The Church - The Fulness Of Christ
Ephesians 1:3, 4:16
1. God's Eternal Purpose In Christ (Eph. 1:3-14).
1. God, the Architect and Fountain-head of all
blessings (w. 3-6).
(1) All blessings are from God (v. 3).
(2) He chose us (v. 4).
(3) Foreordained us unto adoption as sons (v. 5).
(4) To the praise of His Glory (v. 6).
2. Jesus Christ the summing up of God's purpose,
and the channel of His blessings (w. 7-12).
(1) Redemption explained as "forgiveness of sin,
by His blood" (v. 7).
(2) God's purpose and man's redemption summed
up in Christ (w. 8-10).
(3) In whom we were made a heritage (v. 11).
(4) "According to purpose." This is the key to the
passage. Chose us (v. 4); before the foundation
of the world; foreordained, but according to
purpose.
(5) "The fulness of times,"-when the time should
be ready-when ready, Christ came (Gal. 4:4,-
Mk. 1:14-15); thus began the unfolding of the
purpose of God.
3. The Holy Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance (w.
13-14). This view of the purpose extends from
eternity to eternity.
11. The Church In The Eternal purpose of God
(1:20,- 3:13).
1. The church, the fulness of Christ (1:20-23).
(1) In Christ every spiritual blessing (1:3); Redemp-
tion, the forgiveness of sin (1:7); summing up of
all things (1:10); God's heritage (1:11); Saints
sealed unto the Inheritance (1:13-14).
(2) But the church Is the fulness of Christ (1:23).
(3) Therefore, every blessing God has provided for
man In Christ Is realized in the church.
2. The church, the body of the reconciled (2:11-18).
(1) The former condition of the Gentiles, dead in
sins and trespasses (2:1-3); separated and
alienated, without God (2:11-12); with enmity
existing between them and the Jews.
(2) But now made nigh through the cross, recog-
nized in the one body (2:13-18).
3. This new body becomes a holy temple of the Lord,
His dwelling place In the Spirit (2:19-22).
(1) Fellow-citizens In the Kingdom (v. 19), also see,
1 Peter 2:11-12.
(2) Household of God, God's family, His sons and
daughters (2 Cor. 6:16-17; 2 Tim. 2:13).
(3) God's temple, dwelling place in the Spirit
(1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16).
4. The Church, the instructor of Angels and fulfillment
of the mystery (3:1-3).
(1) The revelation of the mystery (w. 1-7). The
mystery of God (Col. 1:22; 2:3-4,- Eph. 3:1-4,6).
(2) Its revelation (v. 5); by the Holy Spirit (Jno.
14:26,- 16:12-14,- 2 Pet 1:10).
(3) Paul's special mission (w. 8-10).
(4) Through the church, according to the eternal
purpose of God. Hence the church was as much
a part of the purpose as Christ. There is no
VACUUM.
Ill. The Church-Its Unity And Growth (4:1-16).
1. The unifying Spirit, the temper or attitude in which
unity is to be achieved and maintained (w. 1-3).
2. The unifying facts-the basis on which unity rests
(w. 4-6).
3. The unifying gifts-the offices under which unity is
to be achieved (w. 8-11).
4. The unifying growth, the development through
which unity shall be attained and to which It leads
(w. 13-16).
Conclusion:
With the fulness of the God-head summed up In Christ,
and the fulness of Christ In the church, if the Holy Spirit
did His work in revealing these things, there is no
VACUUM in the New Testament to be filled by any later
revelationist. Therefore, all later revelations are false and
their authors frauds!!
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