Sunday, April 27, 2014 pm
Studies IN Ephesians
BLESSINGS IN CHRIST – 3
Ephesians 1:7-10
a.
Redemption
– to release or set free (LN 37.128), as in freedom from slavery or
captivity, etc. It is the
paying of the ransom price demanded to achieve that freedom.
b.
Redemption has always
been a principle that was important to God – He wanted Israel to
understand the importance of redemption.
i.
When Israel was in
bondage in Egypt, Moses was sent to deliver them.
After his first encounter with Pharaoh, which didn’t seem to go
so well, Moses asks the Lord why He had brought trouble to the people of
Israel. He answered, “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am
the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,
I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people,
and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God
who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Exodus
6:6–7)
“but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath
which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a
mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand
of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:8)
ii.
In the land, the
firstborn were to be redeemed – Ex. 13:15 – as a reminder of the
firstborn being spared from the angel of death in Egypt.
(Num. 3:48-49, 18:15-17) Of animals see Ex. 34:20
iii.
Exodus 21:30 – under
certain circumstances a life could be redeemed with money (such as an
animal that killed someone else).
iv.
Slaves, servants and
property could be redeemed and various rules were implemented – Exodus
21:8, Leviticus 25:23-34 & chapter 27.
v.
Numerous psalms also
dealt with redemption – including the nation of Israel being redeemed
and His people – Psa. 107:2, 119:134, 130:8, 26:11,
“But as for
me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me.”
Psa. 34:22, “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of
those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”
c.
We are slaves to sin – this is a frequent description of what sin does to us -
John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
Speaking of how
the servant of the Lord correcting
those in opposition (error) Paul says the goal is,
“and that they may come to their
senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to
do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:26, NKJV)
Romans 7:14 says, “For
we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
Romans 6:16, “Do you
not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of
obedience leading to righteousness?” Throughout this chapter, Paul
makes reference to being slaves of sin (Rom. 6:6, 17, 20, etc.)
d.
To be free from this
bondage, Jesus paid the price through His blood (He redeemed us)
–
Matt. 20:28 “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5-6),
Romans 3:23-25, “for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed
over the sins that were previously committed,”
1 Pet. 1:18-19,
“knowing that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from
your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot.” (Rev. 5:9)
Col. 1:13-14,
“He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom
of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins.”
Hebrews 9:11-15 describes how
Jesus entered heaven (the heavenly sanctuary) with His own blood “having
obtained eternal redemption.”
Note: We sometimes describe God’s entire plan as “the scheme of
redemption”.
e.
How are we redeemed by His blood? Through obeying the gospel!
Romans 6:6 tells us that in baptism, “… our old man was crucified
with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves of sin.”
Romans 6:16-18, “Do
you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of
obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you
were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness.”
a.
The result of His
redeeming blood – forgiveness of our sins (trespasses)
b.
The word “forgiveness”
(ἄφεσις, aphesis) is from a word with the basic meaning of “to send off”
such as hurling an object like a missile. (TDNT)
The word means to liberate (consider this in light of redemption), to
pardon or to cancel a debt owed (BDAG) To
release from bondage or imprisonment. (Vine’s)
OF its use in our text it means the removal of (launching away) guilt
resulting from wrongdoing (LN 40.8).
This is the same word for “remission”
in Acts 2:38.
c.
The word
sins here is (παράπτωμα,
paraptoma) and is often translated trespasses or offenses (Matt. 6:14,
15; Rom. 4:25, 5:15-20). It
describes one who steps over a boundary or leaves the safe path – in
this case God’s boundary and thus he is guilty of sin.
Ephesians 2:1 says, ““And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins,”
d.
In Jesus, as we are
redeemed our trespasses of His laws are hurled away.
This makes approaching God possible.
We are told that it is the godly who can approach Him – (Psa. 24:3-5,
Psa. 15, Matt. 5:8, etc.)
The ungodly will not stand in His presence - Habakkuk 1:13 says, “You
are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness...”
Psalm 5:4 says, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in
wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.”
AGAIN, it is the blood of Jesus that takes care of our sins so that we
can approach Him.
e.
According to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us
(7-8) –
We have discussed the grace of God and will do so in more detail when we
get to chapter 2. The idea
of the grace of God is that He bestows undeserved favor upon us – namely
He is WILLING to save us. We
CANNOT earn our salvation, nor can we be righteous enough to not need
His mercy, love and grace.
God’s grace is His part in our salvation. If it were not for His grace,
there would be no hope.
Ephesians 2: 1 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins,”
He sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-9, 1 John 4:9-10).
He accepted that sacrifice!
He revealed His will to us.
He blesses us “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ.” (Eph. 1:3)
Vs. 8 tells us He made this grace “abound toward us” meaning it was not
given sparingly, but with great abundance.
f.
In all wisdom and prudence
-
The word “wisdom” (σοφία, sophia) is full understanding of knowledge and
the ability to apply it to the best advantage.
“Prudence” (φρόνησις, phronesis) means to act with insight and
understanding.
In this verse, I believe these qualities apply to God.
He is a God of wisdom (Luke 11:49, 1 Corinthians 1:21-24, 2:7,
and Ephesians 3:10, “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of
God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers
in the heavenly places,”)
And He most certainly has demonstrated His prudence in bringing forth
His will for our benefit.
a.
Having made known to us
- In vs. 9 we find that God revealed His wisdom and prudence to us so
that we can properly respond to him.
We are not left to guess what God wants us to do.
He has given us “all things that pertain to life and godliness (2
Pet. 1:3);
Romans 1:17 tells us that within the gospel “the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith.”
We can obey the gospel because He tells us HOW to obey the gospel!
b.
The mystery of His will
– more on this mystery in chapter 3 (i.e. salvation is for all).
But the point here is God tells us what we need to know.
And He did in His time!
Cf. 1 Cor. 2:6-13)
c.
According to His good pleasure
– we often emphasize the wisdom of God as a product of
His grace – He does His part.
Here we are reminded again (see vs. 5) that this is something God
has joyfully chosen to do.
d.
Which He purposed in
Himself –
it was ALL in God’s plan.
Our redemption is NO accident!
From time of man’s sin in the garden, and even before the
foundation of the world (Eph. 3:10-11), God knew what was needed and He
carried it out.
e.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times
– this expression is a lesson within itself and points to God’s control
of this world. Jesus came at
the right time and God’s will was accomplished just as He planned it.
“He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but
was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God,
who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and
hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:20–21)
Galatians 4:3-5, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage
under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had
come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to
redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
as sons.”
Friends, do you a want a reason to accept the God of the Bible over the
so-called gods of other faiths?
There it is! His planning and the execution of His plan is
irrefutable.
f.
That He might gather together in one all things in Christ
i.
IN this expression we
find Paul’s first mention of a theme that will be visited throughout
this book – UNITY of the saints – both Jews and Gentiles!
When Paul explains the “mystery” in chapter 3 He will emphasize God’s
plan for the Gentiles.
In chapter 4 he calls for unity (4:1-6).
We will visit this in time.
ii.
Both which are in heaven
and which are on earth – whether this means that in Christ, all of His
beings (including the heavenly) will be brought together through Christ
(when we consider that angels are our ministering spirits and thus
created for our purposes) OR He is speaking of His will (the mystery)
which was finally revealed (cf. 1 Pet. 1:12 – seems to indicate even the
angels did not fully understand His will) – we know God’s will is
accomplished.
iii.
In Him – friends it is
in Christ Jesus!
Truly, what blessings we enjoy in Christ Jesus because of the love of
God. May we consider these
things and serve Him with greater appreciation for what He has done and
with greater purpose in our lives.
More on His blessings in our next study.