Ephesians (Program #8) – The Mystery of God’s Will

Ephesians opens with some of the highest speaking in the entire Bible. Our selection, our predestination and our redemption are all mentioned but not as isolated items rather as indispensable steps in the accomplishment of God’s plan which is the great mystery of the universe through the ages. So, we have been chosen, predestinated, and redeemed for what? Ephesians 1:9 says, “Making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.” What is God’s will, His purpose, His plan?

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Ephesians (Program #7) – The Mystery of God’s Will

In the first chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul begins by establishing man’s pitiful and sinful condition; almost as though, he is proving to all mankind the need for redemption. Ephesians, however, another letter written by the apostle Paul, also speaks of redemption in the first chapter but from an entirely different perspective. This time it’s from the perspective of God and how He sees us and our need for redemption from the heavenlies. Listen to the marvelous way in which it’s presented in Ephesians chapter 1 “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved; In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace,” What an uplifted view of this matter of redemption we have in Ephesians.

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Ephesians (Program #6) – Redemption in the Son

If we take three simple words from the New Testament like ‘praise, glory and grace’, we may feel quite comfortable that we understand what they mean. But the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1 links them together in one verse, verse 6 “To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved;” How about now? Do you feel that your understanding is adequate according to the divine revelation especially when you put this verse in it’s context; that is, as the issue of our being predestinated unto sonship in verse 5?  Well, Ephesians is rich, high and mysterious because it is written from the viewpoint of God in the heavenlies. And from that point of view, ‘praise, glory and grace’ flowing out of our sonship are not simple at all but marvelous.

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Ephesians (Program #5) – The Praise of the Glory of God’s Grace

In all the Bible, no book gives us a perspective of the church from the heavenlies as Ephesians does. From the opening verse to the end, the view presented in Ephesians is God’s view, not man’s. And it’s from this view that we see that we have been chosen from the foundation of the world, not to be sinless or even perfect but to be holy. And further, that we have been marked out, predestinated not to be spiritual giants but to be sons of God.

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Ephesians (Program #4) – Predestinated Unto Sonship

When we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, is it because we choose Him or because He has chosen us?  Well, on one hand, we need to make a decision to receive Him but the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 1, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,” The first blessing in the New Testament is God’s choosing, His selection of us.

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Ephesians (Program #3) – Chosen to be Holy

Let me ask you to consider a simple question, “How has God blessed you?” Most people when asked to recount the many blessings that they received from God would likely list things like their family or their good health or maybe success in business and earthly possessions. Others might give a more spiritual answer like ‘God has blessed me with His enduring mercy or undying love’. But the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians says very clearly that God’s blessings are all spiritual and they’re in the heavenlies and they’re in Christ. Furthermore, when he had the opportunity to offer his blessing to God, it was not for His mercy that endures forever or for His love or grace, rather it was being the God and Father of our Lord and Jesus Christ. Well this is how Ephesians opens – it is most unusual to say the least but it also conveys a wonderful sense of the rich and profound content of this book.

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Ephesians (Program #2) – Three Aspects of Well Speaking

Of all that God possesses and does on the earth, the single most important thing to Him is the church. In fact, the church is the unique subject and perhaps the highest book in the New Testament Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. But if you were asked, “what is the church?” How would you answer? Well that is what we want to see today – “What is the church?” not from our perspective but from God’s perspective.

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Ephesians (Program #1) – Introductory Word to the Book of Ephesians (1)

Many books in the New Testament deal with practical issues associated with sinful fallen man with his struggle with problems, failures and difficulties. These books are written from the perspective or point of view of the sinner. One book in the New Testament however, uniquely takes God’s perspective, God’s view – and that book is Ephesians. Because of this very fact, many scholars consider this book to be the highest of all in Scripture. What this book reveals primarily is the church – the church not as an organization, a society or a school but as the center and focus of God’s eternal purpose. God desires us to see the church and to value the church as He does. But in order to do so, we need to climb up to that same vantage point and view the church from the heavenlies as God does.

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2 Corinthians (Program #40) – The Minister’s of the New Covenant (13)

2 Corinthians chapter seven is very unique in the New Testament. It’s hard to find even a thread of teaching or doctrine in this chapter. But rather we are allowed into Paul’s heart to touch the deep and intimate feelings that he has regarding the believers in Corinth.

7: 3…”you are in our hearts...”
7:4… “I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our affliction.”

This is the apostle, fully restoring and fully reconciling those whom he had previously rebuke for their many failures and sins in his first epistle to the Corinthian church.

Although we may only see his tender emotional feelings been expressed here. Under all is his strong desire for the church in Corinth even all the believers and the entire body of Christ to be brought up to the standard that he revealed in another of his epistle, Ephesians. Ephesians 4:16

16 “..all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”

To see this link between 2 Corinthians 7 and God’s eternal purpose in Ephesians is rare glimpse into the depth of the riches in God’s word.

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