Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

The Greek word translated here as purposed is potithemi, which means to expose to view. So often I am asked by men of educated means, how I could believe this delusion or illusion. The truth is that I have no answer which will satisfy them, for my answer only confirms their belief, that I am delusional.

I believe because God has revealed Himself to me. He has potithemi Himself to me. They will not ever believe that unless God reveals Himself to them, and even then, I am not sure they will recognize what they are seeing.

My first contact was or exposure to God came in the way of an answer to a prayer. “I don’t want to be like this anymore.” In an instant I was changed, I was not that guy anymore. But what was I know? I honestly had no idea what I had become but I knew things were different. I just didn’t know how different.

How is it that a God that can instantly transform a scared angry kid into a son of peace, take so long to bring about conforming me into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ? It’s a mystery, isn’t it? What I did not know then, I know now, but only in part. Not all is known, even today, so many years later. It can be found in that line in Ephesians 1:9 but so often we overlook the obvious in search for clues to the mystery.

His good pleasure is the key. What pleases God the Father?

Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Hebrews 13:15-16 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

The four key words to God’s good pleasure are in “in whom” and “by Him”. Nothing done apart from Jesus Christ is pleasing to God. In whom and by Him we have access by faith.

We grow and are conformed by exercise of faith in Christ.

Psalm 119:163 I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

Do you think of hate and abhor as being much the same thing? If you hate something, why should you abhor is also? The study of the word abhor is difficult. In the Hebrew it has multiple words translated into English to render a sense of the emotion, reaction and condition of something which God does not want to be part of life or relationship. In the Greek the word only appears once in Romans where Paul uses the word to imply something that makes one shutter in horror.

I discovered more insight within the Hebrew meanings which might help explain the use of abhor here in this verse. Strangely it is attached to cause of action which does not produce expected result. There is an implication that God intervenes. It is linked to a farmers cattle, which when semen is introduce results in a natural abortion, that the seed that was planted was rejected, and did not take root in the womb.

I hate lying, but find myself at times lying. The fact that I hate lying does not stop me from performing the act. Rationale for the act does nothing to remove that act. It is sin and sin has consequences. This is where abhor takes place. The seed has been sown and there is an expected result, but God intervenes and no root is started, a natural abortion occurs.

Ephesians 3:17-19 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Being filled leaves no room for anything else to take root.