I like seeing the big picture of things.

I like knowing the big picture of an operation and how all the individual steps function as cooperative pieces that accomplish the plan.

Part of this comes from growing up on my parent’s farm where my dad manages wildlife habitat. My parents lease some ground for crop production, but the vast majority of their farm is dedicated to my dad’s passion for wildlife. When he purchased the farm in the late 1980s, there were two tracks from white-tailed deer on the 200+ acre property. Today there are hundreds of deer on the property once winter rolls around. The deer in our area travel miles to winter down on my parents farm because they have shelter and food.

The deer and other wildlife populations thrive on our farm because of my dad’s vision for his farm as a sustainable ecosystem. Wildlife can struggle to find food during Michigan winters. Knee high snow on top of frozen ground makes it difficult to forage. This is why my dad cuts trees down in the winter and drags them out into the field. The deer, rabbits, and turkeys all flock to these downed trees to eat the buds at the end of the branches. This food source can be the difference between making through a cold spell or succumbing to the elements.

Additionally, the downed trees are harvested for ourselves as well. My parents heat their house with firewood. I grew up knocking trees down in the winter, cutting them up in the spring, and stacking the firewood to dry out for winter. At one point, we had 10 years worth of wood stacked. We harvested the trunks and thickest branches for ourselves, and then we stacked the remaining branches in brush piles, which serve as the perfect home for rabbits. The trees we harvested left gaps in the canopy, which allowed for new growth to shoot up in the spring. This new growth would be 7–10 feet (over 2–3.5 meters) high by the end of its first summer, and it was so thick that you could not see more than 15 feet into it. White-tailed deer love these thickets. It provides cover from predators.

All in all, each step brought its own individual value, but the best result was the overall net-gain when all the individual steps cooperate together to produce a sustainable ecosystem for all wildlife and humans alike that none of the steps could have accomplished on their own.

This is why big picture operations are so meaningful to me. I’ve experienced the goodness of the end result. The individual steps aren’t always easy. Felling trees in 12–18 inches of snow is not easy; splitting wood is not easy; limbing downed trees in the heat of July because you didn’t get to it in March is not easy. But we are committed to the overall vision for the farm, and experiencing that vision’s fruit is self-reinforcing.

The same type of big-picutre operation is happening in Ephesians. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is not addressing local congregational issues like 1–2 Corinthians or Galatians. Instead, Paul’s main concern is threefold:

1. to explain God’s cosmic plan of redemption
2. to express grattitude and thanks for the Ephesians because of their membership in this plan
3. to exhort the Ephesians to live distinct lives in response to and gratitude for God’s plan

The summary of God’s plan can be found in Ephesians 1:7–10:

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

The redemption He extended to us is not so that we can escape a bad earth and go to heaven. No, redemption is way better than that. Our redemption is a step towards the reuniting of all things in heaven and on earth in Christ. We currently live in a world that has had its redemption paid for, but its redemption is not yet fully realized. Until it is, we have the Holy Spirit as our down payment (cf. Eph. 1:13–14).

God’s plan for redemption is bigger than salvation for humans. He is reuniting all things in heaven and earth in Christ. This plan has stages and steps. Each step brings its own good, but the overall result from the cooperation of all the steps is going to be an experience we will want to last for an eternity.

And it will.

Happy Bibleing!

Acknowledgement: I owe a lot of thanks to my theology professor, Dr. Michael Wittmer for understanding God’s cosmic plan for redemption. You can read his explanation of this concept in his book, Heaven Is A Place On Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters To God.