Chapter 1 presents God's counsels in regard to Christ and the Church. We are carried back before the foundation of the world to trace the source of all our blessings in God's eternal purpose: we are transported to the fullness of times, there to see the inheritance of glory when all God's counsels will be fulfilled. In chapter 2:1-10 we have God's work in us, in view of His counsels for us, whereby He quickens dead souls, raises them up together with Christ, and seats them in Christ in the heavenlies.
PH 2:11-22{In chapter 2:11-22 we have God's ways with us in time to bring about His counsels for us in eternity. There is what God has purposed for us, what God works in us, and what God does with us. He works in us that we might be quickened together with Christ; He works with us that we might be brought together in one Body, fitly framed together into a holy Temple in the Lord, and builded together for an Habitation of God through the Spirit.
PH 2:1-10{We can, however, readily understand that the Epistle must of necessity commence with unfolding the purpose of God; for unless we know His purposes for eternity, we shall not understand His ways in time. We might well be puzzled by the way a parent trains his child until we learn the parent's ultimate purpose for the child. Confining then our thoughts to the early part of the Epistle (2:1-10), we see the Church presented in connection with the counsels and work of God. Man's work and man's responsibilities have no place in this passage. All is counseled by God, and all is carried out by God: and, being of God, all is perfect.
Verses 3-7 unfold the counsels of God for His saints individually-those who compose the Church. In this great passage we see the character of our blessings, the source of our blessings, the end God has in view, and the means by which that end is reached.
As to the character of our blessings, it is important to remember that they are spiritual, and heavenly, and in Christ, for we are so prone to look for blessings that are material, and earthly, and in connection with Adam. The realization of the true character of our blessings would have an immense effect upon our testimony. What is the aim of the great mass of so-called ministry today? Is it not, in the main, to make believers moral rather than spiritual, to improve their earthly position rather than call them out of the world for Heaven, and to improve the first man rather than lead into the new position in Christ? God forms our character and testimony by instructing us in the true character of our blessings and leading us into the enjoyment of them.
As to the source of all our blessings we read, "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." All our blessings have their source in the counsels of the Father's heart. We discover that His heart was set upon us before the foundation of the world. And He delights that we should know it; and loving the Father, we count it one of our choicest privileges that He should have revealed to us the secrets of His heart. Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world involves a choice that is independent of the scene of creation. Hence God's purpose for us cannot depend upon anything that we have done or can do. We find ourselves in a world of sorrow and trial, of opposition and persecution, but God's purpose cannot be altered by anything we are called to pass through in time. The devil would attempt to use the difficulties of the way to raise in our hearts distrust of God and to call in question the reality of His love. But here we are permitted to see that the love of the Father is behind all, and that, before the foundation of the world, He set His love upon us in view of our eternal blessing when the world shall be no more. How this steadies the soul in its journey through the world, for nothing that takes place in the ways of God in time can touch the counsels of love that were settled in eternity and for eternity.
Moreover, we are not only carried back before the foundation of the world to find the source of all our blessing in the heart of God, but we are carried on in spirit to view the end of all God's counsels in glory. Thus we learn that God had purposed to have the saints before Him in a condition that is suited to Him: "holy and without blame before Him in love"- holy in character, without blame in conduct, and in love as to nature. Nothing less would suit the heart of God; for if God is to have a people before Him in a condition suited to Him, it must be in a condition in which they are like Him. Only that which is like God is suited to God. God is holy in character, blameless in all His ways, and love in His nature. And in this condition He has purposed to have us so that He can delight in us and we can delight in Him. Nothing less would suit His heart, and nothing less would make us happy in His presence. No question as to character, or conduct, or nature will ever be raised in that scene to mar our joy in God or His satisfaction in us. And what will be accomplished in its fullness then is wrought in our souls by the Spirit now, if, in the power of the Spirit, we shall seek to answer down here to what we shall be in perfection up there.
Futhermore, not only are we chosen to be in a condition suited to God, but we are predestined to enjoy the relationship of sons before the Father. Angels, doubtless, will be before God in a condition suited to God, but they are there in the position of servants. We are brought into the relationship of sons. This is the special privilege to which we are predestined according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Moreover, in view of the accomplishment of God's purpose, we must be redeemed and have the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ, according to the riches of His grace. The apostle has connected predestination with "the glory of His grace"; now he connects redemption with "the riches of His grace." Our great need is met by the riches of His grace, but the glory of His grace does more; it takes us into favor and gives us the place of sons. Meeting the prodigal's need shows how rich were the resources of grace in the Father's home; but giving him the place of son displayed the glory of the grace in the Father's heart. In the Epistle to the Romans the death of Christ is fully developed in meeting all our responsibilities, and thus there the apostle exclaims, "0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." In Ephesians the apostle passes beyond our responsibilities to unfold our privileges; hence we have not only the riches of His grace, but the glory of His grace.
Having then, in the first seven verses, unfolded the counsels of the Father's heart concerning His people, the apostle passes on to fresh wonders. He discloses to us the Father's secret will concerning Christ. He has satisfied our hearts by unfolding the purposes of love, He has given the conscience rest by the work of redemption, and thus set free, we are able to enter into God's thoughts concerning Christ and the Church.
God would have us to know the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself for the administration of the fullness of times. What does this word "mystery" mean? Is it something that we cannot understand, or that is mysterious or puzzling? Far from it. In Scripture a mystery is a secret that cannot possibly be known until revealed by God, and when revealed can only be known by the initiated. This mystery is according to His good pleasure; it is a secret that delights His heart, for it concerns Christ. Do we say that we are not interested in mysteries, that we leave these deep things to others? Surely not, for this would mean that we are content to know what God has in His heart for us, without any concern as to what God has in His heart for Christ.
Here the mystery has reference to the "fullness of times" when God will have everything administered according to His mind: when everything that God has instituted at other times, and which has so utterly failed in the hands of men, will be administered in all its fullness under Christ. Government and priesthood and royalty were instituted by God in other days, only to break down because committed to man's responsibility. But the time is coming when they will all be seen in perfection and fullness. This will be brought about by heading up all things in Christ, both the things which are in Heaven and which are on earth. At present Christ is hidden; but when He comes forth in glory, all the confusion, the sorrow and disorder of this world will be past. Satan's reign will be ended, the time of Israel's blindness will be over, the godless rule of the Gentile nations will be closed, the groan of creation will be hushed, and the curse will be removed. All will be brought about, not by the spread of the Gospel, as some vainly imagine, or by anything that man can accomplish, but by Christ alone. When He sets up His throne-when He reigns-all will be administered to the good pleasure of God.
The Old Testament abundantly foretells "the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow," which glories, though they reach to the utmost bounds of earth, are still earthly and not heavenly. This is no secret or mystery; on the contrary the prophets are full of glowing descriptions of the earthly kingdom. When, however, we come to the New Testament, God unfolds to us the great secret, that Christ's dominion will stretch immeasurably beyond the limits of earth; that as a Man, Christ will have dominion not only "from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth," but over the whole vast universe of God to the utmost bounds of creation; that He should be set far above all principality and power and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; yea, more, that all things in Heaven and earth will be united under Christ as Head.
God has abounded to us in all wisdom and intelligence in thus making known to us not only His purpose for His people, but the secrets of His heart for Christ; not only His purpose for earth, but His secrets concerning the whole universe. The Heavens are now severed from the earth, but it will not always be so. God has purposed to unite Heaven and earth under Christ as Man. This is the mystery of His will, but even so it is not the whole mystery. For the mystery concerns, "Christ and the Church" (Eph. 5:3232This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)). Not Christ alone, nor the Church alone, but Christ and the Church. This leads us on to the most amazing part of the mystery; that in the day of His universal dominion, Christ will have a vast company of people-saved from the wreck and ruin of this fallen world-made like to Himself as the result of His own work, united to Him by the Holy Spirit, to share with Him in all the glory of His universal sway as His Body and His Bride.
The remaining portion of this chapter brings before us this further truth. The apostle continues "in whom also we have obtained an inheritance." In verses 11 and 12 he speaks of the Jewish believers, in verse 13, of the Gentile believers, and in verse 14, in speaking of "our inheritance" he refers to both Jewish and Gentile believers together.
Thus, to use the words of another, this great mystery is "Christ and the Church united in heavenly blessedness and dominion over everything that God has made."
Christ will reign over Israel, over the Gentiles, over the whole universe, but never is it said that He will reign over the Church. Christ, indeed, will ever be supreme, but to the praise of His glory the Church will reign with Him.
This is made more abundantly plain by the apostle's prayer which closes the chapter. Having unfolded the hope of the calling in verses 3-7, and the inheritance in verses 8-14, the apostle now prays that we may know these things, and moreover that we may know the greatness of the power to us that will bring these glorious truths to fruition. This power has been set forth in raising Christ from the dead and setting Him "above all" and putting "all things under His feet." But while it is given to Christ as Man to be Head over all, He is Head to the Church which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all things. Here the Church is viewed as the Body of Christ, not in the ways of God on earth, but according to the counsels of God in glory.
In the beginning of the chapter we have the unfolding of the counsels of God for the individuals who compose the Church; in the end of the chapter, the counsels of God for the Church, as a whole, under the figure of a body. We are taken on to a time when the Body, complete in glory, will be united to the Head in His dominion over all things.
Adam and Eve furnish a type of Christ and the Church. Eve was not directly set in dominion over this lower world, but Adam was. It is true God said unto them "Be fruitful... and have dominion," but actually Adam was set in dominion before Eve was formed. The animal creation was brought to Adam to name; he was in relation with all as head over all, and by association with Adam, Eve shared in his dominion.
So the Church, by association with Christ, will share in His universal dominion over all creation. And just as Eve was said to be a helpmeet for Adam-his counterpart-so the Church is said to be the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Apart from the Church, Christ would lack His fullness. As one has said, "As Son of God, He, of course, requires nothing to complete His glory; but as Man He does. He would no more be complete in His resurrection glory without the Church than Adam would have been without Eve."