At the beginning of time, God had a secret.  It was a big secret. The secret contained the very purpose of the all that we know and all that we are.  Sound like a big deal?  The Apostle Paul thought so too.

Remarkably, God decided to make human beings fellow heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—through His Church.  This secret was finally revealed to us through Paul, so all can see the “Fellowship of the Mystery.”

Big deal!  Paul directs our attention to the Mystery of the Ages. Shouldn’t we pay attention?

In revealing the mystery, God states the purpose of creation and the specific purpose of the Church.  And Guess what?  The purpose is not about us—about me—at all.

The purpose of history, of time, of the ages, of the Church is to demonstrate God’s manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. We are not them.

This is not bad news.  God has chosen us to be joint heirs with his Son, to have the right to become children of God, to be able to call out “Abba Father.”  That is awesome news!

But as we live the abundant life, let us never forget our true purpose. This purpose gives context to all that we are and everything we do. It explains why we have to die in order to live; why we are called to deny self, pick-up the cross, and follow Him.  Understanding our purpose should help us begin to understand the Mystery of Unfulfilled Promises—what is really means to “ask anything in His name.”