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EPHESIANS - Be Filled With The Spirit
Meditations, Reflections, Prayer and Questions over the Epistel to the Ephesians
Part 1 - The Prayers of the Apostle at the Beginning of his Letter for the Churches in and around Ephesus (Ephesians 1:3-23)
A - A Prayer of the Apostle at the Beginning of his Letter for the Churches in and around Ephesus (Ephesians 1:3-15)

Our redemption through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7-10)


Ephesians 1:4-6
1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence (Eph. 1:7-8)

What does redemption through Jesus Christ mean?

Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus that he and they had something that most people do not know of or possess: redemption – which Jesus had completed on the cross and which had been realized in “many” of His followers. They do not possess this privilege, however, as “private property”. Rather, it is theirs only in communion with the resurrected Christ. The Lord Jesus had the mysterious word redemption in view when He testified of Himself: “ Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Whoever follows Jesus will not become a dictator, a director, or any other kind of “fool”, but a servant. The Lord of all mankind did not come riding a splendid horse, attired in regal clothing, but came on foot as a humble servant, whose duty it was to wash the feet of His disciples like a slave would do (John 13:1-17).

This introductory reference regarding the redemption “of many” amounted to a revolution of society. The former Soviet president Brezhnev is reported to have said: “The program of communism is good, only the communists don’t go along with it! They don´t want to serve!” Jesus did not, however, change the terrible situations that often cry out to heaven. Instead He gave egotistical people who were, nevertheless, bent on serving Him, a new mindset, making servants and maids out of them. Our God Himself is gentle and lowly in heart! (Matt. 11:29) Whoever binds himself to Him in faith will be transformed into His likeness.

His all-comprehensive redemption is part of His principled service. Jesus did not command His disciples, as a dictator would do, to obey Him. Rather, He offered Himself up, so that they might learn to offer themselves for others.

In the time of Jesus, the word “ransom” meant the purchase price for a slave one wanted to buy free. Therefore, “redemption” in the gospel means the setting free from the slavery of sin, from the dominion of Satan and from the bands of death. Jesus voluntarily offered His life as the purchase price for all those who love and obey Him, so that they might be saved from the wrath of God and liberated from the power of all enemies of the Lord.

Why was it necessary for Jesus to die as a result of this act of liberation? According to the law of the Old Testament, every sinner was to be killed because of his transgressions of the commands of the Lord. Yet because everyone sins, every person would have been judged and condemned. Therefore, the merciful Lord gave the law concerning substitutionary animal sacrifice. Every sinner needed to bring a sacrificial animal into the temple, place his hand on its head, confess his iniquities over it, and slay it with his own hand (Lev. 1:4; 3:2, 8; 4:13, 15, 22, 24, 27, 29, 33; 8:14, 18, 22; 16:21 etc.), so that the reigning priest could smear from its blood onto the horns of the altar of burnt offering. In such way all unintentional transgressions were to be confessed and atoned for before the holy Lord. The one who intentionally sinned was to be killed for his transgression.

We also read in the New Testament that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness before the thrice holy God (Heb. 9:22). Nevertheless, in the promises of the Old Testament there is a chapter that clearly describes the sacrificial representation of the Messiah for the redemption of many: “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Is. 53:3-7).

Whoever wants to understand why the Apostle Paul referred to the Lord Jesus as “the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6) should take the time to memorize this verse or read it through several times. Only then will he realize the unending great love of Jesus and come to thank Him and love Him from heart. Because of His substitutionary suffering and death, millions of redeemed testify to and honor Christ as their “Beloved” (Rev. 7:9-10). Do we really love Jesus? What does this love look like in practice?

Jesus died on the cross for all men. With His substitutionary death He atoned for the sins of all transgressors. He need not die again for Jews, Muslims or Hindus. The salvation of the world has been completed in this day and age. Why then do we only read that “many” and not “all” are saved? A person is largely free to decide whether or not he accepts his redemption from sin and bondage. No one is forced to believe on Jesus or to love Him. Before the great and final Day of Judgment he can proudly reject his redemption and think he is good enough to be able to stand before God. The majority of people today reject their salvation through Jesus or even laugh at it. Yet whoever casts aside the perfect redemption available in Jesus hardens his own heart and becomes the prey of Satan. The de-Christianization of our world is growing rampantly. Two-thirds of all people belong to no Christian church. The number of those under anti-Christian influence is growing faster, by way of overpopulation, than the number of those who are called Christian – and this despite all missionary endeavor. Jesus warns us: “For many are called, but few are chosen!” (Matt. 20:16; 22:14)

Through His blood we receive forgiveness for our sins

The people in Europe strictly reject a religion that requires the shedding of blood for the justification of sinners. They forget that the Lord first gave His revelations to the Semites. Abel´s burnt offering of an animal was more acceptable than Cain´s offering of the fruit of the field, which was why Cain slew his brother (Gen. 4:1-8). Abraham cut in two a cow, a goat and a ram before the Lord, who transacted a covenant with His servant and, in the darkness of night, sent a consuming flame to incinerate the sacrifice (Gen. 15:9-11, 17). The LORD forbid Abraham to offer human sacrifice, when he was ready to offer up his son Isaac (Gen. 22:6-14). Moses ordered, under the commission of his Lord, the offering of countless sacrifices for the absolution of the sins of his people. The blood of the Passover lamb, which was smeared over the doorposts of their dwellings, is what saved the people from the angel of God´s judgment (Ex. 12:3-7, 21-24, 29). The unique offering made at the conclusion of the covenant in Sinai (Ex. 24:5-8) and the yearly sacrifice for the entire nation on the great Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:5-10; 23:26-32) had special significance. Without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness under the Old Covenant (Lev. 17:10-14), for every sin needed to be atoned for through the slaying of an animal sacrifice. Therefore, to this very day Jews and their guests take no food mixed with blood and would never eat a sausage containing blood (Lev. 17:10).

The Lord Jesus understood the many sacrificial ordinances of the Old Testament to be previous symbols of His sacrificial suffering and death. He composed and summarized these when He initiated the Lord´s Supper: “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:27-28).

In celebrating the approaching Passover, Jesus described the wine, which He commanded all His disciples to drink, as “His blood” that only once would be shed for the founding of the New Covenant. Through His substitutional atonement, all the sins of His followers were forgiven. This all-comprehensive, for every continent and for all time general amnesty of God, has doubtlessly been prepared for all mankind. However, the one who does not believe on the Lamb of God and bind himself to Him for all eternity has lost his portion of this complete and perfect reconciliation. Therefore, the offer of unlimited forgiveness is only realized in “many”, and not in “all”. The Catholic Priest Boos, who had an evangelistic heart, recognized this mystery, so that he cried: “The incredibly dumb world has been redeemed – and doesn´t believe it!”

The writings of the Apostle Peter, John, Paul and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews are full to the brim with the confirmation of this abundance of grace. We give some examples, even when some texts have been previously mentioned in this book.

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”…”My little children, these things I write unto you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 1:7; 2:1-2).

For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:22-24).

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God!” – For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 9:14; 10:14).

Paul used several attributes to describe the fullness of grace flowing from Christ´s death on the cross. He spoke, for example, of the riches of His grace. As a result of having peace with God, which Jesus made possible for His followers through His reconciliation with the thrice holy God, all gifts of the Holy Spirit have become available for His church. In worship the angels confessed: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12). The church in Philippi sang: “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:8-11).

Paul testified of the great riches of His grace that the Lord Jesus had granted to him, to his co-workers and to the saints in Ephesus. With fanatical zeal the young Torah lawyer had persecuted believers of the Nazarene, who were confessing that this Jesus, from the ill-famed hill town of Nazareth, was the Messiah of God. Paul tormented them to get them to deny their Savior, and even helped to kill them if they persisted in holding to Jesus (Acts 8:3; 9:1-2; 26:9-11). He later confessed: “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (1 Tim. 1:13-16).

The apostle testified that the Lord Jesus does not dispense His grace haphazardly or according to some rigid scheme, but rather, He gives it with '''“all wisdom and prudence. He deals with every sinner individually, in accordance with his own repentance, regret, honesty, willingness to change his ways, faith and diligence as well as faithfulness. Whoever carefully reads through the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation will notice how the resurrected Lord dealt with each of the church leaders in the Roman province of Asia individually. With strictness and love, with patience and compassion, with precise knowledge of each local situation and with psychological tact and delicacy, the Lord and Savior handled each of His servants. He presented Himself differently before each and every individual, corresponding to each ones spiritual situation. He encouraged every person, in a suitable and attractive manner, to overcome his sins and weaknesses in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had described the courageous confession of faith of Peter: “You are Christ, the Son of the living God” as the rock on which He would build His church. After a very short time, however, when the Lord spoke of His suffering, death and resurrection in Jerusalem, Peter took Him aside, wanting to dissuade Him from pursuing this way of distress and suffering. At that time his lord called him “Satan”, and commanded the evil spirit to come out of him immediately (Matt. 16:16-23).

The spiritual council of Jesus showed itself to be no soft, unspiritual love. Rather, it reflected the mercy of a father toward one of his lost sons. At the Last Judgment, Christ, the Judge, will welcome those standing at His right as those blessed of His Father, and admit them, as heirs, into His kingdom. The condemned ones standing to His left, however, He will dismiss to hell, into the presence of Satan and his fallen angels (Matt. 25:34, 41). The wisdom and the prudence of Christ, in dispensing the riches of His grace, is not earthly and logical, but rather, spiritual and heavenly. Therefore, we need to learn to do some rethinking, and, by so doing, enter into school with Paul and John and even with Jesus Himself.

Prayer: Father in heaven, because of the merciful and substitutionary suffering and death of Your Son Jesus Christ, we worship You. You justified us by grace alone and cleansed us through the blood of Christ. Who are we that You should show compassion to us? Help us, so that our life can be lived out in praise to You for our redemption. Help also many of our friends and family to turn to You. Amen.

Questions:

  1. What does “our redemption through Jesus Christ” mean?
  2. Why is the forgiveness of our sins only realized through the blood of Christ?
  3. How does the Lord apportion the riches of His Grace?

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