We have seen that 1:1 indicates that the church is in the Triune God. Paul speaks of the Triune God in 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Here we have the threefold blessing of the Triune God, the blessing of love, grace, and fellowship. The Triune God revealed in this verse is the processed God. The very God in whom the church is today is the processed Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
What is it that God the Father desires? According to the New Testament, the Father wants many sons. The Father’s concern is with sonship. In order to produce these sons, He has been begetting children. With Him, there need be no limit to the number of children. The more children He has, the better. The Father wants sons, and He is begetting them.
God the Father has a definite purpose in producing many sons. He is not a foolish father, one without a purpose. Rather, He has a purpose and a plan. God’s selection and predestination are according to His purpose. First He selected us and then predestinated us. This indicates that God is the unique initiator and originator. Thus, for the church to be in God the Father implies that the church is in God’s purpose, plan, selection, and predestination. No doubt, the church is also in God’s calling. The church in God the Father is the church in the One who is the initiator and originator.
This understanding of the church in the Father is not merely a matter of doctrine; rather, it has much to do with us in our practical experience. A problem among Christians today is that they have many different purposes and plans. There are different initiators and originators. This is not right. We Christians all should have the unique purpose, the purpose of our Father. We should also have the unique plan of the Father. This means that only one—the Father—should be the initiator and originator. We should not originate anything or initiate anything. Imagine what would happen if all Christians gave up their own purposes and plans and had only one initiator and originator. What oneness there would be among us all! There would be no division whatever.
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