Ephesians 2 Part 6
Bible Study Time July 31, 2005
Ephesians 2:17 (NKJ)
17 And (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He was a preacher. In His hometown of Nazareth, He quoted Isaiah 61 and said it spoke of Him. Isaiah 61 says that the Spirit of the Lord would be upon Christ to preach good tidings to the poor and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Bible says that after His temptation in the wilderness:
Matthew 4:17 (NKJ)
17 . . . Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
After Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and many others in Capernaum, the people begged Jesus to stay with them, but He said:
Mark 1:37-38 (NKJ)
38 . . . "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."
39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.
When Jesus sent out His twelve apostles in Matthew, Chapter 10, He said:
Matthew 10:7 (NKJ)
7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
But notice what Jesus told these disciples during their commissioning. In Matthew 10 and verse 5 we read:
Matthew 10:5-6 (NKJ)
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus told these disciples to preach only to Jews. Only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In the gospels, Jesus was preaching the New Covenant Kingdom, and that message had to go first to the Jews. It was not until after the cross that the message of the New Covenant went out to the Gentiles who upon believing were grafted into Israel’s kingdom program.
Today, however, Jesus Christ is preaching to the Gentiles and the Jews through the Apostle Paul. Paul repeatedly emphasized that God had called him to reveal the gospel of the grace of God as well as the great mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. Those who receive Paul’s message of God’s grace through faith in Christ are added to the Church which is the Body of Christ.
In Matthew 10, when the Lord sent the disciples out to preach to the Jews, He specifically told them to:
Matthew 10:8-10 (NKJ)
8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons . . .
9 "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
10 " . . . for a worker is worthy of his food.
These signs were evident wherever the New Covenant message was taught, whether in the gospels or during the Acts period. However, we find no hint of such things in the prison epistles of Ephesians, Philippians or Colossians.
Ephesians 2:14 says that Christ, Himself is our peace because He abolished the Law which had separated the Jew from the Gentile. In verse 17 we learn that Christ has come preaching peace to the Jew and to the Gentile because, according to verse 18, Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father by one Spirit, even the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit of God is our lifeline to God. The Lord Jesus told his disciples:
John 14:2-3
2 . . . I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.
John 14:16-17
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.
Romans 8 confirms the gift of the Holy Spirit after the fact. In verse 13 we read:
Romans 8:13-16 (NKJ)
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Indeed, all believers have access to the Father by one Spirit. Now let’s continue in verse 19 of Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NKJ)
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
What a blessing it is to know that all believers are members of the same household. When we look around and see so many different church organizations, it’s certainly confusing and somewhat discouraging. But the spiritual reality is that all believers regardless of their religious affiliations are members of the same household which Paul called the household of God.
Paul tells us that the household of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, yet Paul declares in Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 that the mystery concerning the Church was never revealed to the apostles or prophets of other ages.
Both are true. The mystery concerning the Church was never revealed to or by the apostles and prophets, but the apostles and prophets did lay the foundation for the truth of the mystery for all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped unto every good work.
The Old Testament Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. In it we learn about Adam’s sin and the curse. We learn about God’s righteousness as well as His longsuffering. We learn about the blood which is required for redemption. All that was written by the apostles and prophets laid the foundation for the truth of the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.
In the household of God, the apostles and prophets are the foundation. Christ is the cornerstone which holds the house together and gives it stability, while believers are the framework with each shaped and molded for a precision fit. We are the workmanship of Christ.
But this house is not just any house. It is the temple of God. It is the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us individually, and therefore, our bodies are the temple of God. But in addition to that, believers are the temple of God in a corporate sense.
In the first chapter of this book of Ephesians, Paul emphasized that we, as believers are in Christ. Our spiritual blessings are in Christ. We were chosen in Christ. We are accepted in Christ. But now Paul says that the opposite is true as well. Just as surely as we are in Christ, Christ is also in us. In Colossians 1, Paul says that the glory of the mystery concerning the Church is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/
Bible Study Time July 31, 2005
In the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul enumerates all of the spiritual blessings that believers possess before he announces that the Lord Jesus Christ is now serving as the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body. In the second chapter, Paul reminds us that we were at one time dead in trespasses and sins. That we walked according to the course of this world which is under the dominion of the devil, himself.
But then Paul declares that God saved us simply because of His love, His mercy and His grace. Not by works of righteousness which we had done, but by His mercy He saved us and raised us up to sit with Christ in the heavenlies.
Of coarse, that sounds rather odd to us at first glance. How can we stand on earth while being seated in the heavenlies? In this statement Paul teaches a very important doctrine. There is a difference between the way God’s sees us and the way we see ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we are far from perfect as we live in this natural world, but God does not see our imperfections.
He could never fellowship with that which is imperfect. He requires absolute perfection. Part of the good news for us is that when we put our faith in Christ, we are baptized into Christ and His righteousness. From that moment on, God sees us in the righteousness of Christ. Paul put it this way in Colossians 1:
Colossians 1:21-22 (NKJ)
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
We are seated in the heavenlies because we are in Christ, and in God’s sight, we are holy, blameless and above reproach. As a result, we are challenged to reveal the glory of heaven to those around us. We may be the only tangible connection with heaven that unbelievers have. We need to make that connection real so as to attract the lost to Jesus Christ.
Being seated with Christ in the heavenlies and blessed with all spiritual blessings is not the end. God made this possible for a reason. God did these things so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us. God has a great future planned for us, the glory of which our minds can not comprehend.
Then in verse 11 of Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul reminds us Gentiles that we were once looked down on by the Jews because we were uncircumcised. The Law of Moses which required circumcision had kept us at a distance from the covenants of God. Paul said we were without hope and without God in the world, but verse 13 says that we have now been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.
God put an end to the law when Christ died on the cross. Circumcision and the other ordinances of the Law were abolished. God is now creating in Christ one new man from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
During the Acts period, God was offering the New Covenant Kingdom to Israel. In Romans 11, Paul said that the Gentiles were being grafted into Israel’s program. Since a grafted branch maintains its own identity and bears its own particular fruit, it stands to reason that in the kingdom program of that time the Jews had their calling, while the Gentiles had a separate calling.
In Paul’s prison epistles, that is not the case. Ephesians 2 declares that today God is calling out one new man from among the Jews and the Gentiles. There is neither Jew nor Gentile in the Church which is the Body of Christ.
Verse 17 of Ephesians 2 says:
But then Paul declares that God saved us simply because of His love, His mercy and His grace. Not by works of righteousness which we had done, but by His mercy He saved us and raised us up to sit with Christ in the heavenlies.
Of coarse, that sounds rather odd to us at first glance. How can we stand on earth while being seated in the heavenlies? In this statement Paul teaches a very important doctrine. There is a difference between the way God’s sees us and the way we see ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we are far from perfect as we live in this natural world, but God does not see our imperfections.
He could never fellowship with that which is imperfect. He requires absolute perfection. Part of the good news for us is that when we put our faith in Christ, we are baptized into Christ and His righteousness. From that moment on, God sees us in the righteousness of Christ. Paul put it this way in Colossians 1:
Colossians 1:21-22 (NKJ)
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
We are seated in the heavenlies because we are in Christ, and in God’s sight, we are holy, blameless and above reproach. As a result, we are challenged to reveal the glory of heaven to those around us. We may be the only tangible connection with heaven that unbelievers have. We need to make that connection real so as to attract the lost to Jesus Christ.
Being seated with Christ in the heavenlies and blessed with all spiritual blessings is not the end. God made this possible for a reason. God did these things so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us. God has a great future planned for us, the glory of which our minds can not comprehend.
Then in verse 11 of Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul reminds us Gentiles that we were once looked down on by the Jews because we were uncircumcised. The Law of Moses which required circumcision had kept us at a distance from the covenants of God. Paul said we were without hope and without God in the world, but verse 13 says that we have now been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.
God put an end to the law when Christ died on the cross. Circumcision and the other ordinances of the Law were abolished. God is now creating in Christ one new man from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
During the Acts period, God was offering the New Covenant Kingdom to Israel. In Romans 11, Paul said that the Gentiles were being grafted into Israel’s program. Since a grafted branch maintains its own identity and bears its own particular fruit, it stands to reason that in the kingdom program of that time the Jews had their calling, while the Gentiles had a separate calling.
In Paul’s prison epistles, that is not the case. Ephesians 2 declares that today God is calling out one new man from among the Jews and the Gentiles. There is neither Jew nor Gentile in the Church which is the Body of Christ.
Verse 17 of Ephesians 2 says:
Ephesians 2:17 (NKJ)
17 And (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He was a preacher. In His hometown of Nazareth, He quoted Isaiah 61 and said it spoke of Him. Isaiah 61 says that the Spirit of the Lord would be upon Christ to preach good tidings to the poor and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Bible says that after His temptation in the wilderness:
Matthew 4:17 (NKJ)
17 . . . Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
After Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and many others in Capernaum, the people begged Jesus to stay with them, but He said:
Mark 1:37-38 (NKJ)
38 . . . "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."
39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.
When Jesus sent out His twelve apostles in Matthew, Chapter 10, He said:
Matthew 10:7 (NKJ)
7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
But notice what Jesus told these disciples during their commissioning. In Matthew 10 and verse 5 we read:
Matthew 10:5-6 (NKJ)
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus told these disciples to preach only to Jews. Only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In the gospels, Jesus was preaching the New Covenant Kingdom, and that message had to go first to the Jews. It was not until after the cross that the message of the New Covenant went out to the Gentiles who upon believing were grafted into Israel’s kingdom program.
Today, however, Jesus Christ is preaching to the Gentiles and the Jews through the Apostle Paul. Paul repeatedly emphasized that God had called him to reveal the gospel of the grace of God as well as the great mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. Those who receive Paul’s message of God’s grace through faith in Christ are added to the Church which is the Body of Christ.
In Matthew 10, when the Lord sent the disciples out to preach to the Jews, He specifically told them to:
Matthew 10:8-10 (NKJ)
8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons . . .
9 "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
10 " . . . for a worker is worthy of his food.
These signs were evident wherever the New Covenant message was taught, whether in the gospels or during the Acts period. However, we find no hint of such things in the prison epistles of Ephesians, Philippians or Colossians.
Ephesians 2:14 says that Christ, Himself is our peace because He abolished the Law which had separated the Jew from the Gentile. In verse 17 we learn that Christ has come preaching peace to the Jew and to the Gentile because, according to verse 18, Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father by one Spirit, even the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit of God is our lifeline to God. The Lord Jesus told his disciples:
John 14:2-3
2 . . . I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.
John 14:16-17
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.
Romans 8 confirms the gift of the Holy Spirit after the fact. In verse 13 we read:
Romans 8:13-16 (NKJ)
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Indeed, all believers have access to the Father by one Spirit. Now let’s continue in verse 19 of Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NKJ)
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
What a blessing it is to know that all believers are members of the same household. When we look around and see so many different church organizations, it’s certainly confusing and somewhat discouraging. But the spiritual reality is that all believers regardless of their religious affiliations are members of the same household which Paul called the household of God.
Paul tells us that the household of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, yet Paul declares in Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 that the mystery concerning the Church was never revealed to the apostles or prophets of other ages.
Both are true. The mystery concerning the Church was never revealed to or by the apostles and prophets, but the apostles and prophets did lay the foundation for the truth of the mystery for all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped unto every good work.
The Old Testament Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. In it we learn about Adam’s sin and the curse. We learn about God’s righteousness as well as His longsuffering. We learn about the blood which is required for redemption. All that was written by the apostles and prophets laid the foundation for the truth of the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.
In the household of God, the apostles and prophets are the foundation. Christ is the cornerstone which holds the house together and gives it stability, while believers are the framework with each shaped and molded for a precision fit. We are the workmanship of Christ.
But this house is not just any house. It is the temple of God. It is the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us individually, and therefore, our bodies are the temple of God. But in addition to that, believers are the temple of God in a corporate sense.
In the first chapter of this book of Ephesians, Paul emphasized that we, as believers are in Christ. Our spiritual blessings are in Christ. We were chosen in Christ. We are accepted in Christ. But now Paul says that the opposite is true as well. Just as surely as we are in Christ, Christ is also in us. In Colossians 1, Paul says that the glory of the mystery concerning the Church is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/
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