Why God saved us?

“Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him:” Eph. 1:9,10

Having made known to us the mystery of HIS will . . .

How often do we consider God’s will in our daily affairs? We go about our own business until we run into a crisis barely giving God any thought the rest of the time. But God’s plan is to “gather together in one all things in Christ”, and how is He going to do that?

Have you ever wondered how God is going to gather together in one all things in Christ? Have you ever even considered that that is God’s will?

In the garden before His crucifixion Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:” Jo. 17:21–23

Jesus prayed that we all will be ONE in HIM. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who works all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation:

in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Eph. 1:11–15

The gospel of your salvation . . .

What is this gospel? The word gospel is not mentioned in the Old Covenant. The first mention of the word gospel is in Matthew’s gospel, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” Mt 4:23

What is this gospel of the kingdom? “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Mt 11:5

What did Jesus preach?

“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” Mt. 4:17–24

Repent in Strong’s is the word nacham meaning comfort, repent, comforter, ease and to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent, ease oneself.
All of those definitive words make a lot of sense. To repent is to ease oneself of the weight of the sin. As we ask God’s forgiveness of our sin and turn away from it, we are relieved of the burden of its guilt and open to receive the grace, mercy and love of God. It makes room within our hearts for the peace and joy of God to flood our hearts in the place of the sin which separated us from HIM. And it opens us up to the blessings of God that sin formerly prevented us from receiving.

What has all this got to do with the will of God and being gathered together in one? AS we repent of our sin and become more one with God we are empowered to love others and draw them to the gospel. As we leave behind the sinful lifestyle we once lived we become more joyful and attractive to others. As we become more one with God we also become less self conscious and joyfully proclaim the good news of forgiveness of sin to others thus bringing them into the kingdom.

The good new of forgiveness of our sins should cause us to gladly repent of our sins. Instead of hiding behind self justification, we can rejoice in the truth that sin need no longer cause us shame or guilt. We can become one with God and with one another and be filled with the love of God and the joy of the Lord fulfilling God’s will to gather together all in one and Jesus prayer before He went to the cross.