“He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” (Ephesians 1:9)

What is God’s will for me? Ephesians 1:3-14 contains a list of “every spiritual blessing” that God gave believers in Christ Jesus, for which we should be thankful. Here in :9 we find the particular blessing listed, that God made known to us the mystery of His will. But this blessing may not be what many people might imagine it to be.

“The mystery of His will” that verse 9 refers to, is not the specific knowledge of what job I should get or who should be elected as deacon this year. This is not to say that God doesn’t have a plan for those things, but that is just not the blessing that verse 9 is actually describing. “The mystery of His will”, verse 10 tells us, is “the summing up of all things in Christ.”

The mystery of God’s will, hidden for many years of history, but now revealed in the New Testament, is the preeminence of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not merely “an actor” in the unfolding drama of history; He is the whole show! All things are summed up in Him:

— He made the world (John 1:3),

— He upholds everything by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3),

— He bought and redeemed us (Ephesians 1:7),

— He established His church (Matthew 16:18),

— He sends us His Spirit (Acts 1:8),

— He empowers us to do His will (Ephesians 3:16),

— He is returning (Acts 1:11)

— He will Judge us all (Acts 10:42)

— and He will forever be glorified (Revelation 5:12)

The New Testament is about Jesus. In fact even the Old Testament is about Jesus! (Luke 24:44) The Bible from first to last is about Jesus. The church is about Jesus. “He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.” (Eph. 1:22) The lives of God’s redeemed people are about following Jesus and glorifying Jesus. Our goal as believers is to become like Jesus (Ephesians 4:15, Romans 8:29). Thus it is no great stretch to say that God’s will for each of us, and all of us together, can be summed up in just one word: JESUS!