Ephesians (Program #8) – The Mystery of God’s Will

Ephesians opens with some of the highest speaking in the entire Bible. Our selection, our predestination and our redemption are all mentioned but not as isolated items rather as indispensable steps in the accomplishment of God’s plan which is the great mystery of the universe through the ages. So, we have been chosen, predestinated, and redeemed for what? Ephesians 1:9 says, “Making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.” What is God’s will, His purpose, His plan?

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Ephesians (Program #7) – The Mystery of God’s Will

In the first chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul begins by establishing man’s pitiful and sinful condition; almost as though, he is proving to all mankind the need for redemption. Ephesians, however, another letter written by the apostle Paul, also speaks of redemption in the first chapter but from an entirely different perspective. This time it’s from the perspective of God and how He sees us and our need for redemption from the heavenlies. Listen to the marvelous way in which it’s presented in Ephesians chapter 1 “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved; In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace,” What an uplifted view of this matter of redemption we have in Ephesians.

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Ephesians (Program #6) – Redemption in the Son

If we take three simple words from the New Testament like ‘praise, glory and grace’, we may feel quite comfortable that we understand what they mean. But the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1 links them together in one verse, verse 6 “To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved;” How about now? Do you feel that your understanding is adequate according to the divine revelation especially when you put this verse in it’s context; that is, as the issue of our being predestinated unto sonship in verse 5?  Well, Ephesians is rich, high and mysterious because it is written from the viewpoint of God in the heavenlies. And from that point of view, ‘praise, glory and grace’ flowing out of our sonship are not simple at all but marvelous.

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Galatians (Program #33) – Born of the Spirit to Receive the Spirit (2)

At Christ’s death on the cross, we were redeemed. We might think that the purpose of redemption is so that we could be saved and go to heaven. But, Galatians 4:5 says that God has redeemed us so that we might receive the Sonship. To receive Sonship means that we’re born of God and thereby receive the divine life and nature. Stay with us today as we focus not on our future in heaven, but on how to live and walk in Spirit as the very sons of God.

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Exodus (Program #135) – The Sanctification of Aaron and His Sons to be the Priests (6) Redemption and Germination, Feasting on Christ, Peace and Wave Offerings

There is a wonderful verse in Romans chapter 5 that is known and loved by most Christians.  This is verse 1 “Therefore having been justified out of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ”  Peace with God through Christ.  This is a major theme of the good news of the gospel.  The Old Testament picture of peace through Christ was the peace offering in Exodus 29.  As we have seen again and again in our life study of Exodus, a picture is worth a thousand words.  If you appreciate the peace that Christ has secured for you, you won’t want to miss today’s life study of the Bible.

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Exodus (Program #134) – The Sanctification of Aaron and His Sons to be the Priests (5) Universal Priesthood, Redemption, Peace and Burnt Offerings

As genuine born-again Christians, we need to realize that it is possible to be saved and even forgiven of our sins yet fall short of God’s goal for our salvation.  What is this goal?  Revelation 1:5-6 tell us Jesus Christ has lose us from our sins by His blood and make us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.  Yes we are saved, but can we boldly declare that also we are priests to God?   To see what it really means to be a priest, we have to look into the types and pictures in the Old Testament.  We will, on today’s life study of the Bible.

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Exodus (Program #132) – The Sanctification of Aaron and His Sons to be the Priests (3) Redemption and Germination, Sanctification by Hands Filled

The record given in Exodus is very detailed about many spiritual matters, like the service of the Old Testament priesthood.  Chapter 29 in fact began this way “And this is what you shall do to them to sanctify them to serve Me as priests..”.  The following verses gave items after items of instructions.  But no where in the New Testament do we find such an account of how to sanctify the New Testament priests or even how to serve as the New Testament priests.  Yet the Bible clearly tells us that all the believers in Christ are the real priests.

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1 Corinthians (Program #8) – Christ, Our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption

In our human society we typically have a high regard for the wise and the well born among us and conversely we tend to despise even to disregard the poor and the lowly ones. Yet in God salvation there is no room for man to boast in himself. So God in His wisdom renders all our human wisdom mere folly in Christ. Well at the same time He Himself becomes wisdom and strength and status to all those who had been called. Listen to Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians chapter 1

“For consider your calling, brothers, that there are not many wise according to flesh, not many powerful, not many wellborn.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might shame those who are wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might shame the things that are strong, And the lowborn things of the world and the despised things God has chosen, things which are not, that He might bring to nought the things which are, So that no flesh may boast before God.”

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Exodus (Program #108) – The Altar of Burnt Offering (5)

The record of the Passover given in Exodus gives us a detail account of Christ’s redeeming death.  But another picture in Exodus also touches redemption and that picture is the altar of the burnt offering in the tabernacle.   These Old Testament pictures unveil redemption in its thorough and wonderful details.  To see redemption and to see the redeeming Christ in the picture of the altar will make a deep and lasting imprint upon any lover of Jesus.

We come today to our 5th program dealing with the altar of burnt offering that was in the Outer Court of the tabernacle.  It may seems to a lot of people, like this is too much time to spend on such an Old Testament item as the altar.  But what we’ve really been spending our time on is the redeeming Christ.  How is the altar a clear type of redemption and the redeemer?

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Romans (Program #57) – Righteousness – The Power of the Gospel (1)

Our God is righteous.  He is right, He is just, He is righteous in all of His acts.  In the redeeming death of Christ, the righteousness of God was not only manifested – it was satisfied.  And now this righteousness becomes the power of the gospel.

We are going to see in the next two days that God’s righteousness is the power of the gospel and the foudation of our salvation.  This is not a common thought to think of God’s righteousness as the power of the gospel …… what we need to see is not so much the power itself in this particular session; rather, we need to see the reason the gospel is so powerful –  powerful enough to be called “the power of God unto salvation”.  The reason for the power is that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel of God.

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