Monday Scripture Reading: Jer. 1:5; John 4:24; 1 Cor. 12:3; Eph. 1:21; 1 Pet. 2:9-10 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph. 1:3-5) THE BLESSING OF GOD S CHOICE We have received much help from Paul s epistles, especially from the books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. According to Bible scholars, these four books make up the heart of the revelation of God s New Testament economy. This week, we will cover the book of Ephesians, a book that speaks of the efficacy and exceeding greatness of God s power, which raised Christ from among the dead and seated Him in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (Eph. 1:21). Ephesians 1:3 reads, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. The spiritual blessings mentioned in this verse are not on this earth, but in the heavenly places in Christ. Although we are on this earth, if we keep connected to the heavenly places, we will have access to the blessings contained in Christ. How can we access these blessings? In order to access the blessings in our human spirit, we need a password, which is calling on the Lord s name. God is Spirit, and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except by the Holy Spirit (John 4:24, 1 Cor. 12:3). While these blessings are heavenly, they can be accessed through our human spirit. Many people know that God is accessible, but not many know the password. We need to manage our time wisely and keep connected to the Spirit, so that we can have free access to the heavenly blessings in Christ from eternity past to eternity future. Ephesians 1:4 reads, Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. God chose us in Christ, and His every interaction with us takes place in Christ. God s choosing is one of the blessings of the Father s dispensing. The word dispensing here indicates movement and bestowal; that is, it refers to something that is out of God for His children. Praise the Lord! We were chosen by God before we were born, and even before the foundation of the world (Jer. 1:5). We are a chosen generation, God s own special people, appointed to proclaim the praises of Christ. He reached us by His mercy and called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Hallelujah! Chosen by God. Your What is the password to access God in our spirit? EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 1
Tuesday Scripture Reading: Rom. 6:19; 12:2a; 1 John 5:19 Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph. 1:4) SEPARATED BY GOD As we learned yesterday, God s choosing was conceived before the foundation of the world and applied at a time appointed by Him. Why did God choose us? This is a wonderful mystery, and we must always thank Him for receiving us with such wondrous grace. Ephesians 1:4 reveals the goal of God s choice: just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. The Lord wants to sanctify us; that is, He wants to make us saints, people whom He separated to be useful in His hands. The word saint comes from the Greek hagios, which means separated. The first step of sanctification pertains to being separated by God positionally, much like an object that is separated for a specific use by its owner. After being chosen by God and regenerated in our spirit, we were justified, redeemed and reconciled in Christ. This is how we were separated and moved positionally: we were in the world, but now we are in Christ, in a new position. This process can be illustrated by a dirty cup that is put aside, separated for washing. First, you put the cup in the sink, and then you wash it. While placing the cup in the sink means it was sanctified positionally, washing it with water refers to a dispositional sanctification. This dispositional sanctification must take place daily, as we are often contaminated by the things of this world, which lies under the sway of the wicked one (Rom. 12:2a; 1 John 5:19). In other words, we need to have our thoughts, words and actions separated and sanctified. This second aspect of sanctification refers to our inner disposition the subject of the Lord s great word in us. As it is written in Romans 6:19, we need to present our members as slaves of righteousness for holiness, and no longer as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. Praise the Lord! Tomorrow, we will delve deeper into the dispositional aspect of sanctification. Hallelujah Separated to God. Your Why were we chosen by God? EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 2
Wednesday Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:1; Eph. 1:4; 5:25-27; 1 Thes. 5:23 As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Pet. 1:3-4) DISPOSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION The church life is a process, which means that we will not be transformed by merely proclaiming certain phrases or truths. Our goal is to grow and mature! We need to allow God s life to spread in us, so that the divine nature may infuse our human nature. The continual addition of the divine nature is precisely what it means to be sanctified dispositionally. In second Peter, the apostle tells us that in order to grow after we are saved, we need the divine nature to abound in us increasingly. Thanks to the Lord, we have been given faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, and the agape love which is the unconditional love of God. A cup needs to be under a faucet to be filled with water, and so must we be in the right place and position to receive the dispensing of the divine water. This dispensing will separate us progressively for God and for His gospel (Rom. 1:1). Today, the Lord is spreading from our spirit to our soul (mind, will and emotion). Eventually, He will even spread into our mortal body and transform it. This is how God is saving us with Himself. We refer to this progressive saturation as dispositional sanctification. Through this saturation work, God is flooding our whole being (spirit, soul and body) with Himself and His holy nature (1 Thes. 5:23). One day, our whole being will have been fully permeated and sanctified by His holy nature, that we should be holy and without blame (Eph. 1:4). In Greek, the term without blame means without blemish or spot. On the one hand, God is filling us with His life and nature; on the other, He is removing every stain and blemish, as we see in Ephesians 5:25-27: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. God s work reaches far beyond the surface, renewing each one of us inwardly! Praise the Lord for His Word! Without blemish and renewed! Your How much have you grown in the divine life? EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 3
Thursday Scripture Reading: Psa. 82:6; John 1:13; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4-5; 4:13; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 3:1-2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3) PREDESTINATED UNTO SONSHIP It is important that we reiterate the greatness of being chosen before the foundation of the world and predestinated unto sonship; that is, that we might become mature sons (Eph. 1:4-5; 4:13). God the Father wants to work His life into us, His children, that we may become mature heirs by reaching full sonship. In Ephesians 1, Paul speaks of the spiritual blessings of God the Father: the fact that He chose and predestinated us unto sonship (vv. 4-5a lit.). The expression adoption as sons used in many versions of the Bible is better translated from the original Greek as sonship. We are not God s adopted children, but rather His legitimate children we were born of God through regeneration and received His life by believing in Him (John 1:13; 1 Pet. 1:3). More than a title, the term sonship implies growth in the divine life. In other words, God came as a man in order to make man like Him in life and nature, but not in the Godhead (Psa. 82:6). Matthew 5:48 reads, Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Since our Father is perfect, we have the DNA of perfection. The more God s life and nature grow in us, the more we look like Him. Now that God has given us His life and made us His children, He wants us to develop and work out our own salvation. In order to carry out His will, God prepared the church life, a place where we can grow spiritually and become mature sons, living and expressing God s divine virtues and attributes. The goal of the church life is to mass reproduce Christ; that is, that we all may be conformed to the image of the Son of God, the Firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29). As the firstborn Son, the Lord is leading His many brethren to sonship. As a result of this divine work, when the Lord returns, we will be ready and will be like Him (1 John 3:1-2). While we will surely experience difficulties and find obstacles in the way, we should never separate ourselves from Christ. Ephesians 1:5 can be translated, Having predestinated us to sonship by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. In other words, God s good pleasure is that we grow up and become mature sons, sharing the image of Christ. Each one of the three blessings presented in Ephesians (the Father, the Son and the Spirit) ends with the phrase to the praise of His glory. In other words, Christ is the embodiment of God s grace given to us freely for our enjoyment. These are all the blessings with which He graced us in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6b). Hallelujah for the blessings of the Triune God! Predestinated! Your Why is the Lord the firstborn Son among many brethren? EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 4
Friday Scripture Reading: Matt. 24:45; Eph. 1:8-10; 5:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:18-19 To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:6-7) THE BLESSING OF THE SON Although God had already planned all things in His eternal will, He sent His Son Jesus Christ nearly 2000 years ago to provide salvation for the fallen man. Ephesians 1:7 reads, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. The blessing of the Son is not given in silver or gold, but rather by means of the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19). The Son gifted us the remission of sins by shedding His precious blood on our behalf (Eph. 1:6-11). God Himself came as the Son of Man to take our place on the cross and deal with the problem of sin (the nature of sin) and sins (sinful actions). As the Son of God, He comes in to dispense His life that we may grow and reign with Him eventually, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence (vv. 7-8). Wisdom here pertains to the planning stage. When God planned His economy and redeeming work, He did so using His unfathomable wisdom. After that, when there came a time to apply and execute it, He used His prudence by sending His Son. Likewise, we must pray to the Lord and ask Him for prudence to practice the things He has revealed to and given us (Matt. 24:45). We must walk prudently, managing our time wisely, that we may understand the Lord s will (Eph. 5:15-17). We praise the Lord for revealing the mystery of His will to us, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and those on earth (Eph. 1:8-10). The expression dispensation of the fullness of the times refers to the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age and in the New Jerusalem. At that time, God will converge all things in Christ, making Him Head over all things (v. 22). This is the Lord s headship. All of these items, which we must experience and dispense to others, are included in the faith, which is the content of God s economy. Hallelujah! Appreciating the blessing of the Son. Your What is included in the blessing of the Son? EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 5
Saturday Scripture Reading: Isa. 45:18; John 12:31; Col. 1:15-18; Rev. 11:15 But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16) HEADED UP BY CHRIST The present world has been usurped by Satan and his angels. God did not create the earth a shapeless and void chaos, but He created it to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18). Genesis chapter 1 shows us that, through His power and providence, God restored the earth which had become void and without shape, thus originating a second world. In this new earth, God created man after His own image and likeness to subdue and have dominion over all things. While verse 26 says, let them have dominion, verse 28 speaks of subduing the earth. This is God s wonderful plan for man: He wants man to express and represent Him. Adam, however, disobeyed God and was unable to carry out His plan. Before man was created, Satan s rebellion brought in chaos, which still permeates this present age. After Adam was deceived and corrupted by Satan, God was prevented from restoring His government on this earth; hence, it still lies under the wicked sway of its ruler (John 12:31). Everything is in chaos and in ruins: family bonds, social relationships, nations turn against nations and even nature has been suffering the consequences of human chaos. However, there is still one plan in the universe, which pertains to Christ heading up all things. The first man disobeyed God and failed, but Christ came as the firstborn Son of a new generation to rescue and restore God s authority through man. He is the head of the body, the church (Eph. 4:15; Col. 1:15-18). In other words, He will head up all things through the church. Matthew 16:18-19 conveys the need for the church to be built up in order to implement God s kingdom. As long as the church is built up, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. This is the definitive way God is expressed and represented by man in the universe. One day, the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15). The kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of Christ. Your How will Christ head up all things? EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 6
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Sunday Scripture Reading: Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 2:9; 2 Pet. 1:4 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:13-14) THE BLESSING OF THE SPIRIT Finally, the book of Ephesians also speaks of the dispensing of the Spirit. The work of the Spirit consists of sealing us as a guarantee of our inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14). When someone borrows money from a pawnshop, for instance, he leaves something of value as a guarantee that he will pay back what he owes. This is a pledge. Once the money is paid back, he can recover what he left as a pledge. God put His Spirit in us as a pledge, as a guarantee that He will return for us. The sealing of the Spirit also attests to and approves our actions, our righteous acts. Whenever we do something by the divine life and nature, something that corresponds to the righteousness of God, the Spirit seals us, as if giving us a stamp of approval. When the Lord returns, we hope to be fully stamped by the Spirit. This stamp also indicates that we are God s possession, property and inheritance. Generally speaking, we have already been stamped, but our inner parts, thoughts, actions and decisions still need to be stamped on a daily basis. It is one thing to understand God s Word in theory, and another to actually practice it and allow it to change our lives and conduct. When we come to the Word, calling on the Lord s name, praying and exercising our spirit, our faith ushers in practice. We must dispense what we receive to others in a practical way. The blessing of the Spirit is related to the exceedingly great and precious promises mentioned in Peter s second epistle (v. 1:4). Galatians 3:14 also says, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. This blessing is the promised Spirit, in which we have the reality of these exceedingly great and precious promises. Today, we can enjoy the Triune God and all His riches in the Spirit. In the Spirit, we can experience life, godliness, glory, virtue, as well as His exceedingly great and precious promises. Let us leave the dark room of grievances and resentments produced by our ego and pride. The Spirit is the sample, the foretaste, of what we will receive as full payment. This will take place when we reach full maturity in God s life. We are becoming God s exclusive property more and more (1 Pet. 2:9, Acts 20:28). We have been bought for a very high price, and now God expects us to reach full maturity (1 Cor. 6:20). Now that we have been rescued from our vain manner of life which we inherited from our fathers, let us allow the Lord to head up our lives (1 Pet. 1:18). When we are headed up by Christ, God can head up many others through us. Praise the Lord! The Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. Your How can you inherit the blessings of God? Additional Reading Enrich your reading of the Daily Food by simultaneously reading the books suggested below: The Desirable Church 7-9 Dong Yu Lan EPHESIANS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: THE CHURCH - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing 7