Ephesians 4:3-6; One Lord – The Mediatorial King, part 2.

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

The one Lord is the Mediatorial Ruler of the Kingdom of God.

When describing the Kingdom of God, the prophets give first place to the Ruler Himself rather than laws or organizations. The prophets depict the Kingdom of God as depending completely upon the King Himself. He is God’s Mediatorial government.

The Lord is sovereign over the universe – the Universal Kingdom of God.

The prophets see one indivisible Kingdom of God. There is one kingdom with various aspects. Each aspect becomes center stage in various ages of history. In the prophets there are some references to a Universal Kingdom of God, but the main burden of their prophesies is the future Mediatorial Kingdom and it is contemplated as one indivisible kingdom.

The prophets predicted a human King, born under particular circumstances and in a unique place. His Kingdom would be connected to the fallen kingdom of David, Amo 9:11. His Kingdom will be on earth.

1. The Nature of the Coming Ruler.

Certain names and titles applied to this future Ruler indicate that He will be both human and divine in nature.

Though it was expected of Israel that they would recognize and receive their Messiah, and many of them did, the leadership and, we gather from the gospels, the majority of the population rejected Jesus as the Son of God.

In all He said and did, as believers in Him now, we find this almost impossible to understand, but as God said, they were blind and deaf to Him and God perpetuated that condition by revealing so much in what Jesus said and did. If a man chooses to blind himself to the truth, if God abundantly showers that man with more truth, God increases his blindness though not becoming the cause of it.

What Jesus especially emphasizes in the conversation that arises out of the miracle of feeding 5,000 is that the food that He gives is Himself.

There is no material solution to man’s sin-sick lack of joy and peace, nor is there a type of government or body of laws that can do it; the Mosaic Law showed this perfectly. Only the one Lord can heal and sustain man in the manner of God’s desire.

The prophets also revealed that the King was divine. “God with us,” Isa 7:14. “Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace,” Isa 9:6.

Christ is God. He is Divine. In Him we touch the source of all life. In Him we have the one thing which our reach which is not earth-grown, the one uncorrupted source of life to which we can turn from the inadequacy, impurity, and emptiness of a sin-sick world. He, the bread of life is sweet and satisfying, never shall we hunger, never shall sweetness turn to bitterness. Christ is the bread from heaven, because in Christ God gives Himself to us, that by His life we may live.

Many of His experiences, outlined particularly in Isa 53 and Psa 22, are those of a Man. He is taken out of the womb and feeds at His mother’s breasts. He is acquainted with grief, wounded, bruised; suffers from thirst; and at last comes down “into the dust of death.” He is truly a human King.

On the other hand, it is equally certain that the coming King is more than a man. He is named Immanuel, “God with us,” Isa 7:14, quoted by the apostle Matthew at the opening of the New Testament.

The people who have waited so long for Him, fearing He might never come, are assured by Isaiah that God is coming with vengeance and He will save you. Christ is the One coming, the Savior, God, the Messiah, the one Lord and King.

In that glad day the nation of Israel is called upon to shout and sing because their King, the Lord, is in their midst.

Zephaniah prophesies to the nation of Judah around the same time as the prophet Jeremiah. Judah was in dire trouble due to idol worship, rejecting God’s law, greed, and corruption of both the leadership and the priesthood. During this time, Josiah, a good king who desired to eradicate idol worship from Jerusalem, could only postpone the inevitable. Zephaniah prophesies judgment and destruction again Judah, Jerusalem, and the nations. The people are exhorted to repent and the few righteous to persevere.

But then, in a drastic change beginning in 3:9, God announces salvation.

Zephaniah: 620 B.C. during the reign of Josiah (good). Three chapters: 1:1-3:8 judgment and destruction on Judah, Jerusalem, and nations. 3:9 – end, salvation in the Lord’s Kingdom.

Zep 3:14-15

“Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15 The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,

He has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

You will fear disaster no more.”

“The King of Israel, Yavah, is in your midst.” The King is God.

Zep 3:20

“At that time I will bring you in,

Even at the time when I gather you together;

Indeed, I will give you renown and praise

Among all the peoples of the earth,

When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,”

Says the Lord.

There a theme that runs through the prophets. God is going to judge and destroy the evil and corruption of the world so that all the earth will worship Him. Those who by faith come to God are able to fellowship with Him and, though surrounded by evil and still having the trends towards it still within themselves, they see purity and goodness and holiness in contradistinction to it. In the end all corruption, evil, sin, and finally – death will be completely removed, and the redeemed with make up all the world, Jew and Gentile, who will worship God in Spirit and truth.

Now we look to Zechariah.

Zechariah is set after the return of Judah from her exile in Babylon. Zechariah prophesied along with Haggai to encourage the people to rebuild the temple and to be faithful to God’s promises. Zechariah has eight visions or dreams that are bizarre to say the least. The land is at peace but God does not say when. The visions also reflect on Israel’s past sin and exile. The visions speak of a rebuilt city, a new Jerusalem, but then it is seen after all sin is eradicated. There is the vision of a priest cleansed of sin and who is told to remain faithful to God. He is clean and faithful. Then there is the vision of two olive trees, representing the ruler (Zerubbabel the governor) and the priest (Joshua), that fill a lamp with their oil to whom it is said that their city will be built if they build it by means of the Holy Spirit and not for personal or political means.

After these visions, another vision is given that helps us greatly.

Zec 6:11-13

"And take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Then say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. 13 "Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices."'

In chapters 9-11 we find the humble Messianic King riding into Jerusalem on the colt. But following this He is rejected and the prophecy of the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas is given and that it would be thrown to the potter.

Then in chapters 12-14 the Messiah establishes His Kingdom according to His promise, judging those who have rejected Him and bringing into His glorious Kingdom all of His redeemed. There is far more detail than this, but it helps us to see the prophecies better, and I hope you read this book a few times and grasp it.

Some commentators see Zechariah as the most Messianic and the most apocalyptic and eschatological of all the writings of the Old Testament. The New Testament cites it 41 times.

Zechariah gives us a magnificent description of the Mediatorial Kingdom as it concerns the nations of the earth, affirms that these nations will come up to Jerusalem to “worship the King whose name is Yavah.” Chap 14 is the return of the King.

Zec 14:9

And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.

I think the translators make the error of trying to help the language too much.

“And the Lord will be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one.”

Eph 4:4-6

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”