Reading 4—Saturday afternoon
Ephesians 1: 3-14; 2: 17-18; 3: 14-21
A.J.G. These scriptures give us the primary thoughts of God, and in each of the three scriptures, the three divine Persons are presented. The Father is the object of the doxology in chapter 1. Purpose and counsel is accredited to Him in this dispensation. But then the Son is brought in immediately as the One who is the Centre of all counsels and by whom everything is introduced. The Spirit is presented as the earnest of our inheritance, and as the One by whom we are sealed. As Earnest He gives us power now to enter into these things, that in their fullness are still future.
In chapter 2 we have access to the Father through Christ and by one Spirit; and in the prayer in chapter 3, when the apostle bows his knees to the Father, he prays to be “strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”, and that would have in view that we should be filled to all the fullness of God. Then at the very end, in verses 20 and 21, glory is ascribed to God.
It seems, as you contemplate the three Persons of the Godhead that they are fully united in view of divine purpose reaching its end in this doxology to God at the end of chapter 3. We are here on the ground of the sovereign will of God, yet a will that demanded the incarnation of Christ and the coming down of the Holy Spirit. So we have the movements of divine persons and their relationships that they have entered into on account of us, having their origin in the counsel of God’s own will.
E.O. That is why the Lord Jesus says: “Lo, I come … to do, O God, thy will”, Heb 10: 7.
A.J.G. Yes, the will of God is the beginning to everything. We have here the expression: “according to the good pleasure of his will”, and then, “works all things according to the counsel of his own will”.
L.M. That is why the apostle could praise God; he starts with praising His will.
A.J.G. Yes, he calls himself, “apostle of Jesus Christ by God's will”. It seems that the will of God required his apostleship, in view of bringing the saints livingly into what God had in mind for them.
W.Sch. Does this explain why, in this very book where we have the greatest truths expressed, the will of God is specially emphasised.
A.J.G. Yes, that is most important. The will of God sets everything in movement. When we see what His will is, then we get an impression of what a wonderful God He is. We get a wonderful impression that God is love as well as an impression of His wisdom, and of course also His power, that excludes everything else. Towards the end of chapter 1, he speaks of “the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe”, v 19. The more we linger over the greatness of God as He shines out, and the different attributes of God which have come to light, the more we will be found in a spirit of worship. Worship does not really spring from our consciousness of our blessing, but rather from a sense we have of the presence of God.
R.Z. That is why Paul says to the Ephesians in Acts 20: 27 that he had not “shrunk from announcing to you all the counsel of God”.
A.J.G. That is most significant. One has often thought about that, why Paul spent three years in Ephesus. When he came there, he found both Jews and heathens, but the activities of the apostle for three years were enough with the help of the Lord to bring this company of saints into the full counsel of God. It was a special work for the apostle linked with prayers and tears, as well as much personal service for the saints and also at their gatherings. That is why we can expect that God can work very quickly even today. He can achieve much in a very short time, as we allow him to work.
P.Sch. Are not these great thoughts pointed out in the end of Romans 11 and chapter 16?
A.J.G. Yes, that is the case. You must always have in mind that Romans has the assembly in view. We often say that the letter is only for individuals, but the apostle had the assembly in mind in all his service, and when we are well founded in Romans, then it is not difficult to enter into greater truth. Mr Darby said that a good Roman can go anywhere. Romans confirms us in a special way in the definite recognition of the Spirit. When this marks us, then we have no difficulty entering into spiritual thoughts.
B.S. “Chosen us in him before the world’s foundation”: maybe you have some thought on this?
A.J.G. I believe it shows that God has all resources needed for what He is going to bring about in Himself, in God. That is why it was in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, that one of the Godhead should become Man.
R.D. Do we have that in verse 9: “having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure”?
A.J.G. The mystery of His will is what follows: that God has purposed in Himself to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth. That is still a mystery. The rulers of this world know nothing about this, but the saints have come into the light of it.
E.B. Could you please say something about the heavenlies?
A.J.G. It is a remarkable expression, “in the heavenlies”. I believe it would emphasise that our blessings are not on the earth. They are spiritual and not of a natural kind, they are heavenly and not earthly.
A.G. I believe Ephesians has a heavenly character for the believer. The coming of the Lord is not referred to in this letter. We are now viewed as those that are found in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus; that is our position.
A.J.G. Yes, and God has created heaven as well as earth, to show us what great thoughts He has for us. That is why it says in Isaiah 55: 9: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”. This expression “the heavenlies” therefore means that God wants to give us the highest blessing.
H.H. Paul says, “as having nothing, and possessing all things”, 2 Cor 6: 10.
A.J.G. Yes, that is so.
A.M. Is it always important to think that our citizenship is heavenly?
A.J.G. Yes, and the Spirit will help us to further this. There is something that rises above all, what the Spirit brings to us that belongs to the assembly, that we are united with Christ and that we are held in His love. As Christ is in heaven, so our place is also there, and the more we have this consciousness in our souls, the more we will be released from things down here.
R.Z. Why does this word come in here after our heavenly position is established, “redemption through his blood”?
A.J.G. In view of giving us a full thought of divine grace. It is the glory of His grace that He has in Christ taken us into the favour of sonship; but it is the surpassing richness of His grace, that He has forgiven our offences through the blood of the Beloved.
H.H. The blood of the Beloved links us with God’s own Son.
A.J.G. Yes, the link consists in the very fact. “The Beloved” is a remarkable name, and in Him we have redemption through His blood, through the blood of the Beloved. This shows the surpassing richness of the grace of God and also the glory of His grace, so that God in His wonderful preciousness should be before us, that worship should be developed.
C.M.M. Sonship here is something that God prepares for Himself.
A.J.G. It is most important that we should consider that. If we only look at this in view of what it brings us, then we miss the main point. It is all that God has planned according to the pleasure of His own will. From all eternity love existed among the Persons of the Godhead, because God is love, and it was love among fully equal Persons. But it was according to the counsel of God that One of them should become Man, and also that He should be loved in a special way in this position. That is why the Lord says in John 17: 24: “thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”. This love is now enjoyed, and it rests upon a Man, so that we can be brought to God in this Man.
S.C.D. Does this involve the expression, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
A.J.G. I am inclined to say that is the Father. In this dispensation the Father retains the place of supremacy, and the purpose and counsels of God are attributed to Him; while the Son is presented as the Centre of all these counsels, as the One they are all about, but also by whom they all have been secured. The Spirit is viewed as the One making this effective in us. In principle, the whole Godhead has part in it in the unity of their thoughts and their purposes. The question is how the things are presented now in this dispensation.
A.G. The first word that God said was, “Let there be light”, Gen 1: 3. I believe that, if we are going to enjoy the blessings, then we must move in the light of God. Light and life go together.
A.J.G. Yes, that is right.
H.Ch.H. Could you say something about the mystery mentioned in verse 9?
A.J.G. It is the mystery of His will there. I believe it is not the same as we will come to in chapter 3. In chapter 3 we have the same mystery as we have in Colossians. It says there: “they who are of the nations should be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus”. The mystery there concerns Christ and the assembly, which is His body. But it says in chapter 1: 9, “having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself for the administration of the fulness of times”, which would mean what colours the world to come. It means that all things will be headed up in the Christ. Then we have already now an inheritance in Him, so that later on when all things will be headed up the assembly will share His headship. But this is something unknown; only His saints who are inaugurated in the mystery know it.
C.M.M. I thought that the mystery of His will is presented as the good pleasure of His will as it comes out in verses 6 and 9.
A.J.G. I believe it helps us to see that it is a feature of sonship to have an understanding of the thoughts of God, because when he has spoken of the glory of His grace and the riches of His grace, he goes on to say: “which he has caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence, having made known to us the mystery of his will”. When a father still has young children, then he does not tell them about all his interests, because he knows that they are not yet able to take them in. But when they have grown up and are sons in the full meaning of the word, then he draws them into his confidence and tells them all of what he has planned in his heart. I believe it is important to see that sonship is not only a relationship, but it requires also a full understanding and interest on our side in all the interests God has proposed for us, in order that we should also be interested in other families as well as the assembly. I do not mean that other families already exist, but I think God expects us to have sympathy in all His interests.
W.Sch. In Ephesians 1: 5 it is a special idea of sonship, it is through Jesus Christ. It was even said of the angels that they were sons, and of Israel it was said: “Let my son go, that he may serve me”, Exod 4: 23.
A.J.G. Yes, that is so. The present time has a heavenly character, and the blessings are marked by being greater than what transpired before.
R.Z. Would these mysteries be related to what the Lord says to His disciples: “to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens”, Matt 13: 11?
A.J.G. That would be mysteries in the sense of what was hidden of the things of God from the wise and prudent of this world, but are now made known for the saints. The mysteries of the kingdom relate to what God is doing now.
T.A. Is this expressed in 1 Corinthians 2: 9: “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed to us by his spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”?
A.W. Even the mystery is mentioned there.
A.J.G. Yes. “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery”, v 7. Then it says: “that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory”. That connects it, as I understand, with the same mystery we have in Ephesians and Colossians. But the point in Corinthians is that the apostle says to them that he could not develop it, on account of their carnal condition. He says he was prepared to reveal it, but they were not in the state for him to develop it.
C.M.Oe. In verse 9 it says: “which he purposed in himself”. Is that the Father or God?
A.J.G. We should not say it is the Father, and then exclude the Son and the Spirit.
B.S. Here it is certainly a definite mystery, what God has purposed in Christ for the administration of the fulness of times; to head up all things in Christ.
A.J.G. Yes, as I understand that expression, it looks on to the world to come, it means that God has in mind to bring all things together under Christ as head. The end of the chapter shows that the assembly has part in the headship of Christ as well; this means that men are placed in such an elevated position through the wisdom and grace of God.
W.Sch. But this requires that we acknowledge Him as Head now.
A.J.G. It says later, “ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. It is a very precious thought that we have been sealed. God sealing us means that we belong to Him.
R.Z. We see that at the sepulchre where Jesus was laid. It was sealed by the Roman power. But that seal broke.
A.J.G. One angel was enough to break that seal, and he sat himself on the stone and despised everything else.
L.M. Why is it the Holy Spirit of promise.
A.J.G. The possession of the Spirit was a matter of promise for many centuries. In the prophet Joel, there is a definite promise of the Spirit, and many other scriptures show that the Spirit was to come, so the Lord could say: “I send the promise of my Father upon you”, Luke 24: 49. It all shows that, from Pentecost and on, when the assembly was formed, the climax of the ways of God was reached. There will be of course another time, when Israel will be brought in, and also persons who will be blessed on the earth; but all that is mentioned in the Old Testament has in mind this wondrous moment, the time we are in now.
A.T.E. Does “to the praise of his glory” involve the praise of the glory of the Spirit.
A.J.G. It is to the praise of the glory of God. The section from verse 3 to verse 14 is one whole.
W.Sch. Three times it says there: “to the praise of the glory”.
A.J.G. Yes.
B.S. It says in verse 5: “according to the good pleasure of his will”.
A.J.G. The thought of praise is predominant in this section, it envisages that when God has manifested His great thoughts of purpose, there is a reason for us to praise Him.
R.Z. The acquired possession leads to praise for His glory.
H.Rä. In Psalm 145: 2 it says, “Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever”.
A.J.G. Yes, we already looked at Psalm 48: 10 where it says: “According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise”. God’s thought in making Himself known was that He would be praised according to what He is and how He has made Himself known. In chapter 2, we read about the access that we already have: “through him”, it says—that is through Christ, “we have both”—that is Jew and Gentile—“access by one Spirit to the Father”. Thus the whole Godhead is referred to in this little verse, that the believers should be aware of the liberty that they can approach the Father. Christ is the Mediator, and the Spirit the power.
R.D. Does this specially come before us on Lord’s day morning?
A.J.G. It gives us a special touch when believers move together in the unity of one Spirit. But you would still not limit it. It is characteristic of the whole of Christianity, that we through Christ have access by one Spirit to the Father.
R.Z. That belongs to both Jews and Gentiles.
A.J.G. Yes surely, and it belongs to every kind of believer, such as would not naturally be able to get on with one another. Yet still we can go forward together in the appropriation of the death of Christ and in the benefit of the Spirit.
E.E.P. Would you say we have an indication already in John 4, of what was fulfilled here, those afar off and those near, yet it is the access to the Father that the Lord presents to the woman.
A.J.G. Yes, the Lord said the Father seeketh worshipers. The Lord said that to a Samaritan woman, to one that the Jews did not want to have anything to do with. But she and other worshippers, whether she was a Jew or not, should be worshipping the Father.
E.E.P. Is it significant that the thought of peace is emphasised in these verses: “peace to you who were afar off” and “peace to those who were nigh”?
A.J.G. It is most important from a practical point of view, that we really should be united in the worship of God as one heart and one soul. You often find personal differences amongst believers, and that hinders the service of worship, or we occupy ourselves with our natural characteristic traits, and this also hinders the service. But the apostle says here that the death of Christ has taken place, in view of ending the Jews and also the Gentiles; and all difficulties will disappear when the persons die. We are able to die when we appropriate the death of Christ. Then we are able to move together in the benefit of the Spirit.
H.H. One new man, not two new men, one Jew and one from the Gentiles! Do you have that in mind?
A.J.G. Yes, one new man. It is sad that difficulties are very often prolonged for weeks and years, because those concerned have not availed themselves of the death of Christ and the Spirit.
L.M. Should this be referred to in the announcement of the gospel? It says here He “preached the glad tidings of peace”.
A.J.G. Yes, surely so.
P.Sch. Is that the position of service: “through him”; through the coming down of the Lord and by the service of the Spirit, that we have access to the Father?
A.J.G. Yes, that is so. We must have the mediatorship of Christ. The Lord says: “No one comes to the Father unless by me”, John 14: 6. We must have to do with God through Christ. Then there is no power available to move, but through the Spirit. That is most wonderful, as the Father remains in His supremacy and grace and love before us, but then both the Son and the Spirit are set in a subject position, in order that the believer should move towards the Father in worship.
C.M.M. Does this show that the new man has a desire to approach the Father?
A.J.G. Yes, that is so, as the Spirit in the believer moves in this direction. He cries “Abba, Father”.
B.S. Is peace more than faith and love?
A.J.G. Peace is of course necessary, when differences and divisions occur.
R.Z. That is why He must break down the middle wall of enclosure?
A.J.G. Yes, in a natural way it was impossible for Jews and Gentiles to move freely in the assembly; but in the death of Christ the Jew is finished and the Gentile is finished, and they are both reconciled to God by the cross into one body, in order to be able to walk joyfully together in the power of the same Spirit.
E.C. Difficulties would then be removed by the death of Christ.
A.J.G. Yes, we must accept the death of Christ. It is significant that it says in Genesis 24: 63: Isaac “lifted up his eyes”. But then it does not say he saw Rebecca coming to him, but that he saw camels coming. It says, “behold, camels were coming”. That means a united movement of believers towards Christ. It captured Isaac’s view that camels were coming. That is a unifying movement by all the saints towards Christ in the power of the Spirit.
Rem. Is “both” in verse 18 important, where it says; “through Him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”. It is only in the power of the Spirit that we can approach the Father through Christ Jesus.
A.J.G. It says, “by one Spirit”; we all have part in the one Spirit.
C.M.Oe. What does “he is our peace” mean?
A.J.G. That means to say that we are brought together in Him. When my natural things are finished in the death of Christ, and your natural things have ended in death, then we can rejoice in Christ, thus Christ becomes our peace.
C.M.Oe. It is maybe not so much the thought of our peace, but much more the peace that is in Him?
A.J.G. We are brought into the peace in Him. There are no difficulties in the presence of God, where Christ is. Every difficulty has been removed in His death, and now there is a Man in the presence of God, whose heart is rejoicing, and all believers are together in Him before God.
H.P. The Lord Jesus has said: “I give my peace to you”, John 14: 27.
A.J.G. That is another thing. That is the peace the Lord enjoyed when He was here as Man; in the testimonial setting; with all the resistance, He still found His peace in what the Father was to Him.
R.Z. After the resurrection the Lord drew close to His disciples, when the doors were shut for fear of the Jews, with the words: “Peace be to you”, John 20: 21.
A.J.G. Then we also see in chapter 3: 14 that the apostle bows his knees before the Father, and he goes on to say: “of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named”. It means he leaves us here with a view of the great glory that the Father has in view, and he desires that we should have an understanding of this. He also desires that we should be strengthened by His Spirit in our inner man. The Spirit of the Father has in mind to bring into our hearts the thought of the Father and His feelings.
L.M. Should we read Revelation in the light of the Spirit of the Father? There are many references to the Father.
A.J.G. I believe so. The book of Revelation of course is very much occupied with the earth, but it shows also that God will bring in other families. I believe in fact that the heavenly families, other than the assembly, are already formed, although they have not yet appeared; they await resurrection. They wait for the assembly to be complete. Then earthly families will also appear after the assembly has been raptured.
H.Ch.H. Do you think when we bow our knees, we will be strengthened by the Spirit?
A.J.G. Yes, I believe so. I think the apostle speaks to us of bowing his knees, in view of showing us the great exercises in which he was. He encourages us to do the very same: to come before the Father and ask Him to be strengthened by His Spirit, in order that we might see everything as He sees it, and see Christ as He sees Him. He is the One in whom every family will be headed up, for every family has an impression of Christ.
R.D. Does the Spirit of the Father bring Christ before us?
A.J.G. Yes, He does, and He gives us the Father’s thought of Christ and the whole region of glory which the Father connects with Christ.
R.Z. Could you say something about the families on earth?
A.J.G. I do not know a lot about it, though we know that Israel will be recovered to their place on earth. Chapter 7 of Revelation then shows us a great multitude that no one can number that would be saved out of the nations. Then we have in chapter 14 a multitude which stands with the Lamb on mount Zion. I believe that will be a special family, though I am not fully clear about it. We read in Matthew 25 34 that the Lord sits down on His throne of glory, and all the nations shall be gathered before Him, separating the sheep from the goats: the sheep on His right side are the nations that enter into blessing on the earth. It says: “Then shall the King say to those on his right hand, Come, blessed of my Father”. So the King of kings will tell even the saved ones out of the nations that they owe their blessing to His Father. That is why every family will have some knowledge of the Father. They have an impression of God in grace, as He is known in the Name of the Father. But the assembly knows the Father in a unique way, because we know the Father as Christ’s Father and our Father, and that is unique for the assembly.
E.E.P. And the breadth and length and depth and height can only be linked with the assembly.
A.J.G. I believe only the members of the assembly could get a real and full appreciation of that.
E.B. Could you say something of the thought of dwelling: that “Christ should dwell through faith in your hearts”? Is that more than to be in Christ?
A.J.G. I believe Mr Raven once said that a faithful wife always has her husband in her heart, even when he is absent; she always has him in her heart, and she only thinks of him and his interests3. What is normal to the assembly is that Christ dwells in our hearts, because we are united and linked with Him; and all that He inherits we will inherit with Him.
T.Pf. One Spirit in Him.
A.Ru. The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 is a type of this.
A.J.G. Yes, that is right. The husband’s heart confides in her.
H.L. Could you please say something about “filled even to the fulness of God”?
A.J.G. As far as I understand it, it means that there is an answer in us according to the fulness in which God is revealed, meaning that we have an intelligent appreciation of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and our answer to God shows that we are in the gain of this appreciation. I believe it involves that we are formed in love, because the more we have our mind on the way how the Godhead has revealed Itself, the more we see the way of perfect love. When we realise that the Father purposed this in Himself, and that the Son became Man and accomplished redemption and remains Man in eternity, so that we stand before God in His life in love, and that the Spirit has come to help us in relation to this, in that He produces in us affection and intelligence that are proper to this position, then we are always impressed by being embraced by nothing else but love. We should be formed in love, in order that selfishness should not get a place in us, because in the Godhead we see self-sacrifice.
H.Ch.H. The “fulness of God” is surely God Himself?
A.J.G. Surely.
M.M. Are we in the presence of what is unlimited and incomprehensible? It says that the love of the Christ surpasses all knowledge.
A.J.G. Yes, I believe that the thought of the length and breadth and depth and height conveys this thought, unlimited. Then the love of the Christ that surpasses knowledge speaks of what is incomprehensible. It is remarkable that it surpasses knowledge, yet we should apprehend it.
R.Z. It is most precious that we have the same thought in John 13, where the Lord took the linen towel. Would this be linked with what the length and breadth and depth and height is.
A.J.G. I believe that is the case, because the washing of their feet, surely involves for us the significance of His precious death. I believe we see the depth in the death of Christ especially in that He was made sin for us.
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