SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/23/2019
9:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Plan for the Mystery”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
3:5-6
Message of the verses: “5 which in other
generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed
to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that
the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow
partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,”
In
verse six we see that Paul states “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs,” and as
mentioned in an earlier SD, Paul began to pray as seen in verse one, but then
he decided to go back over the mystery that he had already spoken about which
is exactly what this section of verse six states, that the Gentiles are fellow
heirs with all the things that the Jews have.
Paul wrote the following to the Galatians in 3:29 “And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” Now the Jews were physically descendants of
Abraham, but not all were spiritual descendants of Abraham. All of this is explained in the book of
Galatians. Believers, both Jews and
Gentiles are spiritually descendants of Abraham.
Paul
goes on to write that the Gentiles are also now “fellow members of the body.” We have mentioned that one of the ways that
the church is described in the New Testament is that of a body, and so when a
Gentile believes in Jesus Christ they become part of the body of Christ, they
are “joint heirs” and have the same benefits as Jews. The church is “one body” the body of Christ,
and so it makes no difference as to whether you are a Jew or a Gentile when you
become a believer you are one in Christ.
John
MacArthur writes “In addition to having the same legal and family status,
Gentiles also are ‘fellow partakers of the promise in Christ through the
gospel.’ That is not so much a third
status as it is a summary of the other two.
All Christians, regardless of their status or position before being
saved, are now ‘fellow partakers’ of everything that pertains to ‘Christ
through the Gospel—which is everything that pertains to Christ. The essence of the ‘gospel’ is that, through
faith in Jesus Christ, believers are made everything He is and given everything
He has.” The phrase ‘the mystery of
Christ’ (v. 4) is also used in Col. 4:3 as the very essence of Paul’s
message. It carries the truth of Col.
1:27, that Christ is in believing Gentiles as well as believing Jews as ‘the
hope of glory’ for both. It also carries
the truth of Colossians 2:2, that the mystery is ‘Christ Himself,’ in whom
believers have everything (v.3). So the
mystery is fully understood to be Jew and Gentile in Christ—Christ in Jew and
Gentile, so that there is the intimate shared union of eternal life as they
both become immersed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20). God predestines every believer ‘to become
conformed to the image of His Son’ (Rom. 8:29).
This is the answer to the prayer our Lord recorded in John 17:20-23 ‘20 "I
do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that
they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that
they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22
"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be
one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected
in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as
You have loved Me.’”
This
prayer in John 17 has been called the “Holy of Holies” of the New Testament. I had the privilege to teach through this
prayer in our Sunday school class a couple of years ago and now to see it in
this light of being a fulfillment of this great mystery sheds another light on
it.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I’m thankful that I am in Christ and have the
things that He has, and it is my desire to be closer to Him as I go through
life on this earth, praying each day that the Lord will come in the Rapture to
take us all home to be with Him.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to teach me the truths of
Romans 12:3, so that I can serve Him better, giving all the glory to Him.
Verse from yesterday’s quote: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).
1/23/2019 9:56 AM
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