A New Plan for the Fulness of Time—God Unites All Things in One in Christ

“For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Verses 9-10.

It is written here that God has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose. He has done so for those who are influenced and convicted by the Spirit, and who receive instruction through the Spirit—all according to the purpose of His will. God convicts, or convinces, us by appealing to our free will. Thoughts arise in the counsels of the human heart concerning whether we will accept the things the Spirit convicts us of. If a person, of his own free will, according to the counsels of his own heart, accepts the mysteries of God’s will according to His purpose, he will then receive knowledge about the plan by which, in the fulness of time, God shall unite all things in Christ. When two people get married, they start a home; but the Bride of Christ is still being educated. As she grows up to the Head, she gains knowledge about this new “housekeeping,” or stewardship. She confers with the Bridegroom of her soul, asking Him how everything is to be. This heart-to-heart fellowship makes their relationship interesting, and the Bridegroom shares with His Bride the deepest mysteries concern­ing this stewardship.

The coming into existence of the Bride, her growth, and her in­crease in knowledge all take place in secret. She comes into being according to the mystery of His will and by His creative power. Though she grows up among the masses, she remains separate from them in spirit. While the multitudes are busy trying to get food, drink, and clothing, she has food to eat that they know noth­ing about. Her works are shining white linen, granted to her to be clothed in. (Revelation 19:8.) The ungodly world does not under­stand what is being created and fashioned in secret by this recipro­cal understanding of the Bridegroom and Bride according to the purpose of His will, all of which is taking place right before its eyes. When, in the fulness of time, she appears before her Bride­groom, adorned with beauty and arrayed in fine white linen, Christ will be able to say, “This time it is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones.” The two have now become one.

But it is not only Bride and Bridegroom who are to be united; everything is to be united in Christ—both that which is in heaven and that which is upon the earth. The way the world looks now, it is far from being united in Christ. People are deceived by Satan and cannot understand the things of God. They are alienated from Him and cannot understand the purpose of His will. Hardness of heart is like plated armor against the understanding of divine things.

Yet, even though people cannot look into God’s plans, into His new stewardship, they are nevertheless objects of His plans. God is going to repay everyone according to his works. Evil deeds are only performed by evil people, and good works by good people. “And he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world....’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels....’” Matthew 25.

This separation, or division, is part of the stewardship. Each one is placed where he rightly belongs. Those at His left side will think that they did a great deal of good, and those at His right side will have been used to hearing that they have done nothing. In fact, this outlook will have become “second nature” for them, which is why they will still not be able to bring themselves to agree that they have done anything good.

Now God makes the sheep and the goats one in Christ in the sense that He places them according to the good pleasure of His will. Those on His left end up in the lake of fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Just think—such a place has actually been prepared! But the One who prepares everything is God. Those on His right are to inherit the kingdom that was prepared for them before the foundation of the world.

This tells us that God, from the beginning, before the world began, and according to the purpose of His will, decided how in His new dispensation He would separate those who were evil and those who were good. Actually, a separation already exists, but one day God will make it manifest. He cannot rest until this has taken place. When everything has been put in its rightful place according to God’s light and truth, according to His righteous judgments, then everything will be united in Him who is the Truth itself—Jesus Christ.

It is God’s will that unites. If we obey His will, we profit; but if we go our own way, we lose. The one who resists His will places himself outside of Him—far away, and it is only righteous of God to let him remain standing where he has chosen to be.

Everyone is going to be recompensed for his works, both in sal­vation and perdition. People will be placed where they rightfully belong. This is what it means to be united in the Truth—Christ. What a blessed plan! It won’t be necessary to play the hypocrite or flatter one’s way to a higher position than one is worthy of. His body, the church, which has resisted all this unrighteousness in­tensely, will have full rest in Him, because each and every one is placed where he ought to be, not where he thinks he ought to be. Even hell itself cannot protest against this plan. Every knee shall bow, each in its own place, and confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

He unites not only that which is on earth, but also that which is in heaven. There is obviously much that needs to be corrected and put in order here on earth, but less obvious is the fact that there are things in heaven which shall also be united at the proper time.

The ministry of the angels on our behalf is dependent on our free will and on the good pleasure of God’s will, as well as on the blood of Christ. There is no peace in heaven, in the fullest sense of the term, as long as the will of God is not being done on earth as it is in heaven. Just as one can grieve the Holy Spirit by resisting Him, there is joy in heaven over every sinner who repents. This shows us clearly that the heavenly hosts are keenly aware of what is tak­ing place here on earth and are participating in its joys and its sorrows.

The Spirit is of heaven; He unites with the water and the blood, which are of the earth. When the blood has cleansed and reconciled everything and everybody that is going to be cleansed and recon­ciled, and when everyone has rejected salvation that chooses to re­ject it, then God has the “material” He needs to unite everything in Christ.

“...in him, according to the purpose of him who accom­plishes all things according to the counsel of His will....” Verse 11.

By the obedience of faith, Abraham received the promise that he would inherit the earth. (Romans 4:13.) To our eyes it looks as though the ungodly own the world, for they enjoy all of its glory as though they were going to live on earth forever. And yet, it is not this world Abraham inherits, for this world and the lust of it will perish. That would be a poor inheritance indeed! No, God is going to create a new earth where righteousness dwells. Abraham, who was righteous by faith, is going to be allowed to pitch his tent and take possession of his inheritance on the new earth—and not only Abraham, but all those who have had their sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb. Abraham’s promises are earthly. It will be glorious on the new earth. Just think, righteousness will dwell there; pain and sorrow will be no more!

God not only creates a new earth, He also creates a new heaven where righteousness dwells. The land we are to inherit is not in Jewish Palestine but in the kingdom of heaven, which consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Our body is the field of operations for the work of God. The Spirit’s promptings bring wisdom and power, transforming us into men and women of God, competent to claim our inheritance of the tremendous riches He has reserved for us. The greater and richer the inheritance, the greater our education in God must be, and this He is already giv­ing us in the days of our flesh. The light itself is not the inheri­tance, but the inheritance is in the light. Even now, here on earth, it takes a considerable amount of wisdom to conduct oneself prop­erly in the church of God—to say nothing of knowing how to con­duct ourselves in our glorious inheritance in eternity!

Our body (with the wisdom we gain while in the body) is no doubt the most glorious of gifts. But it is not the inheritance itself, any more than inheriting an earthly possession means inheriting an earthly body. The phrase “all things are yours” means every­thing apart from myself, because I belong to Christ and cannot re­joice in “myself,” since that is not the way of love. Thus we conclude that all the saints belong to us, all the apostles and prophets—yes, even God Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ—belong to us. There is only one person we do not own, and that is ourself, for we are not our own but belong to Christ, just as Christ belongs to God.

Since all these people are so wisely fashioned and so full of glory, all those things which are created for these glorious beings must also be full of glory. We are able to appreciate our inheritance to the extent that we have sufficient understanding and insight to ap­praise its value. But this wisdom and insight varies with each of us and is dependent on our personal faithfulness and obedience in this life.