On Sunday we began a new journey in the Book of Ephesians. So, we took some time to affirm Paul's Gospel/Mystery body of truth by looking at 1 Cor. 15:3-4, which will be very important for our study in Ephesians. Is 1 Cor. 15:3-4 just the “Gospel?” Or, is it the “Mystery” as well?

IS 1 COR. 15:3-4 THE FULL GOSPEL?

One of the biggest errors we can make when reading Paul's Epistles is to think of his writings as being made up of two distinct bodies of truth: 1. Something called the Gospel; and 2. Something called the Mystery. I want to push back a little on this common assumption. We have been deceived by the “good” words and “fair” speeches of historical Christianity to think that one can receive Paul's Gospel while rejecting what God is doing today through Paul's distinct apostleship (ie., the Mystery). But can you really separate the Gospel from the Mystery? Did Paul ever separate them? In Paul's earliest epistle Paul talks about preaching the Gospel (1 Thess. 1:5; 2:2, 4, 8-9; 3:2), and it was always in the context of the Mystery (Paul taking God's blessings to the world, especially the Gentiles APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL— 1 Thess. 1:5; 2:14-20). And we can add to that Paul's teaching to the Thessalonians at the very beginning the great Mystery Truth of the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:14-18)!

Let's look at another early epistle of Paul's, 1 Corinthians. Paul's told the Corinthians that he was sent to preach the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:17), which in the very next verse becomes the preaching of the Cross (1:18), which in the very next verses becomes the preaching of the wisdom of God (1:21). And when we remember that Paul already taught us in Romans that the wisdom of God is the Mystery (Rom. 11:25-34), we see that the preaching of the Gospel is the preaching of the Cross, which is the preaching of the wisdom of God, which is the preaching of the Mystery, and Paul confirms that explicitly in 1 Cor. 2:7-8!

Let's look at another common example that many think of as THE GOSPEL, and that is 1 Cor. 15:3-4: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. One person said, “See, that is the Gospel and the Mystery isn't mentioned. But is this true? Is the Mystery not in 1 Cor. 15:3-4? Most people who used these verses don't know anything about its context. We have been trained to have a “memory card mentality.” In such a system, we are told to treat God's Word with less respect than we would even a trashy romance novel. It teaches us to take God's verses out of their divinely given context and make them mean whatever we think they ought to mean. You wouldn't do this with any other written material, but we do it with God's Book and worse still think we are being spiritual in doing so! Now, there is nothing wrong with memorizing Bible verses, but it should be done anchored to the context, not free-floating on thin air.

So, let's look at the context of 1 Cor. 15. Generally, it has to do with the topic of resurrection, and specifically with a false teaching that had entered the church that said there was no resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15:12). Either it had already led some astray, or it was about to do so. He goes on to explain the danger they were in. If such a thing were true it would mean everything he taught to them was vanity for if there is no resurrection, than Christ was not raised from the dead, and you are all still dead in your sins (1 Cor. 15:14-17)! And this explains why Paul reminds them in vv. 3-4 that Christ died for their sins, was buried and rose again the third day as witnessed not only by the Scriptures (15:3-4) but by eye witnesses as well, beginning with Peter and the 12 (15:5-7).

Now let's add to the context by looking at vv. 1-2: Brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain (1 Cor. 15:1-2). This has all the key code words: Gospel, Preaching, Salvation, followed by the death and resurrection of Christ. But is this just about something called the Gospel? Or, is it the Mystery as well? Let's see:

1. Gospel means Good News. So, we should ask: When did the death of Christ become Good News? We might be able to find the death of Christ in the Old Testament in passages like Ps. 22 and Is. 53, but I defy anyone to suggest it is presented there as Good News! No, it is horribly bad news! Well, what about in the earthly ministry of Christ? Was it Good News then? Not according to the Gospel writers, who recorded it in all its horror. In fact, when Christ mentioned his death to His disciples late in His ministry, Peter rebuked Him and said: Be it far from you, Lord! This shall not be unto you (Mat. 16:22). This horrible thing won't be on my watch!! No, Christ's death was not Good News in the Gospel Accounts.
   
   What about after the resurrection in Peter's preaching at Pentecost? Surely, the Good News of the death of Christ was revealed there! But that wasn't the case. For Peter, it was very very bad news indeed. Speaking to the men of Israel, he said: Look what you have done! You murdered your King and Messiah! Well, I hate to tell you but the man you thought you got rid of by putting Him to death, God raised from the dead, and He's coming back for you (Acts 2-3)!!
   
   No, it is not until God raised up the Apostle Paul that the death of Christ was revealed as GOOD NEWS! It was something God had kept secret. And you know what another word for “secret” is? MYSTERY. Preaching the Good News of the death of Christ IS preaching Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25)! You can't have one without the other.
2. And what about Paul's “preaching?” We have already seen that when Paul preached the Gospel, he was preaching the Cross, the Wisdom of God and the Mystery (1 Cor. 1-2; Rom. 16:25). Again, you can't have one without the other.

3. The Corinthians received Paul's Gospel, but from where did Paul receive it? Most commentators say he received it from Peter and the 12, who are mentioned in v. 5. But where do God and Paul say he received it from? But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul insists four times in two short verses that he did not receive his Gospel from men. He received it as a direct revelation from the Risen Lord Jesus Christ! And it is of great interest to note that he says the very same thing about the Mystery: If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery (Eph. 3:2-3). Once again, the Gospel and the Mystery aren't separate; they are united as one.
4. Finally, ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you believed in vain (15:2). Ouch! What's that all about? Commentators explain this verse usually in one of two ways. Some say that the Corinthians could lose their salvation. Others say: No, believers can't lose their salvation, so these Corinthians must have never really been saved to begin with! But neither of these options work. The second option cannot be right because Paul described the Corinthian believers in 1 Cor. 1:2-9 as saints; ones sanctified in Christ Jesus; ones who were given the grace of God through Christ; ones waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall confirm them to the end; and all this would occur not because of the Corinthian's faithfulness but because of God's faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:9)!
   
   And the first option cannot be right either because Paul just told them in 1 Cor. 15:1 that they were already saved from sin, death and Hell, and, therefore, were eternally secure. When Paul was with them in person years before, he preached (past tense) the Gospel unto them and they received (past tense) it in faith, which put them in a right standing (perfect tense—something that happened in the past but has ongoing results in the present and into the future) before God.
   
   So then, what is the right answer? It is obvious if we remember one little thing. The word “save” or “salvation” doesn't always refer to salvation from sin, death and everlasting perdition in Hell. We can be saved from many things. Paul, sitting in a jail cell, talks about his salvation (Phil. 1:19). Of course, he is not sitting there waiting for salvation from sin, death and Hell (he already had that!). He is sitting there waiting for salvation from being in jail. Like Paul, these Corinthians weren't needing to be saved from sin, death, and Hell (they already had that!). Rather, at that time they needed to be saved from the plight of being entrapped by the false teachers. Paul was instructing them that if they remembered his teachings, and in this case especially those aspects of his teaching that revealed Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead (since that is what the false teachers were calling into question), as witnessed to by the Scriptures and numerous eye witnesses (1 Cor 15:5-7), they would be saved from falling prey to the snares of these false teaching wolves.
   
   My point here is not to suggest that these verses are not good verses to use to evangelize the lost with. Absolutely not. I use them all the time. I just wanted to demonstrate that even though the word “mystery” isn't used here, it is the source of everything Paul talks about here. The Gospel and the Mystery are not separate things. They are one. Also, when we read it within its context, we see that Paul's Mystery/Gospel truths not only save us from sin, death and Hell but from every other plight and predicament, trial and tribulation, error and confusion as well.
   
   Perhaps one way all this could be expressed succinctly is to recognize that the Gospel/Mystery is one package of truth. Romans ends with the Gospel that consists of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25), and Ephesians ends with the Mystery that consists of the Gospel (Eph. 6:19). They are inseparable. Maybe we should just leave it there.

The world asks a lot of questions and claims to have a lot of answers. Just listen to all the talking heads on TV, radio, internet, podcasts, YouTube, etc. It is an unending flow. But very few of them indeed ask the four most important questions of all. Yet these four questions apply to every single person born into the world and have everlasting consequences. Until we answer them nothing else really matters. You can only get the answers to these questions from God's Word and especially Paul's epistles, and specifically Romans and Ephesians.

QUESTION #1: How Can I (A Sinner!) Have a Right Standing Before The Infinitely Holy God (Be Justified) (Rom. 1-4)?

Job asked this question thousands of years ago, but it wasn't answered fully or manifested in all its glory until God revealed it to and through the Apostle Paul in Romans 1-4. Job recognized the problem: How can we, as members of a fallen, sinful humanity in Adam, born into the world as ungodly sinners on enemy status before God, stuck in the quicksand of sin and death and powerless to do anything about it; how can we be declared right by a holy God? Everyone knows that the worst thing a person can do when they are caught in quicksand is to do anything at all! Any and every effort at escape just results in their being dragged in and under the surface faster and deeper. On their own it is utterly hopeless.

And that is the problem with man-made religious and man-centered theological systems. They tell those who are stuck in the quicksand of sin and death to do something! Fix yourself up, put forth all effort, clean yourself up, and then God will save you. They tell us to do their religious rites and rituals, follow their theological rules and regulations, and then God will make use of us. But if “doing something” is the wrong advice for someone caught in literal quicksand, it is even worse advice for someone caught in the quicksand of sin and death. It doesn't help resolve the person's hopeless predicament; it just makes it worse!

God, however, answers in Rom. 5:6-10: There we learn that God doesn't save us after we have fixed and cleaned ourselves up! He saves us while we were not just weak, but ungodly. And not just weak and ungodly, but weak and ungodly sinners. And not just weak, ungodly sinners but weak ungodly enemies on enemy status before Him! No, the only answer for someone trapped in the quicksand of sin and death is to stay as still as possible and appreciate the hopelessness of their condition. They need to set aside all reliance on their own work and effort so that they can rely solely on the work and effort of Someone else, Someone who is not caught in the quicksand. Someone on solid ground, who could throw a rope over their shoulders and powerfully drag them out, transferring them from Satan's quicksand realm of sin and death and into God's glorious realm of righteousness and eternal life. And that is exactly what God did! He sent the Someone else, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, to go down to the quicksand of fallen sinful humanity to pull them out through His Own Work, effort and performance on the Cross. There, He set us free from sin and death and reconciled us to Himself. Our part is just to rely on Christ and His Work, receiving it as a gracious free gift of righteousness and eternal life by faith.

QUESTION #2: Today, What Does God Do With Those He Has Justified (Rom. 5-8)?

One of Satan's most clever and effective deceptions is convincing most of historic Christianity, even most of believing Christianity, that when God saves people today, He places them into the Nation of Israel. Now, it is self-evident to any and all that when they got saved, they were most certainly NOT placed into the Nation of Israel, a nation in the Middle East, some 6,000 plus miles and a half world away. In order to persist in this vain human imagination, Satan did what he always does. He used and still uses man-made religious and man-centered theological systems to generate “good” words and “fair” speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple ... which is contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned (from the Apostle Paul--Rom. 16:17-18; 2 Cor. 11:13-15). They come up with false teachings like this that sound good but are, in fact, dead wrong. They turn everything upside down by explaining: Oh, it's not literal Israel in the Middle East, God's all done with that Nation of Israel. It's a replaced Israel, a spiritual Israel, the new Israel and true Israel. Did you just hear the hearts of the simple crashing? What nonsense.

God, however, answers this question in Rom. 5-8: When sinners are saved today in the Dispensation of Grace, God does NOT sanctify them by placing them into the Nation of Israel in any real or imagined form or shape. Rather, He places them into Christ, making them members of a new group of redeemed humanity under the headship of Christ called the Body of Christ (Rom. 5:12-6:6; Rom 12:4; 1 Cor. 12:12-27).

QUESTION #3: Why Did God Create A New Group Of Redeemed Humanity, The Body of Christ (Rom. 9-11)?

Paul answers this question in Rom. 9-11. God needed a new group of redeemed humanity because He began a new, previously unrevealed program, called His Mystery Program that He had kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25). When the Nation of Israel continued to rebel against God and reject Christ in unbelief, she stumbled and fell, and God cast her away (temporarily), thereby putting His Prophetic Program with her on hold. While this Prophetic Program was diminishing, He simultaneously began another program that He revealed and made known through the distinct apostleship of Paul, called His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ.

QUESTION #4: Why Did God Need A New Program (Eph. 1-3)?

And that generates our 4th most important question of all: Ok, Paul. When I got saved by faith, God placed me into a newly created group of redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ, which is participating in His newly revealed Mystery Program. But why did God need a new Program? This question is not answered explicitly in Romans. But it is in Ephesians. Ephesians explains that God created His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ to accomplish a new Purpose that He had never revealed before. While He had revealed in the Old Testament that He would re-establish His Glory on Earth through a redeemed humanity called the Nation of Israel, what He had never revealed before was that HE IS ALSO GOING TO RE-ESTABLISH HIS GLORY IN THE HEAVENLIES! NOT WITH THE ANGELS BUT WITH THE REDEEMED HUMANITY CALLED THE BODY OF CHRIST!

These are the most important questions of all. If you haven't answered these yet, stop everything and do it now. In comparison, nothing else is as important; nothing else really matters. (#1) If you're an unbeliever, believe in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved you so much that He died for you while you were yet an ungodly sinner on enemy status before Him (Rom. 5:6-10). (#2) Once saved, appreciate that when God saved you He placed you into the Body of Christ, (#3) making you a participant in His Mystery Program (#4) for the re-establishment of His Glory in the Heavenlies. God revealed all of this to and through the distinct apostleship of Paul. And now, armed with this divine perspective and walking in accord with the Spirit, we can confidently go out and answer all the lesser questions in life!

Sunday, we continued our introduction to Ephesians by looking at its overall structure. We found that once we get through Ephesians there is no more excuse for not knowing what God is doing today. Too often we are told that there is no way to know what God is doing today. All we can do is wait to hopefully understand in the bye and bye, after we die and go to heaven. But such a notion is to be fully rejected because we not only CAN know what God is doing today, we SHOULD know it. It is inexcusable and shameful for us to not know what He is doing today because He has given us the FULL-knowledge of His councils and will (Eph. 1:9, 3:9): That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the (full) knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (Eph. 1:17‑19). Such is God's and Paul's view of what we ought to know and understand and appreciate and enjoy fully! If we are in the dark and don't understand, it is not because of God! It's because we have followed the deceptions of the devil, who has tricked us into throwing away Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. God's light for today (Acts 13:47). And the only answer to that is to put on the whole armor of God: Paul's Roman's and Ephesian's Truths (Eph. 6:10‑17).

First Pass Overview of Ephesians

1. THE MYSTERY PROGRAM WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES REQUIRED THE WORK OF THE WHOLE TRIUNE GODHEAD
1. THE COUNCILS OF GOD AND HIS PURPOSE IN HIS MYSTERY PROGRAM FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST—OUR ADULT SONSHIP INVITATION TO BE INVOLVED IN THE FATHER'S BUSINESS (1:1‑14).
2. PRAYER: GOD'S POWER TOWARD US (ON THE OUTSIDE) AS REVEALED IN THE FULL-KNOWLEDGE OF PAULINE GRACE MYSTERY TRUTH (1:15‑19):
1. WHAT GOD DID WITH CHRIST: POWERFULLY RAISED HIM FAR ABOVE ALL POWERS AND PRINCIPALITIES IN THE HEAVENLIES, AND THERE MADE HIM THE HEAD OF A NEW REDEEMED HUMANITY CALLED THE BODY OF CHRIST (1:20‑23).
2. WHAT GOD DID WITH INDIVIDUAL SINNERS: POWERFULLY RAISED THEM AND SEATED THEM TOGETHER WITH CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES IN CHRIST TO BE THE GLORIOUS TROPHIES OF HIS GRACE FOREVERMORE (2:1‑10).
3. WHAT GOD DID WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST: POWERFULLY TORE DOWN ALL BARRIERS BETWEEN JEW AND GENTILE AND CREATED OF THE TWO ONE NEW REDEMED HUMANITY THROUGH CHRIST CALLED THE BODY OF CHRIST, AND BUILT IT UP TO BE HIS OWN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD (2:11‑22).
2. THE MYSTERY PROGRAM WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES AND THE APOSTLESHIP OF PAUL.
1. GOD'S DISPENSATION OF GRACE AND CHRIST'S REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY WAS GIVEN TO THE APOSTLE PAUL, WHO WAS TO MAKE IT KNOWN TO ALL (3:1‑12).
2. PRAYER: GOD'S POWER TOWARD US (ON THE INSIDE) AS REVEALED IN THE FULL- KNOWLEDGE OF PAULINE GRACE MYSTERY TRUTH (3:13‑21).
1. WHAT GOD DID THROUGH GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT—PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST—THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT (4:1‑6).
2. WHAT GOD DID THROUGH INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS—PROVIDED SPIRITUAL GIFTS OF PEOPLE UNTIL PAUL'S SCRIPTURES WERE AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE (4:7‑12a).
3. WHAT GOD DID THROUGH THE BODY OF CHRIST: PROVDED WHAT IT NEEDED TO BRING IT TO FULL EDIFICATION AND MATURITY (4:12b‑16).
3. THE MYSTERY PROGRAM WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES AND ITS MINISTRY DOWN HERE ON EARTH (4:17‑6:9).
1. THE WALK IN CHIRST: PUT ON THE NEW PERSON (4:17‑29).
2. THE WALK IN THE SPIRIT: DON'T GRIEVE THE ONE WHO SEALED YOU FOR ALL ETERNITY (4:30-32).
3. THE WALK AS CHILDREN OF GOD THE FATHER: FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT, BRING ALL THE LOVE (AGAPE) OF GOD AT THE CROSS OF CHRIST INTO OUR RELATIONSHIPS ON EARTH (5:1‑6:9).
4. THE MYSTERY PROGRAM WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES PROVISION FOR STANDING IN SPITE OF THE ATTACKS BY EVIL POWERS IN THE HEAVENLIES (6:10‑14).
1. PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD (6:15‑17).
2. PRAYER: THAT GOD'S ULTIMATE GOAL FOR LEAVING BELIEVERS TO MINISTER ON EARTH: SUPPLICATING THAT WE, LIKE PAUL, MIGHT PERSEVERE IN BOLDLY SPEAKING THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL (6:18‑20).
3. THE WALK OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, RESULTING IN COMFORTED HEARTS AND PEACE AND LOVE WITH FAITH FROM THE WHOLE TRIUNE GODHEAD (6:21‑24)!

Yesterday we finished up our 40,000 mile high overview of the Book of Ephesians. Now that we have this overview, we are ready to enter the forest of Ephesians and walk among its trees, beginning with the apostleship of Paul in Eph. 1:1.

Paul, the Righteousness of God and Love (Agape)

One of the most important things we need to appreciate about the raising up of the Apostle Paul was that when God saved Saul, His arch-enemy and the leader of the persecution of Christ and His People, the Believing Remnant of Israel, and made him our Apostle Paul, He began a new manifestation of His Righteousness that He had never manifested before: The Righteousness of God in saving His ENEMIES because He has no friends (Rom. 1-5; 1 Tim. 1:15-16)). In His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel as recorded in the non-Pauline Scriptures, God was manifesting His Righteousness in saving His FRIENDS and destroying His ENEMIES. Just open to almost any of Psalm, and you will see the psalmist praying for this.

But this isn't what God is manifesting today in the Dispensation of Grace. Today God is manifesting the Righteousness of God in saving His ENEMIES because He has NO FRIENDS (Rom. 3:24-26; 5:5-11)! Today God is using the salvation of Saul/Paul to manifest how He can save sinful enemies while at the same time remain holy, just and righteous; while at the same time remain GOD! He can do this because it is all based on the Person and Work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who went to the Cross to die for us while we were ungodly sinners on enemy status before Him, thereby providing us with redemption and reconciliation we could not obtain ourselves. Our only part, therefore, is to simply receive this divinely originated gracious gift by faith unto eternal life (Eph. 2:1-11).

But the story doesn't end there. This amazing revelation and display of the Righteousness of God is the doorway to a related and equally amazing revelation and display of God's Love, a Love that He had not manifested in full before. In devising a plan whereby the Creator God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, would go to the Cross to not only die for His friends (John talks about that—Jn. 15:13) but to die for His ENEMIES, for ungodly sinners on enemy status before Him, manifesting the infinite depth and greatness of His Love for us (Rom. 5:5-11)!

Think about this. The Love God is manifesting today could not have been displayed in the Trinity and was not displayed in God's Prophetic Program with Israel. In the Triune Godhead, every member—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—are “fellows,” FRIENDS (Zech. 13:7; Jn. 10:30)! The exceeding greatness of God's Love could NOT be fully manifested in the Triune Godhead!

And we are told explicitly by the Apostle John that the Love of God displayed in the Cross of Christ in His earthly ministry only extended to His FRIENDS: Christ died for His FRIENDS (Jn. 15:13)! In addition, the Love of God that Christ brought His disciples into was the same Love shared among the members of the Triune Godhead: Love among FRIENDS (Jn. 17:23, 26).

So, if God was going to manifest the complete fullness, immeasurable depth and exceeding greatness of His Love, He would need another way of doing it. And that is exactly what He did through Paul's distinct apostleship as recorded in Paul's Scriptures, especially the Book of Ephesians. Today, God is manifesting the greatness of His Love wherewith He loved us (Eph. 2:4) that surpasses knowledge and that fills with all the FULLNESS OF GOD (Eph. 3:19). The Love of God that Jesus shared with His disciples in His earthly ministry in accord with God's Prophetic Program consisted of the Love of God shared in the Trinity, which was a GREAT display of God's Love indeed (Rom. 5:7). But it wasn't the GREATEST display of His Love!! That didn't come until the revelation of His Righteousness whereby God saved His enemies, which threw open the shades to the Light of the full manifestation of the Love of God, proclaiming that at the Cross of Christ, Christ also DIED FOR HIS ENEMIES in accord with His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ!!!

In the Gospel of John, “Agape” Love followed the typical Greek usage. It was a very general word that had little specific meaning of its own and was often used almost interchangeably with Phileo Love, brotherly-love, friendly love. This is the Love of God's Prophetic Program with Israel, which will be fully manifested when Christ returns at His 2nd Coming to save His FRIENDS (believing Israel and friendly Gentiles associated with them) and destroy His ENEMIES (apostate Israel and the enemy Gentile nations). For Paul, however, God took the word “Agape” away from the Greeks and claimed it for His Own purposes, filling it with His Own very specific meaning that revealed the infinite grandeur and immeasurable depths of His Love by manifesting His Righteousness in saving His ENEMIES through the Death of Christ for ungodly sinners on ENEMY status before Him in accord with His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ (Rom. 5:5-11).

This is the key to understanding Paul's distinct apostleship and what the whole Triune Godhead was, is and will be manifesting through it: THE FULL EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF GOD'S LOVE. WOW, if that doesn't make you jump and shout, I don't know what will!

Ephesians is an exciting book because in it the whole Triune Godhead is working to WOW us with the glorious magnitude of His plan and purpose for us as members of the Body of Christ, seated in the Heavenly Places in Christ. It is as though God shows us that however important, great and wonderful we may think our own finite and temporal plans are, His infinite and eternal plan for us is FAR MORE IMPORTANT, EXCEEDINGLY MUCH GREATER AND GLORIOUSLY MORE WONDERFUL than we could ever imagine. He wants us to replace our own plans with His Plan, our own councils with His Councils, our own purposes with His Purpose. He wants us to value what He Values, rejoice in what He Rejoices in, take pleasure in what He takes pleasure in unto the praise of His Glory. As one awe-struck listener put it: When you realize that God powerfully re-organized the whole governmental power structures of the invisible and visible universe to make room for us in Christ ... IT CHANGES YOUR PERSEPCTIVE ON EVERYTHING!

Where Is The Triune God Working Today?

We already know the answer to this question from our study of the Book of Romans. The whole Triune Godhead is now working in and through the distinct apostleship of Paul, dispensing overflowing joy and peace in believing and superabounding hope through the Holy Spirit for the whole world, especially the Gentiles (Rom. 15:13):

Rom. 15:15-16: Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God (GOD THE FATHER) that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON) to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God (GOD THE FATHER), that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit (GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT).

And this is still true in Ephesians:

Eph. 1:1-2: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON) by the will of God (GOD THE FATHER), to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus (GOD THE SON): grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father (GOD THE FATHER), and from the Lord Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON). And, of course, GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT ultimately wrote this passage!

Eph. 1:3-14: Blessed be the God and Father (GOD THE FATHER) of our Lord Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON), Who (GOD THE FATHER) hath blessed us with all spiritual (FROM GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT) blessings in heavenly places in Christ (GOD THE SON) ... wherein He (GOD THE FATHER) hath made us accepted in the Beloved (GOD THE SON) ... that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He (GOD THE FATHER) might gather together in one all things in Christ (GOD THE SON) ... even in Him (GOD THE SON) ... in Whom (GOD THE SON) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom (GOD THE SON) also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise (GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT). And, of course, the GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT wrote this passage of Scripture!

One final example:

Eph. 3:1-5: For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON) for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God (GOD THE FATHER) ... how that by revelation He (GOD THE SON) made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ (GOD THE SON)) ... as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT).

In short, today the whole Triune Godhead is accomplishing their plan by working in and through the Apostle Paul's distinct apostleship. Yes, to follow GOD THE FATHER, we must follow the Lord Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON), but it is also true that to follow Christ today we must follow Paul, through whom GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT reveals Jesus Christ according to the Mystery, which had been kept secret since the world began (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Eph. 5:1; Rom. 16:25) . Of course, the corollary of this is that if we are not following Paul--if we are following Peter at Pentecost or Jesus in His earthly ministry or David in the Psalms or Moses in the Law--then we are not following Jesus Christ (GOD THE SON) according to the Revelation of the Mystery as taught by GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT today (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-12), and are not, therefore, following GOD THE FATHER, whatever we think we are doing. To throw away Paul's distinct apostleship (as most of historic Christianity has done!) is no light thing. It is to throw away the work of the whole Triune Godhead!!

We continue our study in the Book of Ephesians by looking at Paul's ministry to them: Beginning when he founded the church in Ephesus (about 54 AD—Acts 18), then continuing to when He taught them for about 3 years (about 54-57 AD-- longer than he ministered at any other location—Acts 19‑20), and then continuing to when he wrote them the amazing Letter to the Ephesians about 8 years later (about 64 AD). Throughout this time they were an overall faithful assembly (Eph. 1:1-2). Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. Their story ends with these final horrifying words from a broken-hearted Paul at the end of His life: ALL IN ASIA BE TURNED AWAY FROM ME (2 Tim. 1:15)! Remembering that Ephesus is a city in Asia, this means that just about 10‑12 years after the founding of their assembly and about 2 years after Paul wrote his Letter to them, they went from being an overall faithful assembly to being an unfaithful assembly that turned away from Paul, thereby turning away from Christ, thereby turning away from God the Father; and that has been the condition of a mostly unfaithful historic Christianity ever since.

ALL IN ASIA BE TURNED AWAY FROM ME

The story of the church in Ephesus is a horrifying cautionary tale that ought to send shivers up-and-down our spines. It shows how fast a believer, an assembly or an entire area can fall into the wiles and deceptions of the devil. Satan's sole purpose today is to silence us from proclaiming the Apostle Paul's Mystery Truth; thereby, counteracting God's command for us to BOLDLY SPEAK THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL (Eph. 6:10-20). All it takes to fall into Satan's trap is to add “something”— ANYTHING-- to the purity Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. No matter what it is, it ruins it. Or all it takes to fall into the snare of the devil is to follow “someone”—ANYONE--other than Paul. God tells us to follow Paul, not because Paul is anything, but because he is the one God sent to show us how to follow Christ today (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1), and once we are following Christ in accord with the Mystery we will be following God the Father as well. Of course, the corollary of this is that if we do add “something” to the purity of Pauline Grace or follow “someone” besides the Apostle Paul—even the Apostle Peter at Pentecost as recorded in early Acts, Jesus in His earthly ministry as recorded in the Gospel Accounts, the Prophets of the Old Testament, David in the Psalms or Moses in the Law—we instantly poison Grace (the Galatians, for instance) and walk contrary to what God is doing today as manifested through Paul's distinct apostleship in the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery, WHICH WAS KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-11)!

Therefore to not be following Paul's Revelation of the Mystery, is to not be following Christ, and to not be following Christ, is to not be following God the Father (the Corinthians, for instance).

WHAT DID EPHESUS/ASIA DO?

Some of the saddest words in all Scripture are those Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim. 1:15: This you know, that ALL in Asia (which would include Ephesus, Colossae, and Laodicea) be turned away from me. To make this even more shocking, the last time we saw the Ephesians in Acts this is what they were doing: And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke (Acts 20:37). Now, about 6 years later, and about 2 years after they had received Paul's great Epistle to them, Paul says that they had ALL turned away from him. This ought to send shivers up and down our spines and make us re-double our commitment to use of the whole armor of God so that we can remain constant in proclaiming the Mystery of the Gospel in all its purity (Eph. 6:19-20).

The first question we should ask is: How did the Ephesians go from being an overall faithful assembly that fell on Paul's neck, kissing and crying over his departure in 60 AD and receiving an edifying letter to them in 64 AD that indicated they were still an overall faithful assembly (Eph. 1:1), to turning away from him so rapidly in 66 AD? How could this happen? The only way to explain it is that they did not put on the whole armor of God as Paul described to them in Eph. 6:10-17), for that is the only thing that would protect them from the deceptive snares of the devil and empower them to stand firm in the bold proclamation of the Mystery (Eph. 6:19-20).

And this leads to the second question we should ask: What are the wiles and snares of the devil? Well, if God's plan is for us to boldly speak the Mystery (Eph. 6:19-20), then Satan's plan involves silencing us, and all his attacks center on doing that. One way he tries to silence us is to get us to add something to Pauline Grace. When we add things to Grace, most of us have good intentions. We think adding this thing to Grace will help God out! Or, adding that thing will enhance and increase Grace. But this is just human wisdom and always fails.

Adding anything to grace—ANYTHING AT ALL—always, 100% of the time, detracts and diminishes Grace, contaminates and ultimately ruins it. One of my previous Grace Pastors used to say that adding a little bit of the Law to Pauline Grace is like adding a little drop of cyanide to a gallon of baby's milk: IT RUINS THE WHOLE BATCH! I would extend this simile to include the addition of absolutely anything to Grace—ANYTHING AT ALL—no matter how good we think it looks, or how much we have justified it in our own minds. Adding anything to Grace always diminishes and ruins it. Put another way, every minute we have the opportunity to preach Grace and preach something else instead, anything else, we have stolen a minute away from God and used it for our own selfish interests.

This is exactly how Paul describes what happened in Ephesus and the whole Asia Minor region. Speaking again to Timothy, Paul wrote: Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world ... At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me ... Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear (2 Tim. 4:9-18). And we could add to that: For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's (Phil. 2:21). Note carefully. It isn't just that they turned away from Paul personally, but that they turned away from Paul's bold proclamation of the Mystery! These people had been co-workers of Paul's until the road got tough, and they decided to go an easier way that compromised Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. They added things to it, no doubt being deceived into thinking they were helping God out when, in fact, they were just seeking their things rather than Christ's things.

Which leads us to the second way Satan attacks the Body of Christ: He tries to get us to follow someone other than the Apostle Paul. He doesn't really care who, just as long as it isn't Paul! That may be worldly wisdom and human knowledge, but more likely and most deceptively of all, he tries to get us to follow after SOMEONE ELSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. This is doubly deceptive because when Satan tricks us into leaving Paul to follow Peter at Pentecost or Jesus in His earthly ministry or the Prophets of the Old Testament or David in the Psalms or Moses and the Law, he also leads us away from Christ and God our Father (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Eph. 5:1-2). But it gets even worse. This Satanic deception is doubly, triply, deceptive because while we are in the process of leaving Paul and, therefore, Christ and, therefore, the Father, we think we are being spiritual and walking in a way that pleases God when, in fact, we are really being carnal and walking in a way that displeases God, wasting away our Christian lives down here on earth.

So, what happened in Asia? The two mostly apostate so-called Christian religious systems present with us today began when Asia turned away from Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. In Paul's day, Asia referred Asia Minor, the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. Very early on, going back to the days of the apostles themselves, historical documents show that this area had already replaced the Apostle Paul with the Apostle John. No doubt, this started with someone's “great” idea that they would help God out and increase the Gospel. Can't you just hear them talking? Well, Paul is pretty good, but John was actually with Jesus on earth for three years in intimate communion with Him. Why, perhaps he was even the disciple that Jesus especially loved (Jn. 13:23). We should add him to Paul, and really help God out and improve the Gospel. Did you hear Satan's trap snap shut? Now, today, 2,000 years later, all that is left is a mostly apostate Eastern Orthodox religious system that claims to be centered on John, and Paul is nowhere around.

But the historical story doesn't end there. Not many years after this, the Western part of the Roman Empire, including Rome, was deceived in the same way but instead of going with the Apostle John, they went with the Apostle Peter. Can't you hear them justifying this? Well, Paul's pretty good, but Peter was with Christ for the whole three years of His earthly ministry in intimate communion with the Lord. And Jesus did, after all, give Peter the keys to the Kingdom and the power to forgive sins!! Let's add Peter to Paul. That will help God out and improve the Gospel! Did you hear Satan's trap snap shut? Now, 2,000 years later all that is left is a mostly apostate Western religious system, Catholicism, that claims to be centered on Peter, and Paul is nowhere around.

In short: Adding to Grace never helps God or improves or increases Grace. It always diminishes Grace, spoiling it, leading us away from God and His Word for today: Pauline Grace Mystery Truth.

WHAT IS TIMOTHY GOING TO DO?

Now let's look at Timothy. 2 Timothy begins sounding a lot like Paul's concluding words to the leaders of the Ephesians in Acts 20. At that time, the Ephesians clung to Paul's neck, crying and weeping over HIS PHYSICAL DEPARTURE FROM THEM (Acts 20:37!. What great irony and sadness it is that even after all this emotion and drama, in the end it was THE EPHESIANS WHO DEPARTED SPIRITUALLY FROM PAUL AND, THEREFORE, CHRIST (2 Tim. 1:15)!!

Now, here in 2 Timothy, we have another departure of Paul; Paul's departure from Timothy. His words to Timothy sound remarkably similar to his final words to the Ephesians: I thank God ... that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee ... Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God ... Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord (2 Tim. 1:3-8). If we took a minute to review Acts 20:17-38, we would see many common themes. Both passages refer to Paul's faithfulness, his call for their faithfulness, his warnings about tough times ahead that would require them to stand firm to boldly proclaim the Gospel. Timothy's response was similar as well. Like the Ephesians, he cried and wept tears of sorrow (2 Tim. 1:4).

In relating the precarious predicament of Timothy to the fallen Ephesians, the narrative is filled with extreme tension. Both the Ephesians and Timothy were taught of Paul and wept tears when Paul departed physically from them. The Ephesians tears, however, became insincere and hypocritical because later THEY DEPARTED SPIRITUALLY FROM PAULINE GRACE MYSTERY TRUTH! So, that begs the question: What will Timothy do? Will he fall or stand? Will he leave Paul and follow after the Ephesians like everyone else? Or, will he remain with God's one Apostle for today, the Apostle Paul, standing firm in the sincere (pure--without admixture), fearless, shameless, bold proclamation of Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (2 Tim. 1:3‑14) thereby defeating all the wiles, tricks and deceptions of the devil (Eph. 6:10‑20)?

While the Ephesians and Asia left Paul in his day, taking most of historic Christianity with them, Timothy probably remained with Paul boldly speaking the Mystery. Now, the ball is in our court, and the only question left is what are we going to do?

We introduced the topic being IN CHRIST by noting this mega-WOW-worthy cycle:

Col. 1:19; 2:9: The Triune Godhead is filling Jesus Christ, the God-Man, with the FULLNESS OF GOD!

Eph. 1:23: Jesus Christ is filling the Church, the Body of Christ, with the FULLNESS OF CHRIST!

Eph. 4:13: We participate in this FULLNESS through the FULL-knowledge of Christ that comes from the preaching of Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery (Eph. 3; Rom. 16:25)—Pauline Grace Mystery Truth—which builds us up to the FULL measure of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST.

Eph. 3:19: Because Pauline Grace Mystery Truth fills and overflows our hearts with the Love of Christ (Eph. 3:17; Rom. 5:5-8), which, finally, fills us FULL of the FULLNESS OF GOD!! (Go back to the TOP).

WOW! WOW!! If that doesn't make us jump and shout for joy, I don't know what will!!!

We introduced an acronym, a silly acronym, as a memory help: U.P.I.I. (pronounced UP-E-I like denarii). Each letter refers to a facet of our position IN CHRIST. The U stands for being United with Christ. The P stands for being Participants in His things. I stands for being Identified with Christ. And the second I stands for Incorporation into Christ. More on this later.

THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE MYSTERY

In His Mystery Program as revealed through Paul's distinct apostleship, God is now manifesting, revealing, fully displaying His Love in a way that He didn't manifest in His Prophetic Program with Israel and couldn't manifest within the Triune Godhead. The divine Love displayed in the Trinity is Love among “fellows,” between “friends” (Zech. 13:6). God's Love is displayed by the Father living for and honoring the Son and the Spirit; the Son living for and honoring the Father and the Spirit; and the Spirit living for and honoring the Father and the Son.

And it is this Love of God for His friends that God displays in His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel. It is the main operating principle of God's promises to Abraham: I (the LORD) will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you (Gen. 12:3). In other words, God promises to bless His friends and destroy His enemies. Jesus takes this to its climax when He, referring to His upcoming death, declares the greatest Love displayed in God's Prophetic Program with Israel: Greater Love has no man than this, that a man lay down His life for his friends (Jn. 15:13). In other words, God's love for the world only extended far enough for Christ to die for His friends.

But neither of these displays of divine Love—the Love displayed among the Persons of the Trinity nor that displayed in His Prophetic Program with Israel—FULLY manifest the infinite depths of the inexhaustible riches of His Love. He reserved that display for His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ as revealed through Paul's apostleship and recorded in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. Astonishingly, shockingly, amazingly, awesomely, God is FULLY manifesting and revealing--today and for all eternity—that His Love doesn't just extend to His friends! IT EXTENDS TO HIS ENEMIES!! Christ didn't just die for His friends (as great as that is)! HE DIED FOR HIS ENEMIES (and that is greater). He died for UNGODLY SINNERS ON ENEMY STATUS BEFORE HIM (Rom. 5:6-10; Eph. 2:1-11)!!

In conclusion, the (Agape) Love God is displaying today is not a new divine love. It is the same divine Love as always but is now being fully displayed and completely manifested in all its infinite riches and Glory through God's Mystery Program with the Body of Christ.

Sunday we continued our study in the Book of Ephesians by looking at an overview of Eph. 1:3-14 where we found focusing on the three times Paul uses the phrase TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). Thankfully, everything God is doing for and with us is centered on God and His Glory not man and his redemption (as important as that is!)!! He gives us an inheritance in Christ (Eph. 1:11) so that He can make us

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE BIBLE MADE SIMPLE (Pt. 1)

One of the simple ways to present rightly-dividing to people willing to listen can be done by using just three short Bible verses: Lk. 1:70; Acts 3:21; Rom. 16:25.

1. Lk. 1:70: Most of historic Christianity teaches that God began doing something new in Christ's earthly ministry as recorded in the Gospel Accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). In one way or another, they say God did away with literal physical Nation of Israel as revealed in the Old Testament at that time and replaced it with the Church, the Body of Christ, a figurative “spiritual Israel.” But is this true? What does God say in His Word about the earthly ministry of Christ? In Lk. 1:70 we find Zacharias prophesying BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (Lk. 1:67), explaining what God was doing with the arrival of Christ's earthly ministry: And (God) has raised up a horn of salvation for us (the Nation of Israel) in the house of His servant David: As He SPOKE BY THE MOUTH OF ALL HIS HOLY PROPHETS, which have been SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN (Lk. 1:69-70).
   
   God the Holy Spirit says (contrary to most of historic Christianity) that God wasn't beginning something new in the Gospel Accounts. He was continuing something old: His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to re-establish His Glory on the Earth WHICH HAD BEEN SPOKEN ABOUT SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. The Gospel Accounts of Christ's earthly ministry do not usher in a change in God's dealings with Israel and the world. They are a continuation of God's Old Testament dealings with Israel and the world.
2. Acts 3:21: Well, if God didn't begin something new in Christ's earthly ministry, certainly He began something new in early Acts in the ministry of Peter and the 12 through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is the common teaching of a significant portion of historic Christianity. They assume that the Church, the Body of Christ, began at Pentecost, and that that is when God changed His dealings from the Nation of Israel to the Body of Christ. But is this assumption correct? What do God and His Scriptures say? In Acts 3:21, Peter was giving his 2nd sermon at Pentecost, and this is what he (through the Holy Spirit—Acts 2:4) said God was doing at that time: Whom (Jesus Christ) the Heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath SPOKEN BY HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN (Acts. 3:21).
   
   Once again and contrary to the teachings of much of historic Christianity, God not only didn't start something new in Christ's earthly ministry, He also didn't start something new in early Acts at Pentecost! Rather, He was continuing some old: His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to re-establish His Glory on the Earth.
3. Rom. 16:25: Well then, when did God begin something new? When did today's Church, the Body of Christ, come on the scene? The Apostle Paul answers this question: Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my (Paul's) Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery, which was KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN (Rom. 16:25)!!! Now we have something new.
   
   It was only through the distinct apostleship of Paul and the Revelation of the Mystery (something kept secret since eternity past but is now revealed—Eph. 3:1-9) that God began something new. With the raising up of the Apostle Paul, He (temporarily) set aside His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, which He had been SPEAKING ABOUT SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN and began a new program today in the Dispensation of Grace: His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ that He had KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. Obviously, a Program and People that HAD BEEN SPOKEN ABOUT SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN cannot be the same Program and People that HAD BEEN KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN!
   
   Rightly dividing the Scriptures simply refers to the appreciation of the distinction between God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel whereby He will restore His Glory on the Earth as revealed in the NON-Pauline Scriptures (the Old Testament, the Gospel Accounts, the ministry of Peter and the 12) and His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ whereby He will restore His Glory in the Heavenlies as revealed in the Pauline Scriptures (Romans through Philemon).

Verse-By-Verse: Eph. 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

1. BLESSED: Eulogized, speak well of, praise.
2. OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: We already saw in Eph. 1:2 that God is our Father, and here in v. 3 He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This brings us back to our IN CHRIST concept (U. P. I. I.: U=United to Christ; P=Participate in Christ's things; I=Identified with Christ; Incorporated into Christ), especially the aspect of being united to Christ, for when we are united to Christ, we are united to the Father. Through Christ, it can be truly said that we belong to the Triune Godhead and the Triune Godhead belongs to us! Our life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
3. WHO HAS BLESSED US: God our Father has bestowed blessings, benefits, to us. This word is in the past tense, which refers not only to when we were saved in the past but to eternity past as in v. 4 (before the foundation of the world). In other words, when God devised His plan to re-establish His Glory in the Heavenlies through His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ, He pre-determined all the blessings and provisions the Body of Christ would need to carry out His work and gave them to Christ in eternity past, keeping them in reserve until the Dispensation of Grace when He revealed His Mystery Program to and through the Apostle Paul. Of course, once the Mystery Program began, those who believed were placed in Christ where they instantly received and could partake in those blessings.
4. ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLIES IN CHRIST: Paul describes the blessings or benefits that God is dispensing today to the Body of Christ by qualifying them in four ways: 1. ALL/COMPLETE; 2. SPIRITUAL; 3. HEAVENLY; 4. IN CHRIST.
1. ALL: They are a complete provision. These are all the blessings God is giving today in the Dispensation of Grace. They fully equip and provision the members of the Body of Christ to carry out the Father's will, desires and purpose. We don't like this truth because we don't really care about God and His will. We want God to give us blessings whereby we can carry out our own fleshly will, desires and purpose. We have been taught by most of historic Christianity that getting saved is our way to get God involved in our things and to do what we want. But this turns everything upside down and inside out. It is little more than pagan superstition dressed up in Christian verbiage. To the contrary, getting saved is God's way to get us involved in His things and to do what He wants!
   
   The corollary to this is that if God has given ALL blessings—Yes, EVERY SINGLE blessing—and we receive them the moment we believe, then there is no purpose in trying to get God to give us more. We have them all already! If you are waiting for God to give you a blessing—solve a problem, return you to health, increase your bank account, etc.—you are wasting time. You will just be disappointed and frustrated. You can wrangle with God, twist His arm, wrestle Him to the ground in prayer, trying to get Him to give you another blessing, but it won't work because He has already given us ALL the blessings He is giving today the moment we believed. Our job is to just go out and start raking them up from the Word rightly divided and make use of them in our Christian walk. For spiritually mature believers this is a cause of great rejoicing: God has made us His fully provisioned and equipped servants. For fleshly and immature believers, it is a great disappointment: Why isn't God giving me what I want and doing what I tell Him?
   
   The only way we know what blessings are and are not for us today comes from the Bible rightly divided. You have to discern between the Scriptures that have to do with God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel and His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ. More on this below.
   
   To summarize: THE KEY TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, therefore, is not asking and begging God for more blessings. He has already given you ALL blessings in Christ. Rather, it is to learn about and make use of the blessings we already have, appreciating our place as God's servants; His ambassadors in service to God, left down here on enemy territory to announce reconciliation to the lost, sin-cursed, death-decaying world.
   
   Which leads us to the next qualifier.
2. SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN THE HEAVENLIES: Commentators usually try to diminish the force of the word SPIRITUAL here. They trivialize the verse by saying that the blessings are “spiritual” because they come from the Spirit. Of course, their real problem is they don't want to rule out physical earthly blessings. But this passage won't allow its meaning to be diminished in this way because the word is qualified further with the phrase: IN THE HEAVENLIES. These are not just SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, they are SPIRITUAL HEAVENLY BLESSINGS and should be viewed in contradistinction to physical earthly blessings.
   
   In God's Prophetic Program with Israel, spiritual blessings opened the way for God to give them physical blessings. The New Covenant, for instance, will give the Nation of Israel the Spirit, who will put the Law in their hearts of faith and cause them to walk according to His commandments so that they can receive the Blessings of the Law rather than its Curses.
   
   Deut. 28:1-13 and Lev. 26:1-13 tell us what the blessings of the Law are, and they are physical and earthly. They will be used to make Israel into the greatest and richest most prosperous of all nations. The Gentile nations will look upon her and come to the LORD God of Israel to bless them in the same way. The blessings of Pauline Grace Mystery Truth, however, are all spiritual because they are designed to make the Body of Christ into the reflectors of God's Glory in the HEAVENLY SPIRITUAL realm where we sit together with Christ (Eph. 1-2).
3. We have already discussed the IN CHRIST qualifier in great detail in previous lessons. You will find one of them on Jun 25, 2023.

Today we moved on to Eph. 1:4 and saw what being chosen in Christ means. Most theological and religious system say make this into a complex and difficult and confusing theology when, in fact, it is the simplest and most basic thing of daily living. When we recognize it has nothing to do with salvation. It has to do with service. God doesn't pick and choose those who He will save and those He will not save unto eternal life or eternal damnation. Rather, He chose in eternity past what He is going to do with those He saves. We are chosen unto service not unto salvation. We looked at many homely examples to show that what Paul is talking about here is not some difficult and confusing concept, but the most practical and easiest thing we all do every day of our lives.

The Corollaries of Eph. 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

Eph. 1:3 is meant to revolutionize our thinking and lives, but it will only do that if we let it. This verse is often trivialized: spiritual doesn't really mean SPIRITUAL, and heavenly doesn't really mean HEAVENLY. But when we let God speak, this verse provides for three earth-shattering and heaven-shaking corollaries:

1. FACT #1: Today, in the Dispensation of Grace, God is giving us as members of His Body, the Body of Christ, spiritual/heavenly blessings in accord with His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ so that He can restore His Glory in the Heavenlies through us.
   
   COROLLARY #1: Therefore, today God is NOT giving physical/earthly blessings in accord with His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel for restoring His Glory on Earth. What are you praying for? What are you waiting on God for?
2. FACT #2: Today, God gives ALL these blessings to us the moment we believe—every single one!
   
   COROLLARY #2: Therefore, it is ungrateful and inappropriate for us to pray, beg, plead with God to give us more blessings. He has already given us all the blessings He is giving! Don't we believe God? Are we going to tell Him these aren't enough—I need more!
3. FACT #3: Today, these ALL SPIRITUAL/HEAVENLY blessings are given IN CHRIST where believers receive and participate in them as members of His Body, the Body of Christ.
   
   COROLLARY #3: Therefore, they are not received and participated by those outside Christ. if you are waiting for God to supply you with things that unbelievers have—health, wealth, prosperity—you will be frustrated and disappointed in God because they are NOT the blessings God and Paul are referring to here.

CONCLUSION: Because today God is giving us ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN THE HEAVENLIES IN CHRIST, our responsibility is to open and unpack the box of His blessings to us today in His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, the box of Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. It is only there that we will learn about what God is really doing today in the Dispensation of Grace. It is only there, and there alone, that we learn how God has wondrously and amazingly blessed and provisioned us for carrying out our Father's business. When we bless and praise God for this, we right now, in the present, reflect, display, radiate the Glory of God, which fulfills God's purpose for us! TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14).

It might be best to first clarify what this verse does NOT say. It does NOT say what many theological systems make it say. This verse doesn't say God chose certain individuals to be in Christ and others to not be in Christ. It doesn't say God chose some to be saved and some to not be saved. It doesn't say He chose individuals to be in Christ. It doesn't say any of these things. It says He choose us in Christ. Maybe it would be helpful if we looked at it this way: He chose Us-In-Christ—say it all at once—Us-In-Christ--as His vehicle of service. This verse has nothing to do with SALVATION from sin and death, Hell and Satan. It has to do with SERVICE for God by those who have already been saved in the Dispensation of Grace.

Don't hear it yet? Let's use a real practical example. In 2013, Tokyo was chosen to serve the Olympic Committee by hosting the 2020 Games. This is how the Japanese newsman announced it: The Olympic Committee chose us-in-Tokyo to host the Games. The newsman certainly was not saying the Olympic Committee chose/elected/selected every individual who would be in Tokyo! He was saying that the Olympic Committee chose Us-In-Tokyo—all those who already lived in Tokyo—the city of Tokyo as a group—to be its vehicle of service by hosting the games. So too, when Paul says God chose us-in-Christ, he was not saying that God choose every individual that would be in Christ, but that God chose Us-In-Christ—all those who already lived in Christ—the group as a whole—the Body of Christ—as His “city,” His “vehicle,” His “vessel” of service to carry out His work in the Dispensation of Grace.

Remember, and again contrary to most of the teaching of historic Christianity, in eternity past God designed two distinct Programs (His Prophetic Program and His Mystery Program), two distinct Purposes (to re-establish His Glory on the Earth and to re-establish His Glory in the Heavenlies) and two distinct Peoples (the Nation of Israel and the Body of Christ). When both these Programs are fulfilled, the universe will be united in the full display of God's Glory, His ultimate PURPOSE for everything (Eph. 1:10).

In the non-Pauline Scriptures, we learn that in eternity past God CHOSE to fulfill His Prophetic Program to re-establish His Glory on the Earth by using His CHOSEN People, the Nation of Israel, as His vehicle of service (Is. 41:8; et al.). In the Pauline Scriptures, however, and especially the point Paul is making here in Eph. 1:4, we learn that God in eternity past CHOSE to fulfill His Mystery Program to re-establish His Glory in the Heavenlies by using His CHOSEN People, the Body of Christ, as His vehicle of service: US-IN-CHRIST (1:1, 3, 23; et al.).

In conclusion, SALVATION is offered freely to ALL and is received by ALL who freely believe (Rom. 3:22; Eph. 2:8). What God chose in eternity past was that ALL people saved in the Dispensation of Grace would be placed into His vehicle of service called the Body of Christ, not into His vehicle of service called the Nation of Israel. And it is there, as members of the Body of Christ, that we are united and identified with Christ, incorporated into His new redeemed, righteous humanity, and given all the resources and blessings we need to serve Him as He accomplishes His Mystery Program to re-establish His Glory in the Heavenlies (Eph. 1:3).

Now, that's something to pray about! Thanks be to God! Bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! PRAISE HIM FOR THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE (Eph. 1:3, 6)!

On Sunday we continued our look at the wonderful praise prayer that opens the Book of Ephesians (Eph. 1:3-14). Paul sets it all up with verse 3: Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Then he goes on to expand each phrase in the next 11 verses. Why IN CHRIST? Why ALL BLESSINGS? Why SPIRIATUAL and HEAVENLY?

Eph. 1:3 and God's Eternal Purpose In Christ.

Eph. 1:3-14 begins with Paul telling us to bless, eulogize, speak well of God the Father. But that begs the question: Why? Paul answers that question by stretching back to the work of the Father in eternity past (1:3-6), moves into what God the Son has done and is doing in the “time” of the present Dispensation of Grace (1:7-12) and then reaches ahead with the Holy Spirit into the everlasting future (1:13‑14). A believer can't get any securer that that!

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

Leading us step-by-step, Paul elaborates on each aspect of the gemstone of this verse. For instance, why is everything IN CHRIST? Why does He give us ALL BLESSINGS right up front the moment we are saved? And why are the blessings SPIRITUAL and HEAVENLY?

1. Eph. 1:4: Why is everything IN CHRIST? Everything is IN CHRIST because God chose in eternity past US-IN-CHRIST —the Church, the Body of Christ—who would be His holy, sanctified, set-apart vessel of service in the Dispensation of Grace because we individually and as a group have received the Love of God displayed at the Cross of Christ by faith, thereby being brought into a right, blameless standing before the Father by grace through faith. In short, God made US accepted in the Beloved, IN CHRIST and IN CHRIST only (1:6b).
2. Eph. 1:5-6: Why does He give believers individually and as a group ALL blessings? He gives ALL blessings right up front because He predetermined our destiny in eternity past that we would be brought into His family as adult sons and daughters; children in our majority, not children in our minority (like He did with Israel at Mt. Sinai), fully equipped to participate in His, the Father's, business. In short, for us to function as responsible adults in His business, He had to provision us with ALL His blessings. He did this just because turning ungodly sinners on enemy status before Him (Rom. 5:6-10) into the reflectors, radiators, displayers of the Glory of His Grace in Love PLEASED HIM!
3. Eph. 1:7-12: To serve God as adults in a way that pleases Him, we need two things. First, we need to have access to the Father's riches, His resources, which we have through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross for us (Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:1-2). There, He provided redemption, freeing us from everything that held us captive in Adam—sin and death, Satan and self, the powers of darkness—according to the RICHES OF HIS GRACE.
   

   Grace is all that God is free to do for you and me, Because of what His Son did on the Cross of Calvary.

   
   But we need more than just access to the riches of the Father. We also need to know how to use those riches! This is the great error most of believing Christianity makes. They have some idea about what belongs to them when they are saved but they don't know how to use them in a way that pleases God. In this passage, Paul doesn't stop with the riches of the Father through Christ (as wonderful as that is). He immediately goes on to tell us how to use them in accord with His will. And to do that, we need to know what the Father's business plan is, His purpose and goal for creation! Without knowing that, we will waste His riches, using them in ways that displease the Father, hindering His plan rather than advancing it, piffling His resources away--perhaps sincerely and with good intentions--but ultimately fruitlessly.
   
   To keep us from making this mistake, Paul explains that the Lord Jesus Christ not only died on the Cross for us, giving us access to the Father's riches, but that the Risen Lord Jesus Christ also abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence by making known unto us the Mystery of the Father's will (Eph. 1:12) through the distinct apostleship of Paul (Eph. 3:1‑12). Paul explains that God didn't just devise one program in eternity past: HE DEVISED TWO PROGRAMS IN ETERNITY PAST! One was His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, which HE HAD SPOKEN ABOUT SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN (Lk. 1:70; Acts 3:21) as recorded in the non-Pauline Scriptures. And another program that was His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, which HAD BEEN KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN—the Mystery or Secret of His Will as recorded in the Pauline Scriptures (Rom. 16:25: Eph. 3:1‑12).
   
   To use the riches of God the way He intends, we need to appreciate that today in the Dispensation of Grace, God is placing believers into His chosen vessel the Body of Christ in accord with His Mystery Program NOT into the Nation of Israel (spiritual, new, true or otherwise) in accord with His Prophetic Program. When we know and understand this, we can begin to operate in accord with our sonship position, advancing the business that the Father has involved us in and equipped us for in Christ.
4. Eph. 1:10: Why are the blessings SPIRITUAL and HEAVENLY not physical and earthly? Because in His ultimate purpose God is bringing the whole universe under the headship of Christ. That He would re-establish His Glory in the physical, earthly realm through His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel was not a mystery or secret. It was spoken about since the world began (Lk. 1:70; Acts 3:21). Israel's spiritual blessings will equip her to receive the physical blessings she will need to be the greatest nation on the Earth. But what God kept a mystery/secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-12) was that He will re-establish His Glory in the spiritual, Heavenly realm through His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ--US-IN-CHRIST--which only requires spiritual, heavenly blessings that culminate in the resurrection of our bodies made like unto Jesus Christ's body—a spiritual body designed and optimized for service in the Heavenlies (1 Cor. 15:38‑50).
5. Eph. 1:13-14: How can we be certain of all this? Because when we believed, God sealed us with the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the down payment and guarantor, making us eternally secure throughout the everlasting future.
   
   Now, we have been brought into the eternal councils of the Triune Godhead. We know the plan that in taking us ungodly enemy sinners in Adam and by grace and through faith creates us anew in Christ, making us members of His Body, freeing us to serve Him in His Mystery Program, the displayers, reflectors, radiators of His Glory, especially in the Heavenly realm before the powers and principalities there—GIVES THE FATHER GREAT PLEASURE! And what are we actually “doing” when we display, reflect and radiate God's Glory? We are “doing” what Eph. 1:3 says: Praising and blessing and thanking God for involving us in His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ, knowing that the God and Father or our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ (Eph. 1:3), which is exactly what we need to bring Him GREAT PLEASURE!

On Sunday we continued our look at what “predestination” is in Eph. 1:5. This verse is another example of how man-made religious and man-centered theological systems change God's Word to fit their own preconceived notions. This verse is often used to say that in eternity past God predestinated those who would and wouldn't be saved. But the text doesn't say God predestinated us unto salvation or eternal life. It says He predestinated us unto adoption as sons. He predetermined in eternity past that all believers in the Body of Christ would be brought into His family as adult sons and daughters, children in their majority, not children in their minority as He did with Israel at Sinai.

What Happened to Israel's Sonship?

God's intention in the Exodus was to deliver Israel out of Egypt as His (adult) SON (Ex. 4:22-23), fully ready and prepared to carry out the LORD's plan for them of being a light to the Gentiles (we see a glimpse of this in Ex. 18:8-12; Is. 60:1-3). For this to happen, Israel had to learn two major doctrines on their way from Goshen in Egypt to Mt. Sinai.

1. The first thing they needed to learn was that if they were going to become the nation God created them to be, they needed to rely on HIM TO DO EVERYTHING FOR THEM. To this end, He gave them His I AM Jehovah Name (Ex. 3:14), along with signs so that they might believe (Ex. 4:1-9). He gave them these things before their journey even began. They needed to learn to access the Grace resident in God's I AM Jehovah Name by Faith. If they didn't, they would fall into complete ruin. To teach them this, God deliberately led them into many impossible situations. He sandwiched them, for example, between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army. If they went forward, they would drown in the sea. If they turned around and went back, they would be trampled by the chariots of Egypt. So, He told them to just stand still and watch their deliverance. The LORD would fight for them. I AM Your Fighter, Your Deliverer (Ex. 14:13-25).

Then, to see if they learned to rely on Him for everything, He led them (2-3 million thirsty Israelites) to a body of water, but it was poisoned! If they had learned the lesson of the Exodus, they would have just said LORD, we need you to heal the waters, and the LORD would have healed the waters, showing that He is Jehovah-Rapha—I AM Your Healer. But they hadn't learned the lesson, and they murmured and complained instead. But for Moses's sake, the LORD healed the waters anyway (Ex. 15:23-26).

To- re-enforce this message, the LORD next led the now hungry Israelites into the wilderness, but there was no food! Certainly, by now they knew what they needed to do. Just rely on the LORD to provide food, showing He is their: I AM Your Provider! But they hadn't learned the lesson; therefore, they murmured and complained, wishing to go back to Egypt instead! But for Moses's sake, the LORD provided food for them anyway. Quails came up from the ground and manna fell down from heaven.

Despite these failures, the LORD kept on trying to get them to access the Grace resident in His I AM Jehovah Name by Faith. Faith is what the LORD shines the spotlight on in the next encounter when He confronted Israel with a strong enemy army. During the fighting when Moses raised the Rod of God of Faith (see. Ex. 4), Israel won the battle. When he lowered it, however, they lost it. This should have taught Israel that the LORD Himself was their Conqueror, their: I AM Your Banner/Conquering Hero! Faith was the critical ingredient, and Faith is what had been missing from most of Israel's history, going all the way into the earthly ministry of Christ and the 12 at Pentecost in early Acts.

2. The second thing they needed to learn was they must never enter a law system according to the flesh with the LORD. To teach this, He gave them two eensy-weensy, teeny-tiny, easy-schmeasy commandments about collecting manna--don't hold the manna overnight (except on day before Sabbath) and don't go out on the Sabbath to collect manna; there won't be any. But they couldn't even keep those two simple commandments (Ex. 16:4-5, 20, 27-28). If the Israelites had really been under a law system at that time, they would have received the diseases of Egypt (Ex. 15:26).

With these two lessons in mind—The LORD has to do everything for them, and never enter into a law system through the flesh with Him—we are ready to see what went wrong at Sinai. First, we see the leaders of Israel operating in Israel's SONSHIP position, fulfilling God's plan for them by witnessing to the Gentile Midianites. God's plan for Israel was to be the conduit of His light and glory and blessings to the Gentiles. And here (notice carefully!) BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE MOSAIC COVENANT, the Israelites were already operating in accord with their SONSHIP POSITION (Ex. 18:8-12) just because of the the Grace resident in His Jehovah Name. They were being a light to the Gentiles. God accomplished what He set out to do in Ex. 4:22-23 (albeit it only in foretaste fashion). The LORD had delivered Israel out of Egypt as His SON because He did everything Himself. It was the LORD who destroyed the Egyptians! It was the LORD who carried the Israelites along on eagle's wings!! And it was the LORD who brought them unto Himself!!! The LORD did everything for them (Ex. 19:4).

It is only at this point after all this teaching and instructing that He gave them the final exam. Did they want the LORD and His Jehovah I AM Name by faith to continue doing everything for them? Or, did they want to do it themselves through the power of their own flesh? With perhaps the most fateful words in the whole Old Testament, here is their answer: ALL THAT THE LORD HAS SPOKEN WE WILL DO (Ex. 19:8)! Wrong Answer! The instant they said we will do it, it necessarily ruled out the LORD doing it for them. Instantly, everything changed. The LORD who graciously had just brought them to Himself in life in v. 4, now pushes them away as unclean lest they be put to death in vv. 12-24.

Now, what does all this have to do with Eph. 1:5? It has everything to do with it. When Israel threw away God's I AM Jehovah Name (We Will Do It), they also threw away their SONSHIP position. They entered the Mosaic Law according to the flesh as little children, placed under tutors and governors, and they spent the next 1500 years under the Curses of the Law in the Courses of Punishment, mostly in utter ruin.

At Christ's 2nd Coming, however, believing Isael will be given this final exam once again, and when that happens, they will give the right answer: Treat us graciously (Hos. 14:2), passing the test with flying colors and (finally) entering the fullness of their SONSHIP POSITION. God allowed sinful humanity one-time to enter the Law according to the flesh with Him (and that was the Nation of Israel) for the sole purpose of demonstrating once and for all no flesh (not even Israel's with all her advantages and privileges) can gain a right standing before God based on the works of the Law (Rom. 3:19-20). If Israel couldn't do it, no one could do it. The final answer is in and the experiment never needs to be repeated again.

Now let's bring it back to Eph. 1. We saw previously that Paul's point in Eph. 1:4. is to tell the Ephesians not to get confused! God's vehicle of service today in the Dispensation of Grace is US-IN-CHRIST, the Body of Christ NOT the Nation of Israel! And then, in Eph. 1:5 he again says do not get confused! Today, God is treating us as adult sons and daughters NOT as little children, like He had with Israel at Sinai. He is treating us as children in our majority—ADULT SONS AND DAUGHTERS—so that we can have all we need to operate in the fullness of our SONSHIP position in Christ, the Son, (waiting only for the redemption or our bodies when we will have a body like unto His) right now as God's ambassadors on enemy territory on Earth!

On Sunday we continued our look at one of our capstone blessings as believers: Predestination unto sonship in Eph. 1:5 and Rom. 8. It is the capstone blessing because it explains that we have been brought into God's family as adult children, which means the Father not only gives us access to His riches, He also gives us access to His business plan for the universe through the revelation of the Mystery. What an amazing thing! Not only can we know and appreciate the Father's business, we can also participate in it and advance it. As adults we have the capacity to recognize that His will and plan is better than any other will or plan (even our own!), and we can say the same thing Jesus (THE SON) said in the Garden of Gethsemane: Abba, Father (Dear Honorable Father). And what does that mean? Not what I will , but what Thou wilt (Mk. 14:36).

Paul's Dispensational Point In Eph. 1:3‑5

While many Bible teachers recognize the wonderful blessings believers receive in these verses, what most miss is Paul's additional point, perhaps even his greater point, that there has now been a great dispensational change in God's programs for the ages. They miss the dispensational aspect of these verses because in rebellion against God, they have rejected His one apostle for today, the Apostle Paul and, therefore, they also reject God's revelation of the Mystery made known through Paul's distinct apostleship. What is usually ignored is that God devised TWO programs in eternity past:

1. His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to Re-Establish His Glory on Earth as revealed in the non-Pauline Scriptures.
2. His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to Re-Establish His Glory in the Heavenlies as revealed in the Pauline Scriptures.

With this in mind, let's go beyond the blessings aspect found in these verses and look at their dispensational aspect as well:

	God's Prophetic Program	God's Mystery Program
v. 3: Type of Blessings	Spiritual blessings that allow Israel to receive the physical blessings of the Law to be the greatest nation on the Earth.	Spiritual blessings only, which equip us for service in the Heavenlies spiritual realm. The Riches of God's Grace.
v. 4: Vehicle of Service	Christ's Nation—the Nation of Israel	Christ's Body—the Body of Christ
v. 5: How Believers are Brought into God's Family	In Time Past under the Law according to the flesh: Children in their MINORITY under tutors and governors.	But Now under Pauline Grace according to the Spirit: Children in their MAJORITY—Adult sons and daughters co-heirs with the Son, Jesus Christ.

Through the revelation of the Mystery to the Apostle Paul (Eph. 3:1-3), God not only has brought us into the Father's riches of Grace, He has also brought us into the full-knowledge (epignosis—Eph. 1:17) of the eternal plan of the Triune Godhead. God the Father devised this plan in eternity past (Eph. 1:3-6). God the Son provided for its implementation in the present time (Eph. 1:7-12). God the Holy Spirit guarantees it for all everlasting future (Eph. 1:13-14). That is Paul's two-pronged point not only in Eph. 1:3-5 but in this whole section (Eph. 1:3-14) and really the whole Book of Ephesians.

In Eph. 1:4, 6, we find God's love for us (v. 4), and His love for His Son, the Beloved (v. 6). God's great project for Creation is to display the infinite richness and unfathomable depths of His Love. But how do you even begin to display something that is infinite and eternal?

1. It almost goes without saying that God's Love is displayed eternally within the Triune Godhead. The Father Loves the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son Loves the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit Loves the Father and the Son, always beneficially preferring the other (Eph. 1:6; Jn. 1:1-2, 18; 3:35; 14:31; 17:5, 24; et al.). But it is important to appreciate that God's Love displayed in the Trinity is expressed among FRIENDS or as Zechariah says “fellows” (Zech 13:7) and, therefore, does not exhaust the riches of His Love nor plunge to its depth.

So, in this project of displaying His Love to Creation, God had two “problems” to solve. First, He had to devise a program by which He could visibly display and make known the invisible and unknowable Love of God expressed in the Life of the Triune Godhead. Second, He had to devise a program by which He could display the deepest depths of His Love, Love that goes beyond what is eternally expressed in the Trinity among FRIENDS, and that is: God's Love for His ENEMIES.

2. God solved the first “problem” through His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel. In that program, God brought the Believing Remnant into the Love of God expressed in the Trinity (Jn. 15:26; 17:23-26). This is the foundation of the Abrahamic Covenant: I will bless those that bless you and curse those who curse you (Gen. 12:3b). Or, put another way: I will save My FRIENDS and destroy My ENEMIES. The Apostle John says this: Greater Love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his FRIENDS (of course, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ--Jn. 15:13). The greatest Love displayed and manifested in Israel's Prophetic Program is that Christ died for His FRIENDS.

But God's Love to His FRIENDS doesn't exhaust the riches of His Love, nor does it plunge to its deepest depth. God needed to solve the second problem by displaying His Love for His ENEMIES.

3. To accomplish this, God devised another program, His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, whereby He would give the greatest display of His unfathomable Love. A display of Love that went beyond what could be displayed in the Trinity, and beyond what was displayed in Israel's Prophetic Program. The Apostle Paul puts it this way: When we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die (that is what Christ did in Israel's Prophetic Program—He died for the righteous and good, His FRIENDS—Jn. 15:13). But God commends His Love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ... for when we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Rom. 5:6‑10).

No wonder Paul exclaims:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great LOVE wherewith he LOVED us,5 even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-7).

The greatest display of God's Love in His Prophetic Program with Israel is that Christ died for His FRIENDS (Believing Israel, showing how He provides for Israel's NATIONAL salvation). That's a great display of Love, but it isn't the GREATEST display of God's Love!

The greatest display of God's Love is being revealed and manifested today in His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ, which began when the Risen Lord saved His arch-ENEMY, Saul (instead of destroying him), and made him our Apostle Paul and the pattern of salvation by grace through faith for ungodly sinners on enemy status before Him (1 Tim. 1:16), displaying the exceeding greatness of His Love in that Christ also died for His ENEMIES (Rebel Sinners, showing how He provides for an INDIVIDUAL sinner's salvation (Rom. 3:21-26))!

As members of the Body of Christ under our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the privilege of being made by God into the displayers, the reflectors, of the deepest depths of His unfathomable Love for all time and eternity (Eph. 4:15-16)! Holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit together (in Love—Col. 2:2), increases with the INCREASE of God (Col. 2:19), and I can't think of anything real or imagined better than that!

Today in the Dispensation of Grace, which operates in accord with the Revelation of the Mystery, God is dispensing the UNSEARCHABLE riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). The riches required for God to not just save us from sin and death but that make us into a new creation that reflects, displays, and radiates His Light and Glory! The riches required to display the full depth of His Love not revealed in that Christ died for His friends (Jn. 15:13) but in that Christ died for His ENEMIES (Rom. 5:6-10)!

To fulfil His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ, God pulled out all the stoppers and opened wide all the spigots, thereby avalanching His riches of His Grace and Peace (Eph. 1:2) upon a lost, wrath-worthy, fallen humanity:

1. Through the (exceeding) riches of His Grace we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7) and are made into the reflectors of His exceedingly great Grace and Kindness forevermore (2:7).
2. Through the riches of His Glory, God powerfully gives us life, raises us from the dead and seats us in the Heavenlies together with Christ (Eph. 1:18; 2:1-7) and strengthens the inner person through the Spirit (Eph. 3:16).
3. Through the riches of His Mercy, instead of giving us the wrath and judgment we deserved, He gives us grace and peace (Eph. 1:2; 2:4).
4. Through the (unsearchable) riches of Christ, which were unknown until the Risen Christ revealed them directly to the Apostle Paul (Eph. 3:5, 8, 9), we have the full-knowledge (epignosis) of the manifold wisdom of the Triune Godhead, and His eternal purpose (Eph. 3:10-11).
5. Through the riches of the Glory of the Mystery we who previously had no hope and were without Christ and God in the world (Eph. 2:11-12), now are not only are in Christ, but Christ is in us, giving us hope, the confident expectation based on God's Word that He has made us participants in His Glory APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL (Col. 1:27).
6. Through the riches of the Full-Knowledge of the Mystery, we are knit together in love and given the full assurance of and full understanding of what God is doing today with us in the Body of Christ (Col. 2:2).
7. Through the riches of God's Wisdom and Knowledge we are brought into the understanding that we are of Him, through Him and unto Him: To Him be Glory forevermore (Rom. 11:33, 36).
8. Through the Riches of God for the World, especially the Gentiles, we now are blessed apart from Israel and through her fall (Rom. 11:12-15).

Let's praise God for His RICHES IN CHRIST! And when we do, we are already fulfilling the purpose He has for as displayers of His Glory.

On Sunday we began looking at the blessings found in Eph. 1:6-7: The Wisdom and Prudence that comes from the revelation of the Mystery of God's Will. These blessings are often ignored and even belittled by much of an errant Christianity that says things like: We don't need doctrine, we just need love! But they are just as important as the blessings of redemption and forgiveness of sins. They are absolutely necessary if we are going to use God's riches in a way that is well-pleasing to Him.

A Big Mistake!

In Eph. 1:3-14, it would be a mistake to solely focus on the blessings in vv. 3-7—all spiritual blessings in Christ, chose US-IN-CHRIST, our sonship position, acceptance before God, redemption, forgiveness of sins—and ignore the blessings in vv. 8-9—wisdom, prudence and the knowledge of the Mystery of God's Will. The super-abounding, overflowing avalanche of divine wisdom and prudence made known through the revelation of the Mystery are just as much gifts from the riches of God's Grace as are redemption and the forgiveness of sin. Verses 3-7 and 8-10 are two sides of the same coin. While the blessings of verses 3-7 give us access to the Father's riches, the blessings of wisdom and prudence in verses 7-8 bring us into the full-knowledge of the Father's will for today. While the first verses equip the believer with everything they need to serve God, the latter verses equip us with what we need to know to use those riches in accord with the Father's business plan as responsible adult sons and daughters. The former verses give us the blessings in Christ. The latter verses tell us how to use those blessings in accord with the Father's plan.

This is a common, every-day concept. When I graduated college, I had to get a job as quickly as possible. I didn't know anything about the real world or working for a company. I just sent my resume out everywhere I could find and accepted the first offer that came along with decent pay. When I showed up for work the first day, I really had no understanding of what the company did, or what my role in it was. They gave me all kinds of company “blessings.” They gave me a cubicle, a budget, a paycheck, a company charge card, etc. Now, just imagine if the company left it at that without explaining the company's goals, values, and business plan? What if my boss didn't explain my role in the business, and how I could successfully participate in and advance it? What if they just left me on my own and told me to get to work, we'll check back in in two months to see how you do?

Of course, this is ridiculous. No company would do this because the person would just end up wasting the company's “blessings,” its riches and resources, on things that didn't pertain to or advance the business. He or she might have good and sincere intentions, but they would still fritter away the company's riches on things that didn't contribute to the company's goals and plan.

What really happened on my first day of work? The boss not only gave me access to the company's riches, but he also gave me access to the company's business plan by sending me on a 2 week training program. Having gained a complete understanding of the company's business plan and goals, I could return to my position fully understanding my role and properly using the company's riches in a way that pleased my boss and advanced the company's business.

This homely illustration demonstrates what Paul is explaining in the first half of Eph. 1. What no company would do, God doesn't do either. While it is great to have access to God's riches, that is not enough to serve Him responsibly in a way that pleases the Father. To do that, we also need to have access to the Father's business plan so that we know how to use those riches. We need the gracious gifts of abounding wisdom and prudence that gives us the full-knowledge of God's Secret or Mystery Will. What God kept secret in eternity past is no longer a secret (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-11). He revealed it to and through the distinct apostleship of Paul.

On the very first day of a believer's salvation, the very first thing that should happen is that they should be brought into the full-knowledge of the Mystery. What irony. The very thing that most of historic Christianity has thrown away, and willfully is ignorant of—the Mystery-- is, in fact, the very thing that every believer should be taught their first day “on the job” in the service of God. This is the only way believers grow into maturity. This is the only way they can make use of their sonship position to participate in and advance the Father's business. This is the only way they can use the Father's riches in a way that pleases Him. It is only through the full-knowledge of the Mystery as recorded and revealed in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth that believers can know, understand, and appreciate the Father's secret but now revealed will and plan and operate accordingly.

On Sunday we continued to look at the blessings of ALL wisdom and prudence that flow out of the revelation of the Mystery OF God's Will (Eph. 1:8-9). We observed that while the blessings that flow out of the riches of God's Grace in Eph. 1:3-7 are given to us in Christ, Paul, starting in Eph. 1:8-9, kicks everything up a notch by introducing blessings that God has abounded, no, super-abounded to us in and through Christ! These super-abundantly supplied blessings flow out of the RICHES of His Grace (Eph. 1:7b-8) and out of TREASURES of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ that are revealed in the full-knowledge of the Mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ (Col. 2:2-3; Eph. 1:9)). In other words, they are just as important as the blessings of redemption and forgiveness of sins.

WHAT PAUL LEARNED FROM GOD BY WRITING ROMANS

While we learn much from reading Romans, Paul learned much from writing Romans. He wrote Romans near the end of his 3rd “missionary” journey, and up to that point, he planted and established churches that he had founded directly through his own personal presence—the Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, etc. But the church/es in Rome were something of an anomaly for Paul. Yes, they had been founded by him, but by him indirectly through his co-workers and his Scriptures WITHOUT his own personal presence (Rom. 16).

This wasn't Paul's usual modus operandi. Assemblies of believers were being formed in Rome (and elsewhere) WITHOUT them seeing Paul in person, face-to-face (cp. Col. 2:1). His automatic response is recorded in the first verses of Romans. He thought: I must go to Rome right away, whatever the cost! He longed to see them face-to-face so that he could impart to them some spiritual gift so that they might be established, that is that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me (Rom. 1:11-12). And all this would best be accomplished, he thought, by his own bodily personal presence with them.

Of course, now we know that Paul didn't go to Rome at this time, and when he did go, it was in chains as a prisoner. God had a much better idea for planting and establishing assemblies than Paul had. Rather than going to the Rome directly in person, God had Paul write a Letter to the Romans, whereby he went to them indirectly through his Scriptures. He came to them in spirit rather than in body (1 Cor. 5:3-4).

God showed Paul--who was, after all, getting older and would in not too many years die, making his bodily presence impossible—that there is a much, much better way of planting, establishing and edifying believers and their churches, and that was through the Scriptures, especially Paul's Prophetic Scriptures. Think about it. Paul's personal visit to Rome would have impacted perhaps a generation, and that mostly in Rome. His Letter to the Romans, however, has circulated throughout the world, and has impacted the whole creation—the Heavenly and Earthly realms—for all time and eternity!

That Paul learned this lesson is evident from the closing verses in Rom. 16. There, the spiritual gift that Paul wanted to impart to them in person at the opening of the Book (Rom. 1:11) is now identified as Paul's Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery, which was kept secret since the world began BUT NOW is made manifest (generally through Paul's preaching of the Mystery (Eph. 3:9)) and (more particularly) by the Prophetic Scriptures (of Paul--NKJV), according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith (Rom. 16:25-26), which ties it all back to the purpose of Paul's distinct apostleship given in Rom. 1:5-7.

On Sunday we continued to look at the blessings of ALL wisdom and prudence that flow out of the revelation of the Mystery OF God's Will (Eph. 1:8-9). Paul doesn't want us to miss how important these blessings are. They are blessings that flow out of the Riches of Grace that God has ABOUNDED toward us in ALL wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the Mystery of His Will (Eph. 1:8-9). Without these blessings of wisdom, prudence, and full-knowledge what God is doing today in His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, we won't know what blessings are actually for today, or how to use them.

Sunday, in our study of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, we saw that God is going to center the whole universe around His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:10). To do this, He utterly defeated Satan and destroyed his plan of evil to make himself the possessor of Heaven and Earth, bringing it all to nothing. And He did this by simply: KEEPING A SECRET!

Two of the most fundamental distinctions found in the Bible rightly-divided bear repeating:

1. The LOVE OF GOD:
1. God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel as revealed in the non-Pauline Scriptures displays His LOVE in that Christ died for His FRIENDS (believing Israel--Jn. 15:13).
2. God's Mystery Program with the Body of Christ as revealed in the Apostle Paul's Scriptures displays the infinite depth of His LOVE in that Christ died for His ENEMIES (individual ungodly sinners on enemy status before Him— Rom. 5:6‑10).
2. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD:
1. God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel as revealed in the non-Pauline Scriptures manifests the Righteousness of God in SAVING HIS FRIENDS AND DESTROYING HIS ENEMIES in accord with the Abrahamic Covenant (almost any Psalm, the Old Testament Prophets, etc.)
2. God's Mystery Program with the Body of Christ as revealed in the Apostle Paul's Scriptures manifests the infinite depth of the Righteousness of God in SAVING HIS ENEMIES BECAUSE HE HAS NO FRIENDS in accord with Pauline Grace (Rom. 1-5; Eph. 2:1-10; et al).

Satan and the Secret

We find this very interesting passage in 1 Cor. 2:7‑8: We speak the wisdom of God in a Mystery (Greek word for “secret”), even the hidden wisdom ... which none of the princes of this world knew: For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. In order to fully appreciate this passage, we need to remember some other biblical truths:

1. The Book of Romans immediately precedes 1 Corinthians, and it closes with these words: And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly (Rom. 16:20). And how is He going to do that? When the Romans (and everyone else since) receive Paul's letter to them (which would be very shortly): Now to Him (God) that is of power to stablish you according to my (Paul's) gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery, which was kept SECRET since the world began, but now made manifest and by the prophetic Scriptures (of Paul, not least of which being the Letter to the Romans!) ... (Rom. 16:25-26a).
2. We must also remember that the course of the world—its wisdom, desires, actions—is held captive under the sway of Satan and his mindset of selfish ascending to usurp the one true God. Paul sums it up nicely in Eph. 2:2: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The physical earthly realm and its humans are under the powerful negative influence of Satan and his evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm that lead away from the one true God (Eph. 1:10; 6:12).
3. Finally, we need to remember a little about Satan's history. God created him full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (Ezek. 28:12). He was created to serve God. He was supposed to use his wisdom in accord with God's plan and purpose, and he was supposed to use his beauty as a Light-Bearer (Lucifer—Is. 14:12), point people to the one true God. But iniquity was found in him (Ezek. 28:15), and he instead used his wisdom and beauty for his own advancement by ascending in pride, usurping God to become the Possessor of Heaven and Earth and the center of the Universe (Is. 14:12-17).
   When we look at the passage in Ezekiel 28 in the light of #2 above, we see the little human earthly Prince of Tyre parroting the greater spiritual King of Tyre, Satan himself, in the heavenlies. Ezekiel isn't really talking about the human Prince of Tyre but of the Satanic powers behind him. This is brought out in Ezek. 28:13 because it is obvious that the human Prince of Tyre had not been in the earthly Garden of Eden, let alone the heavenly Garden of Eden it replicated in miniature (Ezek. 28:13)!
   The human Prince of Tyre is just operating in accord with the mind of Satan. Just as Satan lifted his heart in pride (Is. 14:13), so too the human Prince of Tyre lifted his heart in pride (Ezek. 28:2a). Just as Satan said I will be like the Most High God (Is. 14:14), so too the human Prince of Tyre called himself a God (Ezek. 28:2b). Just as Satan wanted to sit in the seat of God (Is. 14:13), so too the human Prince of Tyre wanted to sit in the seat of God (Ezek. 28:2c). Just as Satan wanted to sit in the center of the heavenly powers (Is. 14:13-14), so too the human Prince of Tyre wanted to sit in the center of the earthly nations and powers (Ezek. 28:2d). Just as Satan is cast down because of his prideful use of his wisdom and beauty for his own advancement (Is. 14:15), so too the human Prince of Tyre will be cast down for prideful misuse of his wisdom and beauty (Ezek. 28:7). And so forth.

Now, appreciating all this, we come to our pivotal verse and what the human Prince of Tyre says next as he continues to parrot the mind of Satan, pridefully declaring that he was wiser than Daniel and that THERE IS NO SECRET THAT THEY CAN HIDE FROM HIM! It is with this prideful thinking, which was really the prideful thinking of Satan, that God will destroy Satan, utterly ruining his whole plan of evil, bringing him and all his followers and all their combined work to nothing.

All God had to do was to KEEP A SECRET FROM SATAN and his cronies—human and angelic—(1 Cor. 2:6-8; Rom. 16:20, 25; Eph. 2:1-3, 3:1-11). In doing this, they were caught in the trap of their own pride, or as Paul (and Job) put it: He takes the wise in their own craftiness, showing them for what they really are: just vain empty nothingness (1 Cor. 3:19-20; Job 5:13). The very thing that Satan and his evil rulers and powers thought would destroy God's plan, bringing it to its end—Christ's death on the Cross—is actually what provided for and ensured the complete success and perfect fulfillment of God's plan while simultaneously providing for and ensuring the complete destruction of Satan's plan, bringing it to its end!

And all God had to do was keep a secret. But now, He has revealed His secret will to and through the Apostle Paul in the Revelation of the Mystery (Secret), which had been kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 1:8-9), and that is now recorded for us in Paul's prophetic Scriptures: PAUL'S GOSPEL (GOOD NEWS) OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST (Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 1:17-18), which if any of the rulers of the cosmos knew—human or angelic—earthly or heavenly—visible or invisible—THEY WOULD NOT HAVE CRUCIFIED THE LORD OF GLORY (1 Cor. 2:8).

We saw that God is going to center the whole universe around His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:10). To do this, He utterly defeated Satan and destroyed his plan of evil to make himself the possessor of Heaven and Earth, bringing all Satan's work through the ages to nothing. And He did this by simply: KEEPING A SECRET! For had the rulers—earthly or heavenly—known it they would not have crucified Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory! But what is the secret God kept from Satan and his angelic and human followers? It was not generally the death and resurrection of Christ, nor, more specifically, even the death and resurrection of Christ for the salvation of the Nation of Israel. That had been revealed and recorded in the Old Testament. Two classic passages being Ps. 22 and Is. 53. Therefore, Satan could have known about the death and resurrection of Christ on behalf of the Nation of Israel. If he didn't, it wasn't because God hid it from him, but because his rejection of God's Word in unbelief hid it from him, whereby he ruled it out of his thinking (Rom. 1:18‑22; 28‑29). No, the Mystery or Secret that Paul is referring to in 1 Cor. 2:6‑8 is something else entirely. Next week we will look at what Satan COULD NOT have known and, therefore, could not have believed. Why? Because God had kept it secret since before the beginning of creation.

Sunday, we continued our study of Satan and the Secret (the Mystery) by looking at what humans, like Jesus's disciples, could (and should) have known about the death and resurrection of Christ in relationship to God's Prophetic Program with Israel. And if they didn't, why not? Whatever it was, it most certainly was not the Secret/Mystery that Paul was talking about in 1 Cor. 1-2 that brought Satan's whole plan of evil to nothing! Understanding what humans could have known will help us understand what Satan could have known.

Why Didn't The Disciples Know?

WHAT THE WORLD COULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

In our study of the Mystery in relation to the evil powers and principalities on the earth and, even more importantly, those in the heavenlies that work behind those on the earth (Eph. 2:1‑3), we have landed in 1 Cor. 2:6‑8. Here Paul states that what He is preaching, which he explained in chapter1 to be the preaching of the Cross, would bring to nothing Satan's plan of evil. Paul states that this Mystery was kept secret because if the powers and rulers of this world—earthly or heavenly—knew it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.

What exactly does this Mystery reveal about the death of Christ that God had to keep secret since before creation (Rom. 16:25) until God revealed it to and through the Apostle Paul? Paul tells us categorically that it was unknown to humanity (Eph. 3:5) because it was unsearchable anywhere else—the world's wisdom and THE NON-PAULINE SCRIPTURES (Eph. 3:8)—because it was HID IN GOD (NOT hid in the Scriptures) from eternity past.

But Peter and the 12 preached about the death and resurrection of Christ in early Acts (Acts 2-3). And Jesus preached about His death and resurrection in the Gospel Accounts (Mat. 16:21; Lk. 18:31). And the Old Testament Prophets spoke about Christ's death on behalf of Israel throughout the Old Testament, of which, Ps. 22 and Is. 53 are classic examples. Certainly, when David, Isaiah and Daniel wrote that the Messianic King and Suffering Servant would be brought into the dust of death (Ps. 22:15) and cut off from the land of the living (Is. 53:8 ; Dan. 9:26) they knew He was going to be put to death. And when they wrote that after He suffered and died He will declare the name of the LORD to His brethren (Ps. 22:22-31) and will declare His generations, and that He will share the spoils of what was accomplished through His death (Is. 53:8, 12), they also knew He would be raised up from the dead. The prophets knew and understood these things. What they didn't know was the timing of them especially with regard to the 1st and 2nd Comings (1 Pet. 1:10‑12).

Therefore, the death (and resurrection) of Christ for the Nation of Israel in God's Prophetic Program was not the Mystery God kept secret in 1 Cor. 2. It had been revealed since the world began (Gen. 3:15) and had been spoken about by the holy prophets in the Old Testament (Acts 2:25-31; 3:18-26). Both Peter and Paul say Christ's death was according to the Scriptures (Acts 3:18; 1 Cor. 15:3). So then, if it was revealed in the Old Testament and proclaimed by Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry, why didn't the disciples know and understand it (Mk. 9:31)? Well, the most obvious and simplest answer is because THEY DIDN'T KNOW THE SCRIPTURES!

Don't gasp in surprise. The vast majority of historic Christianity know nothing about the Scriptures (even though, unlike any other time in history, they have the whole of God's Word sitting on their coffee tables!) and have ruled Paul's distinct apostleship and with it the Revelation of the Mystery out of their thinking! Just go into almost any church next Sunday and start talking about God's Word for today: Paul's Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Mystery. Virtually no one, not even the so called teachers and leaders, will have any idea of what you were talking about. And if you keep on talking about it, they will find it so threatening that they will throw you out! Now, can you say God was hiding it from them? No. That would be foolish. God is the One who had revealed it and made it known, desiring that ALL would see what is the fellowship of the Mystery (Eph. 3:9). They didn't “know” it because they rejected God's revealed Word in unbelief, thereby ruling it out of their thinking (Rom. 1:18‑23, 28) and replacing it with their own man-made theological and religious things.

The same thing is true for Israel. Israel was ruled by a Vain Religious System (VRS), which replaced the Word of God with the traditions of men, making the Word of God of none effect (Mk. 7:7, 13). They made God's Word disappear! hiding it from the nation.

WHY DIDN'T THE DISCIPLES (OR ALMOST ANYONE ELSE) THEN KNOW?

Luke tells us that Jesus told the disciples that we are going to Jerusalem to accomplish ALL THAT IS WRITTEN BY THE PROPHETS concerning Him, namely, His suffering, death and resurrection (Lk. 18:31‑33). But Luke goes on to say that they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken (Lk. 18:34). The verb “hid” in the perfect tense indicating that something or someone in the past hid it from them with the ongoing results being that in the present they don't know it.

This passage rules out that “someone” being God or Jesus for it states the God revealed it in the Old Testament (Lk. 18:31) and Jesus's was preaching it to the disciples (v. 32‑33)! How can Jesus be revealing it to them and hiding it from them at the same time? Jesus “taught” (Mk 9:31) and “showed” (Mat. 16:21) these things to them. To “teach” means to bring about or cause learning. And to “show” means to explain and make clear. Jesus (and God) expected the disciples to be able to learn these things and understand them clearly. When Jesus wanted to keep something secret from someone, He either didn't speak to them about it (Mat. 16:20) or, if He couldn't keep them from hearing what He was about to say, He spoke in parables (Mat. 13). He does neither of those things here.

This begs the question: Why didn't they know? If it wasn't God and Jesus, who or what was hiding it from them?

WHY DIDN'T THE DISCIPLES KNOW?

Fortunately, we don't have to guess or speculate because God gives us the full explanation in a previous passage. Mat. 16:21‑24 starts out like the passage in Luke 1. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things ... and be killed, and be raised again the third day (Mat. 16:21).

Let's note some things:

1. It is important to realize the context. Just before this account, Peter (and the other disciples) proclaimed that through the teaching and showing ministry of Jesus, the Father revealed to them that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Mat. 16:16; 11:27). They passed lesson #1! Then Jesus tried to lead them through lesson #2 that now revealed what type of Messiah/Christ He was: A suffering Messiah who came to suffer and die, but He will also be raised from the dead.
2. Jesus “showed” them these things using simple, common, everyday words, so that it could be as clear, accessible and understandable as possible. One way He did this was by tempering the shock of His death with the hope of His resurrection. His death wasn't a disastrous end to His ministry. It is the fulfillment of His ministry that provided a new beginning for Israel and the world.
3. Notice that here, Jesus says HE is going to Jerusalem whereas in the Lk. 18, a couple months later, He says WE (Jesus together with the disciples) are going to Jerusalem. This means that in the intervening time between Mat. 16 and Lk. 18, Jesus expected the disciples to come to know and understand enough about His suffering, death and resurrection to go WITH HIM.

Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee (Mat. 16:22).

1. This tells us that Peter understood what Jesus was saying, for if he had absolutely no idea what Jesus was talking about, he wouldn't have strongly rebuked Him for saying it. He understood completely that Jesus was saying that He was going to Jerusalem to willingly submit to a death on a Roman Cross. For that, Peter rebuked Him strongly: No You're not! NOT ON MY WATCH! That's not the ending I expected! We need to keep on fighting (Jn. 18:10).
2. This tells us that the reason Jesus's saying was “hid” from him wasn't because God and Jesus kept it from him (and the others), but because HE (AND THE OTHERS) REFUSED TO RECEIVE JESUS'S WORD, REJECTING IT IN UNBELIEF, THROWING IT FAR AWAY WHERE THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO SEE IT ANYMORE!

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto Me (Mat. 16:23a).

1. If Peter's rebuke of Jesus showed that he understood what Jesus was saying, demonstrating his rejection of it, Jesus's strong rebuke of Peter showed that Jesus expected Peter to be able know and understand what He was saying, receiving it by faith. You don't rebuke someone for not knowing what they COULDN'T have known! You rebuke someone for not knowing what they could and should have known.
2. This verse also tells us WHO was really hiding it from them. It wasn't God! God and Jesus were revealing it to them. Rather it is Satan, the Adversary, who from the beginning (Gen. 3:1-13), has taken God's revealed Word, editing, changing, manipulating and perverting it to serve his own purposes, deceiving humans to rule it out of their thinking, thereby HIDING it from them (Rom. 1:18‑23, 28). Peter is doing here what Satan himself tried to do when he tempted Jesus earlier in Matthew: Get Him to not go to the Cross; get Him to live by Satan's word rather than God's Word (Mat. 4:4, 8‑10).

For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Mat. 16:23b).

1. This verse tells us that Satan, working through the Vain Religious System (VRS), got Peter to reject God's Word about the death of Christ revealed through the prophets and Jesus's teaching in unbelief, removing it from his thinking. Peter threw it away by savoring, relishing, preferring, fixating his mind and thoughts on the things of men rather than on the things of God! He exchanged the truth of God for the Lie (of Satan—Rom. 1:25).
2. Israel's Vain Religious System had long ago buried away God's Word under the traditions of men, effectually hiding it from the nation (Mk. 7:9, 13). Interestingly, one of the first things Jesus did was reclaim and purify God's Word by ripping away all the junk that the VRS had put over it, hiding it—its oral traditions, commentaries, etc. (Sermon on Mt.—Mat. 5-7).

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mat. 16:24).

Now, finally, we are told WHY Jesus wants them to know and understand His death and resurrection. HE WANTED THEM TO GO TOGETHER WITH HIM! He was inviting them to join Him together in this most important yet difficult endeavor. He will go with them to Jerusalem, and He will be with them in the upper room. But as they get closer to the hour of His death, things start breaking down. They go to Gethsemane together. He wants them to watch and pray together with Him, but they fell asleep, in effect, leaving Him alone (Mat. 26:36, 37, 38, 40, 46), and just a few verses later all the disciples forsook Him and fled (Mat. 26:56).

Ps. 118 shows what could have happened, and what Christ wanted to happen if they had received in faith what He taught about His death. All of them would go up to together, prayerfully fellowshipping, supporting and encouraging Him, singing together the praises of Israel (Ps. 22:3), BEING TOGETHER ALL THE WAY TO THE CROSS! But in unbelief, they rejected His teaching, so this did not happen. Instead, they denied and deserted Him.

But thankfully, His death is not the end. As Jesus promised, He was resurrected. Now, after the event, Peter and the others couldn't remain in denial. They no longer had any way to fight against it to change the outcome because it already happened. After His resurrection, the Risen Lord Jesus taught them for 40 days, rehearsing the words He had taught to them before. And after He leaves, He will send the Spirit who will likewise bring into their minds Jesus's words. But unlike the first time when they rejected them in unbelief, removing them from their thinking, this time they received them in hearts burning with faith (Lk. 24:25-35; Jn. 14:25‑26). In short, what they rejected the first time around, they received the second time around, and they went on to proclaim them fearlessly in Jerusalem (Acts 2-3).

Sunday, we continued our study of what the Mystery is exactly. So far, we have been looking at what it is NOT. It is not the death and resurrection of Christ for the Nation of Israel in accord with God's Prophetic Program. That had been revealed in the Old Testament with increasing clarity. This week we focused on what Satan knew during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, and how he changed his tactics trying to put Christ to death not in accord with God's plan: Putting Him to death at the wrong time in the wrong way or obviating the need for the Cross altogether.

What Satan Knew About the Death of Christ

We saw before that the disciples not only could but SHOULD have known about the death of Christ for the Nation of Israel, but they didn't because it was “hid from them” (Lk. 18:34) and the whole nation (Lk. 19:41‑44). It was not “hid” because God hid it from them (He revealed it to them in the OT—Acts 3:18!), or because Jesus hid it from them (He and John the Baptist proclaimed it from the beginning—Mat. 4:17, 23; 16:21!). Rather, it was hid from them because they rejected it in unbelief, replacing God's revealed Word to them with the word of men, the Vain Religious System, under the influence of Satan (Mat. 16:23).

And if humans could have known it, so too could Satan have known it. Going all the way back to the Fall, when Adam handed authority of the earthly realm over to Satan as the usurper, God promised He would reclaim it through the Seed of the Woman (ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ). While the Seed of the Woman would bruise/crush the head of Satan, putting him to death PERMANENTLY, Satan would bruise/crush the heal of Jesus Christ, putting Him to death only TEMPORARILY, for He will be raised up (Gen. 3:15; Acts 2:29‑32).

Throughout the Old Testament, Satan tried to nullify God's promise in Gen. 3:15 by working to destroy the righteous line of the Seed of the Woman that would eventually lead to the Christ, which began with Cain and Able, passed through the time of the Flood and Tower of Babel, and the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At one point, Satan nearly accomplished this goal when the whole royal line of Judah/David was destroyed except for one little boy named Joash, who was hidden in his nursery and then in the Temple for 6 years (2 Chron. 22:10‑12).

By the time you get to the Gospel Accounts, God had progressively revealed with increasing clarity not only the death and resurrection of the Davidic Messiah King on behalf of Israel (Ps. 22; Is. 53; et al.), but its timing as well (Dan. 9:25‑26). And once you know the timing for the death of Christ (from Daniel's time it would be after 69 weeks of years later=483 years later--Dan. 9:26), it is an easy thing to estimate when He would be born and live—His 1st Coming—some 30-40 years before that.

In addition to increasing clarity on the timing of the death of Christ, there was also increasing clarity on how that death would be carried out: ON A TREE/CROSS. It had to be a death that involved the piercing of the hands and feet (Ps. 22:16; Zech. 12:10; 13:6), which ruled out other ways of putting someone to death except for some form of hanging/crucifixion. Once under Roman rulership it became clear that this would be done on the Tree of a Roman Cross.

With Christ now present in His earthly ministry, Satan changed his tactics and began attacking the two foundational requirements that needed to be fulfilled for God to accomplish His plan for the Earth. First, Jesus Christ must die AT THE RIGHT TIME (ie., in accord with Daniel's Time Schedule). Second, He must die IN THE RIGHT WAY (ie., on a Tree, a Cross). Trees play a large role in God's Prophetic Program, beginning in the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Life. And in the Law, there is this odd little commandment: He that is hanged is accursed of God (Deut. 21:23).

Jesus Christ had to be put to death on a Tree because by doing so He came under the Curses of the Law through a technicality of the Law not because He Himself actually broke any of it. By coming under the curses of the Law through this technicality, Jesus was able to take upon Himself all the Curses of the Law. Over the past 1500 years, Israel had accrued an astronomical national debt of sin that was impossible for her to pay off on her own. By coming under the Curses of the Law through this technicality, Jesus Christ dealt with it all completely and removed it all permanently, thereby redeeming the Nation so He could make her into His Own Debt-Free Nation.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Satan's goal in Christ' earthly ministry was to get Jesus to die at the wrong time (not according to God's plan as revealed in Daniel's Time Schedule) and/or in the wrong way (had to be on a Tree). And this is exactly what happens throughout the Gospel Accounts, from His birth to His death. Satan tried to kill Jesus at His birth by killing all the little boys in Bethlehem (Mat. 2:16). He tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness by trying to get Him to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple (Mat. 4:6‑7). He tried to obviate the need for the Cross all together (Mat. 4:8‑9; 27:39‑40). And he tried to get Jesus put to death repeatedly by unbelieving Israel, such as, by throwing Him off a cliff (Lk. 4:29) and stoning Him (Jn. 8:58‑59). If any of these tactics had worked and Satan had succeeded in putting Christ to death at the wrong time in the wrong way, God's plan would have been nullified.

But they didn't! Once Satan realized this, he knew his last chance was to battle Christ on the Cross (Is. 50:4‑8). He pushed the ball forward by entering Judas (Lk. 22:3), setting in motion a series of events that would maximize Jesus's suffering so that in the midst of His extreme physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological weakness on the Cross, as He bore all the sins of Israel and the world, taking onto Himself all their death and condemnation, wrath and judgment ... at that time, He also battled Satan. Satan's goal was to drag Him down into the pit of death and shut the gates of Hell over Him so that He would suffer corruption, thereby bringing God's plan to nothing.

But this didn't work either. Jesus won the battle, and God raised Him from the dead! As Peter proclaimed at Pentecost: God has raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that He should be holden of it ... God did not leave His soul in Hell, neither would He suffer His Holy One to see corruption (Acts 2:24, 27). God exalted Him and seated Him at His Own right hand, so that He could sit on David's Throne in Jerusalem, ruling the Earth through His Own redeemed Nation of Israel, thereby re-claiming the Earthly realm unto His Glory (Acts 2:24‑35; 3:18-26)! In short, through the Cross, God re-claimed the Earth as His rightful possession.

This would have made Satan mad, but in his “wisdom” so called, he would have consoled by thinking that while he had lost the Earthly realm, he still possessed the Heavenly Realm. From there he could continue his onslaught of rebellion against God, perhaps fantasizing of a day when he could cause the Earthly realm to fall again into his possession.

But then, at that very moment (Acts 9), God did something: GOD RAISED UP THE APOSTLE PAUL AND REVEALED TO HIM A SECRET THAT HE HAD KEPT HIDDEN IN HIMSELF SINCE BEFORE CREATION: THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL! Through the Cross of Christ, not only did God re-claim the Earthly realm but the Heavenly realm as well!

Sunday, we continued to answer the question: What, exactly, is the Mystery? Having in past weeks looked at what it is not, this week we looked at what it is.

GOD'S MYSTERY WILL

God's Revealed Will

So far, we have seen that the Mystery Paul refers to in 1 Cor. 2:6‑8 that brings Satan's whole plan of evil to nothing isn't the death and resurrection of Christ on behalf of the Nation of Israel to re-establish His Glory on Earth. God had revealed that through all His holy prophets since the world began (Lk. 1:70; Acts 2:25, 27, 30‑35; 3:18, 21, 24). In other words, Christ's death for Israel was His REVEALED WILL not His MYSTERY/SECRET WILL. Therefore, it is not what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor. 2.

In Acts, Peter and the 12 were sent to proclaim the fulfillment of God's REVEALED will: Christ has been victorious! Satan is defeated!! God has reclaimed the Earthly realm from Satan unto His Own Glory in accord with the Abrahamic Covenant (Acts 2‑3). The Risen Lord Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father, just waiting to return to destroy His enemies (apostate Israel and unbelieving Gentiles--Acts 2:30‑36) and save His friends (believing Israel and their believing Gentile friends), whom He would usher into the Kingdom of righteousness and peace (Acts 3:18-26).

After losing the Battle on the Cross, and with that the Earthly realm, the pride of Satan's so-called “wisdom” consoled itself with the assumption that this was bad but not completely hopeless. Afterall, he still possessed the Heavenly realm from which he could continue to influence the Earthly realm against God, bombarding it with the mind of Satan, eventually, perhaps, winning it back again, just as he had done before in the Garden of Eden.

God's Mystery/Secret Will

And then ... AT THAT MOMENT ... while Satan was still licking his wounds and trying to silence Peter's preaching through the persecution of Christ and His people by the Vain Religious System led by Saul (Acts 8:1‑3) ... God did something that was not part of His previously REVEALED WILL. He did something that was part of His previously unrevealed will, His MYSTERY WILL. He saved Saul, made Him the Apostle Paul (Acts 9) and sent him out to proclaim the Mystery of His Will (Eph. 1:9; 6:19‑20), which God had kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-11).

It was unsearchable. It couldn't be found anywhere. Not in the wisdom of the world or the knowledge of men and angels. It couldn't even be found in the non-Pauline Scriptures for the Mystery was hid in GOD throughout all eternity past and history past until He revealed it to and through Paul (Eph. 3:1-12). It is NOT the preaching of Jesus Christ according to God's Prophetic Program with Israel, which had been revealed since the world began and recorded in the Old Testament, Gospel Accounts and ministry of the 12. It is the preaching of Jesus Christ according to God's Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, which was kept secret since the world began and recorded in Paul's Epistles (Rom. 16:25‑26; Eph. 3:1-11).

Whereas God had always made known how He was going to re-claim the Earthly realm unto His Glory (it was no mystery/secret!), the Revelation of the Mystery made known how He was going re-claim the Heavenly realm unto His Glory, which He had kept secret. Neither Satan, nor anyone else knew about it for if they had, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8) because it displays the utter folly of Satan's whole plan of evil, not just on Earth but in the Heavenlies as well. If Satan were really as wise as he thought, he would have realized that if God reclaimed the Earthly realm, He would have to reclaim the Heavenly realm as well.

To provide a secure salvation, God not only needed to deliver His people from the hand of their enemies. He also needed to destroy the enemy so that they couldn't come back and threaten His people again. Satan should have realized that for God to truly reclaim the Earthly realm, securing it unto His Glory, He would also have to reclaim the Heavenly realm, securing it unto His Glory. If He didn't, Satan could keep on bombarding the Earthly realm from his Heavenly stronghold, and one day get it back again, like he did at the Garden of Eden. Having realized this, if Satan were really as wise as he thought, he would have gone another step, asking himself: How is God going to reclaim the Heavenly realm? And if he were really wise, he would have admitted that he didn't know because God hadn't revealed it! Instead, he probably assumed it would be through the good angels that remained loyal to God, who, no doubt, he also assumed he could overpower (Dan. 10:12‑13).

Whatever his chain of thought, if he were really wise, he would have known that God must be keeping a secret from him, reasoning thus: “I know how God is going to reclaim the Earthly realm—I can know that from His revealed will. I also know that He can't stop there. He must also reclaim the Heavenly realm, but He didn't make that known in His REVEALED WILL! Hmmm ... He must be keeping a secret from me. HE MUST HAVE A MYSTERY/SECRET WILL!

But Satan, in the pride of his “wisdom” couldn't allow for that. After all: NO ONE CAN KEEP A SECRET FROM ME (Ezek. 28:2‑3, 12)! And he was caught in the web of his own deceit. His wisdom was shown to be foolishness and his prudence, imprudence; an unworthy possessor of Heaven and Earth. All God had to do to bring Satan's whole evil plan to make himself the center of Creation crashing down was to just keep a secret. All Satan's stealing and ascending, lies and deceit, work, effort, energy and time spent throughout all the ages was exposed for what it truly was: ABSOLUTEY NOTHING! JUST VANITY! (1 Cor. 2:6b; 3:19‑20; Col. 2:15)!! God accomplished this through His Mystery/Secret will whereby He would reclaim the Heavenly realm not with the good angels but with a second, previously unknown, group of IN-CHRIST redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ. And it was all made possible through the Cross. The very thing Satan thought he could use to bring God's plan to nothing, in fact, fulfilled God's plan for Creation and brought his own plan to nothing.

Is it any wonder that today, Satan's main plan of attack in the Dispensation of Grace is to silence the proclamation of the Mystery! For it proclaims the utter defeat and ruin of Satan and all his plans. It proclaims and manifests the manifold wisdom of God to the evil rulers in the Heavenlies (Eph. 3:9). It displays openly for all to see that the Lord Jesus Christ was victorious in the battle against Satan, and He will give the spoils to His Own IN-CHRIST groups of redeemed humanity—the Nation of Israel on the Earth and the Body of Christ in the Heavenlies; resulting in the whole Creation being centered IN-CHRIST—the rightful Possessor of Heaven and Earth (Eph. 1:9‑10).

Unfortunately, for most of historic Christianity, Satan has been largely successful silencing the proclamation of the Mystery through their rejection of the distinct apostleship of Paul. As the new year begins we must re-commit to Paul's prayer: Pray for me (and with him all believers) that I might boldly proclaim the Mystery of the Gospel as I (and with him all believers) ought (Eph. 6:19‑20) so that EVERYONE EVERYWHERE might know and participate in the Fellowship of the Mystery (Eph. 3:9).