THE SOLITARY GOD

THE SOLITARY GOD

“Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Eph. 1:11

The Solitary God is self-existent, self-contained, self-sufficient, and self-satisfied. He is self-existent in that He is not dependent upon anything external to Himself for originating or continuing existence, for "the Father hath life in himself" (John 5:26). He is self-contained in that He is complete within Himself and in no sense dependent upon anything external to Himself, "as though He needed anything" (Acts 17:25). He is self-sufficient in that He possesses all fullness and is therefore the fountain source for everything else, "seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25). And He is self-satisfied in that there is no reason external to Himself why He performs as He does. "He works all things after the counsel of His own will"

This is not a measured estimate of the future based upon the past. This is a revelation of the future which is known only by God and Who alone can reveal the future? It is certain to come to pass, for God is the One Who directs the course of history. (Eph 1:11; Dan 2:45).  "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will:" "Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

 This plan was freely made, not of necessity. What is the meaning of God is free? It means He is limited by no one or thing except Himself. Out of everything that could happen, God determines what shall happen, and places these things in His plan. This plan includes all things. I have an inheritance which is explained in Vs. 17. Now I gain all His resources for I have fellowship with Him in all the larger purposes of His life and plan.  See Isa 49:5 "Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant....For I am honored in the sight of My Lord." No one event can be absolutely isolated from the stream of history.

Matt 20:23 says "...but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father." This is true freedom and an attribute of God. Cf. Psa. 135:6.

 The Authority of This Person in Rev 3:7 is His Possession of the Key of David. "He that hath the key of David."

This is the way of describing that government has been committed into His hands. He possesses the authority (cf. Isa. 22:20-23). Christ possesses the key to Hades (Rev. 1:18). Christ possesses the keys to the kingdom (Matt. 16:19). (These keys were delegated by Christ to Peter.)

Christ possesses the key of David as absolute authority. He works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11).

"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"

In this case it has to do with a door of service (Acts 14:27; 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12).

It will readily be conceded that in this letter Paul reached the highest level of his teaching concerning the Church, as he reached that concerning the Christ in the Colossian letter. These particular words occur in the opening movement of the letter, in which he was showing how the Church was the outcome of a purpose and plan of God from before the foundation of the world. God had chosen its members to "be holy and without blemish before Him in love"; and in order that this purpose should be realized, He foreordained them to "adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself." The whole conception is stupendous, and as we read it in the light of what we know of our own weakness and waywardness of will, we wonder more and more. It is when that wonder threatens us with hopelessness that these words come to reassure, us. Our God is a God Who not only wills; He works; and He works according to His will. Notice how the thought moves backward until it reaches the will of God. That is the ultimate reach. Next in order is His counsel, and that is more than the will of God as desire. The word counsel <boule> stands for deliberate planning and arranging, in which the ways and means of carrying out the will are considered and provided for. Finally, when the counsel is complete, God works. He does in His own might, all that He has planned to do in order that His purpose may be realized. That is the place of our assurance and confidence.

He wills that I should holy be;

What can withstand His will?
The counsel of His grace in me
He surely will fulfill.

Note the important assertion here that God did not base our predestination on His ability to foresee our decision to accept Christ, but simply according to “the counsel of His own will.” In fact, He works all things—even evil things(!)—according to His own will. If it were otherwise, He would not be omnipotent. The fact that He allows evil, when He could prevent it if He so chose, and the fact that He allows Satan and wicked men to perform and instigate evil actions, knowing when He created them that they would do this, yet creating them anyway, can only lead to the conclusion that God is the ultimate cause (though not the immediate cause) of evil, as well as good. This conclusion would seem to compromise His perfect holiness, but any other conclusion would lead to the still more unthinkable denial of His omnipotence, and thus deny that God is really God! We can partly harmonize this in our understanding by saying that God has allowed (or even caused, if we press our semantics) evil for a finite time in order to produce a greater good in eternity, when all the ills of this present world will be long forgotten. Compare Rom. 9:18-23. We cannot fully comprehend or reconcile such matters in our finite minds, so must simply rest our hearts in the truth that whatever the Creator does is right, by definition, since He has created us as well as the very concept of right and wrong.