3月7日；以弗所书 1: 1-14；唱诗：赞美诗 31: 1,4；

都是照他自己所预定的美意，叫我们知道他旨意的奥秘，要照所安排的，在日期满足的时候，使天上地上一切所有的，都在基督里面同归于一。（弗 1:9-10）

你有没有问过自己这个问题，“什么是神真正想要的？”什么是神的旨意？圣经中许多的章节都直接地说出了神的旨意。我们从圣经中确定，什么是神想要的并不难，难的可能是接受并按神的旨意去做，但神的旨意本身是非常明确的。

在今天的经文中，我们发现一个关于神的旨意的强有力的陈述。神的旨意总是集中在耶稣基督身上，神使我们知道“他旨意的奥秘“：“使天上地上一切所有的，都在基督里面同归于一”。

耶稣基督是神旨意的绝对核心。当这个世界在罪的叛逆中从神的面前堕落，死亡的咒诅就临到了所有的受造之物，神立即在基督里采取了救赎行动。我们甚至可以说，神在永恒之中就已经决定，万有都要籍着基督恢复和联合（参看 西 1:16-20）。彼得在他的第一封信中写道，“基督在创世以前，是预先被神知道的，却在这末世，才为你们显现”（彼前 1:20）。

基督是万物的王和主宰。犹太人把弥赛亚的作用局限于以色列，但这个奥秘（曾经未知而如今显明的）却是，基督作为永恒的中保，极其伟大，不可能只作以色列一个民族的救主。在以赛亚书49章6节中，已经写得极为清楚：“你作我的仆人，使雅各众支派复兴，使以色列中得保全的归回，尚为小事，我还要使你作外邦人的光，叫你施行我的救恩，直到地极”。

思考问题：在圣经中找出，哪些地方表明，基督确实在永恒中被定为这个世界的救主？

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March 7
Ephesians 1:1-14
Song: Hymn 31:1,4

THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S WILL

"And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." (Ephesians 1:9-10)

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "What does God really want?" What is his will? There are various passages in the Bible that speak directly about God's will. It is not hard for us to ascertain from the Bible what God wants. It may be hard to do or accept his will, but God's will itself is clear.

In the passage before us, we find a very powerful statement about God's will. God's will has always been focused on Jesus Christ. God made known to us the "mystery of his will": "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”

Jesus Christ stands at the very core of God's will. When this world fell away from God in sinful rebellion and the curse of death came over all creatures, God immediately put into effect his rescue plan in Christ. We may even say that God determined from eternity that all things would be restored and united in Christ (cf.Colossians 1:16-20). Peter writes in his first letter that Jesus"was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake" (1 Pet 1:20).

Christ is king of all and ruler over all. The Jews may have restricted the Messiah's significance to Israel only, but the mystery (once unknown but now revealed) is that Christ, the eternal Mediator, is too great to be Savior only of Israel. Isaiah 49:6 makes this abundantly clear: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

Question: Show from Scripture that Jesus Christ is indeed appointed from eternity to be the Savior of the world.