Commentary

The Perfect Plan of God’s Glory

Scriptures: Ephesians 2:10 ; Galatians 1:15-16
by Jacob Abshire on December 28, 2017

Even the most experienced home renovators draw up plans before tearing down walls. They need direction, measurements, dimensions, materials, and more. Blueprints inform the project from beginning to end. Without them, builders are working in the dark. There must be a clear plan.

In a similar way, God labors according to a plan—His plan. Not because He is helpless without it, but because He is godless without it. His nature demands it. He is infinite. Nothing that happens in this world is spontaneous or without design. Everything that exists first existed in His infinite mind.

Ephesians 2:10 personalizes this reality. It says that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand.” You are God’s intentional design. He is the divine purchaser and possessor of your soul. You are His divine project being wonderfully made into a masterpiece full of glorious purpose which was made ready in the “pre-ness” of His work. His perfect plan is predisposed, premeditated, and predestined.

God’s Perfect Plan is Timeless

According to the text, the “good works” for which we were created are made ready before we ever experience them. This idea was introduced early in the epistle. According to Ephesians 1:4-5, God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” and that “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

The text makes use of the “beforehand” language twice. In both instances, it refers to God’s design being made ready before the creation of time and unto the purpose of walking in Christ. Before it is realized, it is conceptualized in the infinite mind of God. His perfect plan for you is timeless.

God’s Perfect Plan is Intentional

Not only is God’s plan timeless. It is also intentional. Ephesians describes His perfect plan as being “according to the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:5). This too is codified throughout the epistle. You are designed to walk in good works that are expressly pleasing to God. He made them for His glory and according to His good pleasure.

You are not an afterthought. Your soul renovation is working out according to the deliberate design proposed and established by God. It is not by accident. His perfect plan for you is intentional.

God’s Perfect Plan is Unshakable

God’s perfect plan is timeless and intentional. It is also unshakable. Whatever He plans is as good as done. He “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). Nothing stops God from His work. Nothing thwarts His plans. Nothing stops His hand (Is. 14:27).

What God establishes before time will ultimately happen in the “fullness of time” (Eph. 1:10). It will happen as He designed, when He designed, and how He designed. God’s plans are unshakable because God is unshakable. God’s perfect plan for you is resolute and as good as done.

Listen to how Paul describes his divine transformation unto good works:

“But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.”

Gal. 1:15-16

Are you anxious for what God is doing? Are you worried it might not happen? Take courage. God’s plan for you is timeless. It will unfold as He designs. You only need to yield to Him.

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