Ephesians 1 - Part 2
(Bible Study Time 3-27-05)
Last week we started a study of the book of Ephesians where the Apostle Paul used the term saints to refer to all the faithful in Christ Jesus. The scriptures repeatedly confirm for us that all believers are saints for they have been set apart by God and for God. Paul expressed his desire to see all believers experience the peace of God which has been given to us by God's grace. Ephesians 1:3 says that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, and verse 4 says that we were chosen in Christ even before the foundation of the world.
Foundation in the Greek is katabole which means disposition, while the word for world is kosmos which means order. Therefore, in a literal sense, we were chosen in Christ before God gave the "disposition of the order." Well, what order was Paul talking about?
Many times in the New Testament scriptures we see the word kosmos used for the physical universe. Romans 5 says that by one man sin entered into the kosmos. Isn't that interesting? Sometimes people think that the Bible has an antifeminine bias, but who did God blame for sin. God placed the blame for sin squarely on Adam, even though it was Eve who was first deceived by the serpent.
Gentlemen, God holds us responsible for the spiritual well being of those we love. It would be a grave mistake to think that all God expects from us is to make enough money to send the kids to college. Oh no. God expects us to provide an environment for our family, for our wife and for our children, where the name of the Lord is uplifted and glorified and where His Word is actively taught.
But it was through Adam that sin entered into the world, and someday the curse will be lifted from the world because of what the man, Christ Jesus, accomplished upon the cross of Calvary. But that curse will not be lifted until the people of the world choose to trust Jesus Christ for their salvation. When Christ returns to the earth at the end of the tribulation period, unbelievers will be sentenced to death, and the believers will enter into Israel's promised kingdom. Of coarse, the believers of our present age, as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, will be taken out of the world and up into the heavenly places with Christ before the tribulation period begins.
John, Chapter 1, speaks of Jesus and says, (John 1:9_10)(NKJ) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Jesus Christ came into the physical universe which He had created, but because it was under the curse of sin, it did not know Him.
The phrase "foundation of the world" is often used in the New Testament to refer to the creation of the physical universe. Matthew 13 says:
(Matt 13:34_35)(NKJ)
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."
In Luke 11, Jesus said to those who questioned His authority:
(Luke 11:50-51)(NKJ)
50 "the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
51 "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
51 "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
Now in verse 5 of Ephesians 1 we read:
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
We were chosen in Christ before the creation of the world, and furthermore, we were predestined by God's decree to be adopted by God as sons. Why would God do this? Why would God choose us by His own election? Did He see something in us that made us worthy of this special grace? Not at all. It was according to the good pleasure of God's own will. It was God's desire to take pleasure in us as His own sons.
The angels of heaven are God's servants, but God wanted to delight in us as sons. He could take no pleasure in us while we were dead in trespasses and sin, so He made it possible for us to be seen in Jesus Christ as holy and without blame. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, he or she is baptized into the righteousness of Christ, and by God's decree the believer becomes holy and without blame before Him in love. Completely engulfed in, completely surrounded by the love of God.
Mankind lost the privilege of access to God's love when Adam sinned, but now through the redemption that is ours in Jesus Christ, we are surrounded by His love. Paul said, (Rom 5:5-6) (NKJ) . . . the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
The fact that God has separated us out from among the masses of humanity to be accepted in Jesus Christ is something that brings praise to the glory of God's grace. This is one of those areas which is for all intents and purposes a litmus test. If you are listening today as I tell you that God has predestined some to be accepted in Jesus Christ, and if that causes resentment and a sense of injustice within your heart, if it creates a feeling that God is unfair and cruel, then that is a pretty good indication that you are not one of those who has been called.
If, on the other hand, as you hear about the truth of God's predestined calling, you feel a deep sense of gratitude and love toward God for His beautiful plan of salvation, then that is a good indication that you are one of those who has been chosen, and your heart will experience blessing upon blessing as you meditate upon God's perfect plan.
If you hear the word of God, and you realize that you are not one of God's children, and you walk away saying, "I am not saved and there is no way that I can be saved because God has already chosen the people who are going to be saved", then that is a good indication that you were not called to be saved. But if you hear the word of God and you say to God, "God, I want to be one of those who is called to be accepted in Jesus Christ. I want to be one of those who is called to be holy and without blame in Jesus Christ", then God will give you the faith to believe that Christ died for your sins. At that point, the Holy Spirit of God will bear witness with your spirit that you are a son of God, and you will grow in your understanding of the fact that you were called to be a son of God even before the foundation of the world.
When we take God at His word, He is able to do miracles which by definition, we can not understand or explain, but we know they are real. How does God take a poor lost sinner, dead in his trespasses and sins, and make him a new creation in Christ, and then give him the assurance in his heart that God called him even before the universe was created? Our lack of explanation leads us to say with the psalmist, (Ps 145:3)(NKJ) Great is the LORD, and His greatness is unsearchable.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Verse 7 of Ephesians 1 says that our identification with Christ and our baptism into Christ result in our redemption through His blood. According to Barnes' Notes, the root of the Greek word for redemption specifically refers to the price or the ransom which is paid for a prisoner of war, and thus we see that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed as a payment to set us free from the bondage of sin.
We were at war with sin and sin was winning. By nature, we were held captive by sin, unable to free ourselves from its chains, but the blood of Jesus Christ was sufficient to pay the required price for our freedom. As we experience the salvation of God, we are able to say with the songwriter of old, There Is Power in the Blood.
In some circles of the Christian religion today, the topic of Christ's shed blood is not very popular. Some think that the doctrine of the cross is too violent. They say we need to tame it down a bit. But denying the necessity of Christ's shed blood, denies the inherent violence of sin and the extreme measures that were required and provided to set us free from the power of sin.
When Adam sinned, God's protective hand was removed from the creation and indescribable violence shook the very foundations of the universe. This violence is still clearly seen in human nature and in nature in general. In order to overcome the violence of sin, God had to pour out His violent judgment upon an innocent man who was willing to endure that judgment for mankind.
I recently attended a Bible conference where one of the teachers pointed out that the gospel message is the story of a man who was wrongfully accused, wrongfully convicted and wrongfully executed, and this was God's perfect plan to provide justice. The unredeemed mind will be repulsed by this thought and may turn away from the gospel, but when the human mind turns to God and accepts God's word by faith, that which was repulsive becomes beautiful because it is seen as the only means by which sinful man could possibly be redeemed.
Romans 3 says, (Rom 3:23_26)(NKJ) . . . all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood. A propitiation is that which appeases or satisfies. Therefore, it was the blood of Christ which satisfied God righteous requirement, God's just payment for sin. Romans 3 goes on to say that this payment for sin comes through faith to demonstrate God's righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
God has chosen to accept personal faith as the means by which this perfect plan of redemption is made available to man. No one can live a righteous life, but anyone can believe. God declares that this is fair. This is just. And because God is just, He gave clues throughout the scriptures that faith is the active ingredient in salvation.
Hebrews 11 recounts for us the many times that the principle of faith is lifted up as the standard of God's acceptance in the Old Testament. Beginning with verse 4 we read:
(Heb 11:4)(NKJ)
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous.
(Heb 11:7_11)(NKJ)
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
It may not seem just to the human mind that an innocent man should die for the sins of those who have fallen far short of the glory of God, but we can praise the Lord today that God's word plainly declares that God's justice has been satisfied by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
In Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, and this according to the riches of His grace. The word for riches means abundance, and it is in our redemption through the blood of Christ that we are introduced to the superabounding grace of God. In Ephesians Chapter 2 we will find out that it is part of God's perfect plan for us to stand throughout the ages as a demonstration of the richness of God's grace.
Well I see our time is almost gone. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, pray a simple prayer of faith today. Tell God that you want to experience the riches of His grace through your personal faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to BST time this morning and be sure to tune in again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
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