In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

—Ephesians 1:7b-10

One of the things I love most about language is its versatility. There are so many words that mean different things, and when used well can add layer upon layer of meaning to whatever is being communicated. This depth of meaning can lead to fun and delight—I mean, who doesn’t love a good pun, right? —or it can lead to a deeper, richer understanding of our world and our God.

Yesterday, as I was studying to write today’s devotion, I stumbled across one of those multi-layer meaning moments that added a new, shimmering shade to my mental picture of who my Savior is. 

It was a little bit surprising for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve been told several times that Ephesians is a great book to learn about and understand Christian doctrine, and because it’s more about ideas than events, I just didn’t expect to learn about God’s personality (silly me). 

The second reason is that it happened in the middle of a section that was focusing on God’s bigness and divineness. In the first 20 verses or so of chapter 1 of Ephesians, Paul talks about God’s divine will, His purpose, His pleasure, His blood, His grace and peace, His glory, His counsel, His calling, His inheritance, and His power. In Ephesians 1, we get to see as close up a view as we can handle of just how big and powerful and magnificent God is.

And right in the middle of it, we get the little phrase, “In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention.” 

I’ve read this passage before. I’ve heard this passage preached before. I’ve listened to the debates about predestination, and I’ve heard each side’s interpretation of this passage. Even so, I had never noticed that phrase before, and once it had my attention, it refused to let it go.

It just seemed so out of place. We’re talking about this big God who has been in control and had a plan in the works since the beginning of time, this God who is glorious and needs no advice or counsel but His own… and He has kind intentions toward us. 

Talking about layers of meaning. The contrast between His bigness and His simultaneous concern for our small selves reveals a vibrant hue of God’s personality all by itself. 

Then you have the word kind. I think kind is an underrated word. Too often it’s thrown in with words like nice and sad—bland words that don’t really communicate much—but I think there’s more to it than that. Being nice is a basic level of general politeness and decency; being kind is caring for and being considerate of others whether or not it is socially expected or convenient. Kind is selfless and sacrificial.

Just noticing those two levels of meaning was humbling, but it was what I found when I looked up the meaning of the original word that really got me. The same word that is translated as kind intention twice in this chapter can also be translated as delight, pleasure, happiness, satisfaction, and desire.

I’m sure many Bible scholars will disagree with me, but considering the fact that this whole adventure with creation started with language and the fact that Ephesians 1 makes it clear that He has always known how things would go, I don’t think this connection is a coincidence. 

There are so many people out there who think God is angry and vengeful when we do something wrong, but I think if we were going to paint a picture of Who God is, it would be much more accurate to paint a God who deeply, actively desires to be kind to those He loves. 

I think we would have to add some colors that show that He is satisfied to be in a kind, loving relationship with us. There would have to be some shades that show His happiness and pleasure in caring and providing for us. We’d have to add a highlight to show the delight He takes in being kind to us.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many people who are not only kind, but also delight in being kind to people who regularly fail them. It’s just amazing to think that even when we mess up, our great God desires nothing more than to show us His kindness.