上帝的旨意是什么呢？上帝的旨意就是上帝想要做的事，不是人要做的事，因此我们不能随意把自己要做的事扣上一顶「上帝旨意」的大帽子。上帝的旨意不是你明天工作会不会顺利，上帝的旨意也不是你买哪间房子比较好，上帝的旨意比你要做的事伟大多了！上帝的旨意就是祂对人类的救赎计划。

保罗以上帝的旨意做为以弗所书的开场白，带出了本书的目的──他要以弗所教会明白两个问题：我们是靠什么得救？我们得救是为了什么？

保罗在这里列出了上帝救恩的计划：上帝从创世以前在「基督」里拣选了我们（1:4）、预定我们借着「耶稣基督」得儿子的名份（1:5）、这恩典是他在「爱子」里白白赐给我们（1:6）、我们借着这「爱子」的血得蒙救赎（1:7）、在「基督」里面同归于一（1:10）。

也许有人用神话的角度来看上帝拯救人类的计划而不愿信服。在人看来，上帝的计划里面充满神话的元素，例如：道成肉身、童女生子、被钉十架、复活升天、再来审判。然而，如果要你站在上帝的位置，写一个「如何拯救人类」计划案，你有把握你的计划案可以百分之百执行出来，并且完全成功吗？你觉得你会写得比上帝更好吗？你可以质疑、可以批判，但你终究会发现自己提不出更好的计划。

诚如保罗所说，上帝的旨意是个「奥秘」，面对这个奥秘最明智的选择就是「相信」。救恩计划里的每一个步骤都与上帝的爱子、成为人的耶稣基督有关，这就是上帝的旨意，是以祂「诸般的智慧聪明」（1:8）所立定的，其奥秘远超过人所能想像。

简体圣经 | https://www.bible.com/bible/140/EPH.1.RCUVSS

繁體聖經 | https://www.bible.com/bible/139/EPH.1.RCUV

What is God's will? God's will is what God wants to do, not what people want to do. Therefore, we cannot just put a big "God's will" label on what we want to do. God's will is not about whether your work will go smoothly tomorrow or which house you should buy. God's will is much greater than what you want to do! God's will is His plan for the redemption of humanity.

Paul uses God's will as the opening of the book of Ephesians, bringing out the purpose of the book. He wants the Ephesian church to understand two things: How are we saved? And what are we saved for?

Paul lists God's salvation plan: God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world (1:4), predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ (1:5), bestowed grace on us freely in the Beloved (1:6), redeemed us through the blood of the Beloved (1:7), and made us one in Christ (1:10).

Perhaps some people view God's salvation plan from a mythological perspective and are unwilling to believe. In human eyes, there are mythological elements in God's plan, such as the Incarnation, the Virgin Birth, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Second Coming of Christ. However, if you were to stand in God's position and write a plan to save humanity, are you confident that your plan would be executed one hundred percent and completely successful? Do you think you can write a better plan than God's? You can question and criticize, but ultimately, you will find that you cannot come up with a better plan.

As Paul said, God's will is a "mystery," and the wisest choice in the face of this mystery is to "believe." Every step of the salvation plan is related to God's beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and this is God's will, established by His "all wisdom and insight” (1:8), whose mystery far surpasses what humans can imagine.

Reading the Bible | https://www.bible.com/bible/59/EPH.1.ESV