The Miracle and the Mystery
The Miracle and the Mystery
Ephesians # 3
June 1st and June 2nd 2002
(elevator joke)
Review:
We have been talking about the book of Ephesians. The title we have been using is SIT/WALK/STAND. It relates to our position in Christ then our walk as Christians, and finally our stand against the enemies. It is a balanced approach to Christianity.
-We are in Ephesians 2:11 and following.
Ephesians 2
11 ¶ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14 ¶ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Chapter 3
1 ¶ For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you,
3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.
6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
-He then prays a prayer that is a good example to pray.
-That is a powerful Scripture that is a good study for you to focus on. We can’t bring it all out this weekend. Spend some time grasping the significance
1. THE MIRACLE OF ISRAEL
Joke – Sharon and Arafat
Palestinians stole the Israeli’s clothes
-About 4000 years ago God established the nation of Israel by making a promise to a Gentile who believed him-Abraham.
-The intention of God was to have a chosen people who would be an example to the rest of the world of what He was like.
-The intention was for Israel to be a country by which God could and would reach out to the rest of the world.
-God chose a people who lived in the midst of idolatry. He told them there was one God that they should worship.
-The entire O.T. is a picture of that story.
-The people are brought out of slavery in Egypt.
-They enter the Promised Land.
After a period of Judges the monarchy is set up.
-We have King Saul, King David, and King Solomon.
-Then we have the Kingdom divided into the North-Israel and the South-Judah.
-The Northern part is taken captive by Assyria and so we have the lost 10 tribes of Israel to this day.
-I’ve got an A&E program about those tribes possibly being found in Jewish sects throughout other parts of the world.
-Judah is later taken captive into Babylon and then later restored to Jerusalem.
-After another period of time we have Jesus showing up.
-He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and it happened. Titus sacked the place for the Romans in 70 A.D.
-I was walking through Rome and I came upon the Arch of Titus.
-It shows the Romans bringing the Jewish treasures from the temple into the city of Rome.
-This scattering of the Jews throughout the world is called the dispersion or the Diaspora.
WHAT IS THE MIRACLE?
1. FIRST OF ALL, IT IS THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES.
-They are like Jonah in the fish, they can’t be assimilated.
-Anywhere they go, they are still Jews, even if they don’t believe in God.
-The story of Jewish success is mind boggling.
-I have a book called “The Jewish Phenomenon”.
“A new flood is foretold. In five days the rain will be incessant, and the world will be wiped out. The Dalai Lama addresses the world’s Buddhists and says, “Meditate and prepare for your next reincarnation.” The Pope holds an audience and tells Catholics, “Confess your sins and pray.” The Chief Rabbi of Israel goes on TV and says, “We have five days to learn to live under water!”
(Quote from The Jewish Phenomonon.)
-Of 6 billion people, 1/5 of 1% are Jews.
-Their success is amazing.
-1/3 of American multi-millionaires are Jewish.
Here are the keys to their success according to this book:
1-Real wealth is portable-it is knowledge. (They are advocates of education.)
2-Take care of each other.
3-Successful people own the businesses.
4-Develop the ability to speak to people.
5-Be selectively extravagant but otherwise frugal.
6-Encouage creativity.
7-Be driven to prove something. (In other words, they are the underdog.)
-Our holidays are fun times, theirs revolve around their existence.
-Passover, Purim, and Hanakuh are days where they celebrate that their enemies didn’t destroy them.
-A Jewish believer once said it is like-The tried to kill us but it didn’t work now let’s eat!
-The Vulcan Leonard Nimoy was a Jew and the Kohen or priestly blessing is given while the priests extend their hands in a V shape.
-Our culture and especially the church is greatly influenced by a small group of people from the mid-east.
-One of the things the book said was to make your children feel chosen.
-Encourage the fact that God can help you.
-Einstein (a Jew) said that his discoveries were influenced by the Bible. He believed the universe was orderly and he set out to prove it.
-There is a drive built into them because of a need to prove something.
From book:
A Jewish mother is walking down the street with her two young sons. A passerby asks her how old the boys are. “The doctor is three,” the mother answers, “and the lawyer is two.”
-It is worthwhile to see their attitudes and adopt what is Biblical.
Romans 10
11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
12 ¶ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
2. THE SECOND PART OF THE MIRACLE IS THE LAND OF ISRAEL
-God gave the land to Israel and even marked out the boundaries.
-They are spiritually rebellious but God is faithful to them anyway.
-God promised to Abraham and David. He is faithful even when men are not.
Ezekiel 37
1 ¶ The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me to and fro among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, `Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'"
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, `Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.
14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'"
-This has spiritual implications as well as physical ones.
-May 14th, 1948-Israel is reborn in a day.
-After many wars with the surrounding Arab nations they are still there.
3. THE THIRD MIRACLE IS YET TO COME
-There will be a revival among the Jews.
-Joseph is a picture of Jesus-Yeshua with the nation of Israel.
-He is sold by his brothers into Egypt in slavery.
-Even though his brothers reject him, God uses it to save Israel and the whole world.
-Joseph, like Jesus, takes a Gentile bride.
-He then reveals himself to his brothers and they are reconciled.
Zechariah 12
9 ¶ On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,
Zechariah 13
6 If someone asks him, `What are these wounds on your body?' he will answer, `The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.'
EXAMPLE OF BARBARA RICHMOND-THE JEWISH NUN
-If you read Romans 9-11 you will see that there is coming a restoration.
-How can you love God and the Bible and hate the Jewish nation?
-There is a move toward Replacement Theology. This is the belief that Jesus rejected Israel for the church and Israel doesn’t matter anymore.
-That isn’t true.
-The fact also is that a restored, revived Israel are followers of Yeshua-not just Jews.
-That doesn’t mean that everything Israel; does id right.
2. THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
-I SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME ON THIS IN “a Heart Set Free” so I’m not going to lay all of it out.
-The point is this: God is looking for a people of faith.
-The plan was for Israel to point to and lead people to God.
Genesis 12
1 ¶ The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
-the word for families in Hebrew is “mishpachah”. It is ethnic groups.
-God always planned to draw all men to Himself whether Jew or Gentile.
-Chapter 2 of Ephesians tells us :
THE WAY WE WERE
verses 11-12
· Separate from Christ
· Excluded from citizenship in Israel
· Foreigners to the covenants
· Without hope
· Without God
Verse 13 says:
BUT NOW
· We who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ
Ephesians 2 and 3
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.
6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
-The mystery is that all people have access to God through Jesus Christ.
-The mystery of the ages is Christ in You, the hope of Glory.
-Salvation came first to the Jews.
-Now all people can be saved.
1Co 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--
1Co 12:13 For we were all baptised by {Or with; or in} one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
-Abraham was to have seed like the dust of the earth and like the stars in the sky.
-He has a spiritual seed as well as a physical seed.
Galatians 3
16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds", meaning many people, but "and to your seed", meaning one person, who is Christ.
17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.
18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
27 for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
-That is the mystery.
WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON RACISM?
-There are always people who think they are better than others whether that is Nazis, Klu Klux Klan, skinheads or fundamentalist Christians.
-The truth is, the ground is level at te foot of the cross.
-To God there is only one race, the human race.
-In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male or female, black, white, yellow or whatever.
-In His physical body Jesus was a Jewish man who lived in Israel.
-The Bible is a book written by God through Jews almost entirely.
-The early church was Jewish.
EXAMPLE OF BARBARA RICHMOND’S MOM WITH HER DAD, WILL YOU STILL MARRY ME NOW THAT YOU KNOW I AM JEWISH?
-We have no place for prejudice and pigeon holing in Christ.
-If you were raised to believe you were better than someone else, repent.
De 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
De 14:2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
-You are a believer. You have come to Him in faith. You are chosen.