Ephesians 1 Part 7 (5-1-05)

Ephesians 1:12-13
(Bible Study Time 5-1-05)

In Ephesians, Chapter 1, we have seen that we have an inheritance in Jesus Christ which was predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. This means that we have this inheritance because God determined that we should have it. Our inheritance does not relate so much to what we are going to get, but it relates to what we are going to be. We are going to be to the praise of God’s glory in every aspect of our being. As the Sons of God, we will be immortal with perfect bodies, perfect minds and perfect hearts.

Even today we are the sons of God for we have been made new creations in Christ, but we still have to deal with our fleshly bodies. So many times the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. In Romans 7, Paul said:

Rom 7:22-25 (NKJ)
22 . . . I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Praise the Lord, he goes on to say that the Spirit of God within us is stronger than the lusts of the flesh for:

Rom 8:1,5,14 (NKJ)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are (the) sons of God.

Therefore, we do have the power to overcome the flesh through the Holy Spirit of God, but we still have the flesh to contend with. When we receive our inheritance, which God predestined for us, we will have to deal with the flesh no longer. We will have been made perfect in body, mind, and soul.

Even now God is moving us in that direction for he has given us ministers

Eph 4:12-13 (NKJ)
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

When will that be? When will we actually reach the stature of the fullness of Christ? When we receive our inheritance. When we are completely and totally to the praise of God’s glory.

Paul says that this inheritance belongs to those of us who first trusted in Christ. Now it is kind of interesting that up to this point in Ephesians 1, Paul had used the pronoun "we" to describe those who are the beneficiaries of these heavenly blessings. In verse 12, he says, "We who first trusted in Christ have obtained this inheritance." But in the very next verse Paul says, "In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth."

Was Paul implying that the Ephesian believers were not among those who first trusted in Christ? Were the believers of Ephesus not among those who had obtained this inheritance? That would be inconsistent with the intent of Paul’s letter. Paul was not writing to tell these people about the blessings that someone else had. He was writing to encourage them in the blessings God had bestowed upon them.

So why did Paul switch pronouns? It may be that one reason for the switch is that Paul wanted to emphasize that they too were partakers in all of these blessings because they too were among those who first trusted in Christ. Keep this in mind as we read it again.

Eph 1:11-13 (NKJ)
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, . . .
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

He says that they should not let anyone tell them that they were not recipients of these blessings that God has given." Some of the Judaizers would have required these believers to follow all of the traditions of the Law of Moses, but in effect Paul said, "No. God accepts you just like you are, simply because you trusted in Christ when you heard the gospel of salvation."

He was saying, "You too have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. You also have been predestined as Sons of God. You also have this inheritance that you should be to the praise of His glory." Then Paul goes on to say that when they trusted in Christ, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise:

Eph 1:14 (NKV)
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Therefore, Paul used the pronoun "we" all the way through the first 12 verses saying that we have all of these blessings in Christ, and then in verse 14 he reminds his readers that they also are partakers in these blessings.

As Paul writes this book of Ephesians, the Jewish hope of the kingdom had already been set aside. The Jewish believers no longer had a special calling within the overall body of believers as they did during the Acts period. We know that in Romans 1:16 Paul said that the gospel went to the Jew first and also to the Greek. He said this because the Jews at that time had a special place in God’s dealings with man. In Romans 9, Paul said:

Rom 9:3-4 (NKJ)
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

Again, we see Israel’s special place among the believers? In Romans 10, Paul said:

Rom 10:19-20 (NKJ)
19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation."
20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me."

God’s plan even in the Acts period centered around Israel and her hope of the promised kingdom. One of the reasons that God was saving the Gentiles was to provoke her to jealousy. But here in Ephesians, Israel’s hope had been set aside. Paul says in effect, "We have this inheritance in Christ that we should be to the praise of God’s glory, and this includes all of you who also trusted in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation."

It is altogether possible that when Paul made reference to those who first trusted in Christ, he was referring to those of us who have trusted Christ now, in our present age, as opposed to those who will trust Christ in the ages to come. Our present age will end before the tribulation period begins, and the tribulation period will end before the kingdom begins. Paul clearly makes this distinction in Colossians, Chapter 1, where he says:

Col 1:18-21 (NKJ)
18 (Christ) is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, . . . whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

God is going to reconcile all things, but we have been reconciled now. The others will be reconciled later. Each group in its own order. This is parallel to what we see in Ephesians where Paul says that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, God will reconcile all things in Christ in heaven and in earth, but we who first trusted in Christ have this inheritance, that we should be to the praise of His glory.

In I Corinthians 15, Paul spoke of the resurrection and said:

1 Cor 15:22-24 (NKJ)
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.
24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

Here Paul says that Christ came back from the dead first, and those who belong to Christ will be resurrected at His coming. Then there will be a resurrection at the time of the Great White Throne Judgment when Christ delivers up the kingdom to God the Father.

But notice that in these verses Paul sees only two resurrections after the resurrection of Christ. These are the two resurrections that the Apostle John spoke of in Revelation 20 where John said that he saw those who were beheaded during the tribulation period and that they had been raised in the first resurrection. He goes on to say that the second resurrection will be at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment.

Well, praise the Lord, in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, Paul tells us that the Church which is the Body of Christ has a separate calling, a separate inheritance, a separate hope. Those of us who first trusted in Christ, or we could say, those of us who are reconciled to God now, we have this inheritance that we should be to the praise of God’s glory and that the Holy spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

The purchased possession is the Church which is the Body of Christ, and it will be redeemed when it is caught up to be with Christ in the glory of heaven. We will be given a glorious, immortal body like that of the Lord Jesus. That is our inheritance and the Holy Spirit is our guarantee that this inheritance is certain.

In I Corinthians, Paul did not see the special calling of the Church which is the Body of Christ. He did not see our special inheritance. He did not see our special rapture or our special resurrection. He saw a resurrection at the coming of Christ and at the Great While Throne Judgment.

The word used for the of the coming of Christ is parousia, and the parousia will occur when Christ returns to the earth to destroy the antichrist and set up His kingdom. But in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, Paul tells us that the Church which is the Body of Christ will be caught up, not at the coming of Christ, but at the appearing of Christ.

The word for Christ’s appearing is epiphaneia, and it is associated with the rapture and resurrection which will take place before the tribulation period. Col 3:4 says:

Col 3:4 (NKJ)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

This is the rapture of the Church, the Body of Christ, and we have good evidence that it will take place before the tribulation period because when Paul described the perilous last days of our present age in II Timothy 3, he said that things will get worse and worse, but he never said anything about the antichrist, the abomination of desolation, or any of the things that relate to the tribulation period. We who first trusted in Christ will be first to be caught up to be with Christ.

Well, when we look back at Ephesians 1, we see Paul changing pronouns in verse 13 and another reason that Paul may have done this is that he wanted to share with them the specific things that he was praying for them. Paul said in verse 18, "I am praying that:

Eph 1:18 (NKJ)
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, (and) what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

He was praying that these believers in Ephesus would have enlightenment from the Holy Spirit so that they could understand the hope of God’s calling for them and the glory of God’s inheritance in them. It was not the same calling or the same inheritance that had been promised to Israel.

As members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, we have a glorious hope. Someday, we will be caught up to be with the Lord in the glory of heaven. We will be given a glorious body like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will be to the praise of His glory. This is our inheritance, and the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our position and our blessings in Christ.

I see our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening and be sure to tune in again next week at this same time for Bible Study Time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/