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This
was in accordance with the eternal purpose which
He carried out in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
What was in accordance with the eternal purpose
that God the Father carried out through Messiah
Yeshua, His Son and our Lord?
The all-wise
God is a Personal Being. He has a infinitely great
mind. He makes plans, has goals, sets agendas.
He is not a God of chaos, but a God of order,
design, goals, agendas, plans and purposes.
God the
Father has a great master plan. He is working
toward a great goal. Everything He is doing is
done with the purpose to attain that goal, to
bring His great plan too completion.
The eternal
God has a purpose, and that purpose is an eternal
purpose. His purpose involves time and eternity.
The Lord God made plans in what we may call “eternity
past.” These plans involve human beings
in time and in eternity. These plans will continue
into “eternity future.” Praise the
Lord, God’s eternal purpose is to establish
His plans involving human beings throughout eternity.
Our Lord,
Messiah Yeshua is absolutely central to these
eternal plans. The mystery that Paul had been
describing, and its implementation, are part of
God’s eternal purpose. The mystery, this
new revelation that was not understood by human
beings from previous generations, was that the
Messiah would come into this world, die and come
back to life and ascend back to Heaven, and be
at the right hand of God. Only a remnant of Israel
would recognize who the Messiah is, and follow
Him, and be saved. The message about Israel’s
Messiah would also be proclaimed to the other
nations, and a remnant from those nations would
believe in Messiah.
The Spirit
of Messiah would be given to the faithful remnant
of Israel and the saved remnant from the nations.
The Spirit joins us to the Father, and to the
Son, and to one another.
Messianic
Jews, who remain Jews, and Christians from the
other nations who remain part of their peoples,
together come together in love and form one new
man, a new humanity with the division between
Jew and Gentile gone. Messiah’s New Covenant
Community would be like a body with Messiah as
the head, and the rest of us members of the Body.
This new humanity would be the eternal sons and
daughters of God, friends and companions of the
ever-living God, and enjoy Him and be enjoyed
by Him forever and ever!
This
was in accordance with the eternal purpose which
He carried out in Messiah Yeshua our Lord in whom
we have boldness and confident access through
faith in Him.
Because
of our faith in, and our knowledge of, and trust
in, and confidence in Messiah Yeshua our Lord,
we have boldness and confident access - boldness
with other human beings, and boldness with God,
along with confident access to God.
I can’t
understand pastors who won’t speak out about
the great issues of the day, Christians who won’t
witness because they cave into fear, and won’t
tell the world the truth, that the world is perishing,
dead in trespasses and sins, headed to Hell, without
God, without hope apart from hearing about, knowing
and believing the Good News about Messiah Yeshua.
We are bold with men, because we trust the One
who told us not to fear human beings who can merely
kill our bodies, knowing that our death will be
followed by resurrection and everlasting life.
Because
of Messiah Yeshua our Lord we have boldness with
God the Father. We can talk to Him, pray to Him,
bring our requests to Him at any time, in any
circumstance. Because of Messiah Yeshua our Lord
we have confidence access to God the Father. We
have a new access that we know is now available,
greater than the access that the High Priest of
Israel had before the coming of the Messiah. When
Messiah died, the veil in the Temple was torn
from top to bottom, showing that those who are
joined to the Messiah are reconciled to God, and
are in a right relationship with the Father, and
able with confidence approach His presence through
prayer.
Are you
in Messiah Yeshua our Lord? Do you know who He
is? Messiah - the ultimate prophet, the ultimate
source of truth? Our High Priest, the One and
only mediator between God and man, who brings
us closer to God, and God closer to us? The King
who is our leader, our Lord who rules over us,
and will rule Israel and the nations. Yeshua,
the one and only source of salvation, who alone
can save people from their worst problems - their
sins?
Therefore
I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations
on your behalf, for they are your glory.
Leaders are to take the lead in leadership, but
also in the areas of danger, of persecution, of
suffering. Paul’s troubles came because
of his boldness in proclaiming the truth to the
Gentiles. But, his troubles, his arrest, his imprisonment
shouldn’t be a source of shame or discouragement
to the Ephesian Christians, but the opposite -
a badge of honor. It’s an honorable thing
to be persecuted by human beings, and arrested
by the authorities, for declaring the truth about
God, salvation, righteousness.
It shows
we are being bold, being like the prophets, the
apostles, and the blessed Messiah.
It shows
that we are honoring God and putting Him first.
It shows
that we are making an impact.
Paul continues
with a prayer for the Ephesians holy ones, who
are set apart to accomplish God’s eternal
purposes; human beings who are precious to the
Almighty. For this reason (for what reason?
The reason Paul began in verse 1, which is a continuation
of the idea in chapter 2, that because of the
grace of God, Jews and Gentiles have been united
in one body, and make up the family of God). For
this reason I bow my knees (to bow the knees
is the definition of a barucha - a blessing. Knee
is berech. To bow the knee is to bless, to acknowledge
the superiority of the one who is superior to
you).
For
this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in Heaven and on Earth
derives its name. “God is not only
Father, but He is also the One from whom alone
all the fatherhood that there is derives its meaning
and inspiration... Every father-headed group derives
its existence and concept and experience of fatherhood...
To such a Father, Father of all, the One in whom
alone fatherhood is seen in perfection, men come
when they come to pray” (Foulkes, The
Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians).
Do you
know God as your Father, as Someone who is older
and greater and wise than you, who brought you
into being, who watches over you, cares for you,
loves you, provides for you, teaches you, listens
to you, corrects you, and so as to bring you to
maturity? Isn’t it wonderful to know God
like this, and be able to come to Him, and pray
to Him - not only as one would come and pray to
a great King, or to a vast intellect, but also
as to a loving father?
Paul’s
prayer continues: that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory (God’s
glorious riches - His riches are glorious because
of their source - the Magnificent and Honored
God; His riches are glorious because of their
magnitude - which is infinitely vast; the Father’s
riches are glorious because of the manner in which
they are given - willingly and graciously; God’s
riches are glorious because of the way in which
they are used, producing glorious things in us
- to be strengthened with power through His
Spirit in the inner man.
Out of
His infinitely vast treasury, the Lord takes some
of His power and He gives it to His children.
God’s Spirit applies God’s power to
us, not on the surface level, where it may have
only temporary effects, but in our inner being,
way down deep at the core of who were are. That
gives us strength.
God wants
to give us strength so that Messiah may dwell
in your hearts through faith. Through faith
- faith is based on knowledge, and then acting
on that knowledge. The more we know and believe
and take to heart the truths about God and Messiah,
the more the Spirit is able to strengthen us,
and make Messiah live at the core of our being,
transforming us into His likeness.
God the
Father wants to give us strength so that Messiah
may live in us. Not Messiah Himself, but His Spirit,
the Spirit of Messiah, who is also the Spirit
of God.
God wants
to give us strength so that we don’t have
a shallow knowledge of Messiah, like so many have,
but way down deep, at the very core of who we
are, we have a profound knowledge of Messiah -
of His mind and will and ways and values, so that
we become more and more like Him in character,
in godliness, in courage, in boldness; so that
like Messiah, we are hungering and thirsting for
righteousness, so that like Messiah, we want to
please God above all else; so that like Messiah,
we have greater love for God and man; so that
like Messiah, we have His willingness to sacrifice
Himself for the well-being of the rest of us;
strength so that we have a great relationship
with the Father like Yeshua, continually cultivated
by the discipline of prayer; strength in our inner
being, so that like Messiah, we love the truth.
The Father
wants to give us strength way down deep inside
us, so that Messiah’s character and goals
and agenda may be ours, Messiah’s attitudes,
values, especially the virtue of love, will become
ours.
Out of
this vast treasury of wealth, riches and power,
the great Rabbi from Tarsus prays that God the
Father would direct His Spirit to enable us to
excel in love.
Love is
very important, and most of us don’t give
it the place in our lives and character that it
deserves. What is love? Love caring for someone
else, wanting to see good done to that person,
even being willing to sacrifice your good so that
they might be blessed.
Truth
is essential to love. To really love someone we
must know what is good, and do what is good for
them.
God is
love. Love is part of the essential nature of
God. Love is so important for us to have, and
for us to be. The problem is that love does not
come naturally or easily to human beings.
So, Paul
prays for two things for the saints regarding
love. First, that you, being rooted and grounded
in love. Since love does not always come
easily to us, Paul prays that we would be rooted
in love, like an oak tree sinks its roots deep
into the earth, giving support and strength and
stability and health and live to that tree; that
we would be grounded in love - that love would
be the firm foundation of our lives - that our
lives and character would be built on love - love
for the community of Believers, love for man and
love for God.
Second,
Gamliel’s greatest disciple prays that we
would know how much love Messiah has for us. It
is not easy to understand how much love Messiah
has for us. We will go through trials, tribulations,
hard times, challenging circumstances, and the
tendency during those times is to doubt how much
Messiah really loves us. Paul wants us to be sure
of Messiah’s love for us, and so he prays
that you, being rooted and grounded in love may
be able to comprehend with all the saints what
is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Messiah which surpasses
knowledge.
Paul wants
us to know the extent of His love for us - how
deep, how high, how long, how far we are loved
by the Son of God. It’s not just a little
love, but supremely great love, love that knew
what we most needed; loved that was willing to
do what was best for us; love that came at a great
cost to Himself; love that made Yeshua willing
to leave the comforts and honor of Heaven, make
Himself a weak, vulnerable human being; live among
us (which must have been a trial in itself), then
suffer rejection, torture and a horrible death.
It was
love that operated in eternity past, love that
worked in time, love that is active in the present,
and love that will extend throughout eternity
future. It is love that is present here on Earth,
and anywhere in the universe we may go, and love
that will be present throughout the new Heaven
and new Earth and New Jerusalem, and anywhere
we may go in our travels and explorations there.
The infinite
love of Immanuel, who said, “Before Abraham
was, I am” will be there for us, surrounding
us, enveloping us, support us, comforting us.
Knowing Messiah’s infinite love for us gives
us peace. Knowing Messiah’s great love for
us will keep us stable and strong and of a sound
mind.
Without
Messiah, without the Spirit living in us, and
transforming us from within, and without love,
we will never reach our potential. But by being
filled with the Spirit, and being rooted and grounded
in love, having love as an essential part of our
character and thinking, and having an inkling
how much Messiah loves us will help us will enable
us to become all that the Lord wants us to become:
that you may be filled up to all the fullness
of God.
God’s
emissary to the nations concludes his prayer:
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think (and we can
ask and thing a lot! But God is so great, so powerful,
so infinite, that He is able do beyond, He is
able to do abundantly beyond, to do more abundantly
beyond, He is able to do far more abundantly beyond
anything that we are capable of asking Him to
do, or even conceiving Him of being able to do!
And, this
great ability is not far away, not a myth, but
something that is real, something that is present
right now, ability and power that is even at work
among us! Now to Him who is able to do far
more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think
, according to the power that works within us
- that’s power that is close, that’s
ability that is available to help us in the way
God knows best for us, and that should encourage
us to pray, and stay close to God.
And all
the victories what we will achieve, each success,
all the good we will ever receive, all the blessings,
the wealth, the honor, the comforts, the encouragements,
in time and throughout eternity, ultimately give
honor to God the Father, who is the source of
all these good things. And so to Him be the
glory in the Church - those who are the called
out ones and in Messiah Yeshua - those
who are joined to the Son of God by having been
chosen, and heard the Good News, and responded
to it, and placed their faith and trust and confidence
and believe in Messiah, not just now, but to
all generations forever and ever.
Amen.
So be it! May this be a faithful prayer that God
will hear and answer, for us in our day, as He
did for our brother Ephesians 2,000 years ago!
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