“His (God’s) intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10-11
Later in Ephesians we are told that, “our struggle in not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (6:12). The Bible does not tell us a lot about the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms but one brief passage in the book of Job gives us a bit of an insight. In the first and second chapters of Job we are witnesses to two interviews between God and Satan. It is interesting to consider that Job was never aware of this conversation.
Often I think it is like that with us. We are unaware of what is going on in the heavenly realms and we tend to take things at face value instead of considering the fact that God’s purposes in our lives and in our churches may be much more far reaching than we realise.
As the church we are participating in making the manifold wisdom of God known to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. What an awesome privilege and responsibility. And yet what a great encouragement to press on, to stand against the devil’s schemes (6:11), and know that God’s purposes won’t be thwarted.
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