The Book of Ephesians Pt. 9 God Revealed His Mysteries to Us!

More spiritual blessing in Christ for us!

Ephesians 1:3-8  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8) Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 

We have looked at several of the spiritual blessings God gives to each believer. We learned about God choosing us to be in Him in holiness and blameless, before He created anything. We also learned about predestination, election and God's foreknowledge that guides God's choosing process. 

Then, we learned about the great truth of being adopted into the family of God, which brings hope and peace into our lives. In our last post we learned about how Jesus makes us acceptable to our heavenly Father by redeeming us with His own blood, and the abundant grace of God. 

Paul is going to teach us about the wisdom of God that guides His plan of salvation and the mysteries He has unveiled. Paul previously spoke of the riches of God's kindness (Romans 2:4) and the riches of God's glory (Colossians 1:27). Then the apostle added to his list the riches of God's grace, before he transitioned to the wisdom of God. 

The word "abounded" means to make something filled to the brim, or to give so much that all storage containers overflow. The glorious gospel of God's grace displays the overflowing wisdom of God in executing His plan to redeem mankind from sin. 

At the center of redemption is Jesus Christ crucified, something the world views as foolish but all who are saved know it is the wisdom and power of God.

The word "wisdom" refers to the supreme intelligence of God, His perfect omniscience that knows the beginning and end of all things. 

The word "prudence" refers to the knowledge and holy love for the will of God. 

God turned the world's wisdom on its head. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19)  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20) Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.  

The preaching of the cross may seem foolish to unbelievers, but God has destroyed the wisdom of the world and obliterated the understanding of wise men. 

Remember, the Devil thought he won the victory when Jesus died on the cross. He used all his power to place a large contingent of Roman guards around Christ's tomb. He believed that the redemptive plan of God was thwarted but God showed Satan that he was a fool on resurrection Sunday!

Paul asked "where is the disputer of this world?" Satan is the accuser of the brethren, the prince of the power of the air and the "god" of this age. Satan was pulverized by Christ's resurrection and though he fights against believers and God today, he is a defeated foe.  

The Mystery of God's will.

Ephesians 1:9-10  Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: 10)  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: 

Here is the next of all spiritual blessings we have in Christ. God has made known to each believer the mystery of His will. In this text, Paul specifically states that God's will is to gather all things (people, kingdoms, nations, tongues) together in Christ. 

The word "mystery" refers to something important that has been hidden by God, something not obvious to others. The "mystery" Paul speaks of concerns the hidden counsel of God to execute His plan of redemption and of final judgment. 

The words "according to His good pleasure" mean that God took great delight and satisfaction in deciding to provide a Savior for all mankind. 

The will of God is something He purposed in Himself according to what pleased Him. The word "purposed" means to expose to public view and in this case it was an open communication between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (See Hebrew 10:5-10). God took pleasure in determining to accomplish mankind's redemption from the fall.  

The Mystery of God born in the flesh!

1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 

Scholars have said that this is the single most powerful verse about God becoming a man in the Person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus and the Father are one (John 14:9). God was in Christ on the cross to save us from sin (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). John called Jesus Christ "the Word" and declared that "the Word was with God and the Word was God" (John 1:1). 

The mystery of godliness has been a point of  Satan's attacks for as long as the church has existed. The earliest heresies denied that Jesus was fully God and fully man. However, among the vast majority of believers when Paul wrote to Timothy, they unanimously believed that Christ Jesus was indeed God in the flesh. The belief was so universal that it was rare that believers disagreed about this truth. 

The word "manifest" means to make visible, palpable and recognized what before was a mystery hidden in God. Jesus taught this to Philip when the evangelist asked if Jesus would show them the Father. Jesus' reply was  "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:7-11).

The mystery of Messiah's crucifixion. 

1 Corinthians 2:6-8  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8) Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

A major part of the "mystery" that God hid was Christ dying on the cross. The word "prince" is a word that often refers to the devil (See Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15; and Ephesians 2:2). Notice how the wisdom of God completely hid His plan as a mystery, keeping from the powers of darkness what God would do in Christ on the cross. 

This "prince" did not know the truth about what God was going to do at Calvary. If they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. God's perfect wisdom in mystery form made our salvation possible. Instead, the prophecy about the seed of the woman dealing a death blow to the head of the serpent was fulfilled. 

The Mystery of Christ dwelling in us! 

Colossians 1:26-27  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27) To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Paul wrote more about mysteries of God than any other apostle except John. This particular mystery like the others, was hidden through all the ages of time until God chose to reveal it to His saints. This mystery is full of God's glory because it concerns "Christ in you, the hope of glory." 

How is Christ in us? Jesus said that when He returned to the Father, He would send another "Comforter", the Holy Spirit of God. The word "another" means another of like kind (John 14:15-18). 

This is a testimony to the deity of the Holy Spirit and the fact that He is the third Person of the Trinity. The Father, Son and Spirit are three, yet one. Thus, when the Spirit of God indwells the believer, Christ indeed is present with us. 

The Mystery of the Rapture!

1 Corinthians 15:51-52  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

Paul was speaking about the future events and the return of Christ in the air to take His Church home to heaven. This is another mystery that was hidden until God allowed Paul to reveal this great truth. All believers will not die (sleep), but every believer will be changed. The word "changed" means to be transformed by exchanging one thing for another. 

In the context of the glorious resurrection chapter it is clear we are going to exchange our earthly, physical body for a new spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:45-50). 

Paul expounded upon the nature of this rapture mystery by telling us that our transformation will happen in the blink of the eye, in a split second of time. He also wrote more details in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Paul introduced the subject of the mystery of God's will in writing to the Ephesians. In the New Testament there are about eleven specific mysteries revealed to believers. 

We learned about the mystery of God manifest in the flesh as the promised Seed of the woman was born to deal a death blow to that old serpent. God's plan of redemption could not have been executed if Jesus Christ was not born of a virgin, just as Isaiah prophesied. 

We learned about the mystery of Messiah's crucifixion. God in the flesh, lived a perfect life, satisfied God's law and willingly died in our place on the cross, so that when He rose from the grave, He had omnipotent power to save us. 

We learned about the mystery of Christ in us, through the indwelling Holy Spirit. God residing in us should make a profound impact upon how we choose to live our lives.

Finally, we learned about the mystery of the rapture of the church. This mystery gives us great hope for the future, knowing that as the world waxes worse and worse, Christ's returning in the air for His bride, is closer and closer!

May the mysteries of God as revealed by the apostles fill us with hope, motivate us to serve Him and guide us to a life filled with holy living.

Bob