“so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 3:10
The eternal purpose of God as outlined here is the display of the manifold wisdom of God. We know that the wisdom of God is bound up in the Son, according to Colossians 2. In the richness of Christ in you, the hope of glory is realized and through the church God can be glorified forever in the eyes of the unseen rulers and authorities in heavenly places. It will ennoble them to behold Christ in us, even as it ennobles us to behold Him (2 Cor 3:18). Seeing is becoming.
The display, then, of this life is of paramount importance. In our homes, are we the display of wisdom, or the display of self? On the job, at the social gathering etc etc. Who is on display? Who is manifested in our life? And who gets to talk? The richness of Christ, or self?
One way to determine which that is on display is to ask, is the person who is manifesting right now within me ennobling the hearer? Is the person on display bettering others as we saw Christ doing so many times? Calling them up into wisdom or out into life?
The other way to see is if the evil spirits are enraged. The display of Christ enrages the enemy. He knows the eternal purpose of God even if we do not. He knows that self is his safety and Christ is his death. He must tempt us, deceive us and lure us into being ourselves and the best Christian we can be. Otherwise, if Christ in us becomes the glory through us in jars of clay then the place of Satan is unseated and he loses. Therefore it enrages him to see us ennoble others by the life of Christ in us.
The end of the age is the display of the manifold wisdom of God through the church in the now moment. Not future, now. The devil knows by putting off the life of Christ in a people to future heaven we will languish in self today. Rather, the oneness of Christ that Jesus died for is for any moment that he is in us. Every moment, every day. May the fullness of God in Christ be released in a people finally, for once and forever.
