SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/16/2019
10:32 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “How Christ won the Right to Give Gifts”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Ephesians 4:8-10
Message of the verses: “8 Therefore it
says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE
GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." 9 (Now this expression,
"He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended
into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who
ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)”
Paul
is explaining the application of the Old Testament passage, Paul says, “Now
this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that
He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?” The He that Paul is speaking of is of course
Jesus Christ, “Who fills all in all” (1:23).
The word ascended refers to Jesus’ ascension from earth to heaven as
seen in Acts 1:9-11. Jesus ascended from
earth to heaven to forever reign with His Father.
So
the ascended means as we just said that Jesus went up into heaven, and then
Paul talks about that He descended and this must refer to His coming down from
heaven to earth. Jesus, the captain of
our salvation was abased and then exalted.
“Divestiture came before investiture, incarnation before glorification
(see Phil. 2:4-11). The truth is
repeated in proper chronological sequence in verse 10: ‘He who descended is
Himself also He who ascended’” (MacArthur).
MacArthur
writes “The depth of Christ’s descent in incarnation is said to be ‘into the
lower parts of the earth.’ This
reference is presented to provide a striking contrast in terms of His ascent ‘far
above all the heavens,’ emphasizing the extreme range of our Lord’s
condescension and exaltation. To
understand the phrase ‘the lower parts of the earth’ we need only examine its
use elsewhere in Scripture. In Psalm
63:9 it has to do with death, being related to falling by the sword (v.
10). In Matthew 12:40 a similar phrase, ‘the
heart of the earth,’ refers to the belly of a great fish where the prophet
Jonah was kept. In Isaiah 44:23 the
phrase refers to the created earth containing mountains, forests, and
trees. Psalm 139:15 uses it in reference
to the womb of a woman where God is forming a child. The sum of these uses indicates that the
phrase relates to the created earth as a place of life and death. In the majority of the uses it appears in
contrast to the highest heavens, as here and in Psalm. 139:8, 15 and Isaiah
44:23.”
Now
as we look at this phrase in this letter to the Ephesians it is not to point to
a specific place, but it is to refer to the depth of the incarnation. Now as we look at the phrases that go along
with this phrase as seen in the quote MacArthur gave we can see the following
as they relate to the incarnation: He
was formed in the womb as seen in Psalm 139:5, and he lived on the earth as
seen from Isaiah 44:23, AND IN His death we see it is consistent with the use
of the phrase in Psalm 63:9.
There,
however is more to this and I think it is best to again quote what MacArthur
writes in the following paragraphs so we do not miss this important point: “It should be noted further that our Lord’s
descent went even beyond the womb, the earth, the grave, and death—to a descent
into the very pit of the demons. Peter
sheds light on the meaning of ‘He also descended into the lower parts of the
earth.’ In his first letter he says, ‘For
Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that
He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive
in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now
in prison.’ This does not refer to
preaching the gospel (from euangelizo)
but to making a triumphant announcement—in this case Christ’s announcement of
His victory over the demons even while they tried to hold Him to death.
“The
Old Testament refers to the place of the departed dead as Sheol (Deut. 32:22;
Job 26:6; Ps. 16:10; etc.). Part of
Sheol was a place of torment and evil, occupied by the unrighteous dead and by
the demons who had been confined and bound there because of their wicked
cohabitation with women during the period before the Flood (see Gen. 6:2-5; 2
Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). When Christ ‘descended’
to Sheol, He proclaimed His victory, because ‘He had disarmed the rulers and authorities
[and] made a public display of them, having triumphed over them’ (Col. 2:15;
cf. 1 Pet. 3:19). At that time came the announcement to the demons, both bound
and loose (the ‘angels and authorities and powers’), that they all were subject
to Christ (1 Pet. 3:22; Eph. 1:20-21).
To ascend to heaven, He also passed through the territory of Satan and
his demons in the air (Heb. 4:14 uses dia,
through) and no doubt celebrated His triumph over them. Whether or not Paul had this event in mind in
his reference here is difficult to establish; nonetheless, it does demonstrate
the depth of Christ descent.”
There
is more to this event, but we will save it until the next SD, Lord willing.
Verses that go along with yesterday’s
quotation: “Don’t lose your grip on love
and loyalty. Tie them around your neck;
carve their initials on your heart. Earn
a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of people” (Proverbs
3:3-4 The Message).
3/16/2019 11:49 AM
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