"He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to  His good pleasure which he purposed in Him with a view to an  administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up  of all things in Christ, things in the heavens, and upon the earth."    Ephesians 1: 9, 10 "And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him  as head over all things to the Church, which is His body,  the fullness of Him who fills all in all."   Ephesians 1: 22, 23 God Has a Goal God definitely has a goal, a purpose, a will. These are all essentially  speaking of the same thing. As we can see in Ephesians 1: 9, 10;  God has a will, this will is according to His good pleasure,  and He purposed this will in Christ. We, as believers, glibly speak of Gods' will all the time.  We are constantly trying to know Gods' will for our lives. It seems that  His Will is always a mystery to us and that's why we are constantly  praying to know it. Where does God want me to live?  Where does God want me to work?  Who does God want me to marry? And then, when we don't get  an answer,  we throw up our hands in the air in frustration and ask;  well why doesn't God just tell me what He wants?  What we don't realize is that God really only wants one thing.  And He has already revealed His will. The Mystery of His Will In Ephesians, Paul tells us that God has kept a secret  throughout the ages.  This "secret" or mystery is His eternal purpose or will.  Got kept His purpose a secret until it had been established  and secured in Christ.  He wanted to keep men and angels out of this until it had been  secured and there was no way it could be messed up!  "Knowledge is power", as they say,  and God wanted to make sure that no one knew what was going on  until it was too late [to stop it]! Paul clearly tells us in Ephesians that now the mystery of  His will has been revealed. God could now reveal His plan  because the outcome had been secured in the Person and work  of His Son. Paul said that it pleased the Father to reveal His Son in him.  This plan, purpose, or will of God has everything to do  with His Son. In fact, it says that it was the Father's good pleasure  to purpose this will in Christ.   So we see that Christ is the very essence  and center of God's will. Actually, you could say that this secret is Christ.  Since all of God's purpose and will is wrapped up in His Son. A View to an Administration God has been administering everything in all realms to bring together  His purpose. You can imagine this to be a great symphonic performance  that God is putting together. He is bringing together all the instruments,  the musicians, and the equipment to one central place.  He is also writing music and training the musicians to play it properly.    The Holy Spirit is conducting this orchestra so that the music composed  by the Father is an exact representation of His heart.  He has been doing this throughout the ages and is gathering  all things together to the fullness of the times.  This orchestra is going to play the most beautiful symphony ever heard.  This symphony is Christ! The Sum of All Things The purpose of this administration is to sum up all things in Christ.  Our English word "sum" doesn't even come close to doing this passage  justice. The word literally means to "gather together again (reunite)  into one (head)". This is a work of a re-establishing, restoring,  and recovering all that was lost or disconnected from Christ.  God wants to put all things back in order. That order is Christ.  It's as if Christ was like a magnet at the center of the universe and  God is pulling and drawing everything back into its' original source.  Those things that were once in Christ are now being drawn back  that He may be the all in all.

by Milt Rodriguez