Brothers and sisters, peace to you on this Lord’s Day!
The Spring Festival in Chinese culture represents a longing for reunion, for harmony, and for the removal of every threat of evil. Yet in the verses we just read, Paul points us to the true hope of reunion and harmony: “as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:10). Amen!
1. God Has Planned a Blessed Life
The focus of today’s passage is on Christ’s redemption through His shed blood. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Eph 1:7). When Paul speaks this way, he is speaking to an audience deeply familiar with the Old Testament. Many of you are currently reading through the Pentateuch. If you were an Israelite in Paul’s day, you would immediately recognize what he is alluding to: the blood of the Passover lamb. Paul is reminding them of how the Lord once redeemed their ancestors out of Egypt, how the blood of the lamb took their place, so that Israel’s firstborn were spared and set free.
Paul doesn’t retell Israel’s history here, but he calls it to mind. He puts the blood of Jesus, which is the blood of God’s beloved Son, side by side with the blood of the Passover lamb. Just as the lamb’s blood set Israel free from slavery in Egypt, so now the blood of Christ has accomplished the greater redemption. This is the true Exodus, the true Passover, the true deliverance. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7). Notice the order in the original text: it begins with grace, “which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”. God’s plan from the very beginning was to give His people life, and to bring us into His blessing when the time is right.
But let’s be honest. Some of us hear that and think, “My life doesn’t feel very blessed.”
Think about a puzzle. When my son was little, I used to buy him puzzles. A 30-piece puzzle? Done in no time. A 200-piece puzzle? No problem. Even a 300-piece picture of Westminster Abbey, he finished that too. But last year I gave him a puzzle with over 1,500 pieces. And guess what? It’s still sitting unfinished.
You know how it feels. You work and work, but the pieces just won’t come together. After a while, you look at all those fragments scattered on the table and you feel defeated. But here’s the thing: those pieces only make sense because there’s a bigger picture. There’s a design behind them. Without the design, the pieces would be meaningless. But with the design, even the strangest little fragment has a place.
Paul is saying that’s what our world is like. God created it good, but sin has shattered it into pieces. And it’s not just a 1,500-piece puzzle. It’s countless pieces, more than we can ever number. Life feels scattered, empty, without direction. And if even one piece were missing, we’d think the whole thing is worthless. That’s when doubt creeps in. Did the Designer make a mistake? Did something go wrong in the process? And when you start thinking like that, you lose heart.
A lot of people feel their lives are exactly like that. You get to 30, 40, even 60 years old, and suddenly it hits you. Your life doesn’t look like a picture at all. Just fragments. Marriage, family, work, health—it all feels broken. And you start to wonder: maybe I was missing pieces from the start. Maybe I was never meant to be whole.
But here’s the good news Paul is proclaiming: No, your life is not a mistake. Your story is not meaningless. Every piece has a place. And one day, in the fullness of time, God Himself will bring all of it together in Christ. Not only your life, but the lives of others. Not only what you see, but even what you cannot see. One day, everything, in heaven and on earth, will come together in Jesus. And when the picture is finally complete, you’ll see it: your life has a place in Him, and the world has a place in His plan. Nothing will be wasted.
What does it mean to be chosen? What does it mean to be predestined? What does it mean that God has an eternal plan and purpose? It means this: your life, including every good gift you’ve received, including salvation itself, is not an accident. It’s not chance. It’s not a coincidence or a lucky encounter. Nothing in your life is random.
Brothers and sisters, why do so many of us feel torn, dissatisfied, incomplete? Why do we feel as if there’s always a missing piece in our lives? It’s because deep down, we believe in chance instead of God’s plan. We trust in luck instead of His eternal purpose. And so, we live with constant regret: “If only this had happened… if only that hadn’t happened… if only I had chosen differently back then…” But if you believe the world is ruled by chance, then of course you will always feel threatened, anxious, and broken. In the end, it’s that very belief in chance that shatters your life into pieces.
Chinese culture has its own idea of destiny—tianming (天命), the “Mandate of Heaven.” There’s a belief that somewhere in the unseen realm there is a guiding purpose. But in traditional thought, that destiny is reserved for the few: the emperor, the rulers, the great men of history. If one ruler falls, it means the mandate has left him. If another rises, it means the mandate has come to him. Ordinary people? They’re told they have no share in destiny. Their lives are fragments without meaning.
I recently read a letter by Liang Shuming (梁漱溟), one of the famous scholars of modern China, often called “the last Confucian”. Writing on the eve of the war with Japan, when the future was uncertain, he said this: “I am not worried about my safety. My life is secure because I have the mandate of heaven. I carry the destiny of Chinese culture itself. As long as that is true, I will not die of hunger, I will not be killed by Japanese bombs. My life is preserved by destiny.” When I first read that, before I came to Christ, I thought, what a powerful statement! But notice what he was really saying: his life had destiny, but yours does not. His life had meaning, but yours is just fragments.
Friends, without Christ, even the wisest men sound proud, even arrogant. They think destiny belongs only to the great. But the gospel tells us something far better: destiny is not just for kings, not just for scholars, not just for those the world admires. In Christ, destiny belongs to every ordinary person. To every beggar on the street. To every slave in history. To each of us sitting here today.
Paul proclaims that we ordinary sinners are chosen in Christ. We have been brought into God’s eternal plan. Our lives are not scattered fragments. No matter what suffering you’ve endured, no matter what hardships you’ve faced, you must not doubt your Maker. You must not question your Designer. You must not accuse the One who formed you. Why? Because you are not cheaply made. You are royal workmanship. You are the creation of the Lord Himself! Amen! And what’s more, you have been redeemed, not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Amen!
And so, Paul declares this great truth: all things will be united in Him. Every pain, every broken piece of your life, every fragment that never seemed to fit, will find its place when everything is gathered up in Jesus. This is the great and glorious gospel of Ephesians: all things united in Christ.
2. The Gospel and Chinese Traditional Culture
Let’s look at this great gospel, that all things are united in Christ, from two angles. First, from the difference between the gospel and traditional Chinese views, so that we can see what it means to be united in Christ. Second, from the relationship between God’s redeemed people, the church, and the whole created world, so that we can understand what it means for everything to be brought together in Him.
Sometimes seekers will say, “All things united in Christ? That sounds so absolute, so narrow-minded, almost oppressive!” To modern ears, it can sound unreasonable. But the truth is, the idea of “everything coming together as one” is not foreign at all. In fact, it’s a very familiar concept in Chinese culture.
Think of the ancient Book of Songs (诗经), which says, “All the land under heaven belongs to the king.” (普天之下，莫非王土) If people could accept that idea politically, why should we be offended when Scripture says, “All the land under heaven belongs to Christ the King”?
In fact, the idea of oneness, of everything returning to one source, is central not only in Chinese philosophy but also in Greek thought. You’ve probably heard phrases like, “All religions return to one,” “All laws return to one,” “All things return to the origin.” In Buddhism and Daoism, “one” represents what is real, the true source, while “two” represents illusion. If everything doesn’t return to one, then everything is false, empty, and meaningless. In Buddhism, to “recognize the one” is to become enlightened.
And Paul says, yes, all things really must return to one. But that one is not an abstract principle, not a nameless source, not an impersonal Tao. The “one” is Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Savior of the world. The hope of the ancients finds its fulfillment in Him.
The gospel tells us: every so-called “oneness” apart from Christ is still empty, still false. John Calvin put it this way: outside of Christ, everything is chaos. In the beginning, before God spoke His Word, creation was formless and void. And that’s what it is apart from Christ: formless, meaningless, without order. But in Christ, everything comes back on track. In Him, all creation once again has one King, one Lord, one center.
Remember Shakespeare’s Hamlet? He once said, “The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!” Hamlet knew the world was broken, but he couldn’t fix it. Neither can philosophy, Buddhism, Daoism, or any human effort. We can all sense, “Something is missing in my life,” but none of us can put the pieces together. Paul proclaims: yes, the world is out of joint. And that is exactly what sin means. But in Christ, God is bringing all things back into place.
In modern times, Chinese people often use similar phrases: “All things belong to the people.” Or in the early 20th century: “All things belong to the Soviets.” Do you see? Humanity cannot escape the longing to unite everything under one head. If we don’t believe in God, we give that place to an emperor, or to an abstract principle, or to “the people.” Today, “all belongs to the people” sounds so right that no one dares oppose it. But Paul says, “No! All belong to Christ.” All things in heaven and on earth are summed up under Him.
The ancients used to say, “Heaven cannot have two suns; the people cannot have two lords.” That’s the point. Our real problem is either that we have no lord, or we have too many, changing from one to another day by day. But creation can only be whole under one Lord, one Head. Under Christ, everything is brought into perfect order, like a beautiful picture where every part has its place. And where is humanity’s place? God has set us under Christ, our Head. Just as the body is united under one head, so all creation is united under Him. That is God’s purpose through the ages.
In the Old Testament, the Jews believed history moved in a straight line toward a climax, a moment when everything would come under God’s rule. That’s the biblical view of history: it is moving forward, toward its fulfillment in Christ.
Now, in our own lives, it doesn’t always feel that way. Sometimes life feels like it’s moving not toward a high point but toward death, decay, and despair. Maybe you feel that lately: “It’s getting harder. My life isn’t just missing a piece. Now I feel like I’m losing even the pieces I once had.” Many people do not believe their lives are moving toward a climax.
But Paul tells us: if you belong to God, then yes, your life is headed toward a high point. Even if you live in a corrupt, dark, twisted age, even in the worst seasons of human history, you can be confident that history itself is moving toward its highest point. And what is that climax? That all creation will bow before Christ, because God has already given His beloved Son to redeem us.
We just read in Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
Many believers respond, “Lord, I know You have given me Yourself, but everything else in the world still belongs to others. Lord, I don’t need the whole world, I just want that house. I don’t need all things: I just want good health and a smooth life.” Some may even think what they dare not say: “Lord, can You swap Yourself for the things of this world, give me all things instead?” But of course, we know such words are irreverent, even treacherous, so we dare not speak them aloud.
Therefore, many Christians find their faith stuck, torn between two desires. On one hand, I know I cannot leave Christ to chase after the world. On the other hand, I deeply want the world. In this tension, believers sometimes suffer more than unbelievers. Why? Because unbelievers can and will openly and boldly pursue the things of the world. But we, while confessing, “Lord, You are my everything”, still carry sadness deep inside. Is that you?
May these verses draw us into a far richer faith, into a deeper trust in Christ. For if God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us, will He not also graciously give us all things in Him?
Brothers and sisters, here is a simple but profound logic. In every human transaction, we trade up. We exchange what is cheap for something more valuable. But the gospel is the opposite: the costly is given for the worthless. God gave His Son in exchange for us. This is the mystery of the gospel, the gospel shock: God’s beloved Son given for sinners who had nothing to offer.
But Paul tells us: this is not the final goal of the gospel. The purpose of the gospel is not simply that the precious One be exchanged for the worthless, the righteous Son for guilty sinners. No. The highest purpose of the gospel is that the worthless might be made precious. The focus of the gospel is not only substitution, but transformation. Christ took our place on the cross so that we might be united with Him.
When God exchanged the most precious One for us, He did not intend to leave us the way we are. His purpose was that those He redeemed would one day share in the worth, the honor, and the glory of His Son. Amen! That in Christ, we too might be called sons. In this sense, He gave one Son and gained many sons.
Of course, we are not saying that in person or essence we become God. Rather, we are united with Christ in His holiness, His glory, His light, and His life. The early church father Anselm once said, “The Son of God became man so that we might become God.” This is a shocking statement, though it is often misunderstood. He did not mean that we become God in His being, but that sinners are made holy by being united with Christ, sharing in God’s nature, His glory, and His life. Amen! This is the ultimate goal of the gospel, when the fullness of time comes.
Beloved brothers and sisters, let me put it this way: Brother Zhang, Sister Li, your life today, every day of following Christ, is moving toward that fullness of time. May the Lord teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Whatever your days look like now, they are all leading toward that day of fulfillment. Amen!
History is not rolling toward communism, nor toward democracy and freedom, nor toward some human utopia built by technology. No. The sweeping tide of history is being carried toward the fullness of time, when all things in heaven and on earth are united in Christ. Amen! That is the hopeful view of history the Bible gives us.
If you do not live with this view of history, you will live in despair. Take, for example, the Chinese calendar. This year is “Wuxu Year (戊戌年),” part of the sixty-year cycle. In this worldview, history is a cycle that repeats itself endlessly. When we hear “Wuxu Year,” we remember it has been two cycles, that is 120 years, since the failed reform of 1898. And in these 120 years, countless events have circled back again and again, locked in repetition. China has reformed for 120 years, and lives have been lost for 120 years, yet where is hope?
Every year I would witness a scene in Chengdu. On New Year’s morning, the streets are quiet. Few people are outside, except for the long line at Wenshu Monastery. People queue for hundreds of meters, many skipping the New Year’s Eve gala show on television just to be there at midnight, hoping to burn the first stick of incense. Wenshu Monastery, the busiest temple in Chengdu, is only a stone’s throw from Early Rain Covenant Church. In fact, both the monastery and our church fall under the same local police station. I remember in 2009, when we first came, the officer said to me, “In our district we already had a temple, and now we also have your church.” But on New Year’s, people do not come to church, they go to the temple. Brothers and sisters, this is our calling, isn’t it? We’ve been placed right next to the busiest temple in the city. What should we do?
Chinese reformer Tan Sitong (谭嗣同) once said, “If China’s change requires blood, let it begin with mine.” Before I knew the Lord, I admired such men as my heroes. While Kang Youwei (康有为) fled to Hong Kong and Liang Qichao (梁启超) fled to Japan, Tan Sitong chose to stay, refusing to escape. When urged to flee, he replied with resolve. In prison he wrote down this poem: “With my bare blade I face the sky and laugh, life or death alike rests on the Kunlun Mountains of my heart. (我自横刀向天笑，去留肝胆两昆仑)” Later, in 1903, Lu Xun (鲁迅), while studying in Japan, cut off his queue and showed his commitment to this broken nation. He wrote, “I offer my blood to China (我以我血荐轩辕)” dedicating his life to the revival of his people.
Tan Sitong, among the reformers, actually knew the Bible better than most. He once said: “Jesus alone confronted the power of His age. All twelve of His disciples were killed, and to this day missionaries still count it an honor to suffer death for His name. This is the power that has spread across five continents, and after two thousand years still grows stronger.” Tan wanted to imitate Jesus.
But why did his death bear no fruit? Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Why then did Tan Sitong die without bearing fruit? Because the world is broken. China has been caught in a cycle of sixty years upon sixty years for two thousand years without escape. The only One who sets history back on track is not Hamlet, not Tan Sitong, not the Communist Party, not the Republican Party, but the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Amen! Only His blood, applied to the doorposts of our hearts, brings true deliverance, our true Passover. Only He can break the curse of the Wuxu year. Amen! Only He brings the hope of that fullness of time, when all things in heaven and on earth are united in Christ. Amen!
Chinese tradition speaks of “the unity of heaven and man, the forgetting of self in all things (天人合一，物我两忘).” Some call this the highest expression of Chinese culture. But Paul gives us something far greater, far more glorious: not simply “heaven and man united,” but all things in heaven and on earth united in Christ, in His love, in His righteousness, in His holiness.
And here, we begin to see our true relationship to all creation.
3. The Gospel and Creation, Fall, and Redemption
You may say: “I understand. You’ve just told us that in ancient China only kings and noble men were thought to have the mandate of heaven. But the Bible says something different.” In Christ, whether male or female, slave or free, Jew or Greek, we are all made one. Today, in this church, every child of God, no matter your ethnicity, your education, your income, or your social status, you are one in Jesus Christ. “That much I can understand”, you say. God’s children, no matter who they are, are one in Christ.
But in Ephesians 1:10 Paul points us to an even greater hope: not only that male and female, slave and free, are united in Christ, but that all things, in heaven and on earth, are brought together in him. Does this include animals? The mountains and rivers? Yes—Paul is saying that the whole creation will be brought into one, joined together like a great puzzle, not just of fifteen hundred pieces, but of everything that has been broken since Adam and Eve’s fall.
Let’s step back and recall how creation, fall, and redemption tie into this.
At creation, God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26–28)
In creation there was a perfect order: humanity, made in God’s image, lived in harmony with all things under one King. The whole world was a temple, a place of worship. Adam was the priest of creation. He ruled, and all things were placed under his feet.
But when Adam and Eve fell, the pieces of creation shattered. The ground was cursed because of man. Thorns and thistles grew. Seed was planted, but harvest was uncertain. Sowing and reaping became a struggle—dependent on the rains, vulnerable to wind and frost, harvests never certain.
A theologian once imagined that before the fall, Eve could say, “Tomorrow I want millet porridge,” and Adam could scatter the seed at night, and the next morning she would have it. The land served them without resistance. But now creation suffers because of us. Paul says in Romans 8: “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility … the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
Brothers and sisters, creation is waiting for your life to reach its highest point when you are revealed as God’s redeemed children. Creation is not merely an environmental issue. It is not just about animal rights. It is about sin. Human sin brought a curse on all things. When you see pollution, smog, or a broken ecosystem, what should you do?
Fall on your knees before God and repent: “Lord, you entrusted all creation to me, and I ruined it. Because of my sin, creation is groaning.” Even the biting mosquito is a witness to the fall! In Eden, the mosquito would not have bitten Adam. Adam was commander of all creation: air, land, and sea. Even the mosquito obeyed him. Today it bites you. And whose fault is that? Not the mosquito’s. It’s yours.
But God gives us hope. James 1:18 says: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” Brothers and sisters, you were saved not only for yourself, not even only for your family. You are the first fruits of all creation. God is restoring his world, beginning with you.
So, when you believed the gospel, you became the sign of a coming restoration. One day, when all things are renewed, creation itself will be joined with us in Christ. The Yangtze and the Yellow River, all things in heaven and on earth, they are yours, because you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Amen!
Closing Prayer
Let us bow our heads in prayer. Lord, we thank You and praise You. You have redeemed us from among mankind as first fruits belonging to the Lamb. The end of this world is not destruction but unity in Christ. Just as Peter preached on the day of Pentecost: “Heaven must receive him until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:21). On that day, the broken fragments of our lives will form a perfect picture; on that day, all creation will be gathered into wholeness in Christ. For this purpose, You have chosen us: to be a kingdom of priests, the first fruits of Your harvest, so that Your church in every part of China may be a messenger of the gospel.
We pray for this nation. Have mercy, O Lord, and bring a great revival to Your church. Give us the hope of the day when the fullness of time comes, when Your gospel rescues this people from cycles of despair, from the curse upon the land, from the power of sin, and from the idols that fill our lives. Let many see the Savior, Jesus Christ, who was crucified and raised on the third day. Lord, use us. Use this congregation. Use every church in Chengdu. Use every church in China for Your glory.
We especially lift up this church and this city. We pray for those nearby in Wenshu Monastery, and for the many hearts of Chengdu captive to corruption and idolatry. Lord, stretch out Your hand to shatter false gods and turn hearts toward You. Use Your church to bring, even in the time of Spring Festival, the true hope of Passover, the true spring when all things are made new in Christ.
We thank You and praise You, O God. Hear our prayer, for we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
