineskin of God’s new paradigm. They saw the continuation of the church life that retained the heart changing lifestyle that Jesus had demonstrated while with them for three and a half years.
So, what kind of church life was this? It was thousands of new converts coming together in homes throughout the city to meet in small enough groups and close enough proximity to care for one another’s hearts. They “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The word fellowship here is koinonia, which is sharing in common. It is the common flowing of the life and truth of Christ among people. That cannot happen in large groups and it cannot happen even in small groups that are not free to share and serve as the Spirit leads.
The early disciples knew inherently that the community life demonstrated by Jesus could not survive in large buildings, or in the stifling restrictions of religion. O yes, they met in large numbers in the temple as often as possible to celebrate and proclaim this new life, but it was in the smallness of home gatherings that they drew strength from one another (Acts 2:46; 5:42). That kind of intimate fellowship continued throughout the first century and beyond until men got their hands on the church (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 2: Acts 8:3).
Paul continued this understanding of church life. In Ephesians 4:11, 12 he says that the five equipping ministries are to equip the saints for the work of serving one another to the building up of the church. We serve one another in one way by watching over one another’s hearts. This requires vulnerability, accountability and a desire to walk in truth. Out of such devotion unity and knowing Christ are deepened (v. 13). It is impossible otherwise.
Jesus demonstrated this servant attitude when He washed His disciples’ feet in the upper room before His death. He told them, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15). In the servant’s role Jesus was demonstrating the church life they were to see later. They were to serve one another and teach others to do so as well. So Paul tells us that the equipping gifts to the body are to prepare the saints for serving one another.
Most translations use the word “ministry” here. I refuse to do so because the word “ministry” has come to mean something Paul and Jesus did not intend. In most churches “the minister” among us is the one in the preeminent position. The saints are to serve one another. They are to wash the spiritual dirt from one another as we all journey toward cleanness and wholeness.
It is in this atmosphere of truth and serving that Christians can grow and the body of Christ can be strengthened and built up. Paul says it this way: “…speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4: 15). Truth motivated by love is like the air we breathe. It is the atmosphere in which all spiritual things grow. Without it spiritual things are stifled and begin to wither.
But we’re not talking about only doctrinal truth, as valuable as it is. Like King David we must come to the point where we say to God, “…you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart” (Ps. 51:6). We must be true to our hearts and help others to do the same. That requires the atmosphere of church life that allows the bearing of our hearts. It requires the risk of vulnerability that many cannot bear. Paul assures us that in that atmosphere of truth we will “…grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Many of today’s Christians never grow up. It must be that we are not allowing truth in the “inward being,” the heart. We need to find an answer to that dilemma.
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it spring the issues of life,” wrote king Solomon (Prov. 4:23; NKJV). The word for “keep” means “to guard.” We must be diligent to guard our hearts, for everything God intends for us flows forth out that treasure store. To treat our hearts lightly is like leaving our house unlocked with many valuables in plain sight. Our hearts are valuable beyond measure and we must treat them accordingly.
That guarding is our individual responsibility but a small community of believers, who know how important this is to God’s eternal purpose, can help one another guard their hearts. Some people are so broken that they need others to come along and help them mend. That is church life as designed by God, demonstrated by Jesus and conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Paul speaks of the church as a spiritual body with each member having a part. He says that each of us should “have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25). Out of desperation to be whole and help others to be whole we must find an expression of church life that provides a context for that care.
We are being surrounded by the enemy, his followers and his culture. I believe we are in for a spiritual war like never before experienced by God’s people. We are experiencing merely the beginning of this war even now. Political turmoil, economic disaster, pharmaceutical madness, violence and immorality are sweeping the nation because it is denying God. Life will soon change for many of us and we will need courageous hearts healed from the past ravages if we are to face these future challenges.
Do you really believe that church as usual will be enough to protect our hearts and lives from this growing attack of evil? I think not. At this point the church on many fronts is compromising instead of repenting. I believe with all of my heart that God is calling His people to ask Him how we should conduct ourselves as a church in order to prepare our hearts.
We know that many of you in the traditional church have given your hearts to God and you allow Him to handle your hearts in His gentle hands. We know this because many of you are in our lives even now and we appreciate you all. You are living testimonies to the grace of our God. Our message is simply aimed at encouraging all believers to make sure they are in a form of church life that enables them to care for their hearts and help care for the hearts of others. There must be intimacy, vulnerability and accountability led by the Holy Spirit. There must be an atmosphere of truth in which our hearts are open to others.
I have struggled for days about how to end this message. How can I end this message about God’s eternal purpose and our hearts without further discouraging the hearts of so many? This morning in my walk with Jesus He gave me the ending.
Tell them to come to me with their hearts, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and they will find rest for their souls. Very few of My people are willing to truly give Me their hearts because of the cost to them. I paid the ultimate price to set you free. Come.
God’s Eternal Purpose
Lloyd Gardner
June 2007
My entire life since the age of 18 has been characterized by the revelation of God’s eternal purpose into my spirit. Shortly after I came to know Christ, the revelation of His eternal purpose was forever seared into my consciousness by the hand of God. I have many times in my rebellion thrown this revelation to the ground, so to speak, because of the opposition and rejection it has brought to my life. But the Father in His patience has always waited for the right moment, picked it up and dusted it off and placed it again into my care. I have even written on this subject in a book, The Eliezer Call, The Call of the Bride.
In recent years I have fully embraced His message to humanity because I have come to see that it is a blazing fire in my spirit that cannot be extinguished. Since my first realization of His purpose, the organized church has tumbled further and further into a state of passivity about God’s perfect will and entangled itself more and more in the fleshly merry-go-round of religion, ignoring God’s purpose for the sake of selfish ambition and religious busyness.
Nothing matters unless its aim is to fullfil God's purpose
I have come to realize that nothing really matters unless it has as its aim to seek the fulfillment of God’s will and purpose. You hear much in Christianity about finding our place, knowing our destiny and fulfilling our ministry, but precious little about seeking to know what God wants and how He desires that we fit into His plan.
The Lord’s Prayer does not start with requests and intercessions about us and our needs. It begins, “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6: 9, 10). We are to be, first of all, concerned with God’s name, His kingdom and His will. We are to desire and work toward His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus, as reflected in this prayer, always worked to please His Father and He calls on us to do the same.
Everything that we will ever do as followers of Christ must be connected to God’s eternal purpose. If we do not have His purpose in mind we will easily get sidetracked into the myriad of side trails that lead away from His will and purpose. His purpose should be the guiding truth that colors everything we do and say. The church must learn to cease its purposeless programs and connect up with the God of divine purpose. In so doing we will find meaning and purpose in our own lives and in the life of the church.
God’s eternal purpose is stated in Ephesians 1:9-11:
“…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. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
God's purpose can only be known by revelation
First of all we see that the purpose of God is a mystery. This means it can only be known by divine revelation. That mystery has been made known but it can only be known by us if we receive it by revelation.
This is verified later in this chapter where Paul writes, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the full knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Eph. 1: 16-18). Clearly, Paul knew that a spirit of revelation in knowing Christ would open the eyes of their hearts allowing them to see spiritually. Today, we too need to have our spiritual eyes open so that we may see God’s eternal mystery which He reveals to those who open to Him.
I am not talking about some secret Gnostic knowledge that comes only to a spiritually elite class. I am referring to the readily available revelation that God wishes to impart to all who seek Him. Without that revelation we will simply go round and round on that religious merry-go-round that has no purpose other than to make its appointed rounds. God help us to step off of that pointless journey and put our feet down upon the pathway of His purpose.
Paul states in this passage that this purpose was set forth as a plan for “the fullness of time.” I believe we may be in the time period at the end of the fullness of time. God will unveil His plan and bring it to pass through obedient followers who seek Him and His purpose. In the fullness of time, at the time He has chosen, His purpose will be fully unveiled and put into motion by His faithful.
His purpose: to unite all things in Christ
That purpose is stated in the words, “…to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” God’s plan is to unite everything in His Son. When all is said and done there will only be Christ and those people in Christ.
This is stated in several ways in God’s word. In Revelation it is seen as a heavenly wedding in which Christ will be united with His bride (Rev. 19: 7, 8). Paul reflects this thought in Ephesians 5:25-27:
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
In that day the Father will present to His Son a glorious, spotless, holy bride who will be joined with Him forever.
In Ephesians 3:21, 22 Paul says it this way: “…in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” God is building a temple made up of spiritual stones, the people of God.
Peter speaks of these stones as “living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). These are not just loose stones piled in a pile but stones shaped by the Master and “built up as a spiritual house.” This is what Jesus meant when He said, “On this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
God's completed purpose will result in Satan's defeat
An indirect benefit of God’s eternal purpose is the defeat of Satan. God made a promise in the Garden of Eden that the offspring of the first woman would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). This is echoed by Paul to the Romans where he promised them that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (16:20). God will use the bride of His Son, the body of Christ, the victorious army of the faithful to overcome the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 12:11).
Paul states this in a different way later in Ephesians 3: 9-11:
…and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is one of the most astonishing passages of scripture. Here again, Paul reminds us that the mystery of God has been hidden for ages but is now revealed to all who will receive it. The full revelation of this “manifold wisdom” will be made know through the church to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” The fallen angels and the faithful angels of heaven will witness the glorious revealing of the purpose of God in His church and the whole universe will then know the eternal purpose of God.
The church corporately built together—the bride fully prepared in her glorious wedding gown—the fully construction spiritual temple of God—the victorious army of God—filled with the love, unity and power of the Most High, will come forth in victory and defeat Satan while showing forth and demonstrating the divine, eternal purpose of the only true God.
During the last few weeks of my pastoral ministry I taught every week from the fourth chapter of Ephesians. Many of the church members became impatient with my insistence that we understand that chapter. This is because chapter four of Ephesians is the practical outworking of the eternal purpose of God on earth. It is one thing to talk about God’s purpose in theory, but it is quite another to understand about how we are to realize it in our own lives and our life together as the church.
Ephesians 4 is the practical working out of the purpose of God in the church
This chapter begins with the admonition “…to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1). In other words, now that you know from chapters one through three what God’s eternal purpose is and how you are called to be part of it, you must walk in a manner worthy of that calling.
And what is that manner? First, we are admonished to conduct ourselves “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2, 3). In order to fulfill the purpose of God in our lives we must walk in love and seek to maintain the unity of the Spirit. The purpose of God involves our being united in His love and walking as people who reflect Him to the world.
Christ gave us the equipping ministries
Beginning with verse eleven Paul lays out the practical outworking of the plan of God in the church. At His ascension Christ gave us the equipping ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. The equippers equip the saints to serve and the saints serve the Lord and one another. This ministry (service) results in the building up of the body of Christ (v. 12).
When the church is built up we reach a place of unity of the faith and the full knowledge of Christ, a place of maturity measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ (v. 13). That powerful verse is telling us that we will reach a place of completeness in Christ that can be measured by the fact that we are expressing the fullness of Christ corporately as a built together, mature body of Christ.
Eventually we will no longer act like spiritual babies
When that happens Paul says that we will no longer act like babies tossed around by clever religious manipulators but will have learned to walk and speak the truth resulting in our growing up into Christ (vv. 14, 15). Every part of the body will do its part and it will grow by building itself up in love (v. 16).
That, my precious friends, is the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of God—to unite all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10). That is the preparation of the bride of Christ—the maturing of the body of Christ. That is the coming forth of the victorious army of God and the completion of the construction work on the spiritual temple of God. God’s eternal purpose—a mature church walking in the fullness of God and crushing Satan under her feet as she comes up “from the wilderness leaning on her beloved” (Song 8:5).
I carry this honor of declaring the eternal purpose of God. Woe to me if I do not present this message He has so graciously revealed in my heart. May God bless you with the same revelation that you may know His will and purpose and find your place in it.
Lloyd Gardner
June 2007
My entire life since the age of 18 has been characterized by the revelation of God’s eternal purpose into my spirit. Shortly after I came to know Christ, the revelation of His eternal purpose was forever seared into my consciousness by the hand of God. I have many times in my rebellion thrown this revelation to the ground, so to speak, because of the opposition and rejection it has brought to my life. But the Father in His patience has always waited for the right moment, picked it up and dusted it off and placed it again into my care. I have even written on this subject in a book, The Eliezer Call, The Call of the Bride.
In recent years I have fully embraced His message to humanity because I have come to see that it is a blazing fire in my spirit that cannot be extinguished. Since my first realization of His purpose, the organized church has tumbled further and further into a state of passivity about God’s perfect will and entangled itself more and more in the fleshly merry-go-round of religion, ignoring God’s purpose for the sake of selfish ambition and religious busyness.
Nothing matters unless its aim is to fullfil God's purpose
I have come to realize that nothing really matters unless it has as its aim to seek the fulfillment of God’s will and purpose. You hear much in Christianity about finding our place, knowing our destiny and fulfilling our ministry, but precious little about seeking to know what God wants and how He desires that we fit into His plan.
The Lord’s Prayer does not start with requests and intercessions about us and our needs. It begins, “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6: 9, 10). We are to be, first of all, concerned with God’s name, His kingdom and His will. We are to desire and work toward His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus, as reflected in this prayer, always worked to please His Father and He calls on us to do the same.
Everything that we will ever do as followers of Christ must be connected to God’s eternal purpose. If we do not have His purpose in mind we will easily get sidetracked into the myriad of side trails that lead away from His will and purpose. His purpose should be the guiding truth that colors everything we do and say. The church must learn to cease its purposeless programs and connect up with the God of divine purpose. In so doing we will find meaning and purpose in our own lives and in the life of the church.
God’s eternal purpose is stated in Ephesians 1:9-11:
“…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. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
God's purpose can only be known by revelation
First of all we see that the purpose of God is a mystery. This means it can only be known by divine revelation. That mystery has been made known but it can only be known by us if we receive it by revelation.
This is verified later in this chapter where Paul writes, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the full knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Eph. 1: 16-18). Clearly, Paul knew that a spirit of revelation in knowing Christ would open the eyes of their hearts allowing them to see spiritually. Today, we too need to have our spiritual eyes open so that we may see God’s eternal mystery which He reveals to those who open to Him.
I am not talking about some secret Gnostic knowledge that comes only to a spiritually elite class. I am referring to the readily available revelation that God wishes to impart to all who seek Him. Without that revelation we will simply go round and round on that religious merry-go-round that has no purpose other than to make its appointed rounds. God help us to step off of that pointless journey and put our feet down upon the pathway of His purpose.
Paul states in this passage that this purpose was set forth as a plan for “the fullness of time.” I believe we may be in the time period at the end of the fullness of time. God will unveil His plan and bring it to pass through obedient followers who seek Him and His purpose. In the fullness of time, at the time He has chosen, His purpose will be fully unveiled and put into motion by His faithful.
His purpose: to unite all things in Christ
That purpose is stated in the words, “…to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” God’s plan is to unite everything in His Son. When all is said and done there will only be Christ and those people in Christ.
This is stated in several ways in God’s word. In Revelation it is seen as a heavenly wedding in which Christ will be united with His bride (Rev. 19: 7, 8). Paul reflects this thought in Ephesians 5:25-27:
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
In that day the Father will present to His Son a glorious, spotless, holy bride who will be joined with Him forever.
In Ephesians 3:21, 22 Paul says it this way: “…in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” God is building a temple made up of spiritual stones, the people of God.
Peter speaks of these stones as “living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). These are not just loose stones piled in a pile but stones shaped by the Master and “built up as a spiritual house.” This is what Jesus meant when He said, “On this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
God's completed purpose will result in Satan's defeat
An indirect benefit of God’s eternal purpose is the defeat of Satan. God made a promise in the Garden of Eden that the offspring of the first woman would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). This is echoed by Paul to the Romans where he promised them that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (16:20). God will use the bride of His Son, the body of Christ, the victorious army of the faithful to overcome the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 12:11).
Paul states this in a different way later in Ephesians 3: 9-11:
…and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is one of the most astonishing passages of scripture. Here again, Paul reminds us that the mystery of God has been hidden for ages but is now revealed to all who will receive it. The full revelation of this “manifold wisdom” will be made know through the church to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” The fallen angels and the faithful angels of heaven will witness the glorious revealing of the purpose of God in His church and the whole universe will then know the eternal purpose of God.
The church corporately built together—the bride fully prepared in her glorious wedding gown—the fully construction spiritual temple of God—the victorious army of God—filled with the love, unity and power of the Most High, will come forth in victory and defeat Satan while showing forth and demonstrating the divine, eternal purpose of the only true God.
During the last few weeks of my pastoral ministry I taught every week from the fourth chapter of Ephesians. Many of the church members became impatient with my insistence that we understand that chapter. This is because chapter four of Ephesians is the practical outworking of the eternal purpose of God on earth. It is one thing to talk about God’s purpose in theory, but it is quite another to understand about how we are to realize it in our own lives and our life together as the church.
Ephesians 4 is the practical working out of the purpose of God in the church
This chapter begins with the admonition “…to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1). In other words, now that you know from chapters one through three what God’s eternal purpose is and how you are called to be part of it, you must walk in a manner worthy of that calling.
And what is that manner? First, we are admonished to conduct ourselves “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2, 3). In order to fulfill the purpose of God in our lives we must walk in love and seek to maintain the unity of the Spirit. The purpose of God involves our being united in His love and walking as people who reflect Him to the world.
Christ gave us the equipping ministries
Beginning with verse eleven Paul lays out the practical outworking of the plan of God in the church. At His ascension Christ gave us the equipping ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. The equippers equip the saints to serve and the saints serve the Lord and one another. This ministry (service) results in the building up of the body of Christ (v. 12).
When the church is built up we reach a place of unity of the faith and the full knowledge of Christ, a place of maturity measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ (v. 13). That powerful verse is telling us that we will reach a place of completeness in Christ that can be measured by the fact that we are expressing the fullness of Christ corporately as a built together, mature body of Christ.
Eventually we will no longer act like spiritual babies
When that happens Paul says that we will no longer act like babies tossed around by clever religious manipulators but will have learned to walk and speak the truth resulting in our growing up into Christ (vv. 14, 15). Every part of the body will do its part and it will grow by building itself up in love (v. 16).
That, my precious friends, is the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of God—to unite all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10). That is the preparation of the bride of Christ—the maturing of the body of Christ. That is the coming forth of the victorious army of God and the completion of the construction work on the spiritual temple of God. God’s eternal purpose—a mature church walking in the fullness of God and crushing Satan under her feet as she comes up “from the wilderness leaning on her beloved” (Song 8:5).
I carry this honor of declaring the eternal purpose of God. Woe to me if I do not present this message He has so graciously revealed in my heart. May God bless you with the same revelation that you may know His will and purpose and find your place in it.
