One Purpose...

one purpose

One Purpose

31:38

God is eternal...in existence, in purpose. Three entitied Persons, having

clearly three unique identities acting in an inclusive way as one having the

very same objective of conceptual reality. The three persons are distinct in

their personal relationships with each other, but they are the same in

substance, equal in power and glory, and have all that makes God who he

is. The word "person" is used to describe the three persons because it's one

of the only ways to describe this concept in language, but it doesn't mean

that the persons are human beings. Instead, each person has intellect,

emotion, and volition, and had a unique role in creation and salvation. God

presents Himself to His people as one God. The people of God know Him

and believe in Him as one God with one Name. We are a baptized people

in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Such a truth shows us that

within God Himself there is both a unity between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

one name and a distinct three persons. The wonder of this mystery: the

Father is not the Son and not the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father and

not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father and is not the Son. The

Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit is God. No priority is due to one, no neglect

is due to either. God cannot be divided. God, who is spirit, determined to

physically come to earth in the form of humanity to put mankind in the right

relation with Him. This done because of sin. The presentation of Jesus as

Son of God, complemented by the promise of the Holy Spirit, gave rise to

the singular purpose for redeeming mankind from our fallen condition that

we may be partakers of the plan of salvation. We see not the plurality, but

the harmoniousness of purpose in the counsel, in the creation, in the plans

of both redemption and salvation. We hear “in the beginning God” and “let

us make” regarding the expression in a singularity of deliberation, in fact

referring only to One God.

In all our discussions, the bible is to be the authority. It shows us that the

central theme of all that is determined providentially in the council of peace

is Jesus Christ the God-man. He is the fullness of divinity and humanity of

the same substance, having the one essence with the Father and being

consubstantial with the Holy Spirit. The Council decreed that Jesus, the

Word, and Son of God, has been eternally ‘begotten’ from the Father to be

worshipped and together glorified. He was incarnate, made flesh, of the

specific Mary and became human. Herein is the mystery of godliness. In

Jesus Christ there are two energies and two wills corresponding to his two

natures. The purpose of this conciliar teaching protects the doctrine of the

fullness and completeness of both Jesus’ humanity and Divinity. The God of

the bible is a God of purpose. And not just general purposes but specific

ones. And His purposes extend from eternity past to eternity future,

encompassing not only the ultimate destiny of His creation, but our personal

lives. In Christ the purpose for His creation is fulfilled. God Himself assures

us of this: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like

me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not

yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my

purpose’. But God is so much more than simple purpose. He is sovereign

in His call to Abraham as a gentile to become the father of His people. And

establishing us as descendants by faith as His Israel. And delivering us into

the propheticness of His story to bring to a people the perfection of being by

faith as is His Son. The story ends with the consummation, 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, and once all

things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to

him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

This is God’s ultimate purpose - to bring about a new heaven and new earth.

God’s grand purpose for the world to come, then, is in the process of coming

into being in the present through the redeeming and restoring work of the

gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, and by the transformative power of the Holy

Spirit, God is at work preparing a people to populate His new world. His

purpose is to conform them to the image of Christ. This means that God’s

purpose for each one of us is to be transformed in our character, such that

we more fully reflect the character of our God and increasingly live a life of

love and faith. This involves every area of our personal and moral life to

include our family and others. God has a determinate character. He has

purpose and performs particular events. He does one thing and not another.

God's sovereignty and purpose, particularly in light of events that seem

unequal, random, or unjust. It stems from the observation that God acts in

specific ways in certain situations but not in others, such as healing some

people while others suffer, or saving some individuals but not all. Therefore,

the various actions we perceive God taking are not separate or distinct acts

in God Himself, but different manifestations of His one, simple, perfect

nature. A human might act wisely in one moment and mercifully in another.

In God, however, wisdom and mercy are not separate attributes; they are

one and the same as His very being. His essence is identical in all His

attributes. God does not have goodness…He is goodness. He doesn’t have

existence…He is existence. All He does from creation to salvation is one

single, eternal divine act. Light is a single source, yet as it fractures it results

in many colors distinct one from another. From God’s oneness we see such

things as justice, wrath, mercy. God wants us to discover His will. The

assurance that in Christ we are in the center of God’s purposes brings lasting

stability to our experience. This is why we study the word...God’s will is made

known to us. The word shows how God’s will is shaped by His ultimate

purpose for us. We are to give every word careful thought with patience and

a right attitude to God. The word of God gives us fundamental principles to

guide us in every situation. God is good.

Such a like purpose exists between God the Father and God the Son that

their declarations of divinity and humanity are the same. The Father said

unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. The Son said before Abraham was, I am.

They both refer to their eternality and existence. According to this truth and

this Word of God, we believe in one only God, who is one single essence, in

which are three Persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct, according to their

incommunicable properties; namely, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy

Ghost...these Persons thus distinguished are not divided nor intermixed; for

the Father had not assumed the flesh, but had the Holy Spirit as

Melchisedec, and the Son only. The Father had never been without His Son,

or without His Holy Spirit. For they are all three co-eternal and co-essential.

There is neither first nor last; for they are all three one, in truth, in power, in

goodness, in mercy, and in love. We hear of the same purpose in the Father

and the Son expressed in such an intimacy of relationship in the very words

of Jesus...all things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows

the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and

those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. God presented Himself in

Jesus as the Son of God. It is a mystery. The truth that God does not change

is to be understood on a spiritual founding. God is speaking to His covenant.

God was pleased to renew His covenant with man in such a way as that His

unity might be believed in, after a new manner, through the Son and the

Spirit, in order that God might now be known openly, in His proper names

and Persons, who in ancient times was not plainly understood, though

declared through the Son and the Spirit. Does the mystery of God’s

omnipresence indicate change? Omnipresence is an attribute belonging to

God alone, traditionally described as his quality of being present in all places

everywhere at all times any time, with the implication that he is not bound by

time or space, galaxies or dimensions. God is boundless, infinite. And by

His word He attributes all to Jesus. And he has fitted and arranged all things

by his wisdom, while he contains all things, but he himself can be contained

by no one: he is the former, he is the builder, he is the creator, he is the Lord

of all; and there is no one besides him or above him. That both God’s

omnipresence and transcendence are depicted in his incarnation through

Christ. While God revealed himself to us through Christ, he did not lose

anything of his Divinity. As we now worship Him ‘in the Spirit and in truth’

anywhere we want to worship Him makes God ‘more omnipresent’ in the

Holy Spirit and in the truth of Jesus. God can be the Father, the Son, the

Holy Spirit and even the angel of God. Read Genesis 31:11-13.

How so wonderful is the mystery of the purpose of God the Father and God

the Son. He can hang on the cross as God the Son and cry out to God the

Father, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani’, My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken me? Read Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 40, verse 28 and Colossians

chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. A purposeful creator? The ways in which God

shows His oneness of purpose and compassion with humankind. The one

purpose - to glorify God. The Father: determined creation, redemption, and

consummation, and is supreme in authority. The Son: responsible for

creation, the mediator, and the Father's image. The Holy Spirit: brings the

works of God to completion, and is the bond of love between the Father and

Son.

God is a purposeful being...everything He does is for a purpose. History

itself has a purpose...and God is working things out for that purpose. This is

one of the most encouraging things about the doctrine of God’s

sovereignty...seemingly random events are not random at all; everything is

being worked out according to God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, God’s

purpose in all of this is in some way defined and accomplished by election.

God has a purpose, and that purpose is a sure and certain one. God’s

purpose rules over the entire process of salvation. God’s purpose stands

over His foreknowledge of people, His predestination of the people He

foreknew to be conformed to the image of His Son...His calling of us by the

gospel, His justification of us by faith, His future glorification of us. Again,

the purpose of God the Father and Jesus is one...the bible says God has

saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done

but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ

Jesus before the beginning of time. The purpose is now being revealed. We

see that God’s purpose is totally centered in the person of Christ...grace

given us IN CHRIST; Christ was and is the center of God’s purpose. We see

an absolute harmony between purpose and grace...God’s purpose is a

gracious purpose, or a purpose to give us grace in Christ. God’s call to us

in Christ Jesus is part of this purpose. God’s purpose is so big, it even

includes predestination! Our predestination itself was done for this purpose.

God’s purpose is a “free and sovereign” purpose, in which He does

everything after the counsel of His own will...it is not governed by anything

outside of Himself. Unconditional election makes God’s purpose stand.

Unconditional election ALONE makes God’s purpose stand. In salvation

God desires His own glory above all things. In salvation, God also desires

that all His elect most certainly be saved, that none of them be lost. Only

election can accomplish these purposes, which are really one purpose

ultimately. God’s glory is most clearly displayed in one way: that all of the

elect might be fully and finally saved, that not one of us would be lost, and

that we would stand and proclaim forever that we are saved for the praise of

HIS GLORY . The decisive influence of all that happens in the world is God’s.

He works all things after the counsel of His own will. He alone has the

freedom of ultimate self-determination. In a word, God, looking on all ages,

from the creation to the consummation, as a moment, and seeing at once

whatever is in the hearts of all the children of men, knows everyone that does

or does not believe, in every age and nation. Yet what God knows, whether

faith or unbelief, is in nowise caused by His knowledge. Men are as free in

believing or not believing as if God did not know it at all. Let’s pause in this

truth concerning the one and same purpose of God and of Christ. Please

reason this statement in the truth of the reality of the measure of faith given

us by God. But before penning the statement I ask that you read and hear

the following truths...

Romans 3:22

Galatians 2:16

Galatians 3:22

Revelation 14:12

Now see by what it is that God’s people live...

Galatians 2:20

Not our faith, but that which is of Jesus Christ, God Himself.

God’s electing purpose will stand because our election was based on nothing

outside of God Himself. It is not based on foreseen works, neither is it based

on foreseen faith, nor anything God foresees in us at all. Rather, it is based

totally on Himself. Election accomplishes this purpose of God because it

thwarts all human boasting. Justification is conditional on faith, but election

is not. Our faith in Christ is a condition for justification. But our faith is not a

condition for election...God wasn’t looking in us at all when He chose us…He

was looking in Himself. The “call” dear friends is that powerful call by which

God creates what He calls. Do not imagine any sinner is beyond the pale of

God’s unconditional election...unconditional election was designed to amaze

and awe the world at who is included!!

So God in Christ sees His people as we will be when Jesus comes. God

sees us whole, sees us as we will be in His love eternally, sees us through

the mediating eyes of Jesus. God sees us in Himself. God sees us through

the eyes of love made flesh in Jesus Christ. This one same purpose with

God and Jesus intends for us to be like Christ. Truly faithful people are

precious in God's sight; we are His peculiar treasure; His delight is in us,

above any people. We are His vineyard. And this makes God's people truly

honorable; for we are really what we are in God's eye. By faith in Jesus

through the power of the Holy Spirit, as we trust in Jesus, we are part of His

holy, chosen people. The object of our faith is God and His promises. Each

of us is born for purpose, but it is God’s purpose. Remembering that it is not

our faith, but the faith credited to us as righteousness. And by whose

righteousness is why faith is the way God has chosen for us to get right with

him. And God chose faith as the way to justification because faith accords

with grace and grace is the free and sovereign work of God that makes the

promise certain. God means to justify us by faith because it gives us strong

assurance. God's free and sovereign grace is what guarantees the promise

of salvation and makes it sure. And faith is the one condition of the heart that

accords with grace in justification. Faith says yes to grace and is glad that

God will save us that way and rests in that wonderful work of grace.

So the purpose is expressed in the faith of Jesus as the way that we get right with

God - the way to be justified - he wanted to base the whole thing on his

almighty, all-glorious grace, so that our boasting would be excluded and his

glory would be exalted and our salvation would be certain. Our pride is put

down. God's glory is lifted up. And salvation is made sure. Therefore, rejoice

that our justification is by grace through faith. Brothers, sisters, justification

is not a process. It is a verdict. It is a singular act of counting us righteous

and acceptable to God on the basis of the righteousness of another, namely

and specifically, Jesus Christ. It is this kind of faith that God designs by His

grace that will persevere. All subsequent faith dear friends is like an oak tree

contained in the acorn. God, in the act of justification, which is imparted to

us in our first believing, has respect to perseverance, as being virtually

contained in that first act of faith; and persevering in faith is looked upon as

being as it were a property of that first act of faith. God has respect to our

continuance in faith, and He is glorified by that, as though it already were by

divine establishment. God's purpose is to conform us to the image of Jesus,

or to become like Jesus. The word states that God has predestined us to be

conformed to the image of His Son, and that Christlikeness is God's eternal

purpose. It means that full and steadfast justification is given to us through

one simple act of faith; and assurance of eternal life is possible from that very

beginning. And the work of Christ in whom we have our righteousness is a

complete and perfect work. It does not get better with time. And we are united

to Christ at once, through our first faith, not progressively. So, we ask

reasonably...what is meant by from faith to faith? It means that God

declares us to be righteous in His eyes because of our faith, from beginning

to end living in a way that generates more faith in God and His promises. In

the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Righteousness is thus a

complete and total work of God. It is a right standing before God that has

nothing to do with human accomplishment or worth. It is received by faith.

There is nothing we can do to deserve or earn it. From the faith of God, who

makes the offer of salvation, to the faith of Jesus, by whom we receive it.

Salvation comes from God’s faithfulness to our faith. That salvation is

accomplished through God’s faithfulness, which comes first, and our faith in

response to that as a progressive, growing development of faith from one

degree of faith to another akin to the ever-increasing glory of transformation.

From day one of our journey of faith until the very last day, we, the righteous,

must live by faith. We must trust God “from start to finish” and rely on His

mighty power - the power of the gospel - to change our lives and the lives of

those we encounter. Purpose!! We receive a faith that answers to the

revelation of God in Jesus Christ. That is also faithfulness to the call of God.

God’s own faithfulness is in view with our justification which progresses into

our faith. The faith of God is prior to all. It is the fundamental faithfulness

that undergirds the covenant and creation itself and is paired with God’s

steadfast love.

The revelation of God’s righteousness is not just personal but cosmic. The

word equates God’s righteousness with His salvation, which will act for the

whole world. This all points toward Christ. We see this beautiful progression

from God’s faith to Jesus’ faith, which leads to our faith and confidence in

their faithful work. The mediating faith of Jesus stands between the faith of

God and the responding faith of man, reinforcing the centrality of Jesus

Christ in God’s saving and reconciling work of love. Jesus is not only the

“author and finisher” of our faith but also the author and finisher of faith itself.

The faithfulness of Jesus Christ reveals, on one hand, God’s faithfulness

toward man. On the other hand, he as representative man reveals the faithful

response of humanity toward God. And here is where our faith is born: in

Him! We see the far-reaching of the one purpose - it is by faith from first to

last, because faith is a word that binds God and man together through Christ

in covenant relationship. In light of this, our own efforts and works are truly

of no avail at all, for if we are not “of faith,” we are apart from God and Christ.

But when we are “of faith,” then we are united in them and participate with

them in the faith that defines them, and us. This is how and why God looks

within Himself... because before there was our faith, there was His faith, the

faith of God that was embodied in our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is their faith, the

faithfulness of the Father and Son, that we are to think about most these

days. For their faith is what makes our faith possible. This is the message

of the everlasting gospel.

God Himself will make sure of our perseverance in faith - not perfection in

faith, but perseverance, persistence. How can we know this? Moreover

whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them

he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. That last

clause is crucial. It says that those whom God has justified, he most certainly

will glorify. It's as good as done. That is, he will certainly bring us into

everlasting life and glory with himself in the end. Now if that is true - if God

will certainly and eternally save those who have been justified - and if our

justification comes through faith which perseveres, then God will see to it

that we certainly persevere in faith. This is a very precious truth: that God

Himself is committed to keeping his people and not letting them forsake him

utterly. We may stray for a season. But he will bring us back. Clouds may

gather and faith may falter, but those who are justified will not stumble so as

to fall utterly. We will persevere in faith. Our hope for glorification is not in our

own willpower to believe. It is in God's faithfulness that he who began a good

work in us will complete it unto the day of Christ.