Ephesians is a book about our spiritual heritage. The book of Joshua in the Old Testament corresponds to Ephesians in the New Testament. God had His people in the Old Testament; they were the children of Israel and they had their material heritage which was the land of Canaan.
God took His people out of Egypt, redeemed them by the blood of the lamb, brought them out across the Red Sea, across the desert, and they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. Moses was the instrument that God used to bring them to the border of the land of Canaan. Moses was the law-giver, but the law could never bring anyone to their own rightful heritage so it was reserved for Joshua who succeeded Moses to bring them into their own territory. Try to picture in your mind Moses standing outside the land of Canaan on top of those mountains and viewing the land. He saw the land that God had promised His people flowing with milk and honey. His soul thrilled to see it, but he was not permitted to cross the border. The entering in to the promised land was given to the new leader in Israel, Joshua, who is a figure of our Lord Jesus. In this first chapter of Joshua, the Lord is speaking to Joshua.
“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.... There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.... This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Josh. 1:2-82Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 7Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:2‑8).
The first time the children of Israel sent spies to spy out the land, they were terrified. They said the cities were walled up to heaven, and they turned back. But now they are ready to go in after forty years of wandering in the desert. Joshua, one of the twelve spies, was not frightened by what he saw. Neither was Caleb who said, "We are well able to possess the land. Let us go up for the Lord is with us." The word of the Lord came to him and encouraged him. This is the land: go in, possess it! Enjoy it! Every place that the sole of your foot treads on is yours. No man is going to be able to stand in front of you. The Lord is with you. What precious promises Joshua had when he entered the promised land of Canaan.
Ephesians
The challenge comes to our own souls as well and as we look into the book of Ephesians, there is a wealth of spiritual heritage that is ours in Christ. Yes, this is really ours and we never have to leave it behind. It is our real possession for all eternity. We tend to think of our material things as possessions, and in a certain way they are in our hands right now under our control, but the Lord can take them away very easily. Those things we have in Christ can never be taken away from us. The children of Israel had to go in and step on every foot of that territory so that they could possess it. There was opposition for them and there is opposition for us. Satan does not want you to enjoy what you possess in Christ. He is going to do everything possible to hinder. He knows he cannot take away your blessing, but he knows that perhaps he can take away your enjoyment of that blessing.
As you read down through this precious first chapter of Ephesians, you will notice this is our proper Canaan. We have the presence of the Lord to encourage us to go in to possess and to enjoy it. To get the right scope of this chapter we have to go back, way back before the creation of this world: no universe, no stars, no sun, no moon, and no world whirling in space. There was nothing except God in the fullness of His being and His eternal counsels. What were those counsels? They included you and me. He knew us by name even then and had purposes of blessing for us.
The Will of Gad
The will of God is mentioned four times in Eph. 1: in verse 1, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God," in Eph. 1:55Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5), "according to the good pleasure of His will," in Eph. 1:99Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9), "having made known unto us the mystery of His will," and the end of Eph. 1:1111In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11), "who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." How wonderful it is to come to a place where man's will does not enter in in any way, shape or form. God's will! "He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
Position and Condition
All these blessings are in Christ. We can possess nothing apart from Him. It is all linked together with the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Eph. 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3) it speaks of those spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. We read in Eph. 1:44According 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: (Ephesians 1:4): "According as He hath chosen us in Him... before Him in love." Next we have in Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6): "Accepted in the beloved." In Eph. 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7) we read: "In whom we have redemption." It is all in Christ. This is the position of the Christian. Our condition varies. It has been said that it is like a thermometer which has a scale that never varies. But there is a little thread of red that goes up and down in that scale. The scale that never varies is the position of the Christian and that little thread of red that measures the temperature and goes up and down is like our condition. Sometimes we are enjoying things and sometimes not.
We are so geared to our everyday life that we tend to value material things all out of proportion. We do need to earn our living and provide for our families. We should be diligent in business and see if we are making a profit or loss, but we sometimes need to stop and consider a chapter like Eph. 1. We need to shift gears and remember that, in this chapter, we are not measuring things by material advantage. We are looking at things now in a spiritual light, things that cannot be seen by the human eye.
Spiritual Blessings
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Eph. 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3). The heritage of the believer now is spiritual. In the Old Testament, God showed His favor by giving to them material blessings, if they were faithful and kept His commandments. Now it is not that way. The blessing of God in this dispensation has nothing to do with whether a person is poor or rich materially. It is spiritual blessings in heavenly places; for Israel it was material blessings in earthly places. These material things that each one of us have, are only mercies that God loans to us for a little while. Then He is going to ask how we used them in a future day. They are not our own; we are only stewards of what God has put into our hands for a little while. What we are speaking of in Eph. 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3) is every spiritual blessing we have in Christ.
Predestination
"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." Eph. 1:44According 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: (Ephesians 1:4). How is that possible? In Rom. 8:2929For 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. (Romans 8:29) it says, "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son." God knows everything beforehand, from that past eternity. God views every believer without blame and holy in Christ. This is our position that never changes.
In Eph. 1:55Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5) it says, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself." In Eph. 1:44According 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: (Ephesians 1:4), choosing for election is in connection with our persons; but in Eph. 1:55Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5), predestination is in connection with our position that we are to occupy as sons before Him. The place that God has brought us into is that of sons of God! Do we walk through this world in the dignity that belongs to us as sons of God? He chose you, not because of anything good He saw in you, but "according to the good pleasure of His will.”
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6). We may think that if we live up to a certain standard, maybe God will look at us with favor. How contrary to the spirit of this chapter. God looks at you with favor because of your position in Christ. These are spiritual blessings which cannot be seen, but they are real and they are ours to enjoy.
Redemption
Next we have Eph. 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7), "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." We have redemption through that precious blood of Jesus, the foundation of every blessing. Through all eternity we shall never forget this. Man might change his preaching and leave out the blood of Christ or the death of Christ, but we will never forget when we look at the Lord Jesus in that coming eternity. Our bodies will be free from the marks of sin with no scars, but His body will always carry those wounds to remind us of the terrible cost that made it all possible for us to be there.
It says, "we have redemption," not we hope to have. Yes, we already have it through His blood. We have the forgiveness of sins. Often we hear a believer ask for the forgiveness of sins time after time. But we already have the forgiveness. We need to confess our sins, but we already have forgiveness. When God forgives, there is no measure to it. He promises never to remember those sins again.
“Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself." Eph. 1:99Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9). He has come to us and opened up to us the mystery of His will. A mystery is something that is generally not revealed, but God has revealed what His will is to us. What is His will? "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." Eph. 1:10, 1110That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:10‑11). God's purpose, the mystery of His will, is that all things are going to be brought into subjection to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. The dispensation of the fullness of times is the millennial day, the last dispensation when we are going to be associated with our Lord Jesus. The whole universe is part of our inheritance. Why do we struggle so much to possess things here if every created thing is part of our inheritance in Christ in that coming day?
1. “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling." Eph. 1:1818The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18). These are the blessings that we considered which are ours here and now as seen in Eph. 1:3-93Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According 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: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:3‑9).
3. “What is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead." Eph. 1:19, 2019And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:19‑20). This is seen in Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13) and 14.
Oh, that we might grasp something of the preciousness, the vastness of the scope of this chapter. Moses stood on the top of those mountains and viewed the land of Canaan a long time enjoying what he saw, but he couldn't go in. We have gazed just a little bit and have had just a glimpse of these spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ. But unlike Moses, it is our privilege to enter into them, to tread every foot of this territory, to enjoy it and make it our own.
R. Thonney