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The Mystery in Ephesians
Part 4
The first verse in the Bible calls our attention to two spheres - the
heaven and the earth. Another sphere is made known in the Ephesian Epistle and that is the
place to which Christ ascended, "far above all heavens'' (Eph. 4:10). He has not
ascended to a place among the heavenly beings but rather to a place designated as being
"far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion'' (Eph. 1:21).
The Apostle Paul makes known that
the Church of the Mystery is viewed as having been ''raised up together, and made to sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Eph. 2:6). The Church is to be
received up into this realm. Then and there will faith give way to sight and "all
spiritual blessings'' will be enjoyed as the inheritance that The Father willed this
company of redeemed.
Spiritual blessings are for
heavenly places. There is only one company of believers that is destined to enjoy both.
Ephesians l :4 tells us who they are. It is those who were chosen in Christ before the
world began.
"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
. . . '' (Eph. 1:4)
GOD HATH CHOSEN
One of the Bible facts that is
over-stressed by certain segments of Christianity is the fact that God is selective. This
same fact while over emphasized by some is ignored by others. In fact, many remain so
silent on the subject it is as if the Bible, Itself, said nothing about it. However, the
Word of God is not silent on the subject.
God does make choices. He chooses, He is selective, He chooses one over
another. He chooses people, places and things. For Him to choose necessitates the fact
that He makes a choice. To choose one item and not choose another demonstrates God's
selectivity. In order to choose one He must of necessity pass over the other.
The definition of the word choose
is (1) To pick out; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more things
offered; to make a choice of. "The man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy.''
Nu. 16:7 (2) To take in preference, "Let us choose to us judgment:'' Job 34:4,
(Webster's Dictionary, the 1828 Edition).
Notice some of the clear choices God has made.
He chose a people.
"For thou (i.e. Israel) art an holy
people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people
that are upon the face of the earth. (Deut. 7:6)
''The Lord did not set His love upon you..
nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
'' (Deut. 7:7)
He chooses men.
"Thou art the Lord the God who didst choose Abram
. . '' (Neh. 9: 7)
But thou, Israel, art my
servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. '' (Isa. 41:8)
God also chose places.
"Then there
shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his
name to dwell there;" (Deut. 12:11) (cf. 5.14, 18, 26)
He chooses the place
for sacrifice.
"Thou shalt therefore
sacrifice the pass-over unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place
which the Lord shall choose to place His name to dwell there. '' (Dent. 16..2)
(cf. 5, 14, 18, 26)
He chooses cities.
"...and he (Rehoboam) reined 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord did choose out
of all the tribes of Israel, . . . '' (1 Kings 14:21)
"Since the day that I brought
forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all
the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be
there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel.. But
I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my
people Israel. '' (2 Chrn. 6:5-6)
He chose tribes.
"Moreover He refused the tabernacle
of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim.. But chose the tribe of Judah, '' (Ps 78:67-68)
The Lord passed over all thy tribes of Israel but the Levites. He chose the tribe of Levi ''to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.
'' (Dent. 18:5)
He chooses nations.
"And say unto them, "Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of
the house of Jacob,..." (Ezk. 20:5)
He chooses disciples, and out
of those he makes a further selection, passing over some and choosing others.
"And when it wet day, He called unto Him his disciples.. and of them he
chose twelve, whom
He named apostles;'' (Lk. 6:13)
"Jesus answered them, "Have not I
chosen you
twelve, and one of you is a devil?'.'' (Jn. 6:70)
Of all those in Israel the Lord could have
selected, He chose Saul of Tarsus.
''But the Lord said unto him, 'Go thy way.. for
he (i.e. Saul who became Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.. ' '' (Acts 9: 15)
There are many more references to choices which God has made. Just
a sample was given to point out that He does have preferences. We do not know what the
reasons are for His choices but we know He does make them.
For He "hath chosen us (i.e. the Church of the One Body) in Him.'' The only
reason given for His choice is that it was:
"according to the good
pleasure of His will'' (Eph. 1 :5)
In Plainer Words it could be said that His reason was - "just because.''
Some Bible expositors say that the selection
(i.e., "hath chosen us'') is
corporate and not individual. That is, the Church of the One Body was ''chosen in Him
before the foundation of the
world,'' not the individual members. Others explain, however, that individual members make
up the One Body, therefore, it must refer to individual selection as well as corporate
selection.
Whatever view is held, both would agree that God the Father did make a choice. If we take note of
Paul's first prayer in Ephesians, where he petitions ''the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of Glory'' (1:17), we see that the prayer is for The Father to give:
1. The spirit of wisdom and revelation (v.
17)
2. Knowledge of Him (v. 17)
3. Enlightened understanding (v. 18)
in order that believers may know:
1. What is the hope of His calling (v. 18)
2. What is the riches of His inheritance
(v. 18)
3. What is the greatness of His power (v. 19).
A careful study of this prayer yields much
to the believer. The central thought behind it is the Apostle's concern that the Lord
"may give'' enlightenment to the truth of this calling. This certainly indicates that without the divine
enlightenment there is no knowledge of Him in relationship to the Mystery. Not all
have enlightened eyes. Those that do have the eyes of their understanding enlightened must
be the ones that were "chosen in Him''.
Those having once been enlightened to the truth who become
entangled in error find there is no release except "if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil," (2 Tim. 2:25-26). Thus release from the devil's snare
is granted by the Lord. A man does not disentangle himself, the disentanglement is -
"if God peradventure (i.e. by chance or perhaps)" will give them release.
If becoming disentangled from error is granted by the Lord and if
enlightenment to truth is given by the Lord, it would seem that He makes individual
choices and selections regarding truth. If God selects or picks out certain individuals to
give them spiritual eyes to "see", then He too passes over others, indicating
some are not the object of His "enlightenment." Those who are, ought to bless
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because He hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places ''according as He hath chosen us in
Him''.
If a conclusion must be drawn from the Father's choice,
it would be that His choice was "us'' both corporately and individually. That is to
say, He chose the Church of the One Body and its members to be the object of His ''eternal
purpose'' (Eph. 3:11).
Truth does come to us two ways.
There are two sides of the coin regarding God's choosing; one side is His choice, the
other side is our response. Those He chooses turns out to be those "who believe''
Eph.1:19).
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