God saves a person according to His grace (and not our works) in order to fulfil
His purpose/plan, which is to have Himself and mankind reconciled. The purpose
and grace that was given Paul and other believers “in Christ Jesus before the
world began” was not exclusive to them but also given to the rest of the world.
God’s purpose of redemption and the grace involved in it is for “ALL PEOPLE.”
As unflattering as it may be to the human ego, the coming of
Christ was not only
to save us from our sins. According to
Ephesians, our salvation is not the
ultimate purpose of the coming of Christ. God’s eternal purpose is the “summing
up of all things in Christ.”
All of us are called to belong to the new people of God. Wherefore this people,
while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and
must exist in all ages, so that the decree of God's will may be fulfilled. In
the beginning God made human nature one and decreed that all His children,
scattered as they were, would finally be gathered together as one. It was
for this purpose that God sent His
Son, whom He appointed heir of all
things, that He might be teacher, king and priest of all, the head of the
new and universal people of God. For this too God sent the
Spirit of
His Son as
Lord and Life-giver. He it is who brings together the whole Church
and each and every one of those who believe, and who is the well-spring of their
unity in the teaching of the apostles and in fellowship, in the breaking of
bread and in prayers.
