Author: David McKay

In the course of serving Christ, Paul endured many hardships, in fulfilment of Christ’s words in Acts 9:16.  Paul lists his early sufferings for the name of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:23ff – punishments, dangers, hardships – and there were many more to come.  On at least 2 occasions he was imprisoned in Rome.  Instead of showing self-pity and depression, Paul wrote letters to challenge and encourage various churches.  One letter from his first imprisonment (AD60 or 62), is Ephesians, a profound study of the eternal plan of God to save sinners, the unity of the church in Christ and the practical outworking of faith in spiritual warfare.  Consider Ephesians 1:1-2 Greeting faithful saints.

1. The author

‘Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ’ – he immediately identifies himself, with no mention of his imprisonment.  He is not seeking sympathy or boasting about his suffering for Christ.  Note his humility in 3:8 ‘less than the least’.  As an ‘apostle’ he belongs to the group selected by Christ as the foundation of the church in its NT form.  An apostle is a ‘sent one’, sent by the Head of the church.  As an ‘apostle of Jesus Christ’ Paul was sent by the Lord for a special work of evangelising and also for the writing of NT Scriptures.  His status was questioned by his enemies, who receive a strong response in Galatians 1 and 1 Corinthians 9:1 ‘Am I not an apostle?  Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?’  He is clearly thinking back to the Damascus road when he met the risen Christ and was commissioned as an apostle.  Note ‘of Jesus Christ’ – belonging to the Lord.  A true servant is concerned to glorify his Master, without any spiritual pride (see 1 Corinthians 3:5).  His position is ‘by the will of God’ – every servant is to accept willingly the place allocated by the Lord, learning and following his will.

2. The recipients

The letter may be a circular letter sent to several congregations in the area.  They are ‘the saints’ – a reference to every born-again Christian.  The word indicates that they are ‘set apart’ by God as his special people (see 1 Peter 2:9).  This holiness is to be expressed in a life lived according to God’s law.  The ‘faithful’ are best understood as ‘those who exercise faith’.  The Christian is one who puts faith entirely in Christ as Lord and Saviour (see 2:8).  Note ‘in Christ Jesus’ – faith unites us to Christ in his death and resurrection, so that we become part of his ‘body’, the church.  The recipients are at the same time ‘in Ephesus’ – in very ordinary situations.  When saved we are left in the world to serve the Lord (John 17:15).

3. The greeting

In his prayer Paul uses a Christian form of classical good wishes.  First ‘grace’ – free undeserved favour.  Grace saves (2:8) and equips for service (4:7).  We require a daily supply of grace for our every need.  Also ‘peace’ – the fundamental blessing of salvation. When justified, we have ‘peace with God’ (Romans 5:1).  Indeed ‘he himself is our peace’ (2:14).   This peace is an unchanging, objective fact, but we allow sin to disrupt our experience of peace and need regularly to seek that blessing.  There is only one source of these blessings: ‘God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ’.  We should often pray in the way Paul does.

Whatever the crisis, it is usually the children who suffer most.  Whether in times of famine or in war and civil unrest, many suffer directly as victims or may be part of families that are torn apart.  We are also acutely aware of the abuse of children and the scars left by domestic conflict.  Throughout Scripture there is great concern for children and a high value put on them.  Consider Matthew 19:13-15 Blessing covenant children.

1. Parental concern for covenant children

Very different attitudes are evident in the disciples and those bringing children to Jesus.  The parents act out of faith, seeking his blessing and prayers (v13).  The children in question are very young (see Luke 18:15).  There is no rebuke from Jesus.  The parents’ concern is perfectly proper.  The disciples, however, ‘rebuked those who brought them’.  Perhaps they thought that children were beneath Jesus’ concern or they may not have wanted their discussions with Jesus interrupted.  Jesus in turn rebukes the disciples – ‘Let the little children come to me’ (v14).  The parents’ concern reflects his concern, and should be the concern of all of the Lord’s people.  Such loving concern is both a duty and a privilege.

2. Spiritual privileges of covenant children

These are the children of God’s people – covenant children.  The OT shows clearly that God’s covenant embraces the children of his people (Genesis 17:7).  Believers in the NT are in the same covenant and their children enjoy the same privilege.  Note Jesus’ statement, ‘the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’ (v14).  2 great privileges are included:

1. They are citizens of the Kingdom.  At least some of these children were regenerate, the Spirit having implanted new spiritual life in them.  Such was John the Baptist (Luke 1:15, 44).  The Lord is not saying that this is the case with all of these infants.  Regarding the faith that saves, where new life has been implanted, the response of faith will become evident as the child grows up.  The sin they are born with needs to be forgiven.
2. They are members of the Church.  All covenant children are to be counted as within the circle of the covenant – only through time will it become apparent if they have not experienced the saving grace of God.  They are to receive the sacrament of initiation – circumcision in the OT and baptism in the NT.  We baptise covenant children because of what they are, not in order to make them something.  They have the responsibility to accept the obligations of God’s covenant by faith in Christ and make profession of faith.

3. Loving ministry to covenant children

Jesus ‘placed his hands on them’ (v15) – symbolic of blessing them.  The Church, as well as parents, has the duty and responsibility of ministering to covenant children:

1. Prayer, seeking that they will come to faith and will lovingly serve the Lord.
2. Teaching, supplementing parental instruction, grounding them in God’s truth.
3. Example, providing consistent models of living out God’s truth in daily life.

These are great tasks that should drive us to prayer for the Spirit’s enabling and grace.

The Israelite exiles were in Babylon because of their sin.  In the latter part of Ezekiel God promises to restore the exiles to their homeland.  But how can a holy God restore a sinful people?  Restoration would indicate forgiveness, and for God to forgive without repentance on Israel’s part would be a denial of his holiness.  There must be a change in the Israelites which only God can effect.  That is the theme of our text – a radical and all-pervasive change that God will bring about.  We consider Ezekiel 36:24-28 A new heart.

1. The new heart

Verse 26 is crucial: ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you’.  The ‘heart’ in biblical terminology is the centre of man’s being, his thinking, willing and feeling.  The ‘spirit’ is that which directs a man’s thinking and action.  Here we have a description of the re-creation of the sinner by the power and grace of God.  A new nature is provided.  Note – ‘I will give’ – it is entirely his work.  Sinners thus become new creations’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

2. The thorough cleansing

The Lord deals with our sin: ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean’ (v25).  Sin is to be thought of not only as guilt, but also as defilement.  The Lord deals with both.  The cleansing is from ‘all your impurities and all your idols’.  How is this effected?  Not by the animal sacrifices of the OT.  Instead we read in Hebrews 10:14 ‘How much more, then, will the blood of Christ…cleanse your consciences from acts that lead to death’.  The promise given through Ezekiel has in view the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

3. The indwelling Spirit

The most wonderful aspect of the transformation God effects is – ‘I will put my Spirit in you’ (v27).  God personally indwells his redeemed people by the Holy Spirit.  This is a much richer experience than was known to OT believers.  The Spirit is our Counsellor/Advocate/Comforter (John 14:16), the evidence we are children of God.

4. The willing obedience

The presence of the Spirit is discerned through our willing obedience to God’s Word – ‘follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws’ (v27).  The grace of God makes the keeping of his law possible.  Obedience is the best indicator of our spiritual health and our love for the Lord (John 14:15).  He stirs greater love for God and greater obedience to him.

5. The gracious covenant

God brings sinners into a loving personal relationship which takes the form of a covenant by which he and his people are bound willingly in a mutual commitment – ‘you will be my people and I will be your God’ (v28).  The love and grace of God establish an unbreakable bond and we respond by loving and serving him.  It is an eternal bond of love.

One distinctive feature of the biblical view of history is that time is moving in a straight line towards a goal ordained by God.  History is the unfolding of God’s plan to redeem a people for himself and bring them into covenant with himself.  In The Bible’s Covenant Story, we finally consider 14. Revelation 21:1-8 Covenant consummation.

1. New creation

Note v1 ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth’.  The Lord is going to bring about a renewal of the material universe, envisaged in e.g. Isaiah 65:17ff.  It will be a renovated universe, not a replacement.  The material creation shares in man’s fall (Genesis 3:17) and will share in ‘the glorious freedom of the children of God’ (Romans 8:21).  Satan will not triumph.  The Lord is going to provide a suitable home for his covenant people.  Body and soul they will live in a transformed world – ‘the home of righteousness’ (2 Peter 3:13).

2. Covenant fellowship

John sees ‘the Holy City, the new Jerusalem’ (v2).  This symbolises the perfected church – ‘a bride beautifully dressed for her husband’.  The Lord is ‘married’ to his people (see 19:9) in a covenant of marriage.  The basic covenant promise is repeated (v3).  This is the greatest blessing of life in the new creation.  We have covenant fellowship with the Lord, the life for which he made and remade us.  Knowledge and fellowship will continue to grow eternally.

3. Complete transformation

The sovereign Lord ‘seated on the throne’ (v5) proclaims ‘I am making everything new’.  No part of creation will be untouched by his powerful and gracious work.  All the effects of the fall will be removed. The hard and sad experiences will be gone for ever.  He will ‘wipe every tear’ (v4), whatever the cause.  We can rejoice that there will be ‘no more death or mourning or crying or pain’.  He says, ‘Come and share your master’s happiness’ (Matthew 25:21).

4. Full satisfaction

‘It is done’ (v6) – a perfect tense, indicating that the work is completed and will never be undone.  The Lord expresses his satisfaction in bringing his eternal plan to a perfect conclusion.  At his death which sealed the covenant Christ cried, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30).  A glorious outcome is guaranteed.  We share in the satisfaction – ‘I will give to drink’ – the Lord slakes our spiritual thirst with his presence.  We enjoy an inheritance and sonship (v7).

5. Righteous judgment

In the midst of the joy and anticipation of glory there is a word of warning.  After a diverse list of sinners, the Lord says, ‘their place will be in the fiery lake’.  No-one enters the new creation with sin unforgiven.  We must make sure we are truly members of the Covenant of Grace through faith in Christ alone and are thus on the path to glory in the new creation.

If we are to understand the New Testament correctly, we must immerse ourselves in the Old Testament.  There we find all the necessary foundations for understanding the person and work of the Messiah.  The Old Testament provides the basic categories for approaching the New, one of these crucial categories being covenant.  In The Bible’s Covenant Story, we consider 13. Luke 22:20 The New Covenant in my blood.

1. The covenant

The words Jesus uses in v20 draw explicitly on the prophecy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31, in particular v31 ‘I will make a new covenant’.  As noted in the last study, the need for this covenant was due to the failings of the people.  The Old Covenant, in biblical terminology, was the Mosaic Covenant, with its sacrifices, ceremonies and laws, given as God’s temporary provision, since these could not change the hearts of people.  The need was for a new covenant that could not be undone by man’s sin.  Now is the time of fulfilment – ‘This cup is the new covenant’.  The New Covenant is being established in the person and work of the Messiah.  It is vital to understand the New Covenant is essentially the same Covenant of Grace that goes back to the promise of a Deliverer in Genesis 3:15.  The core promise is ‘I will be their God , and they will be my people’ (Jeremiah 31:30).

2. The blood

At the heart of the Messiah’s work to establish the covenant is ‘my blood, which is poured out for you’.  In Scripture ‘blood’ speaks of life poured out in death.  It is sacrificial blood that effects atonement for sin and the necessity for blood to be shed is stated in Hebrews 9:22.  If sin is to be forgiven and sinners are to enter the Covenant of Grace, the blood of sacrifice is essential.  This principle is evident at the Passover (Exodus 12), where the blood of the substitute lamb marks the houses of God’s people and his judgment passes over them.  The blood of the lamb was atoning and redemptive.  The blood of an animal, however, could not remove the sin of one of God’s image-bearers (Hebrews 10:11) – these were temporary provisions until the coming of ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29).  His blood is ‘poured out for you’ – both as the representative of his people and as their substitute.  The one who is both God and man is fully equipped to do all that is required for entrance into ‘the new covenant’.  He was made to be sin for us – 2 Corinthians 5:21.

3. The cup

The meal in the Upper Room is a Passover, recalling the former deliverance through the shedding of the blood of the lamb.  The focus was always to be on the Lord’s grace – Israel’s privileged position was ‘because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your forefathers’ (Deuteronomy 7:8).  We can have a place in the New Covenant because of the Lord’s covenant love that we remember in the transformed Passover – the Lord’s Supper.  The sacrament is a means of grace God has given the church – ‘a participation in the blood of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 10:16).  As we eat and drink, we enjoy covenant fellowship with the Lord and with fellow believers on account of the shed blood of the New Covenant Lamb.