Thursday, April 26, 2012

Ephesians 3:9


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Ephesians 3:9

9 And [kai] to make [photizo] all [pas] men see [photizo] what [tis] is the fellowship [koinonia] of the mystery, [musterion] which [ho] from [apo] the beginning of the world [aion] hath been hid [apokrupto] in [en] God, [theos] who [ho] created [ktizo] all things [pas] by [dia] Jesus [Iesous] Christ: [Christos]KJV-Interlinear

9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; NASB

What is the mystery that God has kept secret since the beginning of the world?

It is not of salvation, for way back in the Garden, God promised a Messiah who would crush the head of the serpent.  It was not of the spiritual life, for even the sacrifices of Cain and Abel portrayed the principles of salvation and the spiritual life.

The Levitical offerings that were documented by Moses, the offerings that were made by Job hundreds of years prior to Moses, even prior to Abraham, all speak of the grace of God and of Gods plan.  The magi knew of the promised Messiah and they traveled a long way to see Jesus shortly after his birth.  Many gentiles came to find the Savior, and many gentiles are mentioned in the Old Testament, with full knowledge of the Savior and of the spiritual life.  Even Alexander the Great, when he was marching on Jerusalem, was met by the priests of that time and was shown the text of Daniel, prophesying his conquests.

So these secrets of God are not in reference to basic doctrines of salvation, of confession, of the spiritual life, of the last days, of the end of history, of the Kingdom to come, of the resurrection, of prophecy in general, and so forth.  For all of these concepts and truths were freely made available to any and all who were interested.

There is only one thing that has been kept secret and that was the revealing of the Church Age and the many doctrines that apply only to this dispensation, which revealing did not occur until Jesus revealed it, and until Paul amplified it.

The word for fellowship or administration, ‘koinonia,’ means the administration pertaining to an era of time, a dispensation.  It refers to the specific administration, of a specific era, and not to the general management activity that applies across all time periods of history.

This Church Age is unique in that we have the completed canon of scripture.  We have no revelations made to us by God or by angels.  We have the indwelling of all three members of the trinity, we have royal titles that never occurred in the past, we have so many things with which God has blessed us, that so many in past ages, did not have available to them.  And in all of these things and more (see the detailed blessings list online in the special studies library), we have a more completed picture painted for us as to exactly what God intends for all believers, as well as details of the more difficult times that are still ahead in the future.

These secrets, were held back by God.  They were included in His divine plan from eternity past.  God did not generate new plans once Christ made it to the Cross, but held back certain details of His divine plan until the time that they should be revealed.  And that revelation is in regard to our dispensation, the Church Age.

From the Old Testament point of view, the Messiah was going to come, pay the price for sin, rid the world of evil and then establish His kingdom on earth.  And this was all going to happen in one fluid sequence of events that would be witnessed by those who were on the earth at the time of His arrival.  This is why He was constantly asked, even by the apostles, ‘Is the Kingdom now?’ 

They completely messed up the activity of the Cross, the resurrection, the ascension, Christs second return, and how it all was going to fit together.  Obviously if He ascends into heaven He has to return a second time, in order to be here again.

Since that generation was completely mixed up on the Cross and Christs purpose, then it should not be unreasonable to understand that they were confused on other aspects of Gods plan.

On several occasions, Jesus told the apostles that he must be killed, be buried, be resurrected and then go away for a while, and then return.  They never figured it out until after the Cross.  Paul had to clarify things even decades later because people were expecting Christ to return at any moment, and thus we have the ‘great’ apostasy at the end of the age principle, revealed to us.

And now, for the very first time in all of history, we not only have an inserted dispensation into history, but we have the completed canon of scripture through which God has revealed His entire plan for each one of us and for all of humanity and for all creatures, and for all of creation.  We have a completed picture, sufficient for us to understand the course of our individual lives and the course of human history.

No one has any excuse for not knowing, because the information is there for the learning and the knowing.

Unfortunately too many folks do not know the doctrines of our age, because they do not learn, and they do not learn because they do not want to take the time to learn, to be taught, or to study as required by God.  Thus they simply know nothing, or they apply Old Testament doctrines that pertain to that era, to our era, and that leads to confusion and false interpretations of life and of history.

God created all things.  God invented all things.  God controls all things.  And most certainly God controls and manages history in accordance with a plan that He designed a very long time ago.  Satan, angels, and man control nothing, even though they think that they do.

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