What is the Mystery of Christ? His heart's desire - the church!

[Vine Abider]

Ephesians and Colossians presents the two BIG mysteries in God's administration.  The first mystery is shown in Colossians: the mystery of God, which is Christ (Col 2:2).  That is, if we want the best revealing of who God is and what He's about, we look to Jesus Christ for that expression. 

Ephesians chapter three then tells us the next mystery, the mystery of Christ: the church (ekklesia: called-out gathering).  That is, if we want to see Christ revealed now, we look to this entity He inhabits (and of course, also His word).

Ephesians 3:9-11 "and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,  according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

From these two mysteries we see that God came as a man, ultimately to produce the church . . . this is lofty stuff we've been brought into! So what is the church exactly in God's universal plan and why is she such an important part of His focus?

 

[Mr. M]

59 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

So what is the church exactly in God's universal plan and why is she such an important part of His focus?

To show that the All can be One in Christ, when the Father becomes All, in All.

Ephesians 4:

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

[Vine Abider]

15 hours ago, Mr. M said:

To show that the All can be One in Christ, when the Father becomes All, in All.

Ephesians 4:

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Yes - amen!  And this oneness as just one characteristic of God's multifarious wisdom to be displayed through the ekklesia! 

Looking at Christ we see more and more aspects of God's wisdom - and the same can be said of the unfolding wisdom in what Christ is building!  Hallelujah!  

[Mr. M]

3 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

Yes - amen!  And this oneness as just one characteristic of God's multifarious wisdom to be displayed through the ekklesia! 

Looking at Christ we see more and more aspects of God's wisdom - and the same can be said of the unfolding wisdom in what Christ is building!  Hallelujah!  

Ephesians 3:

9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world

hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church

the manifold wisdom of God,

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

The principalities and powers in heavenly places are gaining wisdom from God by observing

His Word and Work in the church.

[Vine Abider]

3 hours ago, Mr. M said:

The principalities and powers in heavenly places are gaining wisdom from God by observing

His Word and Work in the church.

By principalities and powers I think of Satan's group.  Do you think they are gaining wisdom or are they just observing God's wise operation?  How much sinks in, I'm not sure.  Could be like 1st Corinthians 2:8,  "None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

When He was one Grain He abided alone, but when He fell into the ground and died, many grains - the church - was produced!  I don't think they saw that coming . . .

Edited December 19, 2022 by Vine Abider
For better clarity

[Roymond]

19 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

Ephesians and Colossians presents the two BIG mysteries in God's administration.  The first mystery is shown in Colossians: the mystery of God, which is Christ (Col 2:2).  That is, if we want the best revealing of who God is and what He's about, we look to Jesus Christ for that expression. 

Ephesians chapter three then tells us the next mystery, the mystery of Christ: the church (ekklesia: called-out gathering).  That is, if we want to see Christ revealed now, we look to this entity He inhabits (and of course, also His word).

Ephesians 3:9-11 "and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,  according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

From these two mysteries we see that God came as a man, ultimately to produce the church . . . this is lofty stuff we've been brought into! So what is the church exactly in God's universal plan and why is she such an important part of His focus?

 

The church is an invasion force.

Since the Fall, this world has been in the hands of the Deceiver.  Every person born is born into the Enemy's camp, with no way of escape, and every person became a soldier, like it or not, in the Enemy's plan -- a plan to steal us, whom God made to be the custodians of all that is, and keep us from that destiny and so ruin God's plan.

God doesn't go down so easily, nor do His plans.  Millennia ago He began a program to bring it all back, to reach down into this mess of a fallen world and to pluck out individuals, whether one at a time or many, and -- while leaving them in Enemy-held territory, i.e. the world and our own flesh -- begin a transformation into His own soldiers, not the Enemy's.  God started off only a little different than the Enemy had done; the Evil One had subverted woman, while God partnered with a man.  And in so doing God allowed the Enemy to forget that however high he thought himself, God remained the Most High, unassailably beyond the  reach of not just anyone in the Enemy's realm but beyond of all of them combined. So the Deceiver thought this was a battle between him and God, forgetting that he was but one more creature before God, little higher than the highest human prince -- and ultimately less than any human at all, because God made men only a little lower than the angels while destined to be above them.

So a man gathered his household and gathered and packed all he owned, and set out northwest, headed for a land as far as he'd ever heard of, on foot, walking a thousand- mile journey.  It was a journey where his son was the important one, because at the end of the journey that son would become the first pebble in what would become a stream-full as his descendants were led, taught, and trained to ignore the deceptive "gods" the Enemy put up to lead people astray, descendants who would become a whole people and a kingdom: God's first step towards overthrowing the Deceiver's grip on our Earth.  

But it was aimed at the ultimate move, when from among that people one would be chosen as mother of God's own Son.  That Son would be born in enemy territory, but territory held by that people God had fostered and nurtured and thus had among them those who would hear the words of His Son, and follow.

Those followers, we call the church.  As the church we live in enemy territory, but we are not his, we are God's.  We are citizens of a kingdom beyond the Enemy's reach, and as such we are invaders, commissioned here to draw others to surrender to the kingdom of God's Son, to make the invasion force ever larger.  Like a mighty army the church moves, all the while the Enemy does his best to disrupt it, still not getting that his foe isn't God, since God can't be defeated; his foe is the church, is you and me and millions of brothers and sisters.  He must know, though, that the very plan he thought would bring him victory -- killing God the Son -- was the worst thing he could have done because that was actually his defeat.  But whether he knows or not, we need to get on with the job.

But there's more to it than just rescuing people from the Enemy's camp:  Nature itself suffers because our first parents essentially handed it over to the Enemy.  As the church is redeemed and battles to rescue more, our redemption becomes the redemption or Nature itself.  On that level, we are an infection, "macrobes" who infect Nature with whiffs of the glory it once held, so that it, too, might be rescued.

Get your invasion on, everyone!

[Roymond]

1 hour ago, Vine Abider said:

By principalities and powers I think of Satan's group.  Do you think they are gaining wisdom or are they just observing God's wise operation?  How much sinks in, I'm not sure.  Could be like 1st Corinthians 2:8,  "None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

When He was one Grain He abided alone, but when He fell into the ground and died, many grains (the church) was produced!

I've always loved that verse!  Just when Satan thought he had maneuvered God into a defeat, one that would make humanity his prisoners forever by killing God in the flesh, came his most bewildering moment:  this Jesus had died, but instead of coming in through the entry gate like every other human, this one tore the gates off their hinges and threw them away.  Satan was freaking out, incapable of understanding -- but then it got worse!  This Jesus actually had the gall to preach to all of Satan's miserable subjects, and many of them followed Him when the next disaster happened:  He walked out through those gates that had been built for one-way traffic and took that multitude with Him!

Still, Jesus was dead, right?  Two whole days and a night, Jesus was still dead, so the Enemy had won a victory, and--

Now just wait a minute!  He's dead!  Dead humans aren't supposed to get up and walk around alive again!

Right there is where I think Satan finally realized that God wasn't an Arian:  Jesus wasn't an adopted son, He was the Living Son of the Living God, and thus Satan's creator.

That had to be the biggest, "I am so screwed!" moment in history.

[Marilyn C]

On 12/19/2022 at 9:44 AM, Vine Abider said:

Ephesians and Colossians presents the two BIG mysteries in God's administration.  The first mystery is shown in Colossians: the mystery of God, which is Christ (Col 2:2).  That is, if we want the best revealing of who God is and what He's about, we look to Jesus Christ for that expression. 

Ephesians chapter three then tells us the next mystery, the mystery of Christ: the church (ekklesia: called-out gathering).  That is, if we want to see Christ revealed now, we look to this entity He inhabits (and of course, also His word).

Ephesians 3:9-11 "and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,  according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

From these two mysteries we see that God came as a man, ultimately to produce the church . . . this is lofty stuff we've been brought into! So what is the church exactly in God's universal plan and why is she such an important part of His focus?

 

Hi Vine Abider,

Just saw your great and timely topic, so dear to my heart. Now, I have written some notes on the Ephesians 3 thread but I think we may be able to have a specific discussion of it here on your thread. I do have other comments but will address them later.

`To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be known by the Ekklesia (Body of Christ) to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. According to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ` (Eph. 3: 9 - 11)

When Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father, He had all things placed under His feet by the Father. Then Jesus was also made Head of His Body by the Father. Jesus, then in His responsibility as Head of His Body, sent His Holy Spirit to administer His will throughout His Body. (Eph. 1: 20 - 23,  Acts 2:17,  John 16: 13 & 14) 

This Body, was made of Jews and Gentiles, and called the New Man. It is a spiritual organism and a new group in God`s purposes. (1 Cor. 12: 13, Eph. 2: 15) God did not reveal this group before Jesus died, only that Jesus was going to build His ekklesia, which the disciples knew as the name for Israel. It was not until the Head of His Body revealed the Body purpose to the apostle Paul, that the mystery was revealed. (Eph. 3: 3: 5)

God kept this mystery hidden, ((Eph. 3:9) otherwise Satan and his demonic angels would not have killed Jesus. (1 Cor. 2: 7 & 8)

Thus, in the letter to the Ephesians, who were given the whole counsel of God, (Acts 20; 27) we read of the doctrine, (teaching) of the Body of Christ, what it is and how it came into being. It is an amazing revelation that the Gentiles were now included into one Body through the cross. (Eph. 2: 15 & 16)

Then Paul goes on to explain that this Body of believers, would show to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, Christ`s overcoming life in them. (Eph. 3: 10) So, Satan thinking he had got rid of Jesus, now has to face many, many Christ-like believers who not only in this life overcome his (usurped) authority, but will actually rule and reign in the third heaven where he used to rule. (Rev. 3: 21.  Ez. 14: 13)

So with this great revelation unfolding to the Ephesians, (& us) Paul encourages the believers to `not lose heart,` and that as he bows the knee to the Father -

`that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may comprehend with all the saints ....to know the love of Christ...` (Eph. 3: 16 - 19)

May we appreciate the Body that Christ died for, and then in Chapter 4 see how Christ is building and maturing it.

Marilyn.

[Marilyn C]

On 12/19/2022 at 9:44 AM, Vine Abider said:

 

From these two mysteries we see that God came as a man, ultimately to produce the church . . . this is lofty stuff we've been brought into! So what is the church exactly in God's universal plan and why is she such an important part of His focus?

 

Hi VA,

Do you see I have underlined the word `SHE.`  You may not have looked into this before however can you please show me the teaching of the Body of Christ, the NEW MAN, now being a FEMALE?

Marilyn.

[Vine Abider]

1 minute ago, Marilyn C said:

Hi VA,

Do you see I have underlined the word `SHE.`  You may not have looked into this before however can you please show me the teaching of the Body of Christ, the NEW MAN, now being a FEMALE?

Marilyn.

Hey Marilyn!  I owe you a couple response here and in other threads . . . I just now finished a work commitment (ye-haw!)and can do that in the next couple days!

Let me just say this - in Ephesians there is the comparison of husband and wife and in 5:26-27 it says "to sanctify her" and "to present her to Himself as a radiant church . . ." and in Revelation 21:21 we see the New Jerusalem coming down "prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband."