Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:4-5, 7, 13-14, 17-18; 2:4-6, 8, 10, 13, 16; 3:16-17, 19; 4:4, 7, 12-13, 15-16, 23; 5:26, 29; 6:11-13
In this message we shall consider more than thirty points related to God’s accomplished work concerning the church. Most of these points are expressed as verbs in various verses throughout the book of Ephesians.
In 1:4 Paul says, “According as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before Him, in love.” God chose us in eternity past, when He was forming His plan to have the church. The fact that we were chosen in eternity means that our salvation began before the foundation of the world and before time. The word chosen implies that some were selected and that others were not selected. Praise the Lord that we are among the chosen ones! If we turn to our spirit and contact the Lord regarding this matter, we shall realize that just as God is eternal, so His choosing of us was also related to eternity.
Eph. 1:5 says that we have been predestinated unto sonship. The Greek word rendered predestinated means to be pre-marked, to be marked out beforehand. In eternity God, through His foresight, marked us out from among a vast number of people. Because we were marked out before the creation of the universe, we cannot escape from God. We may want to give Him up, but He will not give us up. What God is doing with us was not initiated by us in time; it was initiated by God in eternity.
After choosing and predestinating us, God created us in Adam. But the man created by God became fallen. Nevertheless, God still loved us. In Eph. 2:4 Paul speaks of the great love with which God loved us. He loved us even when we were dead in offenses and sins, when we were walking according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph. 2:1-2). In Eph. 5:25 Paul says that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Therefore, we are not only the chosen and predestinated ones, but also the loved ones.
The Bible emphasizes God’s love for us after the fall, not before the fall. Eph. 2 is proof of this. Even after we had become sons of disobedience, God nevertheless loved us. Our fall gave opportunity for God’s love.
In Eph. 4:4 Paul says that we were called in one hope of our calling. Many of us know the exact time and place of our calling. I can still remember the afternoon I was called by God. God came to me and granted me a gracious visitation, and He called me. From the time I was called, I was caught by the Lord. As those who have been caught by Him, we cannot run away from Him. Try as we may, we simply cannot do this. If we run from Him temporarily, He will eventually bring us back to Himself. The fact that we cannot run from the Lord proves that we have been called by Him.
In 1:7 Paul speaks of redemption, saying, “In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace.” As God was accomplishing His work concerning the church, He redeemed us.
God has also reconciled us to Himself (Eph. 2:16). We needed to be reconciled because we were God’s enemies and were in rebellion against Him. There was enmity between us and God. But through the Lord’s death on the cross, we have been saved from our fallen situation and reconciled to God. Praise the Lord that now there is nothing separating us from Him! We may still be weak, but we are in a reconciled condition. When we are in fellowship with the Lord, we are happy. But when we lose touch with the Lord, we are sad. But whatever our feelings, we nevertheless have been reconciled to Him.
In Eph. 2:8 Paul tells us that “by grace you have been saved through faith.” Before we were saved, we could enjoy certain worldly entertainments. But after we were saved, our tastes spontaneously changed. If you go back to those things you enjoyed before you were saved, you will find them very different. What a tremendous difference God’s salvation makes!
Using a verbal form of the Greek word for grace, in Eph. 1:6 Paul says that God has “graced us in the Beloved.” He has put us into the position of grace that we may be the object of His grace and favor, that we may enjoy all that God is to us. Some versions say that God has favored us. We have been graced, favored, in the Beloved.
In Eph. 2:5 we see that God has made us alive together with Christ. As those who were God’s enemies, we needed to be reconciled. As those who were lost, we needed to be saved. Moreover, as those who were dead in trespasses and sins, we needed to be made alive. When we called on the name of the Lord Jesus, we were enlivened by receiving the Spirit of life. When Christ came into us, He came with the divine life. In this way, He made us alive. He enlivens us by being the life within us. The life with which we are enlivened includes the law of life, the sense of life, the fellowship of life, and every other aspect of the experience of life.
In Eph. 2:6 we see that we have been raised up together in Christ. We were not only dead, but also buried. Therefore, God not only made us alive; He also raised us up from among the dead. Praise Him, we have been raised up from the grave!
In 2:6 we also see that God has “seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” Many Christians are waiting to go to heaven, but we are already in heaven. In Christ God has seated us all together, once for all, in the heavenlies. This was accomplished when Christ ascended to the heavens, and it is applied to us by the Spirit of Christ. Today we realize in experience this reality in our spirit through faith in the accomplished fact. If we exercise our spirit in a genuine way, we shall have the sense that we are sitting in the heavenlies looking down at the situation on earth. However, if we exercise our natural reason instead of our spirit, we shall have the sense that we are on earth. Nevertheless, according to the revelation of the Scriptures, we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
In Eph. 1:14 Paul speaks of the redemption of the acquired or purchased possession. The New Testament reveals that God has purchased us with a great price, the precious blood of Christ. In order to acquire us, God had to pay such a high price.
Eph. 1:13 says that we “were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” This verse indicates that God has sealed us; He has put His seal upon us. This seal is the Holy Spirit Himself. After we were purchased with the blood of Christ, God sealed us. Because we have been sealed, we bear a mark, the image of God. Although we may fail and become unclean, this seal, this mark, cannot he removed.
In Eph. 1:14 Paul says that we have become God’s possession, His acquired possession. God possesses us. We should have the realization that we belong to Him.
On the one hand, we are God’s. On the other hand, He is ours. Because we are His, we are sealed and possessed by Him. Because He is ours, we have received the guarantee that He is our portion, our inheritance. Our inheritance has nothing to do with material things; it is God Himself. We have the Holy Spirit as the guarantee, pledge, down payment, deposit, foretaste, and sample, of our inheritance.
Eph. 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” This verse does not speak of the first creation, but of the second creation, the creation of the new man. We all have been created together as God’s masterpiece, God’s poem. The Greek word rendered masterpiece means something which has been made, a handiwork, or something which has been written or composed as a poem. The church is a poem written by God. In the universe nothing is more meaningful than the church. The church, the corporate new man, is God’s masterpiece.
Concerning the church, the word created is used three times in Ephesians. In addition to Eph. 2:10, it is used in Eph. 2:15, which says that Christ abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances in order to create one new man. In Eph. 4:24 we are told that the new man was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. From a human point of view, there are many deficiencies and shortcomings in the church. But from God’s perspective in eternity, the church is a finished product, something already accomplished by God. God is happy and can boast to His enemy, “Satan, no matter how much you try to do, I have already accomplished My work. I have created the one new man.” In the eyes of God the church has already been built up.
Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near in the blood of Christ.” Once we were far off from God and from one another, but in Christ Jesus God has caused us to become near. Before we were saved and brought near, we could not speak of one another as brothers and sisters. But now we have the deep sense that in Christ we are closer to one another than we are to our brothers and sisters in the flesh.
Now let us go on to consider certain items which from God’s point of view have been accomplished, but from the standpoint of our experience are still in the process of being accomplished. The first is the matter of being enlightened. In 1:18 Paul speaks of the eyes of our heart being enlightened, and in 5:14, of Christ shining on us. In a sense, God has already enlightened us. But in another sense, we still need to be enlightened. We may be covered, veiled, by certain things, and need to turn to the light so that the light may shine on us.
If we would be enlightened, we need to turn to the spirit. According to Eph. 1:17-18, enlightenment is related to receiving a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. If we stay in our natural mind, we shall be in darkness. But if we turn to our regenerated spirit, we shall be enlightened.
I am concerned for those who do not open themselves up in the meetings. To be closed in this way is to be in darkness. We need to open ourselves by uttering something for the Lord in the meetings. When we turn from our reasonings to the spirit, we are enlightened. We rise up, and Christ shines on us. As we stand up to speak, the light shines on us, and we are enlightened. The more we are enlightened, the more we experience the work God has accomplished concerning us.
In chapter three Paul prayed that our inner man, our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit, would be strengthened with power (v. 16). When we are enlightened, we realize the need for our inner man to be strengthened.
Our inner man needs to be strengthened so that Christ may make His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). For Christ to make His home in us means that we are indwelt by Him. Christ, the living Person, desires to dwell in us, to fill every part of our inward being with Himself. All of our inward parts need to be a home for Christ so that we may be fully occupied by Him.
When Christ makes His home in us, we shall enjoy Him as unlimited love. In the words of 3:17, we shall be “rooted and grounded in love.” We are rooted in Christ for growth, and we are grounded in Him for building.
When we are strengthened into our inner man, when Christ makes His home in our hearts, and when we are rooted and grounded in love, we are filled unto all the fullness of God (3:19). It is in our spirit that we are filled unto all the fullness of the Triune God to become His expression.
In 4:7 Paul says, “But to each one of us was given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Because every member has received grace, every member is a gift to the Body of Christ. No matter how insignificant we may be, we all are gifted. Do not think that Peter, James, John, and Paul were gifted and that you are not. Since we all are gifted, we should all function in the meetings. Many times it is not as helpful for an elder to say a certain thing as it is for one of the other saints to say the same thing. God has accomplished a complete work for us. In view of such a work, we should learn to function. All the points we have covered thus far leave us without any excuse for not functioning. Is it not true that all these wonderful things have been accomplished for us? We have been chosen, predestinated, loved, called, redeemed, reconciled, saved, graced, made alive, raised up, seated, purchased, sealed, possessed, guaranteed, created, made near, enlightened, strengthened, indwelt, rooted, grounded, and filled. Is it possible to have all this without being gifted? Surely it is not possible. Praise the Lord, we all are gifted!
We have pointed out a number of times that the Lord hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6). This means that He hates the clergy-laity system, which is an abomination in His sight. Nevertheless, because of the influence of degraded Christianity, many still do not function in the meetings. In order to cast off this influence, we all must learn to function.
In Eph. 4:12 Paul goes on to speak of the perfecting of the saints. The Greek word translated perfecting may also be rendered equipping. As those who are gifted, we perfect and equip one another with our gifts. Some may argue that only the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers can perfect the saints. Verse 16, however, speaks of every joint of supply and of the operation in the measure of each part. We all are parts of the Body. If we function, we shall help others to be perfected. In addition, as we function, we are the first to be perfected. Every time I minister the Word, I am the first to receive the benefit of my ministry. We all need to perfect others and to be perfected by functioning. If you have the sense that you have been perfected through functioning, that is an indication that others have been perfected also. May we all perfect one another.
The result of being perfected is that we grow up into Christ (Eph. 4:15-16). We perfect one another by helping one another grow in life. To perfect the saints is to nourish them by feeding them. I can testify that I have received much nourishment from the saints. This nourishment has helped me to grow.
According to 4:16, the Body is fitted together. This is for building. How much we have been fitted together with others depends on our perfection and growth. Through nourishment we grow, and through growth we are fitted together with the saints.
Furthermore, in 4:16 we see that we are knit together. This is closely related to the matter of fitting. However, it emphasizes the aspect of attachment. We need to be attached to one another. As we are fitted and knit together, we are built up. Once we have been built up in the church life, it will be very difficult for us to leave the church. This is altogether different from joining a denomination. We do not join the church; we are built into it. Those who have been built into the church can be neither pulled out nor pushed out.
Ephesians 4:23 speaks of being “renewed in the spirit of your mind.” We all need to be renewed. We need to have the old element discharged, and a new element wrought into us. The old element, the element of Adam, is discharged, and the eternal element, the element of Christ, is added to take its place.
According to Eph. 5:26, Christ is sanctifying the church. To be sanctified is to have the divine nature wrought into our human nature. Once again we may use the illustration of making tea. When tea is added to water, the water is “tea-ified.” In the same principle, when the divine element is added to us, we are sanctified. Christ as the heavenly “tea” is wrought into us. To be sanctified does not mean that we wear certain kinds of clothes or style our hair in a particular way. That is mere outward correction or adjustment. I am not for long hair or for short hair, but for sanctified hair. When the element of God is worked into our being, we are truly sanctified.
In Eph. 5:26 we see that Christ is cleansing the church by the washing of the water in the Word. Such a washing cleanses us from wrinkles caused by oldness and from spots caused by wounds. This cleansing is a metabolic cleansing, a cleansing in which a new element is added to replace the old element that is being discharged.
In Eph. 5:29 Paul points out that Christ is also nourishing and cherishing the church. To nourish is to feed, and to cherish is to nurture with tender love and foster with tender care. A mother nourishes her child by feeding the child healthy food. She also cherishes her child by embracing the little one in love. As we are cherished by Christ, we are warmed, softened, and comforted, just as a child is soothed by the loving embrace of the mother.
Finally, according to Eph. 6:11-13, we need to be armored. This means that we put on the armor of God in order to stand against the stratagems of the Devil. To be armored is to be armed for warfare. As we are armed with the whole armor of God, we become God’s army to fight the battle for God’s purpose and for His kingdom.
If we would have the proper church life, we need to experience every aspect of God’s work covered in this message. We need to pray concerning all these items, pray-reading the verses that speak of them, until they become our reality. May we exercise our spirit to apply all the aspects of God’s work concerning the church.
