Ephesians 1:9-10 “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.” KJV Have you ever wondered what God’s will is? Here it is: complete unity of all existence at the end of time back to like it was in eternity from the beginning.

It takes some meditation to get to the bottom of a concept like this. As a “mystery,” it is God’s own hidden wisdom that He was revealing, first to St. Paul, and now to us. “All things.” “All things. . . in heaven and. . . on earth.” If the language means anything, it seems to include the entire universe of creation. Christ must be awfully big!

I see it as a reflection of the Holy Trinity. Our God is One God in Three Persons. Each Person is completely unique, and yet They are completely One. There is no possible separation. In life on earth, all we see is separation. Science tells us that even the universe is flying apart in all directions.

Is it possible to be in complete unity without losing our individual identity? I believe that is God’s whole point. As each Person of the Holy Trinity has His unique identity, people will still be people, trees will still be trees, stars will still be stars when “all things” are gathered together in one in Christ.

Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” KJV Other translations say that God will guide me with His eye upon me, but I like the King James. He will guide me with His eye. I believe that means He will show me what He sees. I need to see life as God sees it. That’s how He can teach me. It does me no good to live the way I see. That lifestyle would lead me to ultimate selfishness.

Once I asked the Lord to show me what He sees when I was studying the Genesis account of creation. Genesis 1:1-3  “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, ‘Let there be light:’ and there was light.” KJV  I always wondered where the darkness came from. He took me to a couple of scriptures that described what was going on in heaven before the darkness, in Ezekiel 28:11-19, and Isaiah 14:9-15.

In these scriptures Lucifer is identified as “the anointed cherub.” He was the leader of all the worship of heaven. But Ezekiel 28:15 says, “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”KJV Iniquity was found in him. Iniquity is defined as perverseness, wickedness, and evil. In other words, darkness. Where did the darkness come from? It did not originate in God. It was the pride that Lucifer took in himself. He wanted to “ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” in Isaiah 14:14. KJV In Ezekiel 28:17 God tells him, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” KJV

That darkness was why God could not tolerate Lucifer to remain in heaven. I asked the Lord what He did about it. What He told me changed my whole perspective about what happened next. Heaven was all light and beauty, peace and rejoicing. But then this darkness appeared in the heart of His dearest creation. Think about it. God had never encountered one of His created beings that didn’t love Him, that thought he could be higher that the Most High. The Lord showed me an oyster and asked me, “Where do pearls come from?”

Well, of course they come from oysters, but what causes them to form? Some little, tiny piece of sand or grit gets sucked into it as it feeds. It scratches and cuts the oyster’s flesh so painfully that the oyster must use the only substance it has, the calcium in its own shell to begin to coat the irritant until it is as smooth as the walls of its own house.

God showed me that that was what He had to do. He had to form a capsule around that dark entity and cast it out of heaven. He had to make a place for the devil and his angels. Jesus said in Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” KJV

A creature that didn’t love his Creator? How do we feel when we encounter someone we love deeply who doesn’t return that love? It broke God’s heart. Looking out at that darkness, an offense to the God of love, He told me that He didn’t just say, “Let there be light.” That command was His brokenhearted scream, “Light, be!” He injected His very Self into that darkness! The Holy Spirit brought life to that WORD and creation/time began.

Someone once asked me, “Which do you think we will achieve first, light speed or time travel?” My answer was inspired by the foregoing revelation from God. Even science tells us they are the same thing. I told him that, and then I said, “God is light, and nobody can go faster than God!”

Oh, God of the brokenhearted, teach us how to love You more fully and completely, more reverently and gratefully, in Jesus’ Name, amen.