Ephesians 1.9-10
“ … 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.”
After reflecting again on this passage, I want to return to it today because of its importance to life in Christ. The apostle declares God’s purpose and plan, which had been a mystery but has now been revealed. The purpose/plan is this: To unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. In the book of Colossians Paul also emphasizes God’s purpose/plan through Christ “to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Please note the primacy of reconciliation in God’s master plan. Our world is in desperate need of the healing and reconciliation that only Jesus can bring. As a result of the Fall, all people experience a fourfold alienation:
Alienation from God. We desperately need to be reconciled to our Creator. We were created in his image and designed to live and work in relationship to him. The Fall–and our sin–distorted God’s image in us and disconnected us from our relationship to him. Our greatest need is redemption from our sin and reconciliation to the Lord. Apart from God, we are eternally lost.
Alienation from self. We desperately need to be reconciled to our true purpose and identity in Christ. We need the image of God restored in us, and we need healing from distorted thoughts and damaging emotions. We need the deep, inner peace that comes from knowing who we are, why we exist, and what the Lord wants us to do in the world. Apart from God, we are emotionally lost.
Alienation from other people. We desperately need to be reconciled to each other. We need healing for broken relationships. By God’s design, relationships are the heart of marriage, family, work, society, and fellowship in the church. But the Fall damaged those relationships, and we need God’s grace for interpersonal healing and reconciliation. Apart from God, we are relationally and socially lost.
Alienation from creation. We desperately need to be reconciled to the created world. At the Fall, the physical world was cursed and subjected to decay and entropy. The Lord commands us to be stewards of creation, and we need his wisdom and power in order to be faithful to that command. Apart from God, we are environmentally lost.
With these four dimensions of alienation in mind, consider the commision we are given in 2 Corinthians 5.17-18: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation …”
We are the community of the King, and we are agents of the Lord’s purpose and plan. We are his agents of reconciliation in a broken world. May we be faithful to his call in our time and place in history.
