Page 9 - The Divine Unfolding of God's Plan of Redemption

I. THE ETERNAL SON, THE CENTER OF THE DIVINE COUNSELS

EPHESIANS 1:3-14

IN THIS passage of Scripture we find one of the two longest sentences in the Bible.*
From the seventh verse through the fourteenth there is not a period in the Authorized
Version.

The Epistle to the Ephesians was addressed to spiritual Christians, and its message
throughout the ages has been more specifically for those who sit in heavenly places in

Christ. The spiritual believer alone is qualified to enter into the deep things of God; so
it is not merely by chance that there is set forth here an epitome of the divine purposes
in Christ such as is found nowhere else in the whole of Scripture. It is apparent from
these verses that the eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the focal point of all
the counsels of Deity. God the Father is seen to be the source of all spiritual
emoluments and the Son the channel through which they are meditated.

In verse three the Father has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. In

verse four He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. In verse five
He has predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. In verse six we
are accepted in the beloved One. In verse seven it is in Christ that we have redemption
through blood and forgiveness through grace. *The other is Colossians 1:9-17─dealing with

the same general topic.

In verse eight it is in Christ, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge (Col.2:3), that He abounds toward us in all wisdom and prudence.It is after

we have been endowed with this wisdom and prudence that we are able to
comprehend the “mystery of His will,” which He proceeds to state for us in the tenth
verse, which is the highest of this whole series of mountain peaks, and whose heights
we shall turn back to scale when we have made mention of the four verses that follow.

In verse eleven we find that it is in Christ that we obtain an inheritance according to
the determinate counsel of God, which legacy we are intended to administer to the
praise of His glory (vs.12).

In verse thirteen the Third Person of the Godhead is introduced as the One Who
seals us after we have believed in Christ, and, dwelling in us, He remains our

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