344
October, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
God’s Purposeand God’sPeople B y ROY L. LAURIN San Gabriel, Calif.
EPHESIANS ¿jf/S
T he book of Ephesians is recognized as one of the mountain peaks of divine revelation, with a spiritual summit as yet unreached by the human mind. It was written by Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome. There is no particular reason assigned for the writing of this epistle. Certainly there appears no reason so plain as that which prompted the writing of Galatians, in which Paul gave eloquent and convincing answer to the Judaizers who had invaded the Galatian churches. This letter assumes a more general character, and in fact it is a lofty treatise of Christian doctrine concerning the human membership of the Christian church at large. As one reads and rereads and then reads again the six chapters of this letter, his mind is shaped by this reading to see the eternal plan of God in the process of consum mation. He sees this important truth in three particulars : 1. The Purpose of God’s Plan. 2. The People of God’s' Purpose. 3. The Practice of God’s People. T he P urpose of G od ’ s P lan The purpose of
tury of Progress to measure the genius of man. We build great instruments that sweep the skies, and it is great news when a new star is discovered. We are easily disposed to think of God as sitting on some promontory of heaven surveying the flaming suns, as if His greatest delight were in a sun or a star of staggering dimensions. Or we might think that as His all-seeing eyes scan this globe of ours, He would delight most in the vastness of its oceans or the highness of its mountains or the colorfulness of its autumn changes. But God’s greatest delight is not in the universe. The purpose of His creation did not reach its peak when His hands pushed up the mountains and scooped out the seas, but only when He made man in His own image and likeness. God’s greatest delight is in man—not a man marred by the sin of the first Adam, not a man great by the standards of man’s world, but a man redeemed and finally transformed into the likeness of the “last Adam.” This purpose of God is expressed in the epistle in such passages as 1 :3-14 and 2 :l-22. During the process of catechizing a little girl, her father asked this question: “What is the chief end of man?” The reply was, “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” And then, thinking to change the ques tioning a bit, the father asked this further question: “And what is the chief end of God?” After a mo ment’s hesitation, she replied, “To glorify man and enjoy him forever.” This indeed is the purpose of God’s plan. T he P eople of G od ’ s P urpose This people of God’s great purpose constitute God’s present workmanship. God is no longer busy with planets and suns, but with man. His creative work is now a re creative work. We, therefore, as
God’s plan is the ré demption) of a peo ple. This people, re- deemed, w ill be made to share in the eternal likeness and companionship o f God. We define, too often, the purpose of God with nebu lous definitions of great eternal pro jects concerning the universe. But every project of God in the universe has be hind it a purpose f o r H is p eop le . W ill God have some day a new uni verse ? Then, re- m em ber that this new universe will be c re a te d f o r God’s new people. We have a Cen t This is the second of a series of articles on “The Gist of Four G r e a t L e tte r s ,” brought to K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s readers by the pastor of. the Sari Gabri el Union Church. — E ditor .]
the people of God, are God’s workmanship— not complete, but be ing c om p le te d ; not finished, but being fin ished; not faultless, but blameless. In this workman ship, God is working _ both to a purpose and a pattern. The pur pose is Christlikeness, and the p a t t e r n is Christ. This people who are the workmanship of God’s purpose and God’s pattern are to be seen in this epistle in at least seven different aspects. They appear:
9 Men build instruments that sweep the heavens— yet they know comparatively little of the wonders of God's handi work. Pictured here are (upper left) the nebula in the constel lation of Andromeda and (low er right) the central portion of the same nebula. On the basis of facts obtained t hr oug h studying the greater magnifi cation of the central portion of this nebula, astronomers have concluded that not every nebula is a gaseous cloud, as formerly was supposed. They now believe that at least some nebulae are great "island universes" com posed of countless flaming stars. Yet God's greatest delight is not in the universe, but in man.
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