First Things First # 7 – The New Covenant of Grace: A Covenant of Relationship

The daily devotional “Day By Day By Grace by Bob Hoekstra [DBD]” for March 27th had a glorious message, which you can read by installing the Xiphos Bible program and install the KJV, or UKJV Bible along with the [DBD] Day By Day By Grace by Bob Hoekstra and the free non-commercial Kingcomments to commence your spiritual growth, today. You can read the former parts # 1, # 2, # 3, # 4, # 5, # 6 of this series via the blog section of this website.

* Since the daily devotion [DBD] Day By Day By Grace is copyrighted and permission to distribute is granted to CrossWire exclusively, it can not be displayed here, but you can install it into the Xiphos Bible program via Edit > Module Manager and the CrossWire repository on your computer. Simply enter “sudo apt-get install xiphos” on the command line (CLI) of the Debian based Linux distribution of your choice and follow the steps described above, once you started the Xiphos Bible program, after installation.

After reading the glorious [DBD] daily devotional for [March 27] about “The New Covenant of Grace: A Covenant of Relationship” let’s have a look at the Bible passage Ephesians 1:7 in the “Updated King James Version” UKJV.

Ephesians 1:7

[7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
[8] Wherein he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
[9] Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself:

After reflecting about the bible passage above in context, let’s have a look at what the free non-commercial Kingcomments contains, for a better understanding of the bible passage in context.

The Mystery of God’s Will

Eph 1:7. In these verses we see the following steps that God made to realize His purpose. We have already seen that God has ‘made us accepted in the Beloved’. Now we are reading what more we have received in that Beloved. In Him we also have “redemption” and “the forgiveness”. You could say that these are the means by which the will of God could be accomplished, regarding us. Redemption as well as forgiveness have been accomplished through the work of Christ and were necessary because sin has come into the world.

‘Redemption’ was necessary because we were totally imprisoned by the power of sin. We could not deliver ourselves, but by the blood of Christ redemption has been achieved. This is beautifully illustrated in Exodus 12. The people of Israel are in bondage in Egypt and God is going to redeem them. The basis for this redemption is the blood of a lamb that had to be slaughtered. In Exodus 12 you can read what the Israelite had to do with that blood and what that meant to God (Exo 12:2-13). On the basis of the blood the judgment passes by the Israelite and their redemption from the power of Egypt takes place.

It must be clear to you that the lamb in Egypt is a picture of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus. What you have deserved He underwent in your place. In Him you are redeemed, you have received redemption.
Apart from redemption also ‘forgiveness’ of your trespasses was necessary. You were not only under the power of sin, you also lived accordingly. Your deeds made that clear. Whatever you were doing, it was in every way a trespassing of what God had said. Trespasses always ask for punishment. But how amazing it is that God did not punish you for that, but punished His own Son in your stead. In Him you have received forgiveness.

Although redemption and forgiveness brought what was necessary for you, your need is not the main thing here. No, it is the purpose of the Holy Spirit to emphasize in the redemption and the forgiveness “the riches of His [i.e. God’s] grace”. In this way God’s heart and mind are being exposed.

In this verse, where we are involved with our sins, “the riches of His grace” is being exposed. In Eph 1:6, where God is centered, it is “the glory of His grace”. The riches of His grace is in contrast with the poverty of our sins in which we found ourselves. Actually, it is not only grace that provides in our needs. God doesn’t measure His grace to our needs, but to a lot more than that. He provides to His riches.

Eph 1:8. Those riches are expressed in the Eph 1:8-9. There you see a dead, impotent sinner (you!) being exalted to such a great height that he (you!) obtains insight in the mysteries of God’s heart so that he (you!) can share them with Him. This is also about the eternal counsels in God’s heart that are yet to be achieved.

So this is quite different to what you have seen until now, namely, what God’s purpose was for you and what He has also realized. You share in it: you are blessed with all spiritual blessings; you are chosen; you are holy and without blame before God; He has adopted you as a son; you are made accepted in the Beloved; He has redeemed and forgiven you. That is all said in Eph 1:3-7. All really and totally true.

But, as if there is no end, besides that He has still more blessings ready for you to which we will give attention now. Also in those blessings He wants you to partake so that you already now may enjoy what is to come. In order to enable you to share with you what is in His heart, He has, in the abundance of the riches of His grace, made available to you “all wisdom and understanding”. How would we be able to understand anything from God’s purposes and deeds if He Himself doesn’t help and enable us to do that? Also here you find abundance: God doesn’t give a little bit of wisdom and understanding, but “all”.
He knows exactly what is necessary to lead us into the purposes of His heart. That’s why He first made us sons. As you will remember, He did that in order to share His thoughts with us. As sons He has ‘exalted’ us to a position where He can speak to us at His level. Besides He supplied us with ‘all wisdom and understanding’. You may want to proclaim something, but if your ‘target group’ doesn’t understand anything of what you are talking about, it’s no use. That is not what God did.
Eph 1:9. He gave us wisdom and understanding because “He made known to us the mystery of His will”. This is what God wanted to share with us. It is about things that He has never told anyone, not even anyone of His people in the Old Testament. What this mystery involves is dealt with in Eph 1:10-11. It is about the reign of the Lord Jesus over all things.

Now you might say: ‘But that was no mystery at all; that was also known in the Old Testament.’ And you could for example refer to Psalm 8 (Psa 8:4-7). That is true, but that is not the mystery at issue here. The mystery is about the reign of the Lord Jesus over all things together with the church. That has not been made known in the Old Testament. The apostle Paul is the one to whom this particular ministry was given to unfold this mystery. In chapter 3 he will clarify this.

The mystery of the unity between the Lord Jesus and the church is still a mystery to the world. In 1 John 3 you read the same thought: “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1Jn 3:2). John means that the world doesn’t see a thing of the fact that we are children of God. The world will see that only when the Lord Jesus returns and we with Him (Col 3:4; 2Thes 1:7-10).

The mystery has been only made known to them who belong to the church. Unfortunately, even to many members of the church this unity is still a mystery. All who think that the church is a continuation of Israel, do not realize that the origin and the purpose of the church are in heaven. Because their focus is on the earth, these Christians ignore the ‘pleasure’ of God.
God finds His pleasure in these things in this time to share with all His own. Just take a look at Eph 1:5 again where you have read about the kind intention or the pleasure of God. There it is His joy to have sons before Him, even now already. Here it is His joy to make known to those sons what He will do with Christ and the church.

God was not obligated at all to share this secret “which He purposed in Him” (Eph 1:9) with us, but He wanted that very much. Again the emphasis here is on the fact that all His purposes find their origin in Him. He had no obligation to anyone whosoever to make them known. He could have kept them to Himself as well. Nevertheless He came out with His purposes and made them known to a group of people selected by Himself. Isn’t it a great wonder that you and I may belong to that group?

Now read Ephesians 1:7-9 again.
Reflection: Consider once again the steps God has taken to achieve His plans and thank Him for every step.

Now, let’s have a look into the supplemental podcast by Pastor Patrick Hines about reading Ephesians.

Original link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiM-WVmOSTM Channel link for your RSS feed reader: https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UClW5Qzh27Zx7HO2fKkCcR5g

If you’re curious to whom the full honour and much more is due, if you recently came to faith in Jesus Christ, you can listen to a wonderful sermon about Ephesians 1:3-14 by John MacArthur from Grace to You.

Since the [DBD] daily devotional mentioned Ephesians 2:12-13 let’s have a look into the UKJV Bible passage in context, below.

Ephesians 2:12-13

[8] For by grace are all of you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
[10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
[11] Wherefore remember, that all of you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
[12] That at that time all of you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
[13] But now in Christ Jesus all of you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

After you reflected on the bible passage above in context, please have a look at what the free non-commercial Kingcomments contains, for a better understanding of the bible passage in context.

The Gentiles

Eph 2:11. Here a new section starts. Paul looks back. He did that also in Eph 2:1. There it merely was about our personal past in order to demonstrate in the next verses which personal blessings we possess in Christ. From Eph 2:11 it is about our collective past and subsequently we see which blessings we together have in Christ. Both cases regard the time of our life on earth. That is a difference with chapter 1. There the issue is the counsels of God from before the foundation of the world, so out of time and apart from the earth.

In the previous Eph 2:1-10 you’ve seen what God has personally worked in us, after our desperate situation has been presented. In Eph 2:11-22 you will see what God has done to us collectively, after our desperate situation also has been presented first. With ‘collectively’ I mean all believers from the Jews and the Gentiles together, for that is the point here.

The unity created between Jew and Gentile is a wonder of God’s grace. Paul demonstrates how great this wonder is by making a comparison between what the Gentiles once were and what they now have become. Most of the readers of this letter, then and also now, consist of those who once belonged to the Gentiles. They are being stimulated to remember how desperate their situation was in the past, that they will be more aware of what their situation is now.
To illustrate their once desperate situation, he compares it with that of Israel. It is important to bear in mind that in this comparison the issue is the former position in the flesh of both Gentile and Jew. Paul puts down seven aspects of the position of the Gentile. They are, as it were, sledgehammer blows. Every blow makes the Gentile sink deeper in his miserable situation.
The first blow: they were “the Gentiles in the flesh”. The expression ‘in the flesh’ indicates that their whole life was controlled by satisfying their lusts. In Romans 7 it is put at follows: “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were [aroused] by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death” (Rom 7:5). God had given His law to Israel that in obeying the law they should enjoy life in fellowship with God.

The second blow: the Jew looked down on the Gentile with contempt and scolded them for “Uncircumcision” (cf. 1Sam 14:6; 1Sam 17:26; 36). As noticed, it is about a comparison regarding their outward position. That’s why Israel is called here “the so-called “Circumcision””. It is only about the outward form, which is emphasized by the addition “[which is] performed in the flesh by human hands”.

Eph 2:12. The third blow: the Gentiles once were “separate from Christ”. Christ, that means the Messiah to Israel, was not promised to the Gentiles; He was promised to Israel alone. When He came on earth, He came for ‘the children’ of Israel, not for ‘the dogs’, the Gentiles (cf. Mk 7:24-30).

The fourth blow: the Gentiles were not categorized under the civil rights of Israel. Therefore they lacked many privileges that were included in this commonwealth. You can think of all kinds of social and religious privileges, as well as the statutes and rights that God gave to His people. In this way their life was so much organized that they could live at the highest level, in health, peace and safety (Deu 4:8).

The fifth blow: as “strangers” the Gentiles had no part in “the covenants of promise”. God had made various covenants with Israel since Abraham (Gen 15:17-21; Lev 26:42; Psa 89:3-4). They had one collective promise: the coming of the Messiah, Who would fulfill what God had promised in the covenants.

The sixth blow: “no hope”. The situation becomes more and more hopeless. You might hope that after all that is said previously, a change would come for good. But there is no prospect of that either. There is no ground to expect something good of the future.
Finally the seventh, the biggest blow: “without God in the world”. The Gentiles had all turned their backs on God (Rom 1:20-21). That’s why “in generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go in their own ways” (Acts 14:16). They were left totally to themselves, without any connection to God. From among all the nations God had chosen Israel. Through this nation He revealed Himself to all other nations.

Now what is meant by this comparison? Before I explain that, I first want to tell you what is not meant. The comparison is in no way meant to prove that the Gentiles have now certainly become partakers of the blessings of Israel. A big misconception is the explanation that in these verses it should be said that the Gentile has been drawn near because he should have become Jew. That cannot be the right explanation, as also in the Old Testament there was the possibility to become a Jewish member, a so-called proselyte.
Furthermore, God also had blessings in store for the Gentiles in the Old Testament. But we have to consider the following. In the first place the blessings mentioned in the Old Testament for the nations are not given to those nations themselves, but to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and later to Israel. In the second place we see that the nations can only receive blessings by the means of Israel. When in future Israel will be God’s people again, all nations will also join in this restoration. This will happen when the Lord Jesus has established the millennial kingdom of peace.

Eph 2:13. But what in fact is made clear to us in Ephesians 2? That there is blessing for the nations apart from Israel! Eph 2:13, where we now are, explains that further. The Gentiles were in two aspects of view far off from God. First, by being apart from Israel – this you have just seen. But second, they were also far off from God from a spiritual point of view. However, also the Jews were from the spiritual point of view far off from God.

Where both of them stood far off from God, both Jew and Gentile had to be brought near to God and that “by the blood of Christ”. The Gentile certainly doesn’t become a Jew and even fewer a Jew becomes a Gentile. Both are being brought in a totally new position and that is “in Christ Jesus”. It is not spoken anymore here of ‘Gentiles in the flesh’ and neither of ‘Israel in the flesh’. Together they are a new unity, of which is mentioned that they both have been made one (Eph 2:14), and that they were created “into one new man” (Eph 2:15) and that they were reconciled “both in one body” to God (Eph 2:16).

Jews and Gentiles are taken from their natural environment and are placed in a whole new unity: the church. To the Gentile as well as to the Jew, that is a great transformation. Formerly in a double point of view so far off; now, ‘through the blood of Christ’, so near to God, even been brought to His heart.
“The blood of Christ” draws our attention to the offering of Christ. Through His blood we are reconciled with God. On that basis God has taken away every obstacle to allow us to come into His presence and to bless us with all spiritual blessing. About the value of Christ’s blood, we never run out of thoughts.
Now read Ephesians 2:11-13 again.
Reflection: How did the difference in position between Jew and Gentile disappear?

Let’s listen to another supplemental podcast by Pastor Patrick Hines about reading Ephesians 2, below.

Original link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mxldQToIpM Channel link for your RSS feed reader: https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UClW5Qzh27Zx7HO2fKkCcR5g

Since the [DBD] daily devotional mentioned Ephesians 4:18 let’s have a look into the UKJV Bible passage in context.

Ephesians 4:18

[17] This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that all of you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
[18] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
[19] Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
[20] But all of you have not so learned Christ;
[21] If so be that all of you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
[22] That all of you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
[23] And be renewed in the spirit (o. pneuma) of your mind;
[24] And that all of you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

After reflecting about the bible passage above in context, let’s have a look at what the free non-commercial Kingcomments contains, for a better understanding of the bible passage in context.

Past and Present

Eph 4:17. There is a big contrast between Eph 4:17-19 and the previous verses. The spirit of the world, wherein everyone is living just for himself, stands completely against the body and the members where everyone is there for the other. But Paul points to the danger that the spirit of the world may exert its influence in the church. You should always be aware that your old habits may suddenly arise. It is dangerous to think that your past cannot influence you anymore. The only security to escape from that is to remain close to the Lord Jesus.

You can notice from the introductory words of Paul that you must take this warning seriously. The words “so this I say, and affirm” emphasizes what he is going to say. The addition “with the Lord” indicates the fellowship in the Lord between writer and readers.
The starting point of his admonition is the absolute separation between the believers and the Gentiles, to which they belonged in the past, but not anymore now. The separation is radical and must be seen in their whole walk, in everything.
The walk of man is strongly related with his “mind”. The ‘mind’ consists of his thinking, in the widest sense of the word. The origin of his walk is there. He lives in accordance with his thinking. The mind of man produces nothing of permanent value, all it produces is ‘futility’. How different it is what God expects from the believer. The Lord Jesus says to His disciples: “I … appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit would remain” (Jn 15:16).

Eph 4:18. The “understanding” is the capacity to gain knowledge, to fathom something. In the world people look up to others who have a great intellect. Awards are given to people who have achieved brilliant brainwork. However, if these people are not related to God through conversion and new life, all their works have been achieved in darkness. Darkness rules everywhere where God’s light doesn’t shine. They are in darkness and darkness is in them.

There is no life of God in them; they are “excluded from” it. They have always kept it at a distance. They do not want to share in it. They closed themselves to it. They don’t know anything of it and don’t want to have anything to do with it.
This attitude is the result of “the hardness of their heart”. The heart is the inner core of man; it is the center of his whole being. A hardened heart is inaccessible for the good and is incorrigible. Actually it is a circle: he who always rejects everything that comes from God makes his heart blind; and he who has a blinded heart always rejects everything that comes from God.
Eph 4:19. Yet Paul is not finished with the black painting of the man-without-God. To God everything is futility, darkness, death, ignorance and hardness. To themselves and to their environment, there is no sense of what is appropriate. Their natural feelings do not work anymore; they are “callous”. He who is on the one hand ‘excluded from the life of God’, is on the other hand very familiar with life in sin. There he feels himself as a fish in water.

Such people have lawlessly given themselves in the most debauched things. With greediness they throw themselves to every thinkable excess of dissipation (1Pet 4:4). By “impurity” often is meant, sexual uncleanness. By “greediness” is meant that there is an inner urge for more and more impurity. There is an insatiable craving to satisfy the impure desires.

Eph 4:20. After this description of the impetuous walk of the Gentiles, it becomes apparent that there is a huge contrast with Christ. It is remarkable that Paul doesn’t present opposite to the world’s way of living a Christian way of living, but he presents a Person. The believers in Ephesus did not receive a new doctrine, but they received Christ. He is the content of all that they have learnt. All the plans of God are connected with Him and have Him as the Center and goal. There is no truth of the Scripture that is apart from Christ.

The Christ Who was preached to the Ephesians, was the Man of God’s right hand. Everything He is and Who He is, is completely strange to the content of Eph 4:17-19. There is no connection at all between Him and the Gentiles. That means that for the Christian who is related to Him, the previous is over, it is past time.

Eph 4:21. By the name of ‘Christ’ you can think of the Lord Jesus as the Man of God’s counsels. In this way you have learnt to know Him after you have accepted Him as your Savior and Lord. That opened the door to an unknown glory. In that glory you penetrate further and further as you learn more about Him. All truth of God is present in Him. In Jesus you see that truth in the flesh.

By using the name ‘Jesus’, you can think of His life when He was on earth. Paul doesn’t often mention ‘Jesus’ without any addition. He only does that when he points at Him as the humble Man on earth. Paul does that here to present Him as an Example. In order to know how to reflect the truth of God on earth, you should look at the life of Jesus.
Eph 4:22. ‘The truth in Jesus’ becomes visible in our lives when we have put off the old man and have put on the new man. “The old man” is the fallen Adam as he is reflected in all his aspects (characteristics) in all human beings: very pleasing or very unpleasing and everything in between. “Our old self (or: old man) was crucified with [Him]” (Rom 6:6). That is how God dealt with it. The consequence is that we should look at the old man that way, we must lay it aside, put it off.

Therefore there is nothing at all to be improved on the old man. On the contrary, only deceiving desires come from it that stimulate a process of destruction. At your conversion the connection with the old man and his walk is radically broken. In Acts 19 you can read how the Ephesians did it (Acts 19:18-19).

Eph 4:23-24. Instead of the old, something completely new has come. A new source of thinking has come, which causes a new walk. In the new walk “the new self [literally: man]” becomes visible. That new man is totally in accordance with Whom God is. The Lord Jesus was that also. Yet, He is not the new man. Of the new man it is said that he is created. The Lord Jesus is not created. But the features of the new man are just the same as those of the Lord Jesus. In Him and in God there is nothing present that belongs to the old man. The new man is everywhere to be seen where believers show the features of the Lord Jesus.

The new man is therefore not a restoration of the first man, Adam. You cannot say of Adam that he has been created “in true righteousness and holiness”, as when he was created, there was no sin yet. He was not ‘righteous’, but innocent; he had no knowledge of good and evil. That knowledge came after his fall into sin. From that moment he could do no good anymore – he could do only evil.
The new man also has the knowledge of good and evil, but he always chooses the good and rejects the evil. ‘Righteousness’ means doing what is right, in the midst of, and against the evil. ‘Holiness’ means separation to God while we are surrounded by the evil.
Now read Ephesians 4:17-24 again.
Reflection: What are the differences in your case, between the past and present?

Let’s conclude this article with an important sermon about Ephesians 4 by John MacArthur from Grace to You.…

This article series has hopefully explained some important basics of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and understanding of the word of God (the sword) to you, so far and encouraged you, to walk on in grace, in the Lord Jesus Christ, on a daily basis. Please don’t neglect your “sword training” and install the Xiphos Bible program for more fundamental insights, daily.

Don’t forget to bookmark and check the section https://open-fab.org/spiritual/ on this website, if you want to see more sermons, fresh on a daily basis….

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