FIRST CHAPTER
How God planned for and works in
the production of His Masterpiece.
1. The Introduction.
"Paul an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace he to you, and peace, from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.'' (Verses 1-2.)
The introductory
words of this great Epistle are in tune with the great revelation it contains.
It is interesting to compare the opening words of the different Epistles.
Inspiration is as much manifested in the introductions and greetings, as it is
in the great doctrinal unfoldings of these precious documents. In Romans Paul
speaks of himself in the beginning of the Epistle as separated unto the Gospel
of God; in the words of introduction all the leading features of that Gospel
are revealed, because Romans unfolds the Salvation of God. In the Epistle to
the Corinthians among whom the leaven of worldliness was working, the fact of
their sanctification is put in the foreground:
"sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called Saints." Galatians is characterized in the first verse as the Epistle in
which the Holy Spirit gives the defence of the apostolic authority of Paul and
of the Gospel he preached: "an apostle, not from men, nor through man."
Colossians too has its characteristic introduction, while in the Epistle to the
Philippians Paul does not speak of himself at all as an apostle, but associated
with Timotheus, he speaks as a fellow-servant and fellow-saint.
Without
showing these peculiarities in the opening sentences of the other Epistles we
point out that "the will of God" is made prominent in the very brief
introduction of our Epistle. Paul means "little." It is the name Saul of Tarsus
assumed with the conversion of Sergius Paulus in Paphos (Acts xiii:7-9). The
name tells of the great humility of the Apostle, which is elsewhere more fully
expressed in this Epistle (Chapter iii :8). And his apostleship is by "the will
of God." It is to be noticed that the will of God is repeatedly mentioned in
the first chapter. All the blessings mentioned flow forth from the will of God.
What God hath done for us in Christ Jesus is "according to the good pleasure of
His will" (verse 5); "having made known unto us the mystery of His will" (verse
9); "who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (verse 11). This
will of God reacheth back before the foundation of the world. It made the
erstwhile persecutor of the church of God the Apostle of Jesus Christ, through
whom that blessed will of God is now fully revealed.
"To the Saints
which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."
We stated
before that the words "which are at Ephesus" are not found in the best
manuscripts. It is of little or no consequence. The Epistle may have been sent
from one assembly to another, and in all probability is the one mentioned in
Colossians iv:16. There is no mention made of the church at Ephesus, though the
Epistle contains the fullest revelation of the church we have in the Word of
God. Individual believers are addressed as Saints and as faithful in Christ
Jesus. The words "Saints and the faithful" do not mean, as it has been
supposed, two classes of believers in Ephesus. All believers are constituted
saints, "separated ones." But a Saint may not be faithful. Many who are saved
by Grace and called Saints are unfaithful in their walk and testimony. The
believers addressed are such, who live in faithfulness in Christ Jesus,
manifesting in practical holiness their calling as Saints. And to such the Holy
Spirit can give the highest and the best; He was unhindered to make known unto
them the blessed revelation this Epistle contains. This is still an important
principle. This address to "the Saints and faithful in Christ Jesus"
corresponds to the division of the Epistle. In the first three chapters we
learn that God has made us His Saints in Christ, and in the last three chapters
we are exhorted to walk in faithfulness.
Then follows the salutation so
full of blessed meaning. "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ." These words are often termed a wish, a prayer or a
blessing. They are more than that. Grace and Peace from the Father and His ever
blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ are bestowed upon us, and they are put at
the beginning of this and other Epistles to assure the people of God, that
these unfathomable blessings, Grace and Peace, are on our side. No matter how
weak and imperfect those may be who are saved and sheltered in Christ, Grace
and Peace will never be withholden from them. The Holy Spirit never mentions
Himself in these salutations to the Saints. They are always exclusively from
the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is in the Saints of God.
2.
The great Doxology. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ Jesus." Verse 3.
This great doxology should constantly be as
an outburst of praise upon the lips of God's redeemed people. It stands at the
beginning of the great revelation of this Epistle, without doubt the greatest
doxology in the entire Word of God. And when we reach the end of these three
marvellous chapters we find another outburst of praise recorded. "Unto Him that
is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus unto
all generations for ever and ever. Amen" (iii:20-21). Between these two
doxologies are found the unfathomable riches of the Grace of God towards us in
Christ. The third verse, the beginning of the Epistle itself, is the key to the
great revelation which follows in this chapter. It is the bud which the Holy
Spirit gradually unfolds.
The Godhead in blessing sinners is revealed
in this doxology. First we find the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the author of all blessings. We are to bless Him for the blessing which He
has bestowed upon us. We are to give the blessings back to Him in
praise.
In the second place we learn that the blessings are in Christ.
In His Son, God has blessed us. He gave Him for us. He came, died and was
raised from the dead. In Him we have believed and in Him, with whom we are one
Spirit, God has blessed us. Then in the third place we read of the blessings,
what kind of blessings they are, spiritual blessings; they are therefore
communicated by the Holy Spirit. And how many such blessings has He given? Our
authorized version states "with all spiritual blessings." The correct rendering
is "with every spiritual blessing." There is then no blessing whatever, which
God can give, which He has kept back from those who are in Christ. All God, the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, can give in spiritual blessings, He
has given. It is a most blessed fact! God has now come forth and revealed what
He can do for such as we are and how great are the exceeding riches of His
Grace. In Old Testament times God had His people Israel. To them He promised
earthly blessings. But greater than the blessings of the earth are the
blessings He has given to us in Christ. What these blessings are we shall
discover in the verses which follow.
The phrase "in heavenly places"
should be translated "Heavenlies." It is peculiar to this Epistle. We find the
Heavenlies mentioned five times. Chapter i:3, 19; ii:6; iii:10 and vi:12. It
has a twofold meaning, the nature of the blessings which are ours in a risen
and ascended Christ, and the locality where our Lord, the Head of the body is.
In the Heavenlies where He is now, the church will be with Him. As we review
this doxology we find the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit mentioned. The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us; these blessings are in
the Son and as spiritual blessings they are communicated by the Holy
Spirit.
What follows is very interesting. From the fourth verse to the
fourteenth we find the blessings stated with which we are blest in Christ.
Generally these blessings are enu-merated by expositors of this Epistle, and
seven of them are pointed out. There seems to be a better key to unlock the
verses which speak of these blessings. Three times in these verses we read of
the praise of God, His Grace and His Glory. Chapter 1:6, "To the praise of the
Glory of His Grace." Verse 12, "That we should be to the praise of His Glory."
Verse 14, "Unto the praise of His Glory." Each of these words of praise mark
the end of what is said about the different persons of the Godhead, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit. In verses 4-6 we read of what the Father has done;
verses 7-12 reveal what we have and are in the Son, in Christ; verses Th and 14
reveal the work of God the Holy Spirit. Thus we have the work of the Godhead in
our behalf represented in this chapter.
3. The Plan of the Work of
the Godhead. Verses 4-14.
A. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him; in love having
predestinated us unto the Sonplace by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the
good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He
hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Verses 4-6.
These three
verses reveal the blessed work of God the Father. Three great facts are
men-tioned of Him. He hath
a. Chosen us in Christ before the foundation of
the World.
b. Predestined us unto the Sonplace in Christ.
c. Made us
accepted in the Beloved.
How wonderful these statements are! Here we
are face to face with revelation. To deny this would stamp these words as the
lying imaginations of a deceiver, absolutely unreliable and untrustworthy. Only
a direct revelation from God can acquaint us with that which took place before
the foundation of the world. In the first verse of the Bible we read of God's
original Creation. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." How
many millions of years ago this took place is not revealed, nor can human
science ever find it out. (The guesses of Science on the age of the earth
are amusing. They range from 20 million years to 400 mil-lions. None of the
eminent scientists have ever been able to agree on a fixed number. And if they
did, it would still be guesswork.)
But here revelation takes us before
the foundation of the world. Whatever is in God's eternity, that unfathomable
existence without a beginning, is beyond man's ability to know - and therefore
unrevealed. In the words before us the Spirit of God makes known the great
truth, that God, before even the world existed, planned His Masterpiece, how He
would make known the exceeding riches of His Grace. With Him in all eternity,
resting in His own bosom was His Only Begotten Son, the Son of His Love. In
Him, by Him and for Him all things, visible and invisible were called into
existence. Before even this creation was effected, God knew the outcome.
Surprise is an impossibility with God. He knows the end from the beginning,
"Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts
xv :18).
Before He created the highest creature, him who was the Cherub
that covereth (Ezek. xxviii:14), God knew that he would become the Devil. The
whole story of man's fall, dragged down by the fallen Lucifer (Isaiah xiv:12)
into sin and death, was not hidden from God. He knew all what would come to
pass. The whole human race as it was to come into existence was known to Him
and every member in that race. Well may we exclaim with David, when the Spirit
of God unfolded to him God's omniscience, "Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me; it is high, I cannot attain to it" (Psalm cxxxix :6). And then God
made provision. He made the "ages" in His Son (Hebr. i :2-3). Then He chose us
in Him that we should be holy and without blame before Him. This deep and
blessed statement refers to the Saints of God, who constitute the Church, the
body of Christ and as such the Glory of Christ (Chapter i :23). In Ephesians we
find the fullest revelation concerning the church, that mystery, which was not
made known in former ages (Chapter iii:5).
Here on the threshold of this
sublime revelation we are told that the church was in the mind of God before
the foundation of the world. Before His blessed Son ever came to this earth for
redemption, before He ever died on Calvary's Cross and rose from the dead to
return as the glorified Man into God's presence, before the Holy Spirit ever
came to form that body, God knew the members of it, all who would constitute
the body of His Son, the church. And as such He has chosen them that they
should be holy and without blame before Him. How men with a show of learning
have wrestled with these statements and by their theories and opinions have
made the words "election" and "predestination" obscure and difficult! Depths
are connected with the statements before us which we cannot fathom. And God
forbid that we should ever try to explain the actions of God's Sovereignty or
judge Him by our own thoughts. We bow in adoration and worship in the presence
of such a statement "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world." Israel
as the elect earthly people will give us a little help. In Old Testament times
there were many nations, nations of culture, learning and power. Yet God did
not take them up, but let them go their own way. But what does He say
concerning Israel? "Hear this Word that the Lord hath spoken against you, oh
children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land
of Egypt, saying, you only have I known of all the families of the earth"
(Amos iii:1-2). Israel is His elect earthly people; but their election is
never spoken of as having been before the foundation of the world. Israel was
chosen in time. The Saints of the New Testament times, which constitute the
Body of His blessed Son, He hath chosen before there was a world. That body,
the church, is an outgathered company, in its number known to God alone,
because He has chosen them. And this choice of God declares that in Christ we
should be, even as we are (blessed be His Name) "holy and without blame." It
means that we become thus partakers of His nature, the nature of God, and
therefore a nature capable of communion with God, a nature to which no blame is
attached. This God willed and this is the portion of every believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Grace of God bestows it upon us. And our destiny as we shall
see, the destiny of the elect body of Christ, the Church, is not in connection
with the earth, but in the Heavenlies, even as we are chosen before there was
an earth.
The words "in Love" with which verse 4 ends, we believe,
belong to the sentence which follows in the next verse, so that we read, "In
love having predestinated us unto the Sonplace through Christ Jesus by Himself
according to the good pleasure of His will." It was love which purposed all
this, the love which passeth knowledge. The words before us reveal the
position, which God has given to those whom He hath chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world. The authorized version speaks of "adoption of
children." This hardly expresses it correctly. Believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ are not adopted into the family of God; they are born into the family.
The Greek has only one word "Sonplace." We are placed into the position of
Sons. Not alone hath God given to us His own nature, but He gives us, because
we have that nature in and through His Son, the place as Sons. Think of what
God might have done for those, who by wicked works are His enemies. He might
have given us the place of unfallen angels, the wonderful ministers of Heaven.
What mercy that would have been! Or He might have lifted us to the dignity of
an Archangel, full of beauty and power. But even that would not have been the
very best He could have done in the riches of His Grace and Love. He has made
us Sons, like the Son, whom He raised from the dead and seated at His own right
hand. Sons of God, like His Son, destined to be joint heirs with Him and
forever with the Lord; this tells out the marvellous story of God's riches in
Grace. He gave to His Son, risen from the dead, a better name and a better
inheritance than the angels.
And this we share in Him according to the
eternal will of God. And all this is "according to the good pleasure of His
will." Not according to our works, nor according to the appreciation or
apprehension of all this, as some have stated. Our works and actions have
absolutely nothing to do with this. All we do is to accept in faith that, into
which God has brought us according to His will. It is all of God. How else
could it be, if it was all done in His will before even a human being
existed.
Before we pass to the third statement, a brief word on
"predestination." This word, which means "marked out" is nowhere found in
connection with the Gospel, nor does it say anywhere in the Word, what some
have said, that God has predestinated human beings to be lost. But while we do
not read that He ever predestinated any one to be lost we read "God would have
all men to be saved" (1 Tim. ii:4). God has nothing to say to a lost world
about predestination. His Grace, bringing salvation has appeared unto all men.
God's offer of salvation is therefore to all.
continued