THIS VERSE POINTS to an important truth about predestination: “In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). The truth to which it points is this: God’s will is limited to whatever is consistent with being in Him—in Jesus! That is breathtaking. God will not do anything that is un-Christlike! If God asks us to be in Him, He Himself does the same thing—He too is in Him. He cannot and does not act in any way inconsistent with being in Him. He limits His acts, His attitudes, His will, to the framework of being in Him.
This means that the moral universe is one—the same for God and for man. That God obeys the moral laws He lays down for us. That Christlikeness is the standard of conduct for God and man:
By all that God requires of me,
know what He Himself must be.
That means that there is not one standard for God and one for man. God is a consistent God. A ruler in India made a law making polygamy illegal, but he married a second wife. When a furor arose he calmly replied, “I make laws; I don’t obey them.” He was above law. So the people arose and dethroned him. Humanity is slowly but surely dethroning the gods who do not obey the laws they make. That process of dethroning will leave God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ on the throne of men’s hearts, for He and He alone acts in Christ as He asks us to act in Christ. What a God!
Jesus is God’s will for God, and God’s will for man. Jesus is the way to act for everybody, everywhere. God could not do an un-Christlike thing and still be God. He would violate His own nature. Jesus is the human life of God—God in action under human conditions. When we act in Christ we act universally; we act as God acts and manifest the spirit which God manifests.
O God, my heavenly Father, I see in Jesus Thy wisdom for life and my wisdom for life. I see how to live. What a life I see! I’m breathless with expectancy, for this is Life itself unfolding. I am grateful. Thank Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Since Jesus is my wisdom for life, I shall work out my life by His wisdom.
