Ephesians: The eulogia (1:3), part 2.

Friday september 14, 2018

 

EPH 1:3-14 - the eulogia (noun) = a blessing bestowed. “Blessed be (eulogetos, adj.) the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed (eulogeo, verb) us with all blessing (eulogia, noun) in the heavenlies in Christ.

 

From the salutation, Paul launches into a eulogia, or declaration of blessing.

 

This was also common in the OT, as we saw. The Hebrew word is berakhah, meaning worthy of praise, as is a good definition of euologia.

 

In both Testaments, often when God is praised it is followed by a reason. We saw several examples of this in both Testaments. This leads us to understand that we cannot praise what we don’t know or don’t understand.

 

The story of the presentation and rejection of the kingdom by Christ illumes the vital importance of our hearing the understanding His blessings.  

 

We cannot praise and glorify God if we do not know the blessings He has given us. We must hear and learn, and then hear and learn some more. The story of the presentation of Christ reveals the importance of this so well that it become a matter of life itself.

 

Jesus came to earth as the full, visible representation of the Father. He announced to Israel that the kingdom of God was at hand. He was the King, the Messiah, and He performed many miracles revealing His power over demons, sickness, death, and sin.

 

Jesus presented the kingdom to Israel and performed many miracles, including three specific Messianic miracles.  

 

One day He healed a demon possessed man who was blind and dumb. The leadership knew that this was beyond the miracle that a prophet might do. They knew that this miracle was Messianic. They then sought an explanation.

 

MAT 12:22 Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.

 

MAT 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"

 

MAT 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."

 

Blasphemy against the HS, attributing Jesus’ miracles to Satan, will not be forgiven. The offer of the kingdom to Israel is rescinded. 

 

Jesus reveals that this sin cannot be forgiven. One could initially reject Christ, see His miracles and then believe on account of the works that Jesus was the Messiah. But to say that His miracles, especially three specific ones (healing Jewish leper, healing the blind, dumb, demon possessed man, and healing the man born blind) were done by the power of Satan, was to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and this cannot be forgiven.

 

MAT 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”

 

This means that the offer of the kingdom was rescinded.

 

Israel was warned to make straight paths for the Lord, but they blasphemed the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the kingdom was postponed.

 

MAR 1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way;

 

MAR 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

'Make ready the way of the Lord,

Make His paths straight.'"

 

Later three disciples would get a sneak preview on the Mt. of Transfiguration, a glory that would not reveal itself to the world until the Second Coming of Christ.

 

After Jesus proclaimed the unforgiveable sin, they asked for another sign (from heaven) and Jesus claimed the resurrection.

 

On other occasions they had asked Him for a sign from heaven, claiming how Moses gave them bread from heaven. In essence they were trying to give Jesus a fighting chance or another day in court. They had already seen many miracles and now they had seen the healing of a dumb, demon possessed man, which they knew to be a Messiah kind of miracle. They rejected these, and so probably thinking that they were being kind to Jesus, they give Him another chance in court. How would they not reject anything He did and again claim that He was empowered by Satan. But Jesus, as always knowing their hearts, obliges them, but not in the way that they think.

 

MAT 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."

 

MAT 12:39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet

 

In other words, the sign that will be given to them is the resurrection.

 

While the nation is doomed at HS blasphemy, Jesus will give the Jewish people the sign of the resurrection proclaimed by His disciples.

 

This will be proclaimed by the disciples at Pentecost and they will then have the opportunity to believe and become part of the church, which in turn would reveal to them that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed.

 

ACT 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — 

 

ACT 2:23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

 

ACT 2:24 "And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

 

ACT 2:25 "For David says of Him, [PSA 16:8-11]

 

'I was always beholding the Lord in my presence;

For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

 

ACT 2:26 'Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;

Moreover my flesh also will abide in hope;

 

ACT 2:27 Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades,

Nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.

 

ACT 2:28 'Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;

Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy presence.'

 

ACT 2:29 "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

 

ACT 2:30 "And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne,

 

ACT 2:31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.

 

ACT 2:32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

 

ACT 2:33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

 

ACT 2:34 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:

 

'The Lord said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

 

ACT 2:35 Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet. "' 

 

ACT 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ —  this Jesus whom you crucified."

 

Just days before His death, Jesus mentioned Psa 110 to the leaders and asked, “If David calls Him Lord, then whose Son is He?” They could not answer. After the resurrection, can they answer it now?

 

Rejecting the kingdom, many Jews were not in it and those who believed were. Blood family was no longer kingdom family.

 

Because the offer of the kingdom to Israel was rescinded, blood relatives, Jews, were not necessarily true family in the kingdom. The leadership and many of the people had rejected Him, and it is likely that Jesus’ own blood family had not yet come to believe in Him either.

 

The family in the kingdom would be royal family. And so, it is no mistake that here it is mentioned that Jesus’ earthly family was waiting for Him outside.

 

MAT 12:46 While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

 

MAT 12:47 And someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."

 

MAT 12:48 But He answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" 

 

MAT 12:49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold, My mother and My brothers!

 

MAT 12:50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

 

With the kingdom rescinded, Jesus began to speak in parables.

 

Because the kingdom is rescinded from Israel, and because the family in the kingdom would be believers in Him, some individuals in the nation, but not the leadership or the whole nation, Jesus began to speak in parables.

 

MAT 13:1 On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea.

 

MAT 13:2 And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach.

 

MAT 13:3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow …”

 

The believers would be able to understand the parables with His help in explanation. The unbelievers would not understand them.

 

If He spoke plainly, without parable, the unbeliever would have understood what He was saying and rejected that because they rejected Him.

 

The parable actually protects the soul of the unbeliever and makes him accountable for only one thing, believing that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

This is why the gospel to the unbeliever is only about Christ Jesus and faith in Him.

 

MAT 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"

 

MAT 13:11 And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

 

If they believe in Christ, it will be granted. Jesus will not plainly reveal the mysteries of the kingdom until the church begins at Pentecost, which He will do through His disciples.  

 

MAT 13:12 "For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

 

Let’s look at Mark’s account.

 

MAR 4:21 And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a peck-measure, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?

 

MAR 4:22 "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light.

 

MAR 4:23 "If any man has ears to hear, let him hear." 

 

Here there is an indication of a sort of hiddenness. Think of the Millennial Reign of Christ when He openly sits on David’s throne and makes the world a perfect place. Amazingly, there will still be unbelievers in that environment, but the King and the truth will be openly revealed to all. There will be no parables.

 

MAR 4:23 "If any man has ears to hear, let him hear." 

 

Israel was warned to make straight paths for the Lord, but they blasphemed the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the kingdom was postponed.

 

Now, since the mystery is revealed to the believer and not the world that will not believe in Christ, it is imperative that the believer listen. If he listens, more listening ability will be given to him.

 

MAR 4:24 And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it shall be measured to you; and more shall be given you besides.

 

MAR 4:25 "For whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

 

The unbeliever does not have any understanding of the mystery. We may also conclude that the believer who rejects the word of God will eventually, God is so very patient and gracious, lose his ability to hear. But if any man is alive, he always has hope to become one who knows and listens, and if he does listen, more will be given to him.

 

To the degree a person pays attention to what Jesus says, to that degree God blesses such hearing and graciously gives disproportionately more.

 

Obedience to God’s revealed truth results in more truth and insight being given, including a better understanding of the kingdom of God.