The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Pamphlet #5161 KCEphesians1
God
did not inspire Paul to attend a tent revival to convert him,
nor
did Paul come forward to an altar call.
Jesus
Christ simply knocked him off his horse
with
a lightning bolt and said "you're mine, dude"!
How is it that a person can get
so excited about the Word of God?
It is sad, but many people
think of the Bible as just a book containing "stories" and lists of restrictive
religious do's and don'ts and the biggie "Thou shalt nots".
But it is not so!
The Bible contains knowledge and
revelation from the Creator of the Universe.
And guess what!
He's smarter and wiser than any scientist, physicist,
philosopher, or theologian.
Within the pages of 66 books can
be found many answers that continue to baffle those who look through large
and/or small scopes but ignore the vast scope of God's Word.
We will discover some of these "mysteries" and "secrets"
even in this Book of Ephesians.
It was written by Paul, the apostle, from prison in Rome,
around 62 A.D.
It begins:
Ephes.
1:1
Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
An "apostle" (Gr. apostolos) is one who is
"sent forth", i.e. an ambassador.
Paul was made an apostle by the
"will
of God",
not by the "will of Paul".
Paul's "will" was to persecute Christians
and he was very zealous in his efforts.
With an attitude like that you would
think it might be tough to convert him to Christianity.
Maybe it would be for man, but not
for God.
God did not inspire Paul to attend
a tent revival to convert him, nor did Paul come forward to an altar call.
Jesus Christ simply knocked him
off his horse with a lightning bolt and said "you're mine, dude"!
This method of recruiting is quite
effective as it tends to instantly soften and make ready the "clay".
Here's Paul's reaction:
Acts
9:6
And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said
unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and
it shall be told thee what thou must do.
See what I mean?
Let's return to Ephes. 1:1.
Ephes.
1:1
... to the saints
which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
To whom is this great Book of Ephesians written?
Answer: To the "saints" and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus, who ARE the saints.
"Saints" are "consecrated" ones or "set aside" ones.
[2]
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Paul gives a salutation.
[3]
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
..."who through Christ has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm." Moffat
[4]
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:
This
is one of the most profound and exciting verses in the Word of God!
Proper
understanding of this statement by the Apostle Paul can add new meaning
to your life and for some, even provide
an explanation for some of their life's experiences.
There are three major components
of this verse that require a background of understanding in order to fully
comprehend.
1.) foundation of the world
2.) without blame
3.) chosen...before
1.) foundation of the world
The Greek word for "foundation" is "katabole" which
comes from the prime "kata ballo" meaning to "throw down" or "cast down".
In almost all cases where this word is used it is connected
with the "world" or cosmos.
"Foundation of the world" would then be more properly
translated "ruin or disruption of the world".
When was the world ruined or disrupted?
Answer: At the time of rebellion of Satan.
Let's go back to the beginning:
Genesis
1:1
In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.
Most people understand this verse (even those
who don't believe it).
[2]
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
But to understand two verses in a row seems way
too difficult for many, so at this one they err!
Look up the words "without form, and void"
in a Strong's Concordance.
They are tohu and bohu
which mean waste
and desolate, i.e. undistinguishable ruin!
Question! Do you know any manufacturers who create things
in undistinguishable ruin?
Does Detroit create "wrecked" cars?
Of course not.
And neither does God create things "wrecked".
Here's proof that He did not create the earth in undistinguishable
ruin (tohu):
Isaiah
45:18
For thus saith
the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and
made it; he hath established it, He created it not in vain, he formed it
to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
This statement is from God Himself, "thus saith the
LORD", the One that created the heavens and that formed the earth and MADE
IT.
He ought to know how He MADE IT!
"He created it NOT in vain (tohu).
He formed it to be inhabited!"
The word "was"
in verse 2 (the earth was without form) is exactly the same Hebrew word
used in Gen 2:7
and translated "became",
as in man "became"
a living soul.
It should also be translated "became"
in Gen 1:2, And the earth "became" without form and desolate (tohu va
bohu).
It wasn't created that way... it
became that way.
Now that makes sense. Read Jeremiah
4:23-26; Jeremiah explains that the earth BECAME without form , and void,
i.e., the birds fled and the cities were broken down due to the LORD'S
fierce anger.
You will read in Revelation 12 that Satan drew a third
of the stars (sons of God) after his perverted ways in what Peter calls
"The world that then was" (2 Pet 3:6).
You can be sure God gave Satan every opportunity to repent,
but alas, he would not and God sentenced Satan to die, which is why he
is called the "son who will perish" or the son of perdition.
But then, rather than having trial and judgment for the
1/3 who defected as well as the rest of His sons, God
laid out His loving plan of salvation.
As part of that plan He destroyed
the world that then was, just as Gen 1:2 says, and the earth became a ruinous
desolation .
Read about it Jeremiah 4:
Jeremiah
4:23-26
I beheld the
earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they
had no light. [24] I
beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
[25]
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were
fled.
[26] I
beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities
thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce
anger.
How do you supposed God caused
all that destruction?
It is quite evident that He knocked
the earth off its true polar axis.
That is why magnetic north and true
north are 90 miles apart and we have the jet stream.
He also knocked it out of its perfect
orbit.
The latest theory I saw was that
a giant meteorite once crashed into the Caribbean where there exists a
huge crater.
Could be!
It works for me.
Now let's read Ephes. 1:4 again
Ephes. 1:4
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:
Were you chosen back then, during the first earth age, to do what you do?
2.) without blame
3.) chosen...before
Now let's consider the number 2 and 3 components of Ephes
1:4, "without blame" and "chosen".
In addition to the 1/3 of the sons of God who joined Satan's
camp, there were also those who stood against Satan
at
that rebellion and remained loyal to our Father.
They "earned" the right to be "chosen",
used by God, as instruments in fulfilling His will, His plan.
God is completely fair, He is no respecter of persons.
From this group of faithful sons,
God chose His elect, to be present at the final generation, and the remnant
who would carry forth throughout history.
So you can see He chose the first
to be last (to be born) and the last (chosen) to be first.
Those who were chosen were also justified, found
blameless before God.
They had exercised their free will and chose to love our
Father.
All that Paul is saying in Ephes.
1:4 is that we, God's elect, were "chosen" before the "katabole".I
know this is "new territory" for some of you reading this, but hang in
there, it gets easier.
Beginning in Gen 1:3 our Father
then created this earth age, which included a resurfacing of the earth.
He then created mankind, male and
female, and told them to go and replenish
the earth... not to plenish it, but
re-plenish it, for it had been populated in
the world that then was.
So as part of the plan of salvation
(to bring back His children) it was given unto every man to die once, i.e.
all the sons of God would be born of flesh woman, from umbilical cord to
umbilical cord.
Hebrews
9:27
And as it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
All would pass through this flesh age,
born innocent of woman, meaning that they
would have NO prior knowledge of the events that had transpired in the
world that then was!
In other words, their "hard disks" or "hard heads" would
be newly formatted with NO data, just the operating system.
That way they could be free to make-up
their minds whether they would follow God or Satan.
Now understand this next statement in light of what we've
covered so far:
"God will not interfere in a person's
life without their asking UNLESS you already are one of HIS."
If He did, He would be accused at
judgment of interfering with a person's chance and right to choose freely.
Jonah would be an example of one of God's remnant whom
God would use.
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah, exercising his
free will, jumped on a boat and headed the opposite direction.
But Jonah had no choice in the matter, he was going to
Nineveh.
God interfered in his life, big time.
Jeremiah was named BEFORE he entered his mother's womb.
Why not?
Where was he before he entered his mother's womb?
With our Father, the same place you and I were before
we were born!
We already saw how Paul was converted.
Is it no wonder that the Lord says
in Act 9:15 that Paul is a chosen vessel unto me?
Christ then intercedes on behalf
of His elect.
Romans
8:27
And He that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
God interceded in Paul's life.
Again, there was no altar call.
Romans
8:28 And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
"Called" according to His will and His plan.
You may have wondered about some of the events in your
life.
If you are one of His, there is a reason, a purpose, you
have a destiny.
Ephes.
1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will,
We were already adopted as
children of God... before the "katabole", according to the good pleasure
of His will.
That doesn't mean God's elect are better than others.
Remember, God is always and completely fair.
Romans
8:29 For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren.
For those whom He knew before hand, He predetermined
their "destiny", not their day to day decisions of life.
[30]
Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called:
and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them
he also glorified.
This verse should now be self explanatory.
[31]
What shall we then say to these things? If
God be for us, who can be against us?
If God, who has all power in
heaven and on earth, has predetermined our destiny because of our loyality
to Him during the first earth age, and has us "under His wing", who in
the world, including Satan, the false-christ, can be against us?
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
1 Corinthians
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the
ancient Israelites} for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
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