弗一9 『照着祂的喜悅，使我們知道祂意願的奧祕；這喜悅是祂在自己裏面豫先定下的。』
啓四11
『我們的主，我們的神，你是配得榮耀、尊貴、能力的，因為你創造了萬有，並且萬有是因你的旨意存在並被創造的。』
〔創世記一章一節〕的『創造』是指從無生出有來，與二章四節的『造』，和七節的『塑造』不同，後二者是指把已經存在的東西拿來，用以產生其他的東西。
神創造的動機是要完成祂的心願，滿足祂的喜悅。神創造的定旨是要榮耀祂的兒子，藉着祂的兒子基督彰顯神自己；基督乃是神的具體化身以及神的形像，彰 顯。神創造的根據，乃是神的旨意和計畫。神創造的憑藉，乃是神的兒子和神的話，這二者都是基督。
神的創造…啓示祂在宇宙中的心願，顯明祂在永遠裏的目的。我們所作的事都表達我們的願望。雖然我們沒有說多少話，但我們所作的事就顯明我們的目的。神創造 諸天，創造地連同其上的萬物，到末了又按着祂的形像造人，並給人權柄管理一切受造之物，祂必定有個目的。藉着祂的創造，我們能看出神有一個心願和目的。
按照以弗所一章五節和九節的話，神原初創造的動機是祂的心願和喜悅。神完成祂原初的創造，是為着完成祂的心願並滿足祂的喜悅。祂願意也喜愛創造，因此祂作了這事，為要叫自己喜悅。
神創造的根據乃是神的旨意與計畫（10）。啓示錄四章十一節清楚告訴我們，萬有是因神的旨意被創造的。神有一個旨意，按着這旨意祂有了計畫，照着這旨意與計畫，祂就創造了萬有。
我們已看過，神聖啓示的中心路線開始於神。然後神聖的啓示給我們看見神的經綸和神的分賜。在整本聖經裏可以看見神自己、神的經綸和神的分賜。這三項乃是神聖啓示的中心路線。這神聖的啓示向我們啓示三個主要的實體：神自己、神的經綸和神的分賜。
神的經綸乃是出於神的意願、定旨、喜悅和決議。…神的意願乃是神的願望，神的渴望。神的意願是祂所願望要作的，和祂所想要作的。神的喜悅是出於神的意願。 以弗所一章五節說到『祂意願所喜悅的』。祂的喜悅具體表現在祂的意願裏，所以祂的意願在先。神的意願隱藏在神裏面，是一個奧祕，因此九節說到『祂意願的奧 祕』。在永遠裏，神定了一個意願。這意願隱藏在祂裏面；因此，這意願是個奧祕。神的意願，就是隱藏在神裏面的奧祕，結果帶來神的經綸，安排。從神 的意願，藉着神的定旨、喜悅和決議，出來了一個結果，就是神的經綸。
保羅在林前一章一節說，他是憑神旨意作使徒。神的旨意乃是神為完成祂定旨而有的定意。憑這旨意，保羅蒙召成為基督的使徒。…這裏神的旨意與神的行政、神的 管理有關。保羅照着神的旨意，並在神的行政之下蒙召，為要完成神新約的經綸。這件事意義重大。保羅照着神的旨意被指派並蒙召，為要完成祂的行政。
參讀：創世記生命讀經，第一篇；神聖啓示的中心路線，第三篇。
Eph. 1:9 "Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good
pleasure, which He purposed in
Himself." Rev. 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the
glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because
of Your will they were, and were created."
Created [in Genesis 1:1], denoting to bring something into
existence out of nothing, differs from made in 2:4 and formed in 2:7, the
latter two denoting to take something that already exists and use it to produce
something else.
The motive of God's creation was to fulfill God's desire and
to satisfy His good pleasure (Eph. 1:5, 9). The purpose of God's creation is to
glorify the Son of God (Col. 1:15-19) and to manifest God Himself (Psa. 19:1-2;
Rom. 1:20...), especially in man (1 Tim. 3:16) through His Son, Christ, who is
the embodiment of God and the image, the expression, of God (Col. 2:9; 1:15).
The basis of God's creation is God's will and plan (Eph. 1:10...). The means of
God's creation were the Son of God (Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 1:2b) and the Word of
God (Heb. 11:3; John 1:1-3), both of whom are Christ (John 1:1, 18; Rev.19:13).
(Gen. 1:1, footnote 4)
God's creation...reveals His desire in the universe and
manifests His purpose in eternity. Anything we make expresses our desire.
Although we may not say much, the thing we make manifests our purpose. When God
created the heavens, the earth with so many items, and eventually man in His
own image and with authority over all created things, He surely had a
purpose. By His creation we can see that God had a desire and a purpose.
According to Ephesians 1:5 and 9, the motive of God's
original creation was His desire and pleasure. God carried out the original
creation to fulfill His desire and to satisfy His pleasure. He desired and
liked to create; so He did it to please Himself.
The basis of creation is God's will and plan (Eph. 1:10).
Revelation 4:11 tells us clearly that all things were created according to
God's will. God has a will, and according to that will He conceived His plan.
According to that will and plan He created all things. (Life-study of Genesis,
pp. 9-10)
We have seen that the central line of the divine revelation
starts from God. Then the divine revelation shows us the divine economy and the
divine dispensing. God Himself, God's economy, and God's dispensing can be seen
throughout the entire Bible. These three items are the central line of the
divine revelation. The divine revelation reveals to us three main entities: God
Himself, God's economy, and God's dispensing.
The divine economy is an issue of God's will, purpose, good
pleasure, and counsel....God's will is God's wish, God's desire. God's will is
what He wishes to do and wants to do. God's good pleasure is of God's will.
Ephesians 1:5 speaks of “the good pleasure of His will.” His good pleasure is
embodied in His will, so His will comes first. God's will was hidden in God as
a mystery,so Ephesians 1:9 speaks of “the mystery of His will.” In eternity God
planned a will. This will was hidden in Him; hence, it was a mystery. God's
will as a mystery hidden in God issues in God's economy, dispensation (3:9).
From God's will issues God's economy through His purpose, good pleasure, and
counsel. (The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, pp. 32-33)
In 1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul says that he was an apostle
through the will of God. The will of God is His determination for the carrying
out of His purpose.Through this will Paul was called to be an apostle of Christ....The
will of God here is related to God's administration, to God's government. Paul
was called according to God's will and under God's administration to carry out
God's
New Testament economy. This is a matter of great significance. Paul was
appointed and called according to God's will to carry out His administration.
(Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 7)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 1; The Central
Line of the Divine Revelation, msg. 3
