Ephesians 1:9-12
The Insiders
Introduction
What do you know about secret knowledge? Humans have an insatiable thirst for the hidden and secret things. The word “occult” actually means hidden from view, or concealed. We can trace this desire for what is secret back to the Garden. In Genesis 3 Satan said to Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of the tree your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” In other words, “Eve there is secret knowledge that is concealed from you right now, and God doesn’t want you to have it. But, follow me and I will reveal it to you.” And so every occult religion from Mormonism, to Freemasonry, to
-refer to our standing in Christ as described by the first 8 verses
-we are privileged to be chosen, made holy and blameless, adopted as sons, redeemed, forgiven, lavished with the riches of his grace, given wisdom and insight, and now, informed about the secret plans of our Father for the ultimate future. We are made insiders.
God has given us Inside Information (v9-10)
First of all, God has given us Inside Information. Notice verse 9, “And He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ”.
In government or in the military there are things going on that are classified; some are even “top secret”. The average politician or soldier doesn’t get to know about these things. They are confidential. You see, the only way you get to know is if you are allowed to know. Those who hold the secrets have to decide whether or not you can see the secrets. You can’t know what’s going on just because you want to. You have to be brought in on what’s going on. You have to have authorization or clearance.
God has top secrets. These are “the mystery of His will” as the verse says. Remember that mystery is the Greek word musterion, and it means “a secret that is now revealed that has not been revealed before.” It’s like when the government takes information that has been classified and declassifies it. In other words, that information that was once secret, or was once a mystery, is now revealed to the public.
God has information that has been classified in the past. It is what Paul says in 3:5, “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed…” It is what Romans 16:25 says is “the mystery hidden in long ages past”. He says in 1 Corinthians 2:7 that it is “God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” He says again in Colossians 1:26-27, a companion letter to Ephesians, “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Psalm 78:2 says, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things from of old.” Isaiah 48:6, “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.” God does this because as Daniel 2:22 says, “He reveals deep and hidden things…”
But, now He has declassified His secret plans. He has given us, the saints in this age, Inside Information. We have insight into the ultimate future that God is bringing all of history to.
***What is that inside information? Notice verse 10 that it is his will which is in Christ, “to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”
This verse is not referring to universal salvation in Christ. It is talking about universal dominion of Christ. This verse, this inside information, has to do first of all with the final and ultimate state of the created universe when all things physical and spiritual, visible and invisible, human and angelic, will be brought together under the government of Christ Jesus.
Let’s look at 2 phrases in verse 10 a little closer. First, the phrase, “to be put into effect”. Those words are actually one Greek word, “oikonomia”, from which we get our English word “economy”. It’s a word that means household management, or dispensation, or administration. It means a way of doing things.
An example might be how we talk about the U.S. president and his team. We call them the current “administration”. The president chooses the members of his administration because they all will have a certain way of doing things, which is consistent with what he wants. He has an ideology, a way of looking at the world and how he wants to approach governing this great nation. The people he chooses think similarly and then they begin to operate their administration – their way of doing things. This administration and how they do things is different than the previous administration. And the previous administration is different than the one before it and so on. Oikonomia, dispensation, or administration, it simply means in the Greek a way of doing things.
Another example might be closer to home. Before I was married I had a certain way of doing things. I maintained a certain administration, or, economy at home. If I wanted dishes in the sink because I thought it accented my Detroit Tigers poster better, then, that’s the way things were done. But after I got married, there was a new administration. A new dispensation began which meant a new way of doing things. The old things passed away and the new things came forth. It is a new oikonomia – a new house-hold management. It may even be said that I am no longer in the age of grace at home, but, in the age of law.
Paul is talking about a future oikonomia, a future dispensation, when the way things are done will be different. He says that it will be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment
Secondly, I want us to see the phrase “to bring together”. This is actually one word in the Greek. It’s a word that means to head up, or, to sum up together. It was a word that was actually used in business when you would add a column of numbers together and the total amount would then be placed at the top.
There is only one other place in the NT where this same Greek word is used apart from Ephesians 1:10, and it is in Romans 13:9. Turn there with me and I think as we see it used it will help us understand better the point Paul is making.
Paul is saying that if you add all the commandments of the law together what you get is love. Love is what all the Law is pointing to. In verse 10 there he says that love is the fulfillment of the law.
The point is in Ephesians 1:10 is that everything in history is adding up ultimately into Christ. God will head up everything in Christ. Jesus Christ will have absolute, total and complete dominion over everything in existence. The government will be upon His shoulders and of the increase of His government there will be no end (Isa. 9:6-7) – in other words there is no end to how far His government extends.
-This is what Paul is speaking of here, but not only here, also in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 is speaking of “…”
-This is what Philippians 2:9-11, “………..”
-This is what Revelation 5:7-14 is speaking of when it says, “………”
Jesus Christ – and not another – will have supremacy over all things. He is the Son of Man, the Son of God, who will be over all nations of the earth, over the Isreal, over the 24 elders, over all the angels, over the 6-winged seraphim and the 4 living creatures that surround the throne of God in heaven. There will be nothing that does not come under Him. All things will be beneath His feet.
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said this about verse 10, “It is a mighty concept… it is superior to verse 7 because in verse 10 we are taken right up into the heavens and find ourselves looking at God’s final purpose with respect to this world. There is nothing higher than this, nothing beyond God’s final purpose. It is bigger and greater than our personal salvation. In this verse we are transported above the matter of our personal salvation into the realm of the ultimate things – God’s grand, comprehensive, final, ultimate purpose. The human mind can never contemplate anything greater. God gives us no greater privilege than to be allowed to look into this.”
We have to grab hold of the absolute certainty here of God’s purpose. There is nothing that will stop Him from doing what He is doing. There are no other gods to prevent Him from doing His thing. There is no force bigger than God to get in His way. There is no one stronger than God to hold Him back. There is no one wiser than God to outwit Him and thwart His plans. There is nothing that will stop God from doing in the future what He has determined to do from the past.
Knowing God’s plans for the future should help us to see beyond today’s problems. When I know what God has planned ultimately and that He is in control I can have a peaceful stillness within.
Doesn’t the ultimate future that God is working history towards just dwarf our puny little lives? His monstrous, monolithic, monumental plans make our plans look so measly. We are like one breath in a lifetime, like one drop of rain on an ocean, like one leaf in a forest. What we dream of and aspire to on this earth is nothing compared to what God has planned for the ultimate and final purpose of history.
What are we trying to accomplish here in our businesses, or our sports, or our talents or our academics? the everyday things of getting up and going to bed, cleaning and cooking, going to work and coming home in traffic, maintaining your cars, getting checkups with the doctors and dentists, paying your bills, taking care of your kids, playing with your grandkids – all of it is puny in light of God’s ultimate plan.
Yet at the same time everything we do should be in light of what we know is coming. We should be living now as if we really know it is coming. Our worlds should be little previews of the world to come as we live as insiders with the knowledge of the future yet to come.
Conclusion:
**The Feet of Jesus. We hear the phrase, “worshipping at the feet of Jesus”. Have you ever thought about what the Bible says about His feet?
His enemies will be put under His feet (1 Cor. 15)
He will trample His enemies under His feet (Rev 19)
His feet will stand on the mount of Olives when He returns (Zech 14)
His foot will crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3)
All things will be put under His feet (Eph 1:22)
The earth is a footstool for His feet (Ps 2)
His feet were kissed, perfumed and washed by women in Luke 7 and John 12
BUT, not washed by the disciples in John 13
His feet were pierced with nails on the cross for our sins
Whenever the Bible talks about Jesus’ feet it is almost always talking about His power and authority.
The Insiders
Introduction
What do you know about secret knowledge? Humans have an insatiable thirst for the hidden and secret things. The word “occult” actually means hidden from view, or concealed. We can trace this desire for what is secret back to the Garden. In Genesis 3 Satan said to Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of the tree your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” In other words, “Eve there is secret knowledge that is concealed from you right now, and God doesn’t want you to have it. But, follow me and I will reveal it to you.” And so every occult religion from Mormonism, to Freemasonry, to
-refer to our standing in Christ as described by the first 8 verses
-we are privileged to be chosen, made holy and blameless, adopted as sons, redeemed, forgiven, lavished with the riches of his grace, given wisdom and insight, and now, informed about the secret plans of our Father for the ultimate future. We are made insiders.
God has given us Inside Information (v9-10)
First of all, God has given us Inside Information. Notice verse 9, “And He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ”.
In government or in the military there are things going on that are classified; some are even “top secret”. The average politician or soldier doesn’t get to know about these things. They are confidential. You see, the only way you get to know is if you are allowed to know. Those who hold the secrets have to decide whether or not you can see the secrets. You can’t know what’s going on just because you want to. You have to be brought in on what’s going on. You have to have authorization or clearance.
God has top secrets. These are “the mystery of His will” as the verse says. Remember that mystery is the Greek word musterion, and it means “a secret that is now revealed that has not been revealed before.” It’s like when the government takes information that has been classified and declassifies it. In other words, that information that was once secret, or was once a mystery, is now revealed to the public.
God has information that has been classified in the past. It is what Paul says in 3:5, “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed…” It is what Romans 16:25 says is “the mystery hidden in long ages past”. He says in 1 Corinthians 2:7 that it is “God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” He says again in Colossians 1:26-27, a companion letter to Ephesians, “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Psalm 78:2 says, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things from of old.” Isaiah 48:6, “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.” God does this because as Daniel 2:22 says, “He reveals deep and hidden things…”
But, now He has declassified His secret plans. He has given us, the saints in this age, Inside Information. We have insight into the ultimate future that God is bringing all of history to.
***What is that inside information? Notice verse 10 that it is his will which is in Christ, “to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”
This verse is not referring to universal salvation in Christ. It is talking about universal dominion of Christ. This verse, this inside information, has to do first of all with the final and ultimate state of the created universe when all things physical and spiritual, visible and invisible, human and angelic, will be brought together under the government of Christ Jesus.
Let’s look at 2 phrases in verse 10 a little closer. First, the phrase, “to be put into effect”. Those words are actually one Greek word, “oikonomia”, from which we get our English word “economy”. It’s a word that means household management, or dispensation, or administration. It means a way of doing things.
An example might be how we talk about the U.S. president and his team. We call them the current “administration”. The president chooses the members of his administration because they all will have a certain way of doing things, which is consistent with what he wants. He has an ideology, a way of looking at the world and how he wants to approach governing this great nation. The people he chooses think similarly and then they begin to operate their administration – their way of doing things. This administration and how they do things is different than the previous administration. And the previous administration is different than the one before it and so on. Oikonomia, dispensation, or administration, it simply means in the Greek a way of doing things.
Another example might be closer to home. Before I was married I had a certain way of doing things. I maintained a certain administration, or, economy at home. If I wanted dishes in the sink because I thought it accented my Detroit Tigers poster better, then, that’s the way things were done. But after I got married, there was a new administration. A new dispensation began which meant a new way of doing things. The old things passed away and the new things came forth. It is a new oikonomia – a new house-hold management. It may even be said that I am no longer in the age of grace at home, but, in the age of law.
Paul is talking about a future oikonomia, a future dispensation, when the way things are done will be different. He says that it will be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment
Secondly, I want us to see the phrase “to bring together”. This is actually one word in the Greek. It’s a word that means to head up, or, to sum up together. It was a word that was actually used in business when you would add a column of numbers together and the total amount would then be placed at the top.
There is only one other place in the NT where this same Greek word is used apart from Ephesians 1:10, and it is in Romans 13:9. Turn there with me and I think as we see it used it will help us understand better the point Paul is making.
Paul is saying that if you add all the commandments of the law together what you get is love. Love is what all the Law is pointing to. In verse 10 there he says that love is the fulfillment of the law.
The point is in Ephesians 1:10 is that everything in history is adding up ultimately into Christ. God will head up everything in Christ. Jesus Christ will have absolute, total and complete dominion over everything in existence. The government will be upon His shoulders and of the increase of His government there will be no end (Isa. 9:6-7) – in other words there is no end to how far His government extends.
-This is what Paul is speaking of here, but not only here, also in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 is speaking of “…”
-This is what Philippians 2:9-11, “………..”
-This is what Revelation 5:7-14 is speaking of when it says, “………”
Jesus Christ – and not another – will have supremacy over all things. He is the Son of Man, the Son of God, who will be over all nations of the earth, over the Isreal, over the 24 elders, over all the angels, over the 6-winged seraphim and the 4 living creatures that surround the throne of God in heaven. There will be nothing that does not come under Him. All things will be beneath His feet.
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said this about verse 10, “It is a mighty concept… it is superior to verse 7 because in verse 10 we are taken right up into the heavens and find ourselves looking at God’s final purpose with respect to this world. There is nothing higher than this, nothing beyond God’s final purpose. It is bigger and greater than our personal salvation. In this verse we are transported above the matter of our personal salvation into the realm of the ultimate things – God’s grand, comprehensive, final, ultimate purpose. The human mind can never contemplate anything greater. God gives us no greater privilege than to be allowed to look into this.”
We have to grab hold of the absolute certainty here of God’s purpose. There is nothing that will stop Him from doing what He is doing. There are no other gods to prevent Him from doing His thing. There is no force bigger than God to get in His way. There is no one stronger than God to hold Him back. There is no one wiser than God to outwit Him and thwart His plans. There is nothing that will stop God from doing in the future what He has determined to do from the past.
Knowing God’s plans for the future should help us to see beyond today’s problems. When I know what God has planned ultimately and that He is in control I can have a peaceful stillness within.
Doesn’t the ultimate future that God is working history towards just dwarf our puny little lives? His monstrous, monolithic, monumental plans make our plans look so measly. We are like one breath in a lifetime, like one drop of rain on an ocean, like one leaf in a forest. What we dream of and aspire to on this earth is nothing compared to what God has planned for the ultimate and final purpose of history.
What are we trying to accomplish here in our businesses, or our sports, or our talents or our academics? the everyday things of getting up and going to bed, cleaning and cooking, going to work and coming home in traffic, maintaining your cars, getting checkups with the doctors and dentists, paying your bills, taking care of your kids, playing with your grandkids – all of it is puny in light of God’s ultimate plan.
Yet at the same time everything we do should be in light of what we know is coming. We should be living now as if we really know it is coming. Our worlds should be little previews of the world to come as we live as insiders with the knowledge of the future yet to come.
Conclusion:
**The Feet of Jesus. We hear the phrase, “worshipping at the feet of Jesus”. Have you ever thought about what the Bible says about His feet?
His enemies will be put under His feet (1 Cor. 15)
He will trample His enemies under His feet (Rev 19)
His feet will stand on the mount of Olives when He returns (Zech 14)
His foot will crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3)
All things will be put under His feet (Eph 1:22)
The earth is a footstool for His feet (Ps 2)
His feet were kissed, perfumed and washed by women in Luke 7 and John 12
BUT, not washed by the disciples in John 13
His feet were pierced with nails on the cross for our sins
Whenever the Bible talks about Jesus’ feet it is almost always talking about His power and authority.
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