Ephesians 2.7-The Purpose of the Father Making the Church Age Believer Alive with Christ and Raising and Seating Them with Him
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday October 7, 2023
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 2:7-The Purpose of the Father Making the Church Age Believer Alive with Christ and Raising and Seating Them with Him
Lesson # 87
Ephesians 2:1 Now, correspondingly, even though, each and every one of you as a corporate unit were spiritually dead ones because of your transgressions, in other words, because of your sins. 2 Each and every one of you formerly lived by means of these in agreement with the standard of the unregenerate people of this age, which is the production of the cosmic world system, in agreement with the standard of the sovereign ruler, namely the sovereign governmental authority ruling over the evil spirits residing in the earth’s atmosphere. Specifically the spirit who is presently working in the lives of those members of the human race who are characterized by disobedience. 3 Among whom, each and every one of us also formerly for our own selfish benefit conducted our lives by means of those lusts, which are produced by our flesh. Specifically, by indulging those inclinations which are produced by our flesh, in other words, those impulses, which are the product of our flesh. Consequently, each and every one of us caused ourselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of our natural condition from physical birth. Just as the rest correspondingly caused themselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of their natural condition from physical birth. 4 But because God is rich with regards to mercy, because of the exercise of His great love with which He loved each and every one of us, 5 even though each and every one of us as a corporate unit were spiritually dead ones because of our transgressions, He caused each and every one of us to be made alive together with the one and only Christ. Each and every one of you as a corporate unit are saved because of grace! 6 Specifically, He caused each and every one of us as a corporate unit to be raised with Him. Correspondingly, He caused each and every one of us as a corporate unit to be seated in the heavenlies because of our faith in and union and identification with the one and only Christ. 7 He did this so that He could enter into the state of displaying for His own glory during the ages, which are certain to come, the incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace because of kindness for the benefit of each and every one of us because of our faith in and union and identification with the one and only Christ, who is Jesus. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 2:7 is a hina (ἵνα) purpose clause, which is composed of the declarative statement hina endeixētai to hyperballon ploutos tēs charitos autou…ephʼ hēmas (ἵνα ἐνδείξηται τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ… ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς), “so that He could display for His own glory the incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace.”
This declarative statement presents the purpose of the Father making the church age believer alive with Christ by raising and seating them with His Son despite the fact that they were spiritually dead because of their transgressions.
This declarative statement is modified by four prepositional phrases.
The first of these is ephʼ hēmas (ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς), “for the benefit of each and every one of us.”
This prepositional describes each and every church age believer as benefiting from the Father’s intended action of displaying His incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy.
The second is en tois aiōsin tois eperchomenois (ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσιν τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις), “during the ages, which are certain to come.”
This prepositional phrase identifies when the Father will display for His own glory His incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy on behalf of each and every church age believer.
It identifies the millennial reign of Christ and the eternal state as when the Father will display for His own glory His incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy on behalf of each and every church age believer.
The third prepositional phrase is en chrēstotēti (ἐν χρηστότητι), “because of kindness” and identifies the Father’s kindness as the reason why He will display for His own glory His incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy on behalf of each and every church age believer.
Lastly, the fourth and final prepositional phrase is en Christō Iēsou (ἐν Χριστῷ* Ἰησοῦ), “because of our faith in and union and identification with the one and only Christ, who is Jesus.”
It identifies the church age believer’s faith in Jesus Christ at justification and their union and identification with Him through the baptism of the Spirit at justification as the reason why the Father will display for His own glory His incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy on behalf of each and every church age believer because of His kindness.
Or we could say that it identifies the church age believer’s faith in Christ at justification and union and identification with Him as the ultimate reason why the Father will display for His own glory His incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy on behalf of each and every church age believer.
The Father will do this in the future for each and every church age believer not only because of His kindness but because of their faith in Christ at justification and union and identification with Him.
In other words, the Father could not express this kindness in the future on behalf of the church age believer unless He first declared them justified through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
At which time, He identified them with His Son in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session through the baptism of the Spirit.
So therefore, we can see that in Ephesians 2:7, the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit asserts that the Father will for His own glory display during the ages, which are certain to come in the future, the incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace on behalf of each and every church age believer.
He then asserts that the reason why He will do this is because of His kindness.
He then asserts that the reason why He will do this because of His kindness is their faith in His Son at justification and correspondingly their union and identification with the one and only Christ, who is Jesus, and which union and identification, which took place at justification through the baptism of the Spirit.
These assertions present the purpose of the assertion in Ephesians 2:5 that the Father caused the church age believer to be made alive together with His Son.
It also presents the purpose of the assertion in Ephesians 2:6, which states that Father caused the church age believer to be raised as well as seated with His Son.
As we noted in our study of Ephesians 2:6, the Father raising and seating the church age believer with Christ defines what Paul means when he asserts that the church age believer was made alive together with Christ.
Therefore, a comparison of the contents of Ephesians 2:5 with the contents of Ephesians 2:7 is that the purpose for which the Father caused the church age believer to be made alive with His Son was to display for His own glory during the ages, which are certain to come in the future, the incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace policy.
The reason He will do this on behalf of each and every church age believer is because of His kindness.
Furthermore, the reason why He will do this because of His kindness is because of their faith in Christ at justification and correspondingly, their union and identification with Him.
Correspondingly, a comparison of the contents of Ephesians 2:6 with the contents of Ephesians 2:7 indicates that the purpose for which the Father caused the church age believer to be raised and seated with His Son was to display for His own glory during the ages, which are certain to come in the future, the incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace.
The reason He will do this is because of His kindness on behalf of each and every church age believer.
Furthermore, the reason why He will do this because of His kindness on behalf of them is because of their faith in Christ at justification and correspondingly, their union and identification with Him.