The plan of God to reconcile both Jew and Gentile into one body was  in the mind of God from the foundation of the  earth.  It was revealed to the  world through the church. It was conceived from eternity and eternal in its scope. The word “purpose”  means “that which is planned in advance, plan, purpose, resolve, will”(BDAG 869).

            God’s plan was brought into fruition through His Sons redemptive work Guy Orbison, Jr., writes, “In Christ there is peace (John 14:27) that breeds boldness where we  can ‘boldly approach the throne of grace’ (Heb. 4:16) and we should hold fast our confidence.”  A key aspect of this is that we have  a confident access.  This tells us that we can  come to the Father through the  Son and know that He hears us.

We can rely on this closeness with God in our daily walk with Him.  We can put this confidence and trust into action as we serve the Lord and help reach the lost  with the saving Gospel and strengthen those who are in Christ. It must be a privilege  to be a member of the Lord’s church and know that we have the honor of serving God in the eternal purpose of reconciling Jew and Gentile  into the  marvelous light of the Gospel.

-Larry Miles is Co-Editor of Word & Work and lives in Louisville, KY and worships with the Cherry Street Church of Christ in New Albany, IN