The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 4

11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.... Eph 1:11

Without going near all the classic debates on the nature of Divine election (which is a great subject for us to study and ponder in itself and for which there is space for honest and loving disagreement among committed Jesus followers), let me simply make a statement that believers who hold various positions on election can agree:

God continually accommodated and compensated for tragic human choices without being deterred from His kingdom intentions and also without breaking His Covenant with His people or minimizing their responsibility.

I believe this creative, kind, intentional, ingenious, mysterious, powerful, loving, resourceful Divine capacity is the key to understanding the big "God-Story" of the Bible. (The apostolic metanarrative of history is also the context of Eph 1 in the midst of which Paul makes the statement in v. 11.) It is this belief that enables the integration of the various parts of the Story that sometimes appear contradictory, if it is missing. It is the philosophical concept (undergirding the biblical theology), clearly grasped and taught by Jesus (and his first apostles...after their initial struggles with it!), that weaves together the whole history of God's actions/interactions with his entire creation and that also provides our strong hope for a most beautiful and eternal friendship with God in the future.

In my view, the lack of a clear consciousness of and appreciation for this overarching construct is also the source of much historic unbelief in Jesus as Messiah among non-Christians and also much theological confusion about the Kingdom and the Covenant among people who genuinely love our Lord and cherish the inspiration of Scripture.

I'm now looking forward to blogging about the basic outline of this apostolic metanarrative--"the fellowship of the mystery"--as Paul called it. It is our common immersion and interactive participation in the big God-Story that provides us with a genuine sense of belonging to, and a sharing in the same Life with, one another.