Hidden Treasures of the Book of Ephesians – Part 2

Hidden Treasure of the Book of Ephesians – Part 2

The Part 1 of the above article discussed the first two points of the study “7 Things God has done before the foundation of the World”

  1. He has Chosen us before the foundation of the world that we may be holy.-1:4
  2. He has predestinated us to the adoption of Children.  -1:5

 The meaning of both these are somewhat hidden and needs explanation.  Please read part 1 of this article.  Thank you.

 

3. The next thing that God had done before the foundation of the world is to “predestinate us to obtain an inheritance”. 

“In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of his who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph.1:11).

One of the great purposes of God is to give us a great spiritual inheritance.  Many believers do not have any idea about this and continue to live like spiritual paupers.  They always want help from others.  They are looking for some one to pray for them all the time.  Or they need a ‘good teacher’ or a ‘gifted preacher’ all the time.  It’s high time that we all realized that God wants us to become rich with the ‘un-searchable riches of Christ’ (Eph 3:8).

I am reminded of the parable of the Prodigal son which is found in Luke 15.  The real meaning of the parable is lost if who do not take note of verse 12. “And the younger of them said to his father, Father give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.  And he divided unto THEM his living”.  We need to see this fact that the father gave both sons their portion and not only the younger son who asked for it.  But after many days when the younger son had come back having wasted everything and father had received him in peace, please read the complaint of the elder son.  “Yet thou never gavest me a KID to enjoy with my friends” (Luke 15:29).  Please look at the pathetic condition of this older son.  He had been given the portion of his wealth by his father in the beginning but he did not believe the father and never enjoyed any of it.  He was a pauper in the very house of the father. 

Many of the present day Christian believers fall into this category.  In the father’s house but not enjoying the riches of the father. It is God’s plan and desire that we become spiritually rich so that we could be a blessing to others.  The un-searchable riches of Christ should make us rich spiritually.  The following things can be considered as such riches.

Peace of God that passeth all understanding            Phil 4:7

Love which passeth knowledge                               Eph.3:19

Joy unspeakable and full of glory                             1Pet 1:8

Hope of glory                                                         Col.1:27

Faith which is much more precious than gold           1Pet.1:7

Glorious liberty of the children of God                     Rom.8:21

Power of resurrection of the Lord                           Eph.1:19

The above things will make us spiritually rich and help us experience the ‘abundant life’ that the Lord Jesus spoke about in John 10:10.

 

 

4. The next action of God which He accomplished before the foundation of the world is recorded in Eph 2:10.  “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”. God has foreordained the good works that we should be engaged in.  That is the simple truth conveyed by that scripture.  When the Lord Jesus called His disciples He did so with a specific purpose.  He told them that “they had not chosen Him but He had chosen them and appointed them” (John 15:16).  Before he had actually spoken to them about following Him, He had a plan regarding all the ‘good work’ they were going to be engaged in.  It is not simply the ‘knowing the future’ characteristic that was in operation there but rather the fulfillment of the purpose of God which He purposed before the world began. We as believers zealous for evangelism think that it is our duty to preach the gospel to every person upon the earth.  Yes, our God who “will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4) would want us to do that but that does not mean that we should do it according to our own plans.  In the book of Acts we read the account of God guiding the apostles regarding their place of preaching and the plan for each place of witness.  Peter was guided clearly to go to Cornelius’ house and Paul received guidance regarding the place where he should next visit carrying the gospel.  God knows as to who is ready to receive the gospel and at what time.  It is very useful for us to cultivate the habit of waiting upon the Lord to know His mind regarding a particular area or place to be visited with the gospel.  Bro. Bakht Sing of India is known for spending much time in prayer before he ventured out to in a gospel campaign to an un-reached area.  The result was that he had a rich harvest of souls and an establishment of a Church.  (Bro. Bakht Sing was a great man of God who had an apostolic calling and lived in full obedience to the call of the Master.  He had a very simple life style.  Through his ministry over 1000 Churches have been established throughout India).  Our problem is that we are not bothered about the “good works which God hath before ordained” but are satisfied with being BUSY with spreading the gospel.  But we should understand that the greatest privilege of any man is to know the will of God and do it.  In this present world people are not willing to give God time to show His will concerning any thing.  We know too much for such a dependence on God.  “We know what to do and when to do it” seems to be the rule of the evangelical enterprise.  So we go for 5 year plans, 10 year plans and millennium plans leaving out God’s plan.  Only a true disciple will be willing to wait upon Him to do His bidding.  We think that it is a waste of time. But remember all what God wants us to do is to do His work according to His plan and according to His method.