The message I have to share in today’s post is simple and straight forward. In fact, this may be the shortest post you will ever read from me. Maybe some day I’ll try to break the record, but don’t count on it anytime soon. But I want to share it because sometimes the simplest statement is perhaps the most powerful, and I thoroughly trust in God’s providence that there are those who need to read this blog and be reminded of its simple truth.

No doubt the weight of the current cultural and political scene presses heavy on some of you. Headlines cycle news that goes from bad to worse. Cultural threats loom on the horizon. The future remains uncertain as to what this nation and its society will look like in comparison to the country we’ve known. For others of you, the wider cultural issues are merely compound issues far closer to home. Things may be weighing on you concerning your own family, your children, your spouse, or perhaps a lack of either. You may be dealing with health concerns, job concerns, relationship breakdowns with parents or friends. The list is endless and points to the reality of the world we live in as one which is desperately broken and in need of restoration.

There’s been a verse on my mind the past few days which has become a key factor in calibrating my thinking to properly process all of these different things in light of the God’s word. Paul writes in Ephesians 3:11, “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Interestingly, the ESV (as well as the NASB, NIV, NRSV, NKJV, KJV, etc.) uses the phrase “eternal purpose” to translate what is in the Greek the phrase “the purpose of the ages.” As such, each of these translations understands the term aionon (“ages”) to be functioning as an adjective describing the nature of this purpose. It is an eternal purpose.

Now, there are numerous instances in the New Testament where this term seems to function as a general word referencing eternity. But there are also many other instances where the term refers to a specific period of time…an “age” and is often differentiated from other periods of time in the course of human and redemptive history. This is how the term is used throughout the book of Ephesians:

Notice that, with the exception of the last reference (3:21) where there is a unique grammatical construction, every other use of the term refers to a distinct period or periods of time. Additionally, in the case of 1:21, this “age” is distinguished from another age which is yet future. Meanwhile, in 2:7 there is reference to “ages” that are to come, and in 3:9 there appear to be “ages” which are in the past. All of this points strongly to the fact that in our specific verse, the term aionon is not just referring to eternity, but is a specific reference to a series of ages throughout the course of redemptive history.

What’s the point in all of this? After all, this seems like fairly technical reading for a blog post. I assure you, there’s a point, and it’s this: God has a plan. There is a purpose for which God has been working and acting throughout history. It spans the course not just of our time, but from the very start of human history and even before, which is why it’s so tempting to think of it as his “eternal plan” because it is an eternal plan! But it’s also a plan that God has been sovereignly directing and working out throughout each stage in the drama of redemption.

We look out the window at this time of year and see the snow melting and we recognize that winter has ended and spring…er, breakup…is here. And soon the trees will bud and the sun will stay in the sky for long hours, and we will know that summer has come. And following summer, the leaves will fall, the air will become crisp, and summer will turn to fall, until finally the snow returns and we know winter has arrived. We see this every year and we recognize in it a plan and a purpose. Each season follows in a purposeful way in order to form a plan for the seasons as a whole.

The same is true for the Bible and for history. That’s what Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:11. God has a purpose, and this purpose specifically concerning the ages. Whatever is going on right now in your life. Whatever is happening in the world. Whatever the headlines say about what else might be wrong in politics or society, this is evidence of a world fraught with sin but still held in every way within the bounds of God’s plan for the ages.

What’s that plan and purpose? Well, you’ll have to read the Bible to get the full sense of that plan, but I can tell you what’s at the center of it: “This was according to the purpose of the ages which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus Christ is the center of God’s plan. He’s the point of all of this. His incarnation, his life and ministry, his death, his resurrection, and his glorious return to rule and to reign…it’s all at the center of God’s purpose for the ages. And that means that it’s at the center of God’s purpose for whatever is going on that’s weighing on you right now. You may not have control over everything in your life. But believe me, that’s a good thing. So rest in the one who not only has control, but who has set Christ at the center of it all.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10)