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Ephesians 1 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00So, we're going to start [music] the
0:01book of Ephesians.
0:02And
0:05Ephesus was
0:08the most [music] important city in Asia
0:11Minor. It was a major trade route.
0:14It was located in what [music] is now
0:16Turkey.
0:17And
0:19it became the commercial center
0:22of that whole region of the world. And
0:24Paul made it his base for evangelism for
0:27several [music] years.
0:29It's likely that he would have written
0:31the book of Ephesus in around 60 AD
0:34[music] while he's in prison and while
0:37he's under extensive the extended
0:39imprisonment by [music] the Romans.
0:42And
0:43it's likely that this was from the start
0:46a letter sent out to all the churches
0:49that he had established. So, this is
0:51roughly 10 years after Galatians was
0:54written. If that makes sense.
0:56And this is an older Paul who is writing
0:59one of the [music] few things that he
1:01writes that does not have a specific
1:03problem that he's addressing.
1:06Paul is not trying to fix an error in
1:09Ephesus. He's trying instead to give
1:15the justification and vision for the
1:17church.
1:19This is Paul's vision statement [music]
1:22for what church is supposed to be. And
1:25it's big.
1:26And [music] he's wanting to galvanize a
1:30visional commitment and clarity in the
1:33hearts of God's people. [music] Of
1:34course, it's got many facets, but that
1:37seems to be his main point. He writes
1:39this to [music] help them know what
1:41God's called them to be part of.
1:43And and the central theme
1:46is [music]
1:47in the in the the purpose of the church
1:50is first and foremost that God has made
1:53one. He's broken [music] down the
1:55dividing walls. There's no longer this
1:58covenant and that covenant. He's brought
2:00peace. He's brought unity.
2:03So, unity is the theme and and it you
2:06would say that the purpose
2:08for the church is to fulfill God's
2:12eternal strategy
2:14and to that strategy is to prove
2:17something to God's enemies,
2:19principalities and powers in the
2:22heavenly places and also
2:24in the earthly realms.
2:26So, the church is is being given a very
2:29high calling in the book of Ephesians.
2:32Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1, Paul, an
2:36apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of
2:39God,
2:40to the saints who are at Ephesus
2:43and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.
2:46Grace to you and peace from God our
2:49Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2:52Blessed be the God and Father of our
2:55Lord Jesus Christ,
2:57who has blessed us with every spiritual
3:00blessing
3:01in the heavenly places in Christ.
3:05Just as he chose us in him before the
3:08foundation of the world that we would be
3:11holy and blameless before him in love.
3:16He predestined us to adoption as sons
3:20through Jesus Christ to himself
3:23according to the kind intention of his
3:26will.
3:27To the praise of the glory of his grace,
3:30which he freely bestowed on us in the
3:33beloved.
3:36In him we have redemption through his
3:38blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses
3:41according to the riches of his grace,
3:44which he lavished on us in all wisdom
3:47and insight.
3:49He made known to us the mystery of his
3:52will according to his kind intention
3:55which he purposed in him.
3:58With a view
3:59to an administration suitable to the
4:02fullness of times, that is the summing
4:06up of all things in Christ, things in
4:10the heavens and things on earth. In him
4:13also we have obtained an inheritance
4:17having been predestined according to his
4:19will who works all things after the
4:22counsel of his will to the end that we
4:26who were the first to hope in Christ
4:29would be to the praise of his glory.
4:33So, let's just look at this
4:36and say that
4:37in the first thing he says, I am Paul an
4:39apostle.
4:41It says that the letter is to the
4:43Ephesus saints.
4:44He
4:46pronounces grace and peace to them.
4:49And then he says, blessed be the God and
4:51Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So,
4:54right there he establishes the theme of
4:58what he's going to teach, fatherhood.
5:01This is echoing the prayer, Our Father
5:04who art in heaven, your kingdom come.
5:07God's will and reign and eternal purpose
5:10only comes through fatherhood. Through
5:13the Father in heaven manifesting through
5:16his Son Jesus
5:17and then us in his Son.
5:20He has blessed us with every spiritual
5:23blessing in the heavenly places in
5:25Christ.
5:27Which is to say that
5:29God has given us
5:32He's taken what was in heaven, his kind
5:35intention and plan, he has given to us
5:39through Jesus whom he sent.
5:42Just as he chose us in him.
5:46So, this is the idea again of corporate
5:49election
5:51that we were predestined in him before
5:54the foundation of the world.
5:56Because God's son was declared before
5:58the foundation of the world.
6:00If the foundation of the world is the
6:02slaying of Abel by Cain as Jesus
6:06indicated,
6:08then before that event,
6:11the Lord declared that Eve's seed was
6:15one day going to rise up and crush the
6:18serpent's head.
6:20And that was going to be the hope of
6:22Eve's children.
6:24So right there, Eve's children were
6:26predestined
6:28in that seed before the foundation of
6:30the world. Jesus was going to come and
6:33he is predestined. He is eternally
6:36secure. He is settled and fixed and safe
6:41forever.
6:42And those who find their place in him
6:46share that predestination. But we, as
6:49Paul showed us in the previous book, can
6:52be severed from Christ. We can fall from
6:55grace. But if we are in him, there is
6:58now therefore no condemnation as he
7:00tells the Romans. So whoever is in him
7:04has found the predestined place.
7:08Amen. But it's up to us whether we
7:10accept that grace to be in him or
7:13whether we
7:14exclude ourselves from Christ.
7:18He predestined us to adoption as sons
7:21through Jesus Christ. So what he
7:23predestined us to is to become sons of
7:26God. Jesus was the firstborn among many
7:30brethren that he might bring many sons
7:33to glory. So the whole idea was that he
7:36would come to become the way for all of
7:39us to become sons and daughters of God.
7:42Amen. Reunion with the Father to the
7:45praise of the glory of his grace which
7:48he freely bestowed on us in the beloved.
7:52In the saints.
7:54So, the bestowing is not individually
7:57given. It's an anointing running down
8:00Aaron's beard over the whole body of
8:02Christ. And if you find yourself there,
8:05then in the body of Christ God has
8:07commanded a blessing where brothers
8:09dwell in unity in the beloved. In him we
8:13have redemption. So, he's making in the
8:16beloved and in him interchangeable. In
8:19him we have redemption through his
8:20blood.
8:22We have redemption. We were caught.
8:25That means we were caught by the
8:26kidnapper of the devil because of our
8:28sin.
8:30But the the ransom, the redemption was
8:32paid to release us from the power
8:35of sin and death
8:37by what he suffered on the cross. And
8:39that redeeming blood sacrifice is the
8:41only thing that can free us from hell,
8:43but it is applied to those who come
8:46under his name, his lordship by faith.
8:51We have the forgiveness of our
8:52trespasses according to the riches of
8:55his grace which he lavished on us in all
8:59wisdom and insight. And this idea of
9:01lavished grace is the same thing John
9:03speaks of when he says,
9:06"Consider,
9:07think about what manner of love the
9:11Father has lavished on us that we might
9:15become sons of God." That's the adoption
9:17that Paul is speaking of. The whole
9:19framework of salvation was we were
9:22orphans, now we're sons. We were
9:24estranged, now we're brought near. We
9:27were afar off, now we're in him. We were
9:30not the people of God, but now we are
9:33the people of God. It's It's the Lord
9:35handing out get out of jail free cards
9:37or get out of hell free cards. It's the
9:40Lord inviting us into a relationship of
9:43sonship, adoption.
9:46Which he lavished on us in all wisdom
9:48and insight. He made known to us the
9:50mystery of his will.
9:52According to his kind intention, which
9:54he purposed in him. Twice he calls it
9:57God's kind intention.
10:00Now, that's so important because what
10:03God did through Christ at the cross was
10:05not a venting of his pent-up anger. It
10:09was kind intention. It was God so loved
10:13the world.
10:14Amen. It was
10:16it was [snorts] a merciful God taking
10:18away the justice that had been hijacked
10:21by his enemy to hold us in bondage
10:23through the fear of death. It was God
10:27taking on himself what we deserved. It
10:29was a kind intention.
10:32Which he purposed in him.
10:35With a view to an administration
10:37suitable to the fullness of times. So,
10:39the kind intention
10:41was realized in Jesus with a view, with
10:45a plan, toward an administration.
10:48He wanted to turn that grace that was in
10:51Jesus into a grace that was in an
10:54agency, an administration.
10:57When a president is elected, we call the
11:00body of his government an
11:02administration.
11:04And Christ came and died with a view to
11:07create a government, an administration
11:10suitable for the wretched times that we
11:12live in. And what is that
11:14administration? Paul calls it an
11:16administration many times. Jesus called
11:19it a kingdom. They're the same thing.
11:21That is the reign of God's spirit
11:25through the church. That's what the
11:27administration is. It's the church. So,
11:29the administration equals the church,
11:32equals the kingdom.
11:35With a view to an administration
11:37suitable to the fullness of times, that
11:38is, the summing up of all things in
11:40Christ.
11:42So, what is the mission of the church?
11:44What is the mission of the kingdom? Is
11:46it to conquer Rome?
11:47Is it to get rid of the Sanhedrin?
11:50What is the mission
11:52of the administration? To sum up, to
11:56gather all things
11:59into Christ.
12:00It's a life where nothing lives outside
12:04of Jesus, where your work expresses
12:07Jesus, where your schooling expresses
12:09Jesus, where your family expresses
12:11Jesus, where everything you do
12:15becomes an expression of the Lordship of
12:18Jesus Christ. That's the summing up, or
12:21the gathering together is a better
12:23translation. The gathering together of
12:26all things into Christ under one head.
12:30The summing up of all things in Christ,
12:33things in heaven
12:35and things on earth in him.
12:38So, he's not just talking about heavenly
12:40things. Oh, I have butterflies about how
12:42good God is. That's not all that belongs
12:45in the church. Everything belongs in the
12:48church. The church should be the
12:50expression of how the Holy Spirit
12:54rules our entire existence
12:58and how we choose it voluntarily, not
13:00because there is any sword or threat of
13:02coercion.
13:03In him also, we have obtained an
13:06inheritance.
13:07In him.
13:10In him.
13:11And the inheritance that Israel was so
13:14fixated on in the days of Paul was their
13:16land.
13:17It was the inheritance of Judea, which
13:19they felt had been stolen by invaders.
13:23So, the term inheritance, corporate
13:25inheritance, was a hot topic. It was
13:28like, you stole our property and we want
13:31to know how to get it back.
13:33But for Paul, the inheritance that he
13:36talks about is the sense of home in the
13:41body of Christ and the sense of the
13:43ultimate home in heaven. So, he's trying
13:46to get them off the physical and onto a
13:49relational home that he calls
13:52inheritance.
13:55In him also we have obtained an
13:57inheritance having been predestined
13:59according to his purpose who works all
14:01things after the counsel of his will.
14:04So, we are predestined in him meaning
14:07that the predestination
14:09attaches to him and whoever becomes part
14:12of him enjoys the predestination.
14:16Think of predestination like a train
14:18traveling one direction and a train
14:20traveling another direction. The trains
14:22are in motion.
14:24One train is the body of Christ headed
14:26to glory. You get to decide which train
14:29you get on.
14:30You're standing on a platform. You can
14:33head south toward hell or you can head
14:35north toward heaven. The body of Christ
14:37is heading toward heaven. Get on that
14:39train and in him you are predestined.
14:42Out of him you are not.
14:47To the end that we
14:50who were the first to hope in Christ
14:52would be to the praise of his glory.
14:57We who are the first to hope in Christ,
15:00to say he's the answer,
15:02to say it's not nationalism,
15:04it's not sectarianism, it's not
15:06Phariseeism, it's Christ, guys. It's
15:09Jesus. This is the answer. The first to
15:11hope in Christ
15:13would be to the praise of his glory.
15:15Paul and the first Christians would
15:18cause everybody else to say, "It
15:20worked."
15:21It's to the praise of his glory.
15:24Here we go again, verse 13. In him. Do
15:28you hear the positional language here?
15:30Salvation is a positional reality for
15:33Paul. It's not a how, it's a where, and
15:36the where is in Christ. In him, you
15:40also, after listening to the message of
15:43truth, the gospel of your salvation,
15:46having also believed, you were sealed in
15:49him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
15:54Now, remember, in Galatians, he uses the
15:57word promise
15:59interchangeable with the outpouring,
16:02baptism, rebirth of the spirit. Those
16:05that are born of the flesh are not sons
16:07of promise, but those who are born of
16:09the spirit are children of promise.
16:11Promise is the key tag that Jesus used
16:14to point toward Pentecost. Promise is
16:17what
16:18the writer of Hebrews says all those of
16:20the old died without receiving, but that
16:23we got.
16:24So, he says we have been sealed with the
16:26Holy Spirit of promise. Why is the Holy
16:30Spirit
16:31called the promise? Because from the
16:34beginning,
16:36our union with God
16:39was severed in the Garden of Eden, when
16:41we used to walk with God in the spirit
16:43of the day. When that was severed, there
16:46came a promise that that would be
16:47restored. That we would be reunited.
16:51So, a promise
16:53of
16:54fellowship with God through his
16:56presence,
16:57that's the Holy Spirit. That's going to
17:00be called the promise. But, the spirit
17:02itself
17:04is still a promise for those who have
17:06received it, because it is the
17:08foretaste, the first picking, the first
17:11fruits
17:12of the eternal life that is to come.
17:14It's the pledge, it's the little picking
17:17of the big harvest that's on its way.
17:20So, the Holy Spirit's experience in our
17:23life was a promise. Once it came, it's
17:26reality felt in our daily life is a
17:28promise of eternal life. The Holy Spirit
17:31is the promise.
17:33Remember, he's writing to
17:37the Ephesian believers, and he says to
17:40them,
17:41"Having believed, you were sealed in him
17:45with the Holy Spirit of promise." Do you
17:49remember when the Ephesian believers
17:52were sealed with the Holy Spirit of
17:55promise once they believed?
17:58Do you remember when Paul met these
18:00believers, how the church started? Was
18:03Paul was passing through the upper
18:05region. Acts 19 tells us
18:08that it happened that while Apollos was
18:10at Corinth, Paul passed through the
18:12upper country and came to Ephesus and
18:15found some disciples. What did Paul ask
18:18those disciples whom he met at Ephesus?
18:22He says, "Did you receive the Holy
18:24Spirit when you believed?"
18:28They had believed, but they had not
18:30gotten the seal.
18:32And they said, "No, we have not even
18:34heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
18:36And he said, "How then were you
18:37baptized?"
18:39And they said, "Into John's baptism."
18:42And Paul explained that John baptized
18:44with a baptism of repentance.
18:46When they heard this, they were baptized
18:49in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when
18:51Paul had laid his hands upon them, the
18:54Holy Spirit came on them, and they began
18:57speaking with tongues and prophesying.
19:00There were in all about 12 men.
19:03So, that's how this church started that
19:07Paul's writing to. And to that church,
19:09he reminds them, "Having believed,
19:13then you met me and you received the the
19:16promise of the Holy Spirit. Having
19:18believed, you were sealed in him with
19:21the Holy Spirit of promise. Acts 19.
19:25Who is given as a pledge of our
19:29inheritance.
19:31A pledge. Here's a little of what's
19:34coming.
19:35To be baptized in the spirit as the
19:37Ephesus believers were, where when he
19:39laid his hands on them, they began to
19:41speak in tongues. So overcome were they
19:44with the presence of God. That's a
19:46foretaste of heaven.
19:51The spirit whom he has given to us as a
19:53pledge of our inheritance with a view to
19:56the redemption of God's own possession
19:59to the praise of his glory.
20:01For this reason, I too, having heard of
20:04the faith of the Lord Jesus which exists
20:07among you and your love for all the
20:09saints, do not cease giving thanks for
20:12you
20:14while making mention of you in my
20:16prayers.
20:17I am so happy
20:20at what God is doing.
20:21And he says, "What I've heard lives in
20:23you is the faith of the Lord Jesus."
20:25That means the trust Jesus had for the
20:27Father, you have it, too.
20:30That's the sonship Paul likes.
20:34And he says, "I don't stop praying for
20:36you." And what is he praying? He tells
20:37them what he's praying. I pray
20:40that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
20:42the Father of glory,
20:44may give you a spirit of wisdom
20:47and of revelation in the knowledge of
20:50him.
20:51He doesn't just want them to have
20:53knowledge, he wants them to have a
20:54spirit
20:56of wisdom
20:57and revelation. That means unveiling,
21:00parting the curtains, alethea.
21:03I want knowledge to turn into wisdom and
21:05revelation.
21:06I pray
21:08that the eyes
21:10of your heart
21:12may be enlightened.
21:15So that you will know
21:18what is the hope of his calling.
21:21What are the riches of the glory
21:25of his inheritance
21:29in
21:30the saints.
21:32He doesn't say I'm praying that you'll
21:34know what you're going to get in heaven.
21:36He says, "I'm praying that you'll unpack
21:39and recognize what you have with each
21:42other
21:43in the saints."
21:46And what is the surpassing greatness
21:49of his power toward us who believe.
21:53Paul's thrilled at their faith, but he
21:55wants them to know there's more power.
21:58Remember when I met just 12 of you in
22:00the upper country and I asked you if you
22:02had the spirit? Well, I'm writing you
22:04again. And I'm saying, "I'm praying
22:06still cuz there's more power."
22:10You used to have faith, but you didn't
22:11have the spirit. Now you've got the
22:13spirit, but you don't know what you have
22:15in the church. So I'm going to write
22:17this whole letter to teach you what
22:19you've got in the church.
22:21What is the surpassing greatness of his
22:23power toward us who believe?
22:26These
22:28These, plural, the power, the greatness,
22:32the enlightenment, the wisdom
22:35are in accordance with the working of
22:37the strength of his might.
22:40The strength there is the dunamis of his
22:42might. It's what comes when we receive
22:44the spirit.
22:45Which he brought about in Christ when he
22:48raised him from the dead and seated him
22:51at his right hand in the heavenly
22:53places.
22:54Far above all rule and authority and
22:59power and dominion and every name that
23:02is named. Jesus has the big place. Jesus
23:06has the ultimate place. Jesus is the
23:10manifestation of the one God and Father.
23:13For it pleased the Father that all his
23:15fullness should dwell in him. The human
23:18being who walked the shores of Galilee
23:21has been exalted to the place of
23:23inherited power. That's what the right
23:25hand of the throne means.
23:27Far above all rule, every name that is
23:30named, not only in this age, but also in
23:33the one to come. And he put all things
23:37in subjection
23:39under his feet and gave him
23:42as head
23:44over all things
23:47to the church,
23:49which is his body,
23:52the fullness
23:54of him who fills all in all.
23:59This is what Paul's praying they'll get.
24:01This is the administration suitable for
24:03the fullness of times. This is the next
24:06phase. They were in belief, then they
24:08got the spirit, now they have the
24:10spirit, now they need to get the church.
24:13And they need to see the church
24:15as the place where the headship, where
24:19the rule of Jesus brings everything
24:23under the dominion of the Holy Spirit on
24:25earth.
24:26Amen.
24:27And he says that he put all things in
24:29subjection under his feet and gave him
24:31as head over all things. The amplified
24:33says this is a headship exercised in and
24:37through the church,
24:39which is his body,
24:41the fullness of him who fills all in
24:44all. Now, that is an astounding
24:46statement
24:47to say that the church represents the
24:50fullness of God who fills all in all.
24:55What he's saying is that this same
24:59verbiage is used in Colossians when Paul
25:01describes Jesus. Says it pleased the
25:04Father that all his fullness dwell in
25:08Jesus and that the fullness of the
25:11Godhead dwelt in Jesus in bodily form.
25:14Paul is saying the same thing about the
25:16church. He's saying it pleases the
25:19Father
25:20that the church be the corporate
25:23incarnation of God upon the earth.
25:27That's what he's saying. That God still
25:30has a human body,
25:31but it's not an individual.
25:33It's the great body of Christ and this
25:36is what Paul wants their eyes to be
25:38enlightened to see and I think he would
25:41want it more of us today
25:43who have completely lost sight of what
25:45the church should be.
25:48The fullness of him who fills all in
25:49all. What that means is God is not
25:51incarnating himself. God is not
25:54tabernacling himself anywhere except in
25:58his people, the church.
26:00That's it.
26:02That's just like saying that God's
26:04presence was dwelling in the temple.
26:08Because Jesus became that temple, but
26:10we're going to see in the next chapter
26:12we have become that temple. The church
26:15is now the house where God lives.
26:19God works elsewhere. God touches
26:23elsewhere, but God lives nowhere else on
26:27earth but in his church.
26:30You say, I thought he lived in me.
26:32Yes, that's why you need to be in
26:34[music] the church because the church is
26:36who he died for. The church is what he's
26:38covenanted with [music] and if you're in
26:40the church, you're in the place where he
26:43lives. You have become one of the stones
26:45in a living temple.
26:48And the headship of Christ
26:50is supposed to be realized through the
26:52church and that's the administration
26:54suitable for the fullness of times.
26:55That's what he wants them their eyes to
26:58be enlightened to see, not just things
27:00in heaven, but things on earth brought
27:02under the dominion of Christ through the
27:04church.
27:07>> [music]
27:18[music]

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