European Bible Study Meeting, 2002The Fellowship of the Mystery Hidden for Ages in GodApril 4th, 2002, Evening Lecture Part 1For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9We Were Chosen in Christ before the Foundation of the World Ephesus is a harbor town located on the west coast of Turkey beside the beautiful Aegean Sea that lies between Turkey and Greece. At that time, Ephesus was inhabited not by Jewish people, but by Gentiles such as we are. In the book of Acts we read that the people of Ephesus cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (19:28), and they built many temples and worshiped a whole variety of gods. The temples built at that time still stand today.Even so, the seed of the gospel fell upon this city of Ephesus and many people were born again. This letter was written by the apostle Paul who was a Jew and a Pharisee and had once persecuted the church, but now that he was born again, he was writing to the born-again people of Ephesus.The letter to the Ephesians begins with the words, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” In the letter to the Galatians it says, “he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles” (2:8). Paul was the apostle whom God chose to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles. At that time, a church was not like it is today in which people are given positions of responsibility such as pastor, elder, and deacon. Paul began his letter with, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,” indicating from the beginning that this had nothing to do with the will of man.The Bible tells us of the stone that David flung at Goliath when he killed him (see 1 Samuel 17:40), the stone that was cut out by no human hand in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that Daniel interpreted (see Daniel 2:34), and the stones uncut by human hand that were to be used when building an altar to the Lord (see Exodus 20:25, Deuteronomy 27:6). On the other hand, there are times when certain matters are accomplished by the hands of men. In the history of the church, there have been times when people have built up organizations similar to the building of the tower of Babel when the people made bricks and burned them thoroughly to build a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that they would not be scattered over the face of the whole earth (see Genesis 11:3-4). In the course of the history of the church, man’s own practices and devices have intervened, and these have been expressed in the Bible as the “forbidden woman” or “adulteress” in the book of Proverbs and the “prostitute” in Nahum chapter 3.But Paul was an apostle by the will of God. Also, as he worked to spread the gospel together with like-minded people, many more people were born again. This book called the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians explains in careful detail the true church of God formed by born-again people.Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 1:1Those who “are faithful in Christ Jesus” are the born-again brothers and sisters. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 1:2-3Here it says, “in Christ.” This is absolutely impossible outside of Christ. “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” is eternal life. Jesus once said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). This means that a believer has eternal life, will someday be changed to receive an eternal, immortal body, and will be led into the eternal kingdom.Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love.  Ephesians 1:4Here it says, “he chose us.” This is a reference to the entire church. There is no one in this world who has been destined for hell or for heaven since birth. When it says “we” here, it means the church. It refers to the brothers and sister who form one body having received the same blood, and to the dividing wall between Gentiles and Jews having been broken down.When the Jews rejected the gospel, it was passed on to the Gentiles, and those who came to believe in this way began to gather together, forming the church. God chose the church “before the foundation of the world,” that is, before he created the world.In the beginning, God created man and woman in his own likeness. He caused a deep sleep to come over the man, took out one of his ribs, and formed the rib into the woman. This was the moment when the mystery God had from before the foundation of the world was announced to the world. A glimpse of this mystery is provided in the Old Testament, but no one could know what it was all about. It was only as the New Testament was being completed that this secret was revealed to the world.He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  Ephesians 1:5-6Here again it says, “us.” It says that God predestined us for adoption as sons to the praise of his glorious grace.In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ.  Ephesians 1:7-9This will come about someday when the fullness of time has come.As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.  Ephesians 1:10-11Here it says, “according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” No matter how hard a person may try to plan something, make something, or achieve something, God created the world, he is the fountain of life, he is the light, and he accomplishes all things according to the desires of his heart. When reading passages like this, it is always good for us to turn to God and ask him to grant that we might be used in the work he is carrying out in accordance with his will even though there are now many things we would like to do with our lives and we do not know what direction we should take in the future.So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  Ephesians 1:12When it says here, “we who were the first to hope,” it means the Jews. The letter to the Hebrews refers to those who adhered to “the elementary doctrine of Christ” (6:1), those who were waiting for the promise of the Messiah.In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  Ephesians 1:13-14Here “you” does not mean the Jews, but the Gentiles, and when it says, “the guarantee of our inheritance,” if is talking about the church, which is made up of both Jews and Gentiles.For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.  Ephesians 1:15-17Here it says, “may [God] give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.” This “you” is plural. An individual does, of course, receives grace and discovers something in God’s word, but when we communicate together in fellowship, we come to know much more of the wisdom and knowledge in the Bible and realize what it is saying.Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.  Ephesians 1:18-23When it says here, “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,

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