The first thing we should recognize is that God is a God of purpose. In Matthew 10:29 the Lord said, "Not one of them [sparrows] will fall to the earth apart from your Father." Even the death of a sparrow, which seems too trifling to note, is something that God takes account of. The Creator of the whole universe has a will regarding even one sparrow.
God is a God of purpose, and He has a purpose concerning creation. Creation was not an accident, but the expression of a definite purpose on the part of God. God purposed and creation was with a view to the accomplishment of that purpose. Modern theology makes redemption more important than creation. Yet creation was part of God's original purpose, redemption was only remedial. Redemption was brought in to restore that which had been diverted from God's purpose. God sought to arrive at a purpose by creation, but something intervened. Redemption brings things back to God's original intention.
Ephesians 1:5 speaks of "the good pleasure of His will," and verse 9 speaks of "the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself." Verse 11 says, "The purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of His will." Ephesians 3:11 also says, "According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord." In Ephesians 1 the eternal purpose is referred to as something that God "purposed in Himself," while in chapter three we read that this purpose was "made in Christ Jesus our Lord."
We have to go back to eternity past to discover what this purpose was. In eternity past God purposed something very definite in Himself (Eph. 1); then all this definite purpose was summed up in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3). God in eternity past had a counsel with His Son. His purpose was that His Son should be "all and in all" (Col. 3:11). The creation was with this end in view. It was for the purpose that the Son should be the sum total of the universe (Eph. 1:10).
God is the eternal Creator, and it is essential to His nature that He express Himself in creation. He could not be satisfied in any other way. An artist cannot be content without expressing his art in painting. A musician must express the music that is in his soul, and a mechanic craves to do work suited to his temperament and gift. In the same way, the Creator must express Himself in creation. Being such a God as He is, the creation of mere inanimate objects could not possibly satisfy Him. He had to create beings capable of responding to Him; hence, these beings had to have a free will. God created two orders of beings — angelic and human — both with a free will. In creating free-will beings, He necessarily ran a great risk, because it lay with them whether they would set their wills for or against Him.
God first created the angelic beings. These were to be ministering spirits. In His foreknowledge He was aware that some of them would rebel and that the archangel would become His archenemy. Their rebellion consisted of raising the created will against the uncreated will. Note the many "I wills" of Satan in Isaiah 14. God could easily have destroyed all of His enemies with one word from His mouth, but the destruction of an inferior power in that way would not have been glorifying to the name of the Almighty God. It was "His good pleasure" to bring in another order of created beings — men — also free-will agents, that they might link their wills with His and cooperate with Him in dealing with the rebellious will. God brought man in to undo what Satan had done. Man was created and put in the garden of Eden to "keep it." The original word implies to "guard it." This implies that there was an enemy seeking to intrude and that God was seeking man's cooperation against him. Man was put in the place of authority to deal with the situation. (The rebellion of Satan touched the entire universe; therefore, it was necessary for Christ in redemption "to reconcile all things to Himself...whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens" (Col. 1:20). Hebrews 2:9 says, "So that by the grace of God He might taste death on behalf of everything," not "every man" as in the King James Version. According to 9:23, there had to be a purifying of the very heavens by the blood of Christ.)
God did not nullify Satan's power after his rebellion, but in a moral and spiritual way, He sought to deal with it through man. Therefore, Satan still held sway throughout the universe. When God created man, Satan immediately sought to make man his ally against God. However, his deception of man was a great mistake because his sphere of activity, which until then had been unlimited, became confined to the earth. When Satan tempted man and gained man's allegiance, God could righteously pronounce judgment on him and confine his sphere to the earth. Satan sought to involve man in his rebellion. Yet in the process, he became involved with man and became related to this earth. "Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Genesis 3:14 was God's verdict upon the serpent. His sphere of movement was the ground, and his food was "dust," that is, what man was made of before God breathed into him "the breath of life." Because man capitulated to the devil, the adversary was authorized to have the "dust" element of man for his subsistence. He had judicial rights in that realm. Man had given him ground and submitted to him, and Satan has a just claim upon man. The "flesh" (the carnal nature of man) is Satan's ground. Christ did not deny Satan's claim, but He took this ground away from him through His cross and removed his judicial right to man. In order for us to wield authority over the enemy, it is necessary for the cross to deal with the entire "flesh" element in us.
In God's thought man was not only to be the instrument of the eternal purpose, but was also the vessel for His eternal purpose. The eternal purpose was to be secured through man, but it was also to be secured for man. Man was to undo the enemy's work, and he was also to reap the benefit of that undoing. This is like sending a person for something, and then telling him that the thing for which he was sent also belongs to him. God's eternal purpose concerned Christ Jesus, but it also concerned man. This is the reason we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. Many theologians miss this point. They try to relate predestination with redemption. Actually predestination is related to God's purpose. In God's original purpose He did not elect all mankind to be the Body of Christ. He elected some to have the characteristics of His Son, while He predestinated others to be His very sons in His Son.
In eternity past God foreordained His Son to be Head of all angelic beings (Eph. 1:20-21) and also to be Head of the church, that is, the Head of man. It was understood by the Son that He should take on a human form and become a real man with a physical body. This individual Man, Christ Jesus, was to become the Head of the corporate man. He in Himself is the personal Christ; He plus the church is the corporate Christ.
Man was created innocent. He was perfect but not per- fected. God intended him to be in union with His Son, having the life of His Son. Man was placed in the garden of Eden, in which were two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Since man had a free will, he could choose according to his will. The tree of life is God Himself, who is the source of all life. The fruit of the tree of life is the tree of life in edible form, which is our Lord. In John 6:54 the Lord said, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life." Eating of the fruit of the tree of life would result in union with Christ in eternal life, whereas taking of the other tree would result in having independent judgment. Adam knew there was only One in the universe who could discern between good and evil. He knew that unless he ate of the forbidden tree, he would have to refer to God's judgment in all questions; he would have to rely on God in everything. If you saw a man with no knowledge of good and evil, you would say he was an undeveloped man, and Adam was undeveloped, even though he was perfect. By taking the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he developed his manhood, developed himself independently of God; he became a full-grown man. We hear preaching such as this: "You have sinned; therefore, you need the life of God in order to be saved." Quite apart from sin we need the life of God. Adam, even before the fall, needed the fruit of the tree of life. Apart from committing any specific sin, as long as man develops through his own natural resources, he needs salvation. If man only perfects himself as man, he cannot still dwell with God, because he does not have the life of God. Just being a man is the same as being lost to God. It is not necessary to sin in order to need the life of God. If you miss the tree of life, you can have no inward union with God. "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 John 5:12).
God's purpose was that man should destroy the rebellious will by linking his will with the divine will, and man needed the life of God to fulfill the purpose of God. Alas, instead of linking his will with God's, man became Satan's ally so that both created wills were united against the uncreated will. How could God deal with such a situation? Man had failed God, but God's purpose could not be frustrated. He made another Man, the Man Christ Jesus. First, He is a typical man, a real man in every sense, yet with God's life as the mainspring, just as Adam would have been had he eaten the tree of life. He came not as the Son of God but as the Son of Man, as God's model man. Second, He fully answered to God's will for man. God's purpose was that man should be both an instrument and a vessel for His eternal purpose. Christ was both. On the earth there was one will and only one, which was perfectly linked with the will in heaven.
The more we appreciate the situation God sought to meet through Christ, the more we can appreciate what He has done. First, there was a rebellious will to be cast down. Second, there was the matter of sin to be dealt with. Third, there was life to be given. In the death of Christ all these things were accomplished.
Christ's propitiation was remedial, but His death was not just for propitiation. It was necessary, apart from redemption, for the fulfillment of God's original purpose. His death was necessary that He might become the fruit of the tree of life. He had to release His life through death (John 12:24). John 12 does not speak of propitiation, nor is it spoken of in Luke 12:49-50. Both speak of death and resurrection, not of atonement. Luke 12:50 says that He was "pressed," and He longed for His life to be released through baptism, which is death and resurrection. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her." Those in view here are not "sinners" as such, but the church. In this verse there is no mention of the shedding of blood. It is entirely a matter of flesh and bone, not of blood (v. 30). In verse 31 we see that the illustration is taken from the garden of Eden and is used in connection with Christ and the church (v. 32).
Two things are spoken of. First, there is "bone." Adam's bone was the basis of Eve's life. Eve was built from his bone. Nothing was said of Adam's blood, because there was no propitiation in view, and there was no need of propitiation because there was no sin then to deal with. Adam was put to sleep so that Eve could be brought into being, and this sleep speaks of death apart from sin. Second, there is the "flesh." Man cannot eat "bone," but he can eat "flesh." "Flesh" is how we partake of Christ for the sustenance of the divine life which has been given us. The "flesh" is eaten for life, the blood is for propitiation. From the divine point of view, we have the "bone" for the building up of the Body of Christ. From the human point of view we have the "flesh" for the building up of the Body of Christ. Ephesians 5:26 says, "That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word." What does water refer to? We should return to Paul's illustration. Adam's side, from which Eve was taken, is typical of the Lord's side which was pierced and from which flowed both blood and water. The blood speaks of the propitiating aspect of Christ's death, whereas the water speaks of the non-propitiating aspect of Christ's death. The blood is for God and has sin in view. But even when our sin matter is settled before God, we still need the water of the word for our continual purification. The blood does not cleanse our heart. The "I" cannot be cleansed; it must be removed. God does this by giving us a new heart. The blood cleanses our conscience because it puts things right before God; therefore, our conscience is at rest. "When I see the blood, I will pass over" (Exo. 12:13). The blood was on the outside for God to see; it was not for the believer, who was on the inside. The water stands for the non-propitiating death of Christ, and life is released by this death, which has nothing to do with sin.
Since man's fall Satan has had a double hold on man through sin and self. Our sins are the ground of his accusations, whereas our flesh is the ground of his activity in us. Since the blood has settled the whole matter of sin before God, it is the answer to every accusation of the enemy. The blood overcomes Satan because it enables God to stand justly on our side. Objectively, the blood delivers us from the power of Satan by removing all ground of his accusations; subjectively, the cross delivers us from the power of Satan by dealing with the flesh. The flesh is the ground of his working in us, just as our sins are the ground of his accusations of us. (Even God has to justify Satan's use of our flesh, for it bears his nature; it represents our fallen nature, and this nature has fallen over to him.) The blood propitiates; the cross does not propitiate. The blood deals with sin; the cross deals with us. The blood does not cleanse the flesh, which cannot be cleansed and must be done away with. The blood speaks of substitution; it speaks of His death for us. The cross speaks of identification; it speaks of our death with Him.
We are identified with Him not only in death, but also in resurrection. We must realize the importance of resurrection. When Christ passed into Hades, all the powers of hell were there to hinder His resurrection. Satan's greatest power is death; beyond this he has no power. In resurrection Christ passed beyond the touch of the satanic forces. Satan has no power over us only as we are in union with Him in resurrection. The natural life in us can always be touched, but not the resurrection life. A person, however patient by nature, always succumbs to the adversary's temptation to impatience, whereas one who by nature is very impatient can go patiently through any test if he relies upon the imparted patience of Christ. A healthy person, who could stand anything in the ordinary course of activity, will be physically drained if Satan assails him. But the weakest person who depends upon Christ's resurrection life for his body can go through any test without physical breakdown, because Satan cannot touch the resurrection life in him.
Christ by death destroyed him who has the might of death. But this triumph over the enemy, which has been established in Christ in His resurrection and exaltation and has been judicially accomplished on behalf of the church, has to be wrought into the church in the power of His resurrection life. Christ has dealt with Satan judicially, but He is waiting until all His enemies are made His footstool (Heb. 10:13), and this has to be accomplished by the church. The Lord has bruised Satan's head; his doom is sealed. However, the fact that he is a defeated foe has to be fully demonstrated in and by the church. Christ has already won the victory, but the fact of His victory must be manifested in the church.
The church has a definite responsibility before God. First and foremost, it is saving souls. Yet it is not to save them from hell, but to save them for the glory of God. The King must have people for His kingdom, and the increase of people means the increase of His glory. Second, the church bears the responsibility to register the victory of Christ in the devil's territory.
Why do we seek victory? Why do we seek enduement? It is so that we can be fully equipped for the cooperation with God in the outworking of His eternal purpose. Victory and enduement are precious items, but we must not lose sight of our great objective. It has pleased God to limit Himself to human cooperation for the accomplishment of His end. Christ has done everything potentially, but the accomplishment of His finished work has been committed to the church. We have been entrusted with the task of casting down God's enemy from the heavenlies!
