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Ephesians 3 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00We know that Ephesians is the only book
0:02that Paul writes
0:04that is not written to solve a specific
0:06problem or heresy, [music] but instead
0:08to be
0:10the vision of what the church was meant
0:12to be. So, it's a visional book.
0:15>> [music]
0:15>> And in the previous
0:16two chapters,
0:18we have been learning that God is
0:22creating the church as [music] the
0:24temple, as the place where he desires to
0:27dwell.
0:28So, [music] that's the whole point that
0:31God is not going to be living in a stone
0:33temple
0:34>> [music]
0:34>> or in a physical city like Jerusalem.
0:37That God is instead creating a community
0:40of people whose interconnected lives and
0:43relationships and consecration [music]
0:45forms this place that he is willing to
0:49come and inhabit as [music] a sanctuary,
0:52the dwelling place of God in the spirit.
0:56Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1,
0:59"For this reason."
1:01Now, we ask, "For what reason?"
1:04He just said above,
1:06"Having been built on the foundation of
1:08the apostles and prophets, Jesus [music]
1:10Christ being the chief cornerstone,
1:13in whom the whole building being fitted
1:16together is growing into a holy temple
1:19in the Lord, in whom you also are being
1:23built together into a dwelling of God in
1:27the spirit. For [music] this reason."
1:30Because you need to be built into a
1:33temple. Because you need to grow into a
1:36temple. Because you need to be fitted
1:38together. For this reason, I Paul, the
1:41prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake
1:44of you Gentiles, if indeed you have
1:46heard of the stewardship of God's grace
1:49which was given to me for you, that by
1:51revelation there was made known to me
1:55the mystery as I wrote before in brief.
1:59So, what Paul is talking about here is
2:01that among all the apostles, God chose
2:04Paul to bring a very specific
2:07revelation. And that revelation was a
2:09clarification
2:11on the nature and purpose of the law and
2:14its irrelevancy going forward, and
2:17therefore the ability to incorporate the
2:20Gentiles into the saved community, the
2:23corporate covenant of Israel, the Israel
2:27of God. That's the revelation that Paul
2:29is speaking of, which he has written to
2:32them in brief.
2:34By referring to this, when you read, you
2:36can understand my insight into the
2:39mystery of Christ,
2:41which in other generations was not made
2:44known to the sons of men, as it has been
2:48revealed to his holy apostles and
2:51prophets in the Spirit. To be specific,
2:54that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and
2:58fellow members of the body, and fellow
3:02partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus
3:06through the gospel, of which I was made
3:09a minister according to the gift of
3:11God's grace, which was given to me
3:14according to the working of his power.
3:17So, Paul had a revelation of how the
3:20Gentiles were going to become one
3:22community with the Jews, and that the
3:25law was no longer going to broker
3:27salvation, that it was complete and
3:29finished in Jesus Christ. And that they
3:32could become fellow partakers of the
3:34promise, which as you know, refers to a
3:37life of fellowship with God through the
3:40Spirit. Of which I was made a minister
3:43to the gift of God's grace, which was
3:45given to me according to the working of
3:47his power.
3:48The power, the dunamis of the Holy
3:51Spirit, is at the center of everything.
3:53To me, the very least of all saints,
3:57this grace was given
3:59to preach to the Gentiles
4:02the unfathomable riches of Christ.
4:07And to bring to light
4:10what is the administration
4:12of the mystery
4:13which for ages has been hidden in God
4:17who created all things.
4:20So that the manifold wisdom of God might
4:24now
4:25be made known through
4:28the church
4:30to the rulers and the authorities in the
4:34heavenly places.
4:36So here's Paul's whole point. He says
4:37God gave me a revelation of how to bring
4:40the Gentiles into salvation. He He
4:43showed me the truth of what was finished
4:46at the cross, of what the way of
4:47salvation was, and what role the law
4:49could no longer play, okay?
4:52And he says, "To me, the very least of
4:55all the saints, this grace was given
4:58to preach to the Gentiles the
5:00unfathomable riches and to bring to
5:02light
5:04To bring to light has the idea that
5:05something was obscure, something was
5:08hidden, and now it's unveiled. There's
5:11aletheia.
5:12Paul turned the light on and we saw. To
5:15bring to light what is the
5:17administration. I told you in the first
5:20chapter that Paul refers to the church
5:23as the administration. That's his
5:25synonym for the word kingdom. So he
5:28wants to bring to light what the new
5:31community is. The new community is an
5:34administration. That's his synonym for
5:36kingdom and that's a synonym for church.
5:39To bring to light what is the
5:41administration of the mystery which for
5:44ages has been hidden in God who created
5:47all things.
5:48So, God had the church in mind from the
5:50beginning.
5:52It was hidden in his heart, in his mind.
5:55And here's how we know that this
5:57administration is the church, verse 10.
5:59So that
6:01the manifold
6:03wisdom of God
6:06might now be made known
6:09through the church
6:11to the rulers and authority in the
6:14heavenly places.
6:16What is the word that Paul uses to
6:18describe the wisdom that's going to be
6:20now made known?
6:23Manifold wisdom of God. What is manifold
6:26mean?
6:28Multifaceted.
6:31Many angled.
6:33It's not one simple thing.
6:36So, Christ was the wisdom of God. Christ
6:40is the wisdom of God in an individual
6:42form. But the corporate body of Christ,
6:46the corporate incarnation of God, is the
6:50manifold wisdom of God. It's the many
6:53faceted, all facets of human experience
6:57and life. Manifold wisdom of God might
7:00now be made known.
7:02And who is this wisdom made known
7:05through?
7:07The church.
7:09The wisdom is made known through the
7:11church. The church
7:13is
7:15the actor
7:18in a display that is being made. Who is
7:22it being made to?
7:26Who is the church proving something to?
7:29Heavenly authorities. Rulers
7:32and authorities
7:34in heavenly places.
7:37There's a cosmic war. Yahweh is on one
7:39side with his holy angels.
7:42And all the devil and his hosts and
7:45authorities are on the other side.
7:47But God chooses the church as the
7:51battleground to settle that dispute.
7:54If the church can accept the spirit of
7:57God and the love of God and the truth of
8:00God and the grace of God as the only
8:03authority,
8:04then all the rulers and authorities
8:07are are confounded when the church
8:09proves that we can be the sons of God.
8:14We can recover what was lost in Eden. In
8:17short, devil, the project you've been
8:20working on since you first started a
8:22conversation with Eve is losing
8:25because people are coming back into
8:27fellowship with the Father. People are
8:30coming back into Eden. People are coming
8:33back under an administration
8:36that is going to make God's grace real
8:38in all facets of life.
8:41The manifold wisdom of God is going to
8:43be made known through the church to
8:44principalities and powers in heavenly
8:46places. This
8:49This
8:51This display going forth from the church
8:54to the heavenly bodies
8:55This was in accordance with the eternal
8:59purpose
9:01which he carried out
9:03in Christ Jesus our Lord. In whom we
9:06have boldness and confident access
9:08through faith in him.
9:10So this idea that the church proves
9:13something on a corporate scale to the
9:16enemies of God in the heavenlies
9:19This
9:21is in line. It's part of the eternal
9:25purpose
9:26that started with the cross
9:28but must finish with a community, with a
9:31people
9:32with the worldwide body of Christ
9:35proving something to principalities and
9:37powers.
9:38Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart
9:44at my tribulations on your behalf,
9:47for they
9:49are your glory.
9:53Paul's saying God wants to do something
9:55through you. So, please do not
9:58get impatient and act like something
10:00horrible is happening cuz I'm going
10:01through a trial.
10:03Because what I'm going through is
10:04actually supposed to change something in
10:07you.
10:08They're It's supposed to bring glory
10:10into your life.
10:12Glory describes the union of the divine
10:16holy with the
10:18mortal human flesh. That's what glory
10:22is.
10:23For this reason,
10:25because I want to bring about glory in
10:27you, because I want you to be a witness
10:30to heavenlies, for this reason, I bow my
10:33knees before the Father.
10:36From whom every family in heaven and on
10:39earth derives its name,
10:43that he would grant you, according to
10:46the riches of his glory, to be
10:48strengthened with power through his
10:51spirit in the inner man.
10:55Amen. So, Paul is saying God wants to do
10:58something through the church,
11:00but it's going to happen through the
11:03fatherhood of God, through recognizing
11:07that the administration is a fatherhood.
11:10So, we've got to kneel before the Father
11:13in heaven. It's like the Lord's Prayer.
11:15Our Father, who art in heaven, your
11:17administration come.
11:19Your kingdom come. Your will be done. He
11:21doesn't say our king who art in heaven.
11:23He says our Father, who art in heaven.
11:26Your kingdom come.
11:28So, Paul says, I bow my knee
11:31before the Father, from whom every
11:33family in heaven and on earth derives
11:36its name. And the word here is like
11:39every patria,
11:41every fatherhood family.
11:45The root of the word family that he's
11:46using here is father.
11:49So,
11:51the whole the the whole fatherhood in
11:54heaven and on earth derives its name.
11:57That he would grant you according to the
11:59riches of his glory to be strengthened.
12:01So, here's what we need in order to be
12:03the witness to principalities and
12:04powers. We need to get that this is not
12:07a democracy. This is not an oligarchy.
12:10This is not a corporation. This is not a
12:13military. This is a fatherhood.
12:17What happens right in the community
12:19happens through the instrumentality of
12:22fatherhood.
12:26And then, what does What does the Father
12:28above want to give us?
12:30He wants to grant us according to the
12:32riches of his glory to be empowered,
12:37strengthened with power through his
12:40spirit in the inner man.
12:45So that Christ may dwell in your hearts
12:48through faith.
12:50And you being rooted and grounded in
12:53love
12:54may be able to comprehend with all the
12:57saints
12:58what is the breadth and length and
13:01height and depth
13:03and to know the love of Christ, which
13:06surpasses knowledge, that you may be
13:09filled up to all the fullness of God.
13:15So, the whole point
13:16is that
13:19in chapter 2, he said, "I want you to be
13:21a temple
13:23where God dwells by his spirit." Now he
13:25says, "I'm praying.
13:27I'm suffering, and I'm bowing my knee to
13:30the Father so that in short Christ may
13:33live inside of you.
13:35But this is not something you're going
13:36to comprehend individualistically.
13:39You're going to comprehend together with
13:41all the saints.
13:44Now, if he just told them that he's
13:45God's making a temple out of them,
13:49what he's now saying is,
13:51"I want you to know the measurements of
13:52this temple.
13:54I want you to know the measurements
13:58with all the saints, but you can't know
14:00it individually." He says, "I want you
14:02to comprehend with all the saints."
14:05So, to understand the three-dimensional
14:08body of Christ coming together as one
14:12body
14:13is to comprehend together with all the
14:15saints what is the width and breadth and
14:18height. This is Ezekiel language.
14:21Measure here, measure there. But what
14:23we're measuring is not stones.
14:26Jesus told the woman at the well, "The
14:27hour is coming when the true worshipers
14:29will worship neither on this mountain
14:32nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in
14:34truth."
14:35And when that starts to happen,
14:38then the body of Christ becomes this
14:41three-dimensional
14:43real space where God is living by his
14:47spirit. Comprehend, how are we going to
14:48comprehend?
14:49>> Together with
14:50>> Together with all the saints. What is
14:53the breadth and length and height and
14:56depth, and to know the love of Christ
14:59which surpasses knowledge.
15:01This is the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer
15:03in John 17. Father,
15:06that they would be one as we are one,
15:10that you would be in them and I in them,
15:13and that you would love them with the
15:15same love, and give them the same glory.
15:19That's what Jesus prayed. So, when the
15:21Father comes to dwell, His presence to
15:25abide in the three-dimensional
15:28body of Christ, that's when we
15:30comprehend together with all the saints
15:32the love of Christ surpassing knowledge,
15:35that you may be filled to all the
15:38fullness of
15:40God.
15:42Now to Him
15:44who is able
15:47to do far more abundantly beyond all
15:51that we ask or think according to the
15:55power that works within us,
15:58to Him
15:59be glory
16:01in the church
16:04and in Christ Jesus
16:07to all generations
16:09forever and ever. Amen.
16:13That sounds like the end of the book.
16:16Paul's just feeling the Holy Spirit so
16:17strong.
16:19What this literally means is
16:21to Him who is able to do far more
16:23abundantly beyond all we ask, think, or
16:25imagine. He's saying go He's saying
16:26Ephesians,
16:28you don't see what God wants to do in
16:30the church. That's why I'm kneeling down
16:33before the Father and praying that your
16:35eyes would be opened, so that you would
16:37comprehend together with all the saints
16:39so much more of what God has planned,
16:42that He would dwell in you. The fullness
16:45of God would come to live in a people.
16:48You would know the height and depth and
16:49breadth and measurements of this temple.
16:52Now to Him who is able to do far more
16:53abundantly beyond all we ask, think, or
16:55imagine according to the power that
16:57works within us, to Him be glory. Where
17:00is His glory going to be?
17:02In the church.
17:05In Christ Jesus.
17:07To what?
17:09All generations.
17:13This is the fruit [music] that remains.
17:16Your children and your children's
17:18children, to all who are far off, it was
17:20said on the birthday of the church. I am
17:23the God of your fathers. I am the God of
17:25Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God
17:27of Jacob.
17:29Amen.
17:31To all generations and [music] this
17:32forever and ever literally means world
17:36with no end.
17:38God is creating
17:41a covenant relationship with his people
17:45that passes from generation to
17:46generation. It never is torn down. It's
17:49a It's a temple. It's a house. It's a
17:51covenant. It's a community. It's a
17:54nation.
17:55It's a fellowship with no break. [music]
17:59It's a world without end.
18:01To him be glory in the church forever
18:02and ever.
18:03World without end. Amen.
18:07>> [music]

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