Ephesians 1
CBCONE-Chapter 1:1-14
God’s Purpose in Christ
“…All of time, space and history have been created and are centered on a central purpose–to draw out from among man, the crown of God’s creation, a specific group of people to be joined to God through marriage to His Son.”
Christ is the Source of All Blessings to Us
and
the Head of All Things
Introduction to Division One:
ONE
Soleness, uniqueness, unity, singularity, peace, source, at-oneness, beginning, cause.
Here are several somewhat obscure truths that are presented in this letter of the Apostle Paul.
Authority within the Trinity
Have you ever wondered how authority is administered between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? It is very interesting to me that Paul repeatedly consigns to God the Father the position of original and supreme will to which every thing in heaven and earth is made subservient. Though co-equal in being, attributes and power, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit submit their own wills to the will of the Father. Remember Christ’s prayer in the Garden? “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Never-the-less, not My will, but Thine be done.” (Matthew 26:39) It does not individually diminish either Son or Spirit to do this. We can learn from this that the strong may often submit their own power to others and do so without demeaning or diminishing their own personal sphere of influence.
It is a grand truth that power held in check is just as strong as power unleashed or exercised. It is just sometimes harder to see.
The identification of the Church
The second truth is that all of time, space and history have been created and are centered on a central purpose–to draw out from among man, the crown of God’s creation, a specific Body of people to be joined to God through marriage to His Son. That Body is to be solely dedicated to His praise and His glory forever. Its selection and preparation is the pivot on which all of time turns. It is the outworking of the election of God, which He made prior to creation having occurred. Think of it! All of time and creation waits and watches for the Father to secure you to His only Son! Your place and acceptability as one of those individuals who make up that body is secured and provided solely through the work of the Son.
To become one with Him, you must come to know Him intimately. The means by which you and others who are in that Body come to know God, and thus enter into relationship with Him in Christ, is the revelation of Him by the Holy Spirit.
Section One - 1:1-6
Our predestination as sons of the Father
Introduction to Section One
In these next six verses, you may expect to see two primary things emphasized–First is every believer’s union with God, including Paul. Second is the singleness* of his and every believer’s calling. Paul makes no little thing of the fact that God, unilaterally,* called him to Himself and appointed him to his task of service. He then goes on to show how each believer is drawn into that same unity* with the Father and that the Father is the sole* source of position for each person.
As an apostle, he is unique. * As to his commission, it was imposed in accordance with the will of God the Father. As to his audience–he was sent to the Gentile masses. Paul was not sent to the house of Israel, as was Peter, James, and the other apostles. He was sent to the Gentiles by divine appointment. In the same manner, we did not set ourselves apart unto God; He set us apart unto Himself. We, like Paul, were conscripted into His service and set to our own particular* tasks of representing Him to a lost and dying world.
In short, we were and are elected to a specific destiny–life in the Son for eternity. It is from that destiny that we derive our goals, objectives and meaning for life. Question: Do your written goals for family, mental, physical, business, social and spiritual development rest securely on the foundation of your destiny as a believer?
Since we are destined to be the Bride of the Son and spend eternity in union with Him, our life here should reflect that privileged position and all that we are becoming by His grace.
God’s work in election
(1:1) An “apostle” is one with authority and a commission–One who operates and lives within the protection and directives of the one who sent him out. It is in this very sense that Paul declares himself to be “an apostle of Christ Jesus” with singleness of purpose. He belongs totally and solely to his Lord. In order that we not mistake his commission, he plainly states that he was conscripted into service “by the will of God”. You will recall that on the road to Damascus, Paul was struck down by the brilliant presence of the ascended Jesus. There he was confronted with the gospel of His saving work and he was drawn directly into serving Him.
“Saints” (‘hagios’, ones set apart to a particular purpose) are those in Ephesus who are believers. The same Greek root word is translated, “saint”, “sanctify”, and “holy” and consistently means to be “set apart”. This refers to their position. These same recipients of the letter are also called “the faithful in Christ Jesus”. “Faithful” refers to their condition or experience. Does this mean that those who are ‘full of faith’ never doubt? No. They are people just like us who have their own moments of soul-searching. Thankfully, they are not held to God by their own strength, but by His.
Section Two - 1:7-12
Redeemed and brought into fellowship with Him
Introduction to Section Two
TWO
Help, support, confirmation, addition, increase, growth, strengthening, fellowship, contrast, diversity, separation, differentiation
This second section of the first division of the letter brings us to the issue of our being brought into relationship with God the Father. What does it mean to become really intimate with God? This can be scary if you don’t have some kind of instructions as to how it might affect your life. Well, relax. Not only is all of the plan and work done by Him, but also we are made the incidental heirs of every single thing that He (the Father) provides for His Son, (“in Christ”). The security of the bride of His Son and her growth as the Body of Christ begin here with the union of each redeemed person and the Father.
First, His work is redeeming us from our lost condition and providing all that we need “in time”, just as He provided for His Son, the Lord Jesus. Then Paul tells us of the administration of God’s will at the end of time and of our place in His eternal plan.
Section 3 - 1:13,14
The work of the Holy Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance
Introduction to section three:
THREE
Fulfillment, fullness, Set-apart, holiness, possession,
sanctuary, solidity and reality
With the three persons of the Godhead before us, you can see fullness and completion. Under the numeral one (1), you have the work of the Father as Planner of the salvation of man. Under the numeral two (2), you have the work of the Son in executing that plan and securing the redemption of man. Under the numeral three (3), you see the Holy Spirit in His role of revelation of that plan to man, the object of salvation. This also signals the completion of the work of God for Man. The plan of salvation and the work of each member of the Trinity are evident with the giving of the Holy Spirit, the down payment of God’s assets deposited for His own.
There are many aspects to the work of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. Two of those are to be looked at here; One, the “sealing” ministry of the Holy Spirit as the guarantor of our eternal security in Christ, and Two, the role of the Holy Spirit as the “earnest”, or down payment, on our inheritance.
It is by means of the Holy Spirit that the believer is placed into union with Christ. This is the location into which we are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit. Once having been placed “into Christ” by an act of God the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for any lesser power to undue such seal.
Chapter 1:15-2:10
Our Participation With Christ in God’s Work Beyond Death
Introduction to Division Two
Help, support, faith, confirmation, assurance, service, ministry, and peace
OK, God, what’s the catch? Having been personally chosen by the Father to be joined to His Son, Jesus Christ, just what is now expected of me? What are my duties and what is my authority to act? Just how is my participation with the Lord Jesus and my honoring of the Father to be performed while I am left here on Earth in hope of the Son’s coming again for me? These are questions that come up in every class held on practical Christianity or living the “Normal” Christian life (whatever that is).
A few clues
The number Two (2) suggests a strengthening and clarification of issues pertaining to salvation. We can expect Paul to reveal in this division of the Epistle the source of the Believer’s power.
Power? That sounds good. We have POWER! All right. But, wait a minute–Jesus had power. He had ALL power.
And, yet He suffered. He suffered a lot. This “power” we have been given must be used in some special way if it is to be helpful to us and honored by the Father who gives it. We will see the extent of that power and the basis of authority we are given. We will also see that power multiplied through the unique work of the Son. There are places where “power” is called for and places where patience and real endurance are required.
Remember, it is the Lord Jesus who is the “doer” of the will of God the Father. We are not supermen endowed with grand abilities and expected to perform feats of daring and extraordinary acts of courage. “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful.” (1 Cor. 4:1,2) Simple faithfulness is our lot and His requirement. In this Division we can also find special attention paid to the authority and power the Father gave to His Son to exercise among and over the affairs of men. His is to work, ours is to trust. His is to do, ours is to wait.
Section one - 1:15-23
Divine power toward us in Christ our Head
Introduction to Section one
God’s power is directed to and deposited in Christ as the “doer” of the will of the Father. In this we can see the strengthening unity of Father and Son. As regards us, we have now been joined to God through perfect union with the Son, the Head of the Church. We are thus confirmed by the testimony of two, Father and Son, as the elect of God and under His care. Union is the picture of two becoming one, which is now the believer’s position, not with but “in Christ”.
Ephesians 1:1
(1:1) An “apostle” is one with authority and a commission–One who operates and lives within the protection and directives of the one who sent him out. It is in this very sense that Paul declares himself to be “an apostle of Christ Jesus” with singleness of purpose. He belongs totally and solely to his Lord. In order that we not mistake his commission, he plainly states that he was conscripted into service “by the will of God”. You will recall that on the road to Damascus, Paul was struck down by the brilliant presence of the ascended Jesus. There he was confronted with the gospel of His saving work and he was drawn directly into serving Him.
“Saints” (‘hagios’, ones set apart to a particular purpose) are those in Ephesus who are believers. The same Greek root word is translated, “saint”, “sanctify”, and “holy” and consistently means to be “set apart”. This refers to their position. These same recipients of the letter are also called “the faithful in Christ Jesus”. “Faithful” refers to their condition or experience. Does this mean that those who are ‘full of faith’ never doubt? No. They are people just like us who have their own moments of soul-searching. Thankfully, they are not held to God by their own strength, but by His.
Ephesians 1:2
(1:2) “Grace and peace” are always found joined when reference is made to the believer and to the riches provided him/her through union with Jesus Christ. The most essential element of this verse is the declaration that everything we have comes to us directly from “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Watch this carefully now–The role of Christ as Savior is widely advertised in most Christian churches today. His adoration is almost universal in both evangelical and liturgical bodies that claim to be Christian. But, it is also sadly the case that the position and role of God the Father is; ignored by the Clergy, often forgotten, and mainly overlooked by many believers. It is not a matter of intentional omission, but simply one of neglect and lack of emphasis from the pulpit.
Many bible teachers and a large percentage of church leadership simply omit focus on the Father out of habit. Is this a serious problem? Unfortunately, it is. This is a very dangerous course and leads to the continued weakening of the Church, as we will see.
I believe that this process is started whenever certain trends of thought begin to grow in the collective mind of any group of believers or in its leadership. It often begins with attempts to make Jesus “more relevant” to those being taught. Then we realize that it is difficult to describe a relationship that exists as spiritual rather than physical. Now we know that God is spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit and truth; but it surely is easier to describe our relationship to God in terms of human attributes. This appears to be sound reasoning–After all, wasn’t Jesus, who is the Son of God, fully human as well as undiminished deity? Let’s look at some of the results of following this path . . .
It is with the very best of intentions that we subtly indoctrinate our children in these erroneous concepts by only describing God in terms of human attributes and do it at the earliest ages by means that include;
(1) The songs we teach them–(“What a friend we have in Jesus”).
(2) The images of the man Jesus–a kind-faced Jewish prophet, as the object of their prayers.
(3) Baby Jesus in the manger–A sweet, innocent baby worthy of being adored.
“So, what is so wrong with that?” you ask. The resulting idea that children who are fed these images visualize, of God as man, reduces God and His Son to the role of super-men. This is not the scripturally defined persona of either the First or the Second Person of the Trinity. When awe of Christ-as-God is lost, the reality of absolute values associated with His attributes as the Son of God is thoroughly done away with. Jesus was not simply a better man. He was God come in flesh and identified as perfect man.
However, as a man, He was never not God–fully God. Every biblical record of His confrontation of demonic entities shows that they clearly recognized Him as the Son of God and reigning deity. Do we indeed rush in where angels fear to tread? Our choices for Sunday School fare and public worship suggest that we often do.
Our sanctuary from this kind of debilitating imagery is a clear and continuing adoration of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in ways that our children can see and understand. When we have clearly before our mind’s eye the spiritual and scriptural presence of the Father as the sole object of our prayers and petitions, then the concept of Jesus the Man as God remains real to us. Our children can then relate to Him in the same manner. This is the view offered by the Apostle Paul as he brings our focus repeatedly to rest on the Father. When we do not have a clear under-standing of the supreme position of the Father, then we lose spiritual sight of the very Person to whom Jesus Christ surrendered His own will. Once Jesus is separated from His Father, the mind is free to redefine Him into a Superman-a Jesus that can be manipulated. The charismatic church is exploding in growth based on precisely this kind of concept of Jesus.
Whenever I return to my hometown, Pascagoula Mississippi, and meet someone new, or someone I haven’t seen in a number of years, they will usually ask if I have family there. When I mention my dad’s name, I gain immediate recognition as belonging to the community–I am Mac Bowman’s oldest son. People who know him will immediately come to some conclusions about me, based solely on their relationship to him. That is exactly as it should be! After all, I bear his name. As “Sons of God”, heirs to the kingdom, and “Christians”, we bear the name of the Almighty and are intimately identified with Him and all that He is!
ACTION ITEM: Teach your children to pray to our “Heavenly Father”. Let them know that Jesus the man was God, because He was the Son of the Father. Establish the parenting concept that forms the basis for surrendering our will to a loving and benevolent father. Demonstrate that concept by your own attitudes towards parents and grandparents.
Ephesians 1:3
The Father, The Source of Our Blessings
(1:3) To reinforce this focus, Paul points to God the Father as the source of every Christian blessing. “Praise” is also to be directed to the Father. Further, these blessings are not earthly assets, but heavenly. They are deposited for us “in Christ”, which is to say that He holds every asset available to us where He is at the right hand of His Father. That does not mean that we are without resources here, but that our resources, strengths, means, and authority, are all sourced from our position in-Christ at the right hand of the Father. What joy this brings Paul.
Ephesians 1:4
(1:4) “For He chose us…” (Thank you Father for not leaving it up to me) identifies the Father as the One who made the choice to claim us individually as His own. The middle voice verb says that the Father chose us for Himself. “…in Him…” refers back to the previous verse “in Christ”, and identifies Christ as the One in whom we are placed. We are now located, or found to be, “in Christ”, joined completely and irreversibly to Him, just as a bride is irrevocably joined to her husband and he to she. Divorce, you see, does not represent what is actually true.
All of this preparation is for the particular benefit of the Bride of the Son of God and occurred historically prior to the point of the “foundation of the world.” In considering the sequence of events, it must be recognized that because God is eternal in His being, there is no single point of beginning for Him as there is for that which He creates. As far as we are concerned, creation was simply the initiation, the starting point, of the continuum of time, as we know it. Prior to that ’event’, we were “chosen” by God to occupy a special position in His plan based solely upon the counsel of His own will.
The result is that we are to be “holy.” “Holy” is a translation of ‘hagios’ (see verse one) and means to be set apart to a purpose. We have been selected out of all creation and set apart in this Age (dispensation) for the specific purpose of being the recipients of God’s blessing and a source of His praise as the Bride of Christ. There are three types of “set-apart-ness” or sanctification with which we should be familiar as Christians:
(1) Positional Sanctification - We are joined to Christ and share Christ’s being set-apart as the perfect sacrifice for sin. This occurs the very moment we believe and is declared to be so from “before the creation of the world”.
(2) Experiential Sanctification - We are living in light of our having been joined to Christ. The means by which that is accomplished is to “reckon (declare) ourselves to be dead to Sin”, to live in freedom from condemnation and under the grace of God’s provision to His Son.
(3) Ultimate Sanctification - To be in a glorified, resurrection body. This will occur when we are transported to the Rapture where the Bride (the Church) will be claimed by the Groom as His own for all eternity.
We are also to be “blameless”. There is nothing that can be held to our account. Nothing remains to be paid as a penalty for wrongdoing on our part. This does not concern simply the affairs of life among men, but the relationship between man and God. When the Father looks at us, He sees only His Son for we are entirely clothed in His righteousness. And, we must remember that this all was so “before the foundation of the world.”
Ephesians 1:5
The Omniscience and Omnipresence of God
(1:5) In order to understand the concepts of the next verse, it is necessary that we consider the nature of God and His attributes. “Predestined” is a word that usually requires us to think of time and events in a linear matrix. If we limit our definition to our experience, ‘predestine’ suggests that an event, yet future, is fixed in its details and cannot change. In that model it is impossible for anyone within the event to exercise choice or free will, because all outcomes are determined before their times arrive. We must achieve a richer understanding.
Omniscience
It is very hard for any of us to conceive of knowing everything (and at the same time, to act as if it were the case). One of the main reasons why this is so very difficult a concept for us to grasp is that there are so many new things that we learn every day. Too, we have come to expect that the process will continue as long as we live. If you think about it, you know that each of us start some projects that simply will not be completed in our lifetime. There are places unvisited, letters unwritten, houses partially remodeled, gardens half -planted, degrees not yet attained, missions unfulfilled, good relationships unpursued and bad relationships not broken off. At worst, it is our passions for procrastination.
At best, we leave that unfinished work-in-process for our successors to complete, knowing that it will add to their knowledge and understanding beyond any studied level that we achieved during our own lifetime. Trees are planted that our grandchildren will enjoy. Research is begun that will take several professional generations to analyze and then learn to apply for the benefit of others who follow them. In the age of the computer and realm of the Internet, we have grown accustomed to the proposition that whatever we know today is soon going to be, if it is not already, obsolete information.
“For the Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of the soul and the spirit and the joints and the marrow, and is the perfect critic of the thoughts and intentions of the mind.”
To wrap ones mind around the fact of “all-knowing” is to accept that all events have occurred, all days have come to an end, all life as we know it has ceased to be, and that the universe in which we live has ground to a stop in every sense of further development that we can express. To be at such a vantage point in the history of our world would certainly require one possessing properties and attributes beyond anything measurable within the realm of human experience. Yet Scripture, that amazing record of Judean-Christian development, declares that God is “all-knowing”. There is no thing that He, the creator, does not know of fact, event, thought, or intention of heart. This is stunning! How can we possibly comprehend this extraordinary statement that “He knows all, past, present, and future”?
This vastness of His knowledge of all creation rests in large part on His presence in all of creation. It is not simply that God “knows” what will happen in the future. It is rather that with God there is no such thing as the future. There is only time, the single event, which stretches from the instant of creation to the ultimate, final nanosecond of dissolution. His eternal nature means that all of earth history is before Him in one single act of creation. Each decision and responsibility delegated to the crown of His creation, man, is accommodated and worked out through His sovereign will.
God does not simply know what will happen, based upon His divine foreknowledge of the future. Rather, there is no future separated from the present with God. All is one and the same–What we view as Past, Present, and Future are just one single event! While we are seeing it unfold, as a map of time and history might be unfolded and displayed for us to examine, God is viewing the whole of time as an accomplished fact. One fact! He does not stand at any given place and view it as all past, all future or even all present–He stands outside of it all and views it as one event.
How is this possible? Stephen W. Hawking stated:
“Both Aristotle and Newton believed in absolute time. That is, they believed that one could unambiguously measure the interval of time between two events, and that this time would be the same whoever measured it, provided they used a good clock. Time was completely separate from and independent of space. This is what most people would take to be the common sense view.”
Most Christians today would certainly fall within that category of thinkers. Time is a linear action of events and space defines the place where events occur. Hawking continues…
“However, we have had to change our ideas about space and time. Although our apparently common sense notions work well when dealing with things like apples, or planets that travel comparatively slowly, they don’t work at all for things moving at or near the speed of light.”
Speed of light? “And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (John 1:5) Scripture tells us clearly, and beyond any hope of John, the writer, having any physiological understanding of the depth of truth he was espousing, that God is the essence of that which defines time and space in this cosmos.
This is very, very hard for us to envision. The following chart may help to make it a bit clearer.
GOD
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Eternity Creation Eternity
Past One Single Event Future
????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????
Eden Fall Flood Babel Law Church Tribulation 1000 Great
of Age White
Man Throne
Omnipresence
The Nature of Omnipresence–
“I am the Alpha and the Omega” says the Lord God, “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”…“Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:8,17,18
Omnipresence is a big word. It is an even bigger concept. Think about this–it means more than simply being in all places. It must include the idea of being in all places at all times. Try to visualize it this way–We hold within our brain cells, the memory of places we have been. Those memories are always associated with the times we came to know or experience them.
We have been privileged to visit some very interesting places–New Orleans at Mardi Gras, San Francisco during the rainy season, Tahoe in the snow, Miami in July, Atlanta in the Spring, New York in a winter storm. Each of these places is remembered within the context of conditions that prevailed when we were there. But, each of these places has an ongoing experience apart from our own time there. They are not always in the same condition in which we experienced them. However, to us those places are always viewed in light of our memory of them. Or, to put it another way; those places are always stored in our memory of the light of them.
It’s the light that makes up our perception of reality and experience.
When we consider the concept of Omnipresence, the idea of time necessarily comes in with it and comes in a manner totally foreign to any capacity we might have to experience it. Can you imagine going to sleep and waking up yesterday? Can you imagine seeing something that is going to happen and being able to step through a door into the past with enough time to prepare for or prevent that event?
For one to become Omnipresent, time would have to cease to be a restraining concept. Time would be compressed into one event, linear action becoming completely irrelevant. So it is with light. So it is with God. Linear action is only relevant to those captured within the sphere of time, space and history. So it is with Man! No wonder His ways are not our ways.
The Scope of Omnipresence–
The very nature of Omnipresence establishes “foreknowledge”. God “knows” the events we have yet ahead of us because they are in His present. He is right now precisely where they are occurring. Furthermore, He is also at the very moment of creation, declaring every single happening to be consonant with His eternal and divine will. Does that mean that God just “goes along with” each decision made by man? No, for the nature of man is to oppose truth and reject righteousness. God does intervene in the affairs of man and in man’s decisions according to the dictates of His own Sovereign Will. He does this in order to infuse this created world with displays of His absolute values and perfect character, and He has chosen man as the vessel through which to do that.
Free Will, the “Right” to Choose.
God has given limited freedom of choice to man. You may choose to be offended that He did not leave it all up to you. Or, you may choose to be delighted. Personally, I am delighted. I think that most of our choices revolve around obedience to the truth as God reveals it to us individually. Sometimes though, He reveals truth to all mankind for a specific purpose. He does so in order that every man might be judged by his own response. With freedom, comes responsibility! We say it to our teenaged children. I often wonder if we really understand that the principle does not change with age or station in life.
It is also in the realm of common human experience that we will encounter God’s truth repeatedly during our lifetime. When we do, we are then held accountable for our responses to Him, just like the servants given the talents while the Master of the house was on a journey. A principle emerges from this that states:
“WITH ,
COMES "
As the Apostle points out, it is the love of God that is the source of all that is in store for those who are among the elect. From His loving choice, we are “adopted” (placed as adult sons) and given the civil status of Sons of the Father.
Ephesians 1:6
(1:6) “Grace” speaks of God’s provision for us in time as well as in eternity. We are not left to struggle here on the basis of our own human ingenuity or physical resources. Neither does He leave us at the mercy of our own mental abilities, skills or lack of talent. He empowers us for life with an infusion by the Holy Spirit of the life of the Son. It is His life, which we now live in anticipation of His coming to claim His Bride. That provision includes the means by which we live moment-to-moment and the means by which we will occupy ourselves for all eternity.
Our adoption into His family, by being joined to His Son, is for the express purpose of displaying “praise”, honor rightfully demonstrated, “of His glorious grace”. In other words, we are to be trophies before all the heavenly host of angelic beings, of His loving provision for His creation, elected to that position “freely”. There is no cost exacted from us, all having been made available to “the One He loves”, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we rest. Apart from Christ, we are but animal creation. In Christ, we are lifted out from among mankind and set apart in that special realm of humanity in union to deity. To the unregenerate mind, this is the ultimate presumption.
To the regenerate spirit in redeemed man, this is ultimate grace.
Ephesians 1:7
(1:7,8) “Redemption” means “reclaimed at a price.” In the richer and fuller sense of use, it refers to a property once owned, then lost, and now discovered in the market for sale and “repurchased” to become again the property of the original owner.
When Christ died, His blood paid the price for the Sin of the whole world. No one is condemned to eternity in hell as a result of Sin, for that has been removed judicially. One is lost based on their own rejection of the price paid on their behalf.
Every child is born into the world in innocence and is the property of God the Father, the giver of life. At some point, that small person will reach an age and stage of development that enables him/her to exercise the freedom of will granted to mankind by the Father. At that point, they may choose to reject God and His claim on their life. Then that man, woman, or child can become lost to God by their own rejection of His offer to claim them as His on the basis of the sacrifice of His own Son. When His presence and provision are rejected and any other reason for living is grasped, that person is then cast into enslavement to Sin and the inner nature of rebellion is unleashed. Finding oneself in the Slave Market of Sin, he/she eventually must come to consider (even though they may not all understand) that there is but one way out, through Christ the “door”.
“We will never be able to understand Scripture till we see sharply and clearly the distinction between Israel, the chosen earthly nation, and the Church, the Body of Christ. Paul is the apostle of the latter. And, as such, he is the apostle of a totally new thing.” Wm R. Newell
“His blood” is the price paid for our redemption and “the forgiveness of sins” the result of our having been redeemed. Because He made that payment on our behalf, without requirement to do so on His part, the redemptive act was entirely “of God’s grace…lavished on us” without measure and with clear “understanding” of our utter lostness. “Wisdom” is information about God and His character accumulated in practical terms, facts. Examples include: His power, unmatched by any force known to man or angel. His authority, unequaled by any created being, earthly or spiritual. He has given us an abundance of such information regarding who He is through direct revelation to the prophets, apostles and disciples. Paul tells the believers in Rome that God also revealed Himself through the natural world (Romans chapter 1). “Wisdom” includes the expression of our reasonable expectations based on what we know of God. “Understanding”, is knowledge gained through experience and testing of what we have learned.
He orders our pathway in such a manner that our experience gives us opportunities by which to “prove” that the revelations are true and valid. What He did for us and is doing in us we could in no way do for ourselves. “Understanding” also includes our conclusions based on the application of our personal assumptions (expectations) to our experience.
Ephesians 1:9
(1:9-10) Paul is using the plural here (“He made known to us”), in order that we might all personally identify with what he is saying. It is specifically true, however, that Paul was the individual to whom God revealed his intentions for that entire special company of men and women placed into union with His Son, Jesus Christ, which is called “the Church.” Having redeemed us (the Church), the Father now, through the work of the Revealer, the Holy Spirit, brings us into knowledge of truths heretofore hidden from men, including even Israel under the Law.
“It is in Acts 9:20 that the Lord Jesus is first proclaimed, by Paul, as the Son of God–and this is a distinct advance of truth concerning Him. Paul already stood in clearer light regarding the risen and glorified Lord than did the other apostles, for they had known Him primarily, in humiliation, and they were His messengers to Israel, of whom is Christ ‘as concerning the flesh’ (Rom. 9:5). But Paul’s first vision of the Lord Jesus was as the Glorified One, the Son of God, in resurrection glory.” –Wm. R. Newell
“Oikonomian” is translated “dispensation”, “stewardship”, or “administration”, by different scholars. The definition fits the common ideas of all of these. A dispensation is a period of human history from God’s point of view. It involves a circumstance that exists on Earth and which involves the way in which man is related to God and the means by which God reveals Himself to man. In the Old Testament, this was mainly through the Mosaic Law given to Israel. The illustrations of God and His attributes were displayed in Tabernacle and Temple ceremonies and rites for all of Israel to see and understand.
In the period from Pentecost until the Rapture of the Church, His revelation is through His Word, which reveals the Lord Jesus Christ under the direct ministry of the Holy Spirit. After the Church is taken out of the world, and Israel is brought under God’s judgment and care, a period of personal reign by Jesus Christ for 1,000 years (the Millennium) will ensue. That is the “dispensation of the fullness of times”, the final period of earthly history involving man. After that time, earth and heaven will be removed and replaced with a new heaven and earth for all eternity.
Ephesians 1:11
Scriptural predestination
Is every step that we take chosen beforehand for each of us by God? Can we actually make a difference in our life’s circumstances by the choices we make? Does God give us the freedom to reject Him and His interventions into our lives? If He “knows before it happens”, then how could we possibly affect the things that are in our future by our own acts of will?
(1:11) “We were also chosen”, gives us confidence that our redemption is directly an outworking of the will (“predestined”) of the Father and “according to” His plan. This is a plan that has been in place since before the world was created. “In Him” identifies the sphere of our having been chosen by the Father. In eternity past, the Father chose the Son as the perfect and complete redeemer for all of mankind. In choosing the Son, He also chose all who would be joined to the Son. Therefore, we are “predestined” to our adoption as “Sons of God” by means of our union with Jesus Christ. Predestination is not the driving force of our will to accept the Lord Jesus as our personal redeemer.
We were not forced to come to the Lord Jesus; we were enticed by the Holy Spirit. The Father did not win us through coercion but through loving compassion. Predestination is the driving force of the Father’s will to install His own Son as the Supreme Ruler over all creation. Scriptural predestination is centered in the Father’s provision for His Son including the election of His Bride and Her union with the Son. In that union, the Church becomes “one with” God! As the Son is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, so too is the Church One with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:12
(1:12) “In order that”, introduces a purpose clause; the purpose of our having been redeemed was that “we…might be for the praise of His glory.” We were not saved because of some intrinsic or implied quality of goodness on our part, but on the basis of His elective choice. He declared us individually to be the object of His love and grace. “…to hope in Christ” marks that moment in time when those who came to know the resurrected Christ turned from their despair and from their sins and placed their trust in the Lord Jesus. Right then, they were redeemed, accepting Him as the single solution to Sin. The Father had made provision for every single decision before the foundation of the world, in that timeless eternity past. He chose the Son and all who are in the Son, out from time and into a position that brings “praise” to Him forever.
Ephesians 1:13
The work of the Holy Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance
Introduction to section three:
THREE
Fulfillment, fullness, Set-apart, holiness, possession,
sanctuary, solidity and reality
With the three persons of the Godhead before us, you can see fullness and completion. Under the numeral one (1), you have the work of the Father as Planner of the salvation of man. Under the numeral two (2), you have the work of the Son in executing that plan and securing the redemption of man. Under the numeral three (3), you see the Holy Spirit in His role of revelation of that plan to man, the object of salvation. This also signals the completion of the work of God for Man. The plan of salvation and the work of each member of the Trinity are evident with the giving of the Holy Spirit, the down payment of God’s assets deposited for His own.
There are many aspects to the work of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. Two of those are to be looked at here; One, the “sealing” ministry of the Holy Spirit as the guarantor of our eternal security in Christ, and Two, the role of the Holy Spirit as the “earnest”, or down payment, on our inheritance.
It is by means of the Holy Spirit that the believer is placed into union with Christ. This is the location into which we are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit. Once having been placed “into Christ” by an act of God the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for any lesser power to undue such seal.
The “sealing” ministry of the Holy Spirit
(1:13) Many believers are afraid of losing their salvation because they discover sin in their life as they grow in their Christian experience. A lot of them do not understand that they are held secure “in Christ”. They are “sealed” (aorist-once for all) to Him by the action of the Holy Spirit. That work is not in response to merit on their part, nor can it be shaken or annulled by any particular act, which they might confess or commit. The Holy Spirit works at the behest of, and according to, the will of the Father. Since there was nothing we “did” in order to earn our election by the Father, it follows that there is nothing we can “do” to disallow His election or reverse the sealing work of the Holy Spirit.
The content of the promise is a display of God’s love for us. It is expressed in love as He claimed us as His own and in love as Christ gave Himself for our redemption, and now in love as the Holy Spirit daily reveals that plan of redemption to us.
Ephesians 1:14
(1:14) It is the Holy Spirit “who is the earnest” (down payment) on our inheritance, signifying that all which has been promised to us will be delivered exactly in its proper time. “Until the redemption” refers to the resurrection of the believer’s body at the Rapture of the Church. “Glory” is “shining” and describes the outward appearance of God as light. Our redemption will redound to the “praise” of the Father by all of creation, both in heaven and on Earth.
In other words, our final, physical resurrection to eternal life will cause all creation to focus on God’s unique work in man (and specifically, in the redemption of the Church, the Body of Christ) (“praise”) and will cause God’s very presence to shine before all creation. Since “light” is the visible manifestation of God, this means that God’s very nature and attributes will become even more apparent because of the resurrection and appearance of the Bride of the Son, the New Testament Church, who will be clothed in light as is the Son.
Ephesians 1:15
(1:15,16) Faith, when given expression leads to an experience of rest. That experience occurs whenever a believer walks in confidence that God is working His best for all who are involved. Therefore, the principle of Faith-Rest describes the believer’s life whenever he or she is in fellowship with God and being led by the Holy Spirit “in Christ”. Love (agape) is the natural attitude towards others and thanksgiving is the inevitable result of a life in tune with the life of the Lord Jesus.
When you encounter people who can face adversity or success with a consistent poise and grace, humbly giving the Father all credit for gain or solutions, then you have identified one who is at rest in Christ and at peace (at one) with God.
Ephesians 1:17
Effective Prayer
(1:17,18) What Paul prays for on behalf of the believers in Ephesus…
(1) The Spirit of wisdom and revelation, i.e. “information” in order that they “may know God the Father better.”
(2) That “the eyes of your heart” (a euphemism for ones “mind”) may be “enlightened”, i.e. “information” in order that they “may know the hope” of their calling and how rich their inheritance is.
(3) That they “may know” of “His incomparably great power” exercised for believers.
Pray for Understanding!
Note that there are no petitions here for relief, but for understanding and wisdom. These are the basis of hope, rather than any ease from our present difficulties. It is tragic when Christians spend their hours searching for relief and change. These are the very circumstances brought into our lives by a loving Father precisely to bring us into a clearer and richer understanding of His care for us. “May know” is epignosis “knowledge that is true, full, accurate and tested.” “Heart” is cardia and refers to the organs of thought and conscience. “Enlightened” is a perfect participle, referring to an act in the past, which has results that extend into the present.
“It is not salvation merely that we have received; but we are set here as saved ones to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus, in mind and ways of Him by whom we live. Hence there are little children, young men, and fathers (1 John 2), showing the grades, not of salvation, but of growth in the divine life.”
–J.P. Stoney
Ephesians 1:19
(1:19,20) Paul’s letters make it clear that the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers is to instruct them in the things of God, in order “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God (1 Corinthians 2:12). We should easily conclude, that believers should, for the most part, stop praying for relief and consistently pray for understanding! Even when, no, especially when, the circumstance seems unfair, painful, or humanly unconscionable is it necessary for the believer to reach into inner resources of faith and trust that can only come from the life of the Lord Jesus within–faithfulness, not heroism. The Son faced His human tasks of obedience and suffering knowing that his loving heavenly Father is weaving a tapestry only viewed in its entirety from His Throne. If Jesus Christ would not interpose His own desires to recuse Himself as a victim of the most heinous act of cruelty known among angels and men, dare we suggest our own limited ideas as alternatives to the conditions we see around us? (God, give us understanding!)
The next thing to take in from this very powerful passage is this–The power that the Father brings to bear in our life in order to accomplish His best for us, is the same power used “when He (the Father) raised Him (the Son) from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies.” This is a strong as you can get! And, it is the standard package for believers, regardless of what their gift for service, personal strength of commitment, or standing in the church might be. It’s much like an admission kit to the hospital. Everybody who is admitted gets one. But, think of what this is saying to us…God the Father is channeling the same degree of power through us to accomplish His will in our lives that He used to raise the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and draw Him into heaven. If that is what is going on all of the time as a standard provision for us, then what in the world have we left to ask for?
and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the
Ephesians 1:21
(1:21,22) Look, says Paul, on the basis of that power, Christ has been installed by the Father as supreme ruler “above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given.” That pretty much covers every class of creation, angelic or human, fallen or redeemed, judged or free, “not only in the present age, but also in the one to come” referring to the Millennium and beyond. “Rule, authority, power, dominion, and title”, all refer to the angelic hierarchy, both fallen and righteous, who are given freedom to affect the affairs of men. It is important to remember that the man, Jesus, who is “the Christ”, is now at the right hand of the Father and ruler over every level of creation forever, specifically to function as head over it all on behalf of the Church. The Church is that unique company of the redeemed from out of mankind beginning with those in the upper room at Pentecost and ending with the calling out of the final remnant who are alive when the Rapture occurs.
Ephesians 1:23
The Church completes Christ
(1:23) It is that company of believers “which is His body,” and “the fullness of Him.” He is saying to us that it is the Church, which completes everything that God intends for His blessed Son. Can you possibly take this in? Christ, the head of all creation, is completed by taking to Himself a bride, the Church of the New Testament, consisting of each individual believer redeemed by His blood. That’s you and me and Paul and Peter and Aunt Annie and.. .