LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Mystery Of His Will
Messages on the epistle to the Ephesians in the context of the life of the apostle Paul
By Christian Chen
Presentation
When studying the apostle Paul's life we find in him the same pattern of growth as that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord went through three stages: first, a 30 year stage in which he lived as "a root out of parched ground", a second stage of three years, full of fruit, and a third of only six months which can be called "the way of the cross", before his death, resurrection and ascension to the throne.
In the same way, the 33 years of Paul's spiritual life can be divided into three periods of 11 years. In his first 11 years, he went through the infancy of his Christian life, living anonymously, just like his Master; in the following 11 years, he lived the fruitful age of adolescence, in which he carried out 3 missionary journeys and conquered the world for Christ; and in the last 11 years, his life, already mature in Christ, was under the shadow of the cross.
Paradoxically, in this last stage in which he was confined in a Roman jail, limited and without freedom, the heavens opened up for Paul so that he could know the mystery of the eternal will of God. There he wrote the epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon.
In the book of Ephesians, for the first time in human history, God reveals the secret of the universe -the mystery of His will-that has to do with Christ and the Church. In Ephesians we have two focal points: the sonship of the believers, and the Lord Jesus Christ's Lordship. The sonship is associated with our inheritance, and Jesus Christ's Lordship with God's inheritance which is the glorious Church.
Before the foundation of the world God had already formed this plan, and today He is carrying it out with absolute precision. For us, knowing it will revolutionize our life.
The present volume is the compilation of five messages shared by the author during a conference, which took place in January of 2003, in Rucacura (Chile), on the epistle to the Ephesians in the context of Paul's life.
We hope in the Lord that these messages can help the children of God enter onto the way of maturity, so that not only do they know their wonderful inheritance in Christ, but, moreover, so that God can have His inheritance in them.
The Editors
Index
1 The Pattern of the Life of Christ
2 The Pattern of the Christian Life in the Life of Paul
3 The Eternal Will of God
4 Christ and the Church
5 The Church as the Expression of Christ
These messages were transcribed from audio recordings and lightly edited only in order to bring greater clarity to the text, but always maintaining its original spoken form. All quotations from the Holy Scriptures are taken from the NASB, except where otherwise indicated.
Editing: Jairo Dos Santos, Eliseo Apablaza Temuco (Chile), September 2003.