The divine revelation in the sixty-six books of the Bible is exceedingly profound. There are seven basic points to this profound revelation. The first three points are God’s plan, Christ’s redemption, and the Spirit’s application. These three points involve the divine Trinity—God, Christ, and the Spirit. What God planned He has accomplished through Christ’s redemption. What He has accomplished in Christ, He applies to us by the Spirit. The last four points are the believers, the church, the kingdom, and the ultimate consummation—the New Jerusalem. In this chapter we will cover the first item of the basic revelation in the Bible—God’s plan.
The Bible clearly reveals God’s plan. Most Christians treasure two books among Paul’s writings—Romans and Ephesians. Romans begins with our condition as sinners, fallen mankind, but Ephesians opens by bringing us into God’s heart. In Romans 1 we can see our condition as sinners, but in Ephesians 1 we can see that there is something in the heart of God. The phrase “good pleasure” is used twice in this chapter (vv. 5, 9). God has a good pleasure, and this good pleasure is His heart’s desire. In eternity past God was alone. We cannot imagine what it was like in that past eternity, but Ephesians 1 tells us that before the creation of the universe God had a heart’s desire. He had a good pleasure. What He wanted can be expressed by the single word “sonship” (1:5). Sonship is God’s heart’s desire.
After God made Adam, He said that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). This word can also be applied to God in eternity past. It was not good for God to be alone. He had a desire to bring forth many sons. Ephesians 1 tells us that God predestinated us unto sonship. Many Christians may think that God’s predestination is unto salvation; but according to Ephesians, in eternity past the first thought in God’s heart was not salvation. His foremost thought was sonship. God foreknew that His creation would fall. Because of the fall, there was the plan of salvation, so salvation was purposed for sonship. God’s desire is to bring forth many sons.
Recently at a prayer meeting in Irving, Texas, I saw three young men. By looking at their faces, I could see that they were the sons of a certain brother. The three of them bear a strong resemblance to their father; they are his very expression.
The more sons a father has, the more expression he has. Romans 8:29 tells us that the only begotten Son of God became the Firstborn among many brothers. God’s only begotten Son in John 1:18 and 3:16 became through resurrection (Acts 13:33) the firstborn Son. Firstborn implies that other sons followed. Now God has not only one Son, but many. The firstborn Son of God, Christ, has millions of brothers. Throughout these twenty centuries many have been regenerated and thus have become God’s sons. All these sons are the brothers of the firstborn Son of God (John 20:17; Heb. 2:10-12). What a great, vast sonship!
When I was a young man, I was with some saints who knew the Bible very well. They stressed God’s predestination, but I never heard them say what the goal of God’s predestination is. After many years of studying the Bible, I saw that we were predestinated unto sonship. Subconsciously I had thought that we were predestinated unto salvation. Some would say that we were predestinated unto heaven. It is neither salvation nor heaven which is the goal of God’s predestination; it is sonship (Eph. 1:5).
The King James Version translates this word “the adoption of children,” but the word in the original language means sonship. It does not mean children adopted by a father, but rather sons born directly of a begetting father. God’s heart’s desire, then, is to have a vast multitude of sons who express Him, not only in this age but for eternity.