Colossians 1:9-10
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Ephesians 1:7-10
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to Hiskind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
In this continuing study, it is my heart and purpose to look with the eyes of our hearts, our spiritual eyes, more deeply into the internal and eternal reality, which the Spirit of Christ desires to establish with the corporate New Man as well as the individual believer.
We will begin looking firstly at the Will of God as declared in the two passages we are looking into. Paul’s prayer for the church as Colossae was not concerning God’s will in the normal idea of the natural mind. His prayer is of an eternal understanding as to the purpose of God which has been brought about in Christ but needs to be unveiled in us. Ephesians 1:5 and 9 make this clear, as well as when Paul speaks about the “kind intention of His will,” and the “mystery of His will.” This however cannot be understood, grasped, or comprehended by man’s natural or soulical intellect, it must be spiritually revealed by the Spirit of Christ. It is an inward unveiling of the eternal purpose of God in and through Christ within the whole body that Paul prays for. These things are revealed by the Spirit, therefore the natural eye cannot see, the natural ear cannot hear, and it does not enter the heart of man, it is completely of the Spirit. Only God can reveal Himself and His intention to us. He simply cannot be known by any creation outside of His pleasure to reveal Himself. Yet, He willed to make known to us Himself and His intentions, praise His name!
I believe the prayer and desire of the apostle is still God’s heart for us today. That the eyes of our hearts be enlightened so that we may know what is the hope of his calling, etc.. His calling should be understood to directly relate to His eternal will and purpose for his New humanity.
Thus, the apostle is dealing with God’s government, where the will of God in us His body is on earth as it is in Heaven. Paul’s desire here is that we know and understand the eternal purpose of God in Christ for humanity. This actually answers the “why” question that is in the soul of man, as well as the “what.” It is firstly an established relationship. To live in and under the Government of God is firstly an internal reality. The external will follow according to the measure of the internal. Christ as the sole foundation of the body and believer, Christ formed through transformation, and Christ established as the life of His body all are governmental issues. In this, His desire is truly realized that He would live and express Himself, the very fruit of His eternal nature, in and through His body in the earth, Now!
Our understanding must not be, therefore, simply a government of God somewhere, sometime, and somehow in the future. His government of humanity, the New humanity, is to be now in Christ and Christ in the New humanity. Christ being all, Christ filling all, Him coming to have first place in and through us. This will result in an internal preparedness that will make us truly free from fear, good ideas, or misplaced focus. Then we can see and hear clearly His directions on any and all external preparations.
May the Lord help us all to be properly aligned to His first priority in us. May He be free to correct our hearts and minds in any necessary ways as our loving Father. May He become the life and strength of our inward man in an ever-increasing measure as we intentionally stop, listen, and learn of Him. If we take His yoke, His government, we will enter and find rest for our souls. The energy of the soul and flesh will not rule us, but instead the internal Spirit of Christ will be over our being and doing. May we go on to see Him, behold Him, and experience this inward transformation into His very image.