Special Insights No. 2
Fourth Quarter 2005
Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“Ephesians: The Gospel of Relationships”
(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)
Themes In Relationships
The inspired Apostle Paul, in his own inimitable way, worshipfully
praises God by succinctly comprehending the gospel of the everlasting
covenant in this centerpiece verse worth committing to memory. “Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
“Blessed” means to “eulogize,”—to use good language, to speak well
concerning. Filled with a thankful heart for how God has spoken well
concerning Paul, the apostle expressed his worship and gratitude by
speaking good words about God.
The movement of these words was in the past tense. “God hath blessed
us.” The everlasting covenant was just that because before the foundation
of the world the Father and the Son made an agreement that if mankind
should sin, the Father would forgive and reconcile His enemies, receive
them into His family, and give them an inheritance. For His part, the
Son contracted with the Father to be the Representative of the fallen
race and mediate the blessings of the covenant as its Guarantor. The
Holy Spirit would apply all these blessings to the sinner. The economy
of the Godhead was committed to its purpose in creation and to see it
accomplished should the obstacle of sin present itself. There was a
united God-family at the heart of the universe.
When Adam [mankind] sinned, God was not caught off balance. He immediately
promised Eve “all spiritual blessings” in the “seed” Christ Jesus (Gen.
3:15). Christ bore their sin and became the sacrifice in order to pay
the death penalty owed by sinners to the law.
The Gift to them was eternal life both in their present probationary
existence; and, should they cherish the gift, forever-life in the eternal
inheritance of Paradise restored. God spoke this same blessed promise
to Noah and Abraham. The covenant was God speaking good words to Abraham
(Gen. 12:2, 3). “For all the promises of God in him [Christ] are yea,
and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20).
What are all these spiritual blessings? Everything is “in Christ.”
We receive all spiritual blessings in Him. “He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things” (Rom. 8:32).
Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins—justification of life (Rom.
5:18). In our Representative we have been reconciled to God. “For Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
This gift of all things in Christ is in accordance with the fact that
He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that in
Him we might obtain holiness (Eph. 1:4).
The destiny chosen for us is the adoption of children into the family
of God (Eph. 1:5). Accordingly He accepts us in the Beloved. In the
Beloved we have redemption through His blood. All this is the making
known to us of the mystery, namely, that in the fullness of times He
will gather together in one household all things in Jesus Christ, both
things in the heaven and things on the earth.
The purpose of God is that in Christ we have already obtained an inheritance.
All who believe in Christ are sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is
called the Holy Spirit of promise, because it is the surety of the promised
inheritance. This seal of the Holy Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession. “Grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph.
4:30. These are some of the spiritual [of the Spirit] blessings.
“But all these benefits are only temporary, unless they are received
through faith. It is by the cross, the death and resurrection of Christ,
that all men live, whether saints or sinners, and so all are sharing
in the benefits of His work now, and all will come forth from their
graves because of the resurrection of Christ; but it is only those who
receive these benefits by a personal faith in Jesus as the One through
whom they come, who will be able to retain them to all eternity, God
has ‘blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ,’ but we must acknowledge that these blessings are all in
Christ, and that they are received and retained only as we receive
Him, else we shall not be able to keep that which God has given to us.”[1]
Why are “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”?
By this we are to know that our true citizenship is in heaven in Christ.
Christian patriotism is to be a zealot for the kingdom of God. Hence
we have been called out of this world—“For all that is in the world
[which is you and me], the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1
John 2:16). But God has not physically removed us from this world; yet,
He has spiritually separated us from the world by the seal of His Holy
Spirit. Thus we may be a blessing to the world by imparting to it the
good news of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
—Paul E. Penno
[1] E. J. Waggoner, “Notes on the International Sunday-School Lessons.
The Resurrection of Jesus, Mark 16:1-8,” The Present Truth,
March 31, 1898, pp. 198-200.
Note: Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the inspired
source for many of the unique “what-Christ-has-accomplished” and “what-He
does-in-you” concepts which make the 1888 message of Christ’s righteousness
so unique. The 1888 Message Study Committee has just published Robert
J. Wieland’s accompanying commentary on Ephesians, YOU’VE BEEN “ADOPTED.”
Call (269) 473-1888 to order; ask for the special introductory price.
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