The mystery hidden from the beginning
In his letter
to the Ephesians, Paul used the Greek word mysterion
six times (Eph 1:9, 3:3,4,9, 5:32, 6:19) to indicate a message that had been
hidden but then later made known: “Having
made known unto us the mystery”
(Eph 1:9);
“the mystery of Christ) Which in
other ages was not made known” (Eph 3:4-5); “the mystery, which from the beginning
of the world hath been hid in God” (Eph 3:9); “that I may
open my mouth boldly, to make known the
mystery of the gospel” (Eph
6:19).
It was the message of the
gospel of Jesus Christ that God hid within the historical narrative of the
Scriptures, “the mystery of Christ” (Eph 3:4), “the mystery of the gospel” (Eph 6:19). This
mystery extends back to the very beginning of history within the creation narrative,
“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery [mysterion 3466], which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ”
(Eph 3:9),
“For this cause shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one
flesh. This is a great mystery [mysterion 3466]: but I speak
concerning Christ and the church.” (Eph
5:31-32).
Paul’s purpose for writing this letter was so that the
Christians at Ephesus and all Christians later following could come to
understand this hidden message: “The eyes of your understanding [dianoia
1271] being enlightened” (Eph
1:18),
“Whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand [noeo 3539] my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ” (Eph 3:4), “Having the understanding [dianoia 1271] darkened” (Eph
4:18).
Since the first of the two great commandments Jesus gave is “Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind [dianoia
1271]” (Mat 22:37), then it’s imperative that we understand this hidden message
to fully obey this commandment. We cannot be loving God with all of our mind
and understanding if we are neglecting to understand this mystery.
After his
wife had been created by being taken out of himself, Adam spoke this statement,
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and
his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
(Gen 2:23-24). Paul quoted Adam’s words concerning his relationship with his wife
and revealed that it contained a hidden message concerning Christ and the
church, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be
joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Eph 5:31-32).
In his other
letters, Paul equated Adam as being a type or figure of Christ, “Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come”
(Rom 5:14), “For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. ... And so it is written, The
first man Adam was made a living soul; the
last Adam was made a quickening
spirit.” (1Co 15:22, 45). That he was “the figure of him that was to come”
indicates that the coming of Christ into this world to save us from our sins and
get the victory over death had been foretold but hidden in a mystery within the
creation narrative of Adam and his wife. When Adam concluded “Therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother,” Paul emphasized the cause or the reason, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother.” In
other words, the reason a man leaves his home and is joined to his wife is so
that his wife will share in his flesh and bones, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen 2:23).
Likewise, the reason Christ left his home in heaven and came to us was so that
we would share in the resurrection of His flesh and bones, “Behold my hands and
my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have”
(Luk 24:39), “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph 5:30).
Establishing and
acknowledging that the gospel message of Christ hidden in the beginning
narratives of Scripture was Paul’s purpose for writing this letter, is essential
to properly understanding what he wrote. Many short statements, particularly in
the first chapter alone, make the most sense when understood within his intended
contextual framework: “in heavenly places”
(Eph 1:3), “chosen us” (Eph 1:4), “before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4),
“predestinated us” (Eph 1:5), “the spirit of wisdom” (Eph 1:17), “the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened” (Eph 1:18), “the hope of his calling” (Eph
1:18), “every name that is named” (Eph 1:21), “put all things under his feet” (Eph
1:22), “the fullness of him” (Eph 1:23).
Calvinists,
on the other hand, don’t employ this proper context that the author himself prescribed
but rather force an alien meaning into such statements as “chosen us” and
“predestinated us” based upon their own theological and soteriological system.
They persuade people to understand these statements within the packaging of an
artificial, man-made context. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, they’re
employing this very letter meant to help us understand the Scriptures, to contrarily
add even more confusion and misunderstanding! Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ
sent to teach us the truth so that we would mature in our understanding, “And
he gave some, apostles … That we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight
of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph 4:11, 14). He wrote this to mature us out of
deception, not so that we would be further deceived.
In heavenly
“Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly [epouranios 2032] places in Christ” (Eph 1:3). Here at the
beginning of Ephesians, as well as four other places (Eph 1:20, 2:6, 3:10,
6:12), Paul used the Greek adjective epouranios
for heavenly but did not supply a
noun for it to modify. The translators, evidently considering that he was
talking about heaven as a place, inserted places
to supply the missing noun. But Paul left us with no doubt as to what he was
talking about when he stated toward the end of his letter, “For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high [epouranios 2032] places” (Eph
6:12).
He was alluding to the mystery contained within the creation of the heavenly
bodies:
And
God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be
for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night: he
made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to
give light upon the earth, And to rule
over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness:
and God saw that it was good. (Genesis
1:14-18)
Hidden within the creation of the heavenly bodies was the
message about the Lordship of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father,
“the greater light to rule the day,” “set him
at his own right hand in the heavenly [epouranios 2032] places”
(Eph 1:20),
and the rule of principalities and powers, “the lesser light to rule the night,”
“the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high
[epouranios 2032] places” (Eph 6:12).
On the first day of creation, before man had even been made,
God showed that there would be two distinct classifications of people, “And God
said, Let there be light: and there
was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good: and God divided the light
from the darkness. And God called
the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night.” (Gen 1:3-5). Then on the fourth day He showed that these two
groups of people would be under the rule of a master, “And God made two great
lights; the greater light to rule the
day, and the lesser light to rule
the night” (Gen 1:16).
Since it was
Jesus Christ who created all things, “All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made” (Jhn 1:3), therefore it was He who spoke “Let there be light” in the
beginning. But John goes on to indicate that Him speaking light into darkness
in the beginning was figurative and prophetic of His ministry on earth, “And the light shineth in darkness; and
the darkness comprehended it not” (Jhn 1:5). In other words, the creation
contains this hidden message in a mystery that the world would be in spiritual
darkness but the Word would become flesh and preach the light of the gospel as
if once again speaking “Let there be light.”
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;
and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians
4:3-6)
Paul revealed
this same truth to the Corinthians that God speaking light into darkness in the
beginning is indeed figurative and prophetic of the gospel of Jesus Christ as
if light was shining into darkened hearts. Therefore, when He “called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night”
then set rulers over them “the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night,” the message is the Lordship of Jesus Christ over
the day and the “god of this world”
over the night.
Recognizing
the truth of this mystery is crucial for the proper context in which Paul’s
letter to the Ephesians can be understood. Of the five places the phrase “in heavenly
[epouranios 2032]” appears, the
first three speak of the Greater Light at the right hand of the Father: “all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ” (Eph 1:3),
“set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places” (Eph 1:20), “made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). The other
two times are about the lesser light ruling over the darkness: “the
principalities and powers in heavenly places”
(Eph 3:10),
“against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12).
That Christ is the Greater Light means that He is stronger and
more powerful than all principality and power, “set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly [epouranios 2032] places, Far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion” (Eph
1:20-21).
Therefore, when Paul began his letter with “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly [epouranios 2032] places
in Christ” (Eph 1:3),
he was beginning to lay the groundwork for later teaching the whole armor of
God:
Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high [epouranios 2032] places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)
We are no
match for the devil and evil spirits. Unless we are serving Jesus Christ as our
Lord, we are under the power of evil spirits and we are serving sin. The only
way to be free from the power of sin is by obeying from our hearts the doctrine
of Jesus Christ, “But God be thanked, that ye
were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became
the servants of righteousness.” (Rom 6:17-18). When we become servants or
slaves of Jesus Christ, we belong to Him and are protected by Him in His
strength over the enemy. We have His strength and authority in our lives as
though we are seated together with Him at the right hand of the Father, “And
hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly [epouranios 2032]
places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). This is what is meant by
the armor of God.
The whole armor of
God
The armor of
God taught at the end of Ephesians is essentially a summary of what Paul had
been teaching throughout his letter beginning with “Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
[epouranios 2032] places in Christ” (Eph 1:3). Of course
armor is simply a concrete example being used metaphorically to help us
understand how things are spiritually. By serving Jesus Christ as Lord and
trusting Him, He defends us from the devil as if we are a soldier wearing His
armor.
One of the
main tactics of the devil is deceiving us to thinking that people are the
problem, “that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood”
(Eph 6:11-12). He gets us fighting, envying, blaming, and complaining about
each other. But the real problem is that people are serving “the rulers of the
darkness of this world” because they live under their deceptions. If someone
can deceive someone else into doing what they don’t want to do, or into not
doing what they want to do, then they have power over them. Paul spoke of his
life before Christ as a slave to sin, “I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would,
that do I not; but what I hate, that do I” (Rom 7:14-15). The devil’s
power over people is deception and the
only solution is for them to learn the truth and turn from sin to serve Jesus
Christ as Lord.
The first
piece of armor is “having your loins girt about with truth” (Eph 6:14). Notice
that he didn’t say “having your loins girt about with assumptions.” It’s truth that protects us from the enemy, not what
we assume to be the truth but really is not. If our loins are girt about with false
assumptions then we have a chink in the armor—we are vulnerable to the enemy
even though we think we are safe. Paul had already taught earlier, “But ye have
not so learned Christ; If so be that
ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus”
(Eph 4:20-21). The belt of truth is living according to the truth that Christ
taught particularly in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7.
The next
piece of armor is “and having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph 6:14).
Again, Paul had taught earlier that this righteousness consists of putting off
the old man and putting on the new: “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And
be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:22-24). The breastplate of
protection is living righteously in conformity to the image of God in which we
were created.
We must be “renewed
in the spirit of your mind.” Our vain and darkened minds “in the vanity of
their mind, Having the understanding darkened” (Eph 4:17-18), need to be
enlightened with the truth that Jesus taught “have been taught by him, as the
truth is in Jesus” (Eph 4:21). Therefore, we are to turn away from the old
person we used to be and begin living righteously as a new person conformed to
the image of Christ as we were originally created. We are to put off the fig
leaves of our own righteousness “and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed
fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Gen 3:7), and put on the skins
of the Lamb that God sacrificed for us, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
LORD God make coats of skins, and
clothed them” (Gen 3:21).
“And your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15). Our feet are
what take us from one place to another. Since people are serving sin and being
ruled by evil spirits, we must bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Preaching
“the gospel of peace” means that they hear the message of reconciliation with
God through Jesus Christ, “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby: And came and preached
peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through
him we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father.” (Eph 2:16-18). People are serving sin rather than the Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, they need to hear about Him.
“Above all,
taking the shield of faith [pistis 4102], wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph 6:16). The Greek pistis does not mean faith but faithfulness—it’s not a shield of belief but a shield of
faithfulness and loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are faithfully serving
Him then we can trust Him to defend us against the fiery darts of people’s
tongues, “And the tongue is a fire, a
world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members” (Jam 3:6). Ultimately our
struggle is not against the fiery arrows launched from flesh and blood:
slander, gossip, false accusations, complaining, whispering, mocking, arguing,
and belittling.
Christ is our
example of faithfulness and trust, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not
again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that
judgeth righteously” (1Pe 2:23). He didn’t try to defend Himself of false
accusations but committed His case to the Father to justify and vindicate Him:
I gave my back to the
smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded:
therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be
ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us
stand together: who is mine
adversary? let him come near to me. Behold,
the Lord GOD will help me; who is
he that shall condemn me? lo, they
all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. (Isaiah 50:6-9)
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and
that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper; and every
tongue that shall rise against thee
in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is
the heritage of the servants of the
LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. (Isaiah
54:16-17)
We shouldn’t
fear the blacksmith that creates weapons to be used against us or the waster
that wields the weapons against us, but we should fear God who created both the
blacksmith and the waster! Taking the shield of faithfulness means that we
serve the Lord and allow Him to defend us against the tongues that rise against
us. We seek His righteousness and vindication.
“And take the
helmet of salvation” (Eph 6:17). The helmet is our hope of salvation, “for an
helmet, the hope of salvation” (1Th
5:8). This salvation is deliverance from death in resurrection from the grave
at Christ’s return, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” (1Th 4:13).
We have been saved from our sins and have forgiveness and reconciliation with
God right now, but we have not yet been saved from death. We are still hoping
for that salvation.
God
pronounced the curse upon the creation including death “till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen
3:19). He did this in hope of saving us from death, “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope … For we are saved by hope: but hope that
is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we
hope for that we see not, then do we
with patience wait for it.” (Rom
8:20, 24-25).
The final
piece of armor is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [rhema 4487] of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Eph 6:17-18). It has been rightly observed that
this is the one piece of armor we can use offensively against our enemy. But this
sword has two edges—the word of God and prayer.
The Greek
here for word is rhema which is a spoken word out of the mouth. Christ Himself demonstrated
this weapon against the enemy during His temptation, “But he answered and said,
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word [rhema
4487] that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4). When we are being
tempted, we must speak God’s words and not our own because His words carry
authority. When tempting thoughts come to our minds or when we are placed into
tempting situations it’s not enough to just try to avoid the thoughts and
temptations. We must understand God’s message through the Scriptures so that we
can speak in His authority against the temptations.
The other
edge of this sword is praying always for our fellow brothers and sisters as Paul
had already demonstrated in the two prayers he voiced for them earlier in this
letter (Eph 1:16-23, 3:14-21). We all need prayer because we are all under
attack from evil spirits every day. Once again, we are deceived if we think that
people are the real problem, “the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood.” When people mistreat us, they need our prayers. “Be not
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21).
These pieces
that comprise the whole armor of God are the spiritual blessings “in heavenly” that
we have been blessed with, “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph
1:3).
Because Christ was set at the right hand of God, “set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly places” (Eph 1:20), when we
wear this armor we have the victory over the enemy as though we are seated with
Christ, “made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6).
His armor enables us to stand “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places” (Eph 6:12).
When writing
to the Romans, Paul called this armor the armor of light, “put on the armour of
light ... But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:12, 14). This armor of
light is more specifically the armor of the Greater Light, “the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night”
(Gen 1:16). John saw “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet” (Rev 12:1). She is the church clothed with
Christ and seated with Him, “set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places ... And hath put all things
under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:20, 22).
In Christ Jesus
The phrase
“in Christ Jesus,” in its various forms such as “in Christ,” “in him,” and “in
whom” appears about a dozen times in the first two chapters of Ephesians: “to
the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:1),
“in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3), “made us accepted
in the beloved” (Eph 1:6), “gather
together in one all things in Christ
… even in him” (Eph 1:10), “In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance” (Eph 1:11), “In whom ye also trusted”
(Eph 1:13), “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6), “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph 2:10), “But now in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:13), “for to
make in himself of twain one new
man” (Eph 2:15), “In whom all the
building fitly framed together” (Eph 2:21), “In whom ye also are builded together” (Eph 2:22).
Within the
context of these “in Christ” statements the church is said to be His body, “gave
him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his
body” (Eph 1:22-23). And Paul will later equate the church with what Adam said
after his wife had been taken out of him, “For
we are members of his body … For this cause shall a man leave his father
and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh
… Christ and the church” (Eph 5:30-32).
The church, therefore, is “in Christ” as it was with Adam’s wife:
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the
flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And
Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis
2:21-24)
The woman was
“in Adam” so to speak and created by being taken out of him. She was created
“in him” and so it is with the church and Christ, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). No
doubt this is what Paul had in mind with “created in Christ Jesus” because he
later quoted from the very passage of the woman being created in Adam, “For
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh” (Eph 5:31).
The “good
works” are the husband and wife roles that God had before ordained from the
very beginning, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and
thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children; and thy desire shall
be to thy husband, and he shall rule
over thee ... In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen 3:16-19). Paul will go on to emphasize these
roles later in his letter, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let
him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Eph 4:28), “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord”
(Eph 5:22).
He will write
the same in his first letter to Timothy, “For
Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman
being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue
in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1Ti 2:13-15), “But if any provide not for his own, and specially
for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1Ti 5:8). This “saved in
childbearing” statement is not that she will be saved from a bad stigma as many
teach. Rather, he was saying that men and women cannot rebel against these God-ordained
roles and still be saved. It certainly doesn’t mean that a woman must give
birth to a child to be saved but simply that we must embrace and walk in the
roles of these “good works” without affirming or living contrary lifestyles.
All things under His
feet
And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said
unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:
and have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28)
David coined
the expression “under his feet” when writing about this dominion God created
man to have, “Thou madest him to have
dominion over the works of thy hands; thou
hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and
the fish of the sea, and whatsoever
passeth through the paths of the seas.” (Psa 8:6-8). This same expression used
of Adam’s dominion over the animals is quoted three times in the New Testament concerning
the dominion of Jesus Christ:
For he must reign, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet.
But when he saith all things are put under him,
it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. (1 Corinthians
15:25-27)
Far above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things
to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in
all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)
Thou madest him a little lower than
the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over
the works of thy hands: Thou hast put
all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in
subjection under him, he left nothing that
is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. (Hebrews
2:7-8)
Adam naming
all of the animals was not so that we would marvel about what a great memory he
must have had! It foretells of Christ’s dominion at the right hand of God over
“every name that is named … And hath put all things under his feet” (Eph 1:21-22). That Adam named all of the
animals would mean, of course, that he also named the serpent. Thus Christ has
dominion over the devil and “all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named.” But this dominion given to the man would
be not just for him but also for his wife, “let them have dominion … male and
female created he them.”
And the LORD God said, It is
not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every
fowl of the air; and brought them
unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (Genesis 2:18-19)
Before giving
Adam this dominion over every name that he would name, God had already stated
His intent of creating a helper for him, “It is not good that the man should
be alone; I will make him an help meet
for him.” This helper would later be taken out of him which can only mean
that she was already “in him” when he was given this dominion. This is how Paul
wanted us to understand our position “in Christ” seated at God’s right hand in
heavenly, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him
at his own right hand in the heavenly places”
(Eph 1:20), “And hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6).
Everything
God made by the end of the sixth day was very good, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). But earlier on the sixth day He
stated that it would not be good for the man to be alone in his dominion, “It is not good that the man should be
alone.” The church is Christ’s wife which is His body, “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all
in all” (Eph 1:22-23). She complements Him as a helper. Therefore, she is “the
fullness of him” in the sense that being alone in His dominion without her would
not be good.
God’s chosen people
After the Exodus of His people from Egypt, God began raining
bread down from heaven and introduced to them the Sabbath day of rest: “To
morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD … Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. ... See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath,
therefore he giveth you on the sixth day
the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of
his place on the seventh day” (Exo
16:23, 26, 29). God would later give them the priestly service of rotating the showbread
also patterned after the Sabbath day:
And
thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals
shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon
the pure table before the LORD. And
thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each
row, that it may be on the bread for a
memorial, even an offering made
by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he
shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’;
and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by
a perpetual statute. (Leviticus 24:5-9)
God also told His people when giving the Ten Commandments
that this Sabbath day of rest following six days of work was based upon the
creation week:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou,
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Now, how are we to understand this? Isn’t it obvious that God
had already purposed this from the very beginning? Are we to think that He
created everything in six days and rested the seventh with no particular reason
in mind then later came up with the idea of using this as a pattern for His
people to follow? Actually, this six-day work week with a seventh day of rest model
was intended for His people from the very first day of creation. Therefore,
within the very creation, God showed that He intended to later choose a people unto
Himself.
What about all the times Jesus healed people on the Sabbath
day? Couldn’t the man with the withered hand wait just one more day? Jesus did
this seemingly with the very intent of infuriating the corrupt religious
leaders. He told them, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
sabbath” (Mar 2:27). God made the Sabbath for man, not for Himself—He can do
anything He wants on any day! Therefore, it was as if these men were saying,
“No God! You shouldn’t heal people on the Sabbath!” In fact, the ruler of the
synagogue said exactly that, “There are six days in which men ought to work: in
them therefore come and be healed, and not
on the sabbath day.” (Luk 13:14). That Jesus was doing the works that only
God can do on the day that only God can work proved the He is from God.
Are we to consider that it was Jesus’ own idea to heal people
on the Sabbath? Rather, we should conclude that the very creation week event defined
what would transpire about 4,000 later in the Son of God’s ministry on the
earth. God created the Sabbath with the very intent of the conflicts that would
be caused by His Son’s healing ministry. The Sabbath was purposed from the
beginning to be one of the very catalysts in the Son of God being put to death
to save us from our sins.
Since “The sabbath was made for man” (Mar 2:27), yet God
Himself “rested on the seventh day from all his work” (Gen 2:2), then the
message from the beginning was that God would become a Man, do the works of God
as a Man, then forever rest from all of His work. The writer of Hebrews
concluded this as well, “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works ... There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people
of God. For he that is
entered into his rest, he
also hath ceased from his own
works, as God did from his.” (Heb
4:4, 9-10). Therefore, the chosen people of God were indeed intended from the
very beginning of creation by God’s purpose of sending His Son to them, “I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat 15:24), “Now I
say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God”
(Rom 15:8).
What about the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost? “And ye shall
count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought
the sheaf of the wave offering; seven
sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall
offer a new meat offering unto the LORD” (Lev 23:15-16). This Feast was based
upon the Sabbath week which was based upon the creation week. Therefore, the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the gift of tongues on the Day of Pentecost
was purposed from the very creation. This event with God’s chosen people—the 120
Jews in the upper room along with an additional 3,000 that came to Christ that
day—was purposed from the beginning.
Not only this, the first and fourth days of creation anticipated
that humanity would be grouped under two different rulers, “God divided the
light from the darkness. And God called
the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night.” (Gen 1:3-5), “And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night” (Gen
1:16). “Ye are all the children of
light, and the children of the day:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1Th 5:5). The “children
of light” are God’s own people divided or separated from the rest of the world.
Finally, what about clean and unclean animals? “The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” (2Pe 2:22). Didn’t God
create dogs to practice this deplorable behavior instinctively, and pigs with
an inherent satisfaction for being unclean? Did He create them this way for no
particular reason then realize later that it could be used for a spiritual
application? Animals were created before humans and the unclean animals are
figurative of Gentiles. Therefore, God’s chosen people and all other people are
seen in a mystery within the creation of the animals.
All of this substantiates Paul’s proposition at the start of
his letter, “According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation [katabole
2602] of the world” (Eph
1:4).
The Greek katabole here doesn’t carry
the meaning of founding or creating but instead of “casting down” what
was already created. In fact, the writer of Hebrews used this same statement in
reference to the sentence of death pronounced upon man in the curse, “For then
must he often have suffered since the
foundation [katabole 2602] of the
world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it
is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb
9:26-27). Thus the katabole of the
world is about the cursing of the ground in which it was appointed for man to
return, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen
3:19).
This word katabole
also speaks of the serpent being cursed and cast down upon his belly, “And the
LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life” (Gen 3:14). John used its verb form kataballo
when writing about the serpent:
And
the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he
was cast out into the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now
is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of
his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down [kataballo 2598],
which accused them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:9-10)
God proorizo or predetermined
before the curse that He would choose a people to Himself that would be His
children, “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 [proorizo 4309] us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will” (Eph 1:5).
“Ye are
the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make
any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people
unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath
chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations
that are upon the earth.” (Deu
14:1-2).
Before cursing the creation, “For the creature was made
subject to vanity” (Rom 8:20), He already foreknew and determined His people, “For
whom he did foreknow [proginosko 4267], he also did predestinate [proorizo 4309] to be
conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29), “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew [proginosko 4267]” (Rom 11:2). These people would be His adopted
sons and daughters conformed to the image of His only begotten Son.
The church
Paul taught that the operation of a local church gathering can
be understood somewhat like the functioning of the human body in that both are composed
of many unique members with different duties yet all work together in unity
toward the same end, “From whom the
whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (4:16), “For as we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office: So
we, being many, are one body in
Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom 12:4-5), “For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is
Christ” (1Co 12:12). But Paul didn’t just come up with this analogy himself—it’s
an aspect of the mystery revealed to him that God had purposed in the creation
of the human body.
Since Christ created all things, “All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (Jhn 1:3), and He
created both male and female after His image, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness … So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them” (Gen 1:26-27), then He purposed from the
beginning that the husband and wife relationship would be analogous of Himself
and the church.
The woman is figurative of a local church. Her body is
composed of many unique members that function corporately for the health of the
whole but ultimately for the sake of her husband for whom she was created, “Neither
was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (1Co 11:9). This
mystery within the creation of the man and woman is the gospel message of
Christ and His body the church. Therefore, the local church with Christ as its
head was God’s plan from the very beginning.
God’s chosen people were shown within the mystery of the
woman created out of the man, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). They are
members of the woman’s body as it is with individual members of a human body.
Ultimately they are Christ’s body as a woman is one flesh with her husband. Paul
used the same Greek phrase hagios kai
amomos for both God’s chosen people and for the church indicating that they
are synonymous groups of people, “chosen
us in him … that we should be holy [hagios 40] and without [kai 2532] blame [amomos 299]” (Eph
1:4),
“a glorious church … that it should
be holy [hagios 40] and without [kai
2532] blemish [amomos 299]” (Eph 5:27).
The New Covenant was made with Christ’s Jewish disciples, “And
as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and
gave it to the disciples, and said,
Take, eat; this is my body. And he
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For
this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the
remission of sins” (Mat 26:26-28). Although the church began with God’s chosen
people only, “who first trusted in
Christ” (Eph 1:12),
Samaritans and Gentiles were later included and allowed to partake of the same
spiritual blessings within the same local gatherings, “In whom ye also trusted”
(Eph 1:13).
Ye
worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (John 4:22)
And
if some of the branches be broken off, and thou,
being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them
partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the
branches. But if thou boast, thou
bearest not the root, but the root thee. (Romans 11:17-18)
And
again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles,
with his people. (Romans 15:10)
It
hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of
their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal
things. (Romans 15:27)
That
at that time ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
For
finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah. (Hebrews 8:8)
The hope of His calling
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him: The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling [klesis 2821], and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:17-18).
And
when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did eat. And the eyes of
them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice
of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the
garden. And the LORD God called unto
Adam, and said unto him, Where art
thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:6-10)
This “spirit of wisdom” of which Paul spoke is what the
woman was deceived into thinking she would get by disobeying the commandment of
God. But the true wisdom that was prophesied here in the fall of mankind is the
teaching of Jesus Christ, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man, which built his house upon a rock ... And every one that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish
man, which built his house upon the sand” (Mat 7:24, 26). “But ye have not
so learned Christ; If so be that ye
have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus”
(Eph 4:20-21).
Our spiritually blind eyes become enlightened by hearing and obeying the truth
taught by Jesus Christ. The hope of His calling, our only hope of salvation
from death, is to live as a wise person in obedience to Jesus Christ.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
[klesis 2821] wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and
meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling [klesis
2821]; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in
you all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
The Greek klesis rendered as vocation here is the same word used in the statements “the hope of
his calling [klesis 2821]” (Eph 1:18), “one hope of your calling [klesis 2821]” (Eph 4:4). Paul was referring to the calling of
God to Adam after he sinned, “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Gen 3:9). The hope of His calling is that the Seed of
the woman would come and bruise the serpent’s head. It’s the hope of redemption
from the curse placed on the creation, “For the creature was made subject to
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope”
(Rom 8:20).
In these
seven “one” statements that begin with “one body,” Paul was not speaking of
singularity as if saying there is only one body as opposed to two or three, but
rather of unity which the context imposes, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace.” He meant that both Jews and Gentiles should be in peace and unity
with each other because they are all members of the same body of Christ, have
the same indwelling Spirit, share the same hope of His calling, serve the same
Lord, are saved by the same faithfulness, were baptized in the same name of
Jesus, and are children of the same Father God. That Paul was speaking of peace
and unity between Jews and Gentiles is evident from what he taught earlier:
For he is our peace, who hath made both
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law
of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by
the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby: And came and preached peace
to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. (Ephesians 2:14-18)
As Paul taught the Colossians, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:
but Christ is all, and in all” (Col
3:10-11). In other words, at the time of creation there were no Greeks or Jews,
no distinction between Circumcision and uncircumcision, and no Barbarians,
Scythians, bond or free. All people are created after the image of God.
Therefore, the calling to Adam is “the hope of his calling” for all people
through Jesus Christ.
The Chief Cornerstone
As stated earlier, the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost is based
upon the Sabbath week which in turn is based upon the creation week. Therefore,
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the gift of tongues on the Day of
Pentecost was purposed from the very creation. And what about the Tower of
Babel? Did God not anticipate the gift of tongues on the Day of Pentecost when
He confused the languages to begin with?
“For with stammering
lips and another tongue will he speak to this people ... Therefore thus
saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that
believeth shall not make haste” (Isa 28:11, 16). Isaiah was prophesying about
the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit would be poured out
along with the gift of tongues—this event would be like the laying of the main
stone in the foundation of the Temple. Zion is the name of Jerusalem under the
reign of King David, “In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six
months: and in Jerusalem he reigned
thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah … Nevertheless David took the
strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David” (2Sa 5:5, 7).
The optimal time and place for the resurrection of Jesus
Christ to be either proved or disproved was at that time in Jerusalem with the
empty tomb. That David’s tomb was still occupied, “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day” (Act 2:29), meant that David’s prophecy
about resurrection before the body decayed “neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy
One to see corruption” (Act 2:27), could not have been about himself.
Furthermore, this supernatural gift of immediate fluency in a foreign language
upon the followers of Jesus was confirmation from God of their eyewitness testimony
that He is alive. This event upon these Jewish followers of Jesus Christ,
therefore, became the foundation of the faith upon which everything in the
church would be based.
The gift of tongues poured out upon the Jews at the
beginning of the church was the basis upon which the Jews concluded the
salvation of the Gentiles, “For they
heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can
any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” (Act 10:46-47),
“And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning … When they heard these things, they held
their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then
hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” (Act 11:15, 18).
The Jewish people were those “he hath chosen” (1:4) as can
be deducted by the creation week, Sabbath week, and Feast of Weeks. They were
allowed to hear the gospel first before the Gentiles: “Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to
bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (Act 3:26), “Then
Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been
spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the
Gentiles.” (Act 13:46), “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for
it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”
(Rom 1:16).
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye
also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed [sphragizo 4972] with that holy Spirit of
promise” (Eph 1:12-13).
Gentiles “were sealed” means that they were approved or confirmed by God
through this same sign gift as also being saved, “Then hath God also to the
Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). It has nothing to do with
locking salvation or the security of the believer. This is how the Greek sphragizo was used with Jesus Christ
being approved by God as the Messiah, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man
shall give unto you: for him hath God
the Father sealed [sphragizo 4972]”
(Jhn 6:27), “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and
wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye
yourselves also know” (Act 2:22).
The Gentiles received “that holy Spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13), “That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal 3:14), as the Jews
received on the Day of Pentecost, “Therefore, being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the
promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and
hear” (Act 2:33).
Jesus Christ was resurrected by the Holy Spirit because His
Father promised resurrection to Him, “having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost.” It’s because both Jews and Gentiles have the same Holy
Spirit in their hearts that they share the same “hope of his calling,” the hope
of resurrection promised to us by faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ.
In summary