Our Redemption “in Christ” Detailed to the Ephesians Volume 27

Paul declares to the Ephesian Believers the Purpose of God’s Mystery Revealed Part 3

Ephesians 3:10-11 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God,  According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: KJV

In the last study in verse nine (9), we saw that Paul declared that God the Father wanted (through him) “to make all men see” or photizo as we documented, however, now we find that Paul declares to these Ephesian believers the third purpose of God the Father revealing the mystery of the Gospel of Christ now through him and the other first Apostles was to make it known to the invisible intelligences (good and evil angels) He created long before man was made. Question: Why would God not disclose this eternal truth to the good angels? Are they not obedient in all matters unto Him? Could they not keep this secret from those other angels that fell? Perhaps there is some aspect of power still retained by the fallen angels (including the chief one Satan) that would have allowed them to extract the eternal hidden purpose of God the Father’s Gospel of Grace to save sinful men and women of every race (through Christ’ death on the Cross) if He would have disclosed His Plans to the angels that remained obedient to Him in Heaven. Note: Albert Barnes, Adam Clarke, and Dr. John Gill Bible Expositor’s and Commentators that I greatly respect, admire, and have learned much from our Lord Jesus Christ through them disagree with me that both the good angels (that did not rebel in heaven) and the evil angels (that did rebel with Satan in heaven) are meant here by the Apostle Paul.

Remember Satan thought he had won when our Lord Jesus Christ died on Calvary until The Day of Pentecost when our Lord Jesus returned (through the Holy Spirit) and began gathering into His Body (the Church) all who would see themselves as sinners repent and believe the Gospel as Dr. Luke documented for us with these words spoken by the Apostle Peter on The Day of Pentecost, “And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of {and} release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to {and} for you and your children, and to {and} for all that are far away, [even] to {and} for as many as the Lord our God invites {and} bids to come to Himself. And [Peter] solemnly {and} earnestly witnessed (testified) and admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking {and} warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved from this crooked (perverse, wicked, unjust) generation. Therefore those who accepted {and} welcomed his message were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.” (Acts 2:38-41).

The mystery of the Gospel of Grace bringing God to actually live inside (John 14:16-18) sinful men and women was kept in the bosom of God the Father to conceal it from His hated enemy the devil (who actually thought he could defeat his own creator). Even the Jews did not know that the Messiah would come in such meekness and humility to die the death of a criminal in order that all sinners Jew and Gentile could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in their inner man or inner woman for they completely missed our Lord’s meaning when He said this in response to some Jews inquiry about the Kingdom of God, “Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, ‘The Kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed {or} with visible display, Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] {and} among you [surrounding you].’” (Luke 17:20-21). Paul declares that both the good and evil angels are being educated “by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10). This English word manifold Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word polupoikilos an adjective occurring only here in the Scripture meaning the many-sided or multifarious or multifaceted; that is, having many aspects to it. In other words, the Body of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ is manifesting or making evident or making visible God the Father’s infinite Wisdom by virtue of the Gospel of Grace that so radically changes a sinner from the inside that they truly become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17); a new race of human beings.

Why was God’s Purpose to only make the mystery known through His Son’s Body (the Church)? This education is to the delight of the holy angels that did not rebel, for they too are reconciled to Christ Jesus our Lord as Paul has already written to them with these words earlier in this same letter, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him:” (Ephesians 1:10) and also it brings them great joy when one sinner repents and receives Christ as our Lord Jesus said Himself with these words, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10). The holy angels now know that they will never encounter their fallen brethren again when Christ returns the second time. However, to the angels/demons now that rebelled in heaven with the devil, they are being educated of their leader’s ultimate defeat, demise, and destruction as documented for us by these words written by the Apostle John, “Then the devil who had led them astray [deceiving and seducing them] was hurled into the fiery lake of burning brimstone, where the beast and false prophet were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (through the ages of the ages).” (Revelation 20:10). Not only was the devil self-deceived thinking he could overthrow God the Father, but he likewise deceived one-third of the angels in heaven to follow him and now they are “by the Church” (Ephesians 3:10) witnessing the many-sided Wisdom of God to completely redeem a lost human soul which can never happen for any of them because their eternal destiny is sealed and they cannot be redeemed or bought back from Satan’s ownership.

How horrible they must be to see (through the Body of Christ) their defeat and destruction and that Satan will not sit on the Throne, but our Lord Jesus Christ will as Paul expressed with these words to the Corinthian believers, “After that comes the end (the completion), when He delivers over the Kingdom to God the Father after rendering inoperative {and} abolishing every [other] rule and every authority and power. For [Christ] must be King {and} reign until He has put all [His] enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be subdued {and} abolished is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). These words Paul spoke in written form to these Corinthian believers tie in and complete the spiritual destruction of the devil and all the angels/demons and human beings who follow him as he wrote in this manner to the Jewish Christians, “Since, therefore, [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought {and} make of no affect him who had the power of death--that is, the devil--And also that He might deliver {and} completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives. For, as we all know, He [Christ] did not take hold of angels [the fallen angels, to give them a helping and delivering hand], but He did take hold of [the fallen] descendants of Abraham [to reach out to them a helping and delivering hand].” (Hebrews 2:14-16).

Finally, Paul declares that God the Father has summed up everything He created in His vast reaching universes, that is, all things “According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:” (Ephesians 3:11) as Paul declares it in this manner with these words written to the Colossian believers, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also Head of the Body, the Church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the Blood of His Cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Colossians 1:15-20). These words written by Paul inspired or breathed in by God the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16) sums up everything and there is nothing else left to be said.

My own Personal Note: “If it seems good and wise for men and women to have a plan for their brief life of vapor (James 4:14), how much more does it ring eternally true that the Eternal God would have an eternal plan for His created beings and the vast many universes that appeared from nothing at the speaking of His Powerful Words.”

“God’s gracious design to save a lost world by Jesus Christ could not be defeated by any cunning skill or malice of man or devils: whatever hindrances are thrown in the way, His Wisdom and Power can remove; and His Infinite Wisdom can never want ways or means to effect its gracious designs.” Adam Clarke

“When the cause of the Church and the salvation of mankind go forward, when righteousness and peace triumph, the morning stars sing together and the sons of God shout for joy. The joy that there is in the presence of the angels of God over the repenting sinner, is not the joy of sympathy or pity only; it is the delight of growing wisdom, of deepening insight into the ways of God, into the heart of the Father and the love that passes knowledge.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“Greek, ‘that’ hina; The sense is, that it was with this design, or that this was the purpose for which all things were made. One grand purpose in the creation of the universe was that the Wisdom of God might be clearly shown by the Church. It was not enough to evince it by the formation of the sun, the stars, the earth, the seas, the mountains, the floods. It was not enough to show it by the creation of intelligent beings, the formation of immortal minds on earth, and the various ranks of the angelic world. There were views of the Divine character which could be obtained only in connection with the redemption of the world. Hence the universe was created, and man was made upon the earth, not merely to illustrate the Divine perfections in the work of creation, but in a still more illustrious manner in the work of redemption. And hence the deep interest which the angelic hosts have ever evinced in the salvation of man.” Albert Barnes

“There was a ‘beautiful and well-ordered variety of dispensations’ toward that Church, all of which tended to evince the Wisdom of God. It is like a landscape, or a panoramic view passing before the mind, with a great variety of phases and aspects, all tending to excite admiration. In the redemption of the Church, there is not merely one form or one phase of wisdom. It is wisdom, ever-varying, ever-beautiful. There was wisdom manifested when the plan was formed; wisdom in the selection of the Redeemer; wisdom in the incarnation; wisdom in the atonement; wisdom in the means of renewing the heart, and sanctifying the soul; wisdom in the various dispensations by which the Church is sanctified, guided, and brought to glory. The wisdom thus shown is like the ever-varying beauty of changing clouds, when the sun is reflected on them at evening. Each aspect is full of beauty. One bright; cloud differs in appearance from others; yet all tend to fill the mind with elevated views of God.” Albert Barnes

“These wise elder brothers of ours, rich in the lore of eternity, foresee the things to come as we cannot do. They are far above the smoke and dust of the earthly conflict. The doubts that shake the strongest souls amongst us, the cries of the hour which confuse and deceive us, do not trouble them. They behold us in our weakness, our fears, and our divisions; but they also look on Him who ‘sits expecting till His enemies are made His footstool.’ They see how calmly He sits, how patiently expectant, while the sound of clashing arms and the rage and tumult of the peoples go up from the earth. They mark the steadiness with which through century after century, in spite of refluent waves, the tide of mercy rises, and still rises on the shores of earth. Thrones, systems, civilizations have gone down; one after another of the powers that strove to crush or to corrupt Christ’s Church has disappeared; and still the name of Jesus lives and spreads. It has traversed every continent and sea; it stands at the head of the living and moving forces of the world. Those who come nearest to the angelic point of view, and judge of the progress of things not by the froth upon the surface, but by the trend of the deeper currents, are the most confident for the future of our race. The kingdom of Satan will not fall without a struggle-a last struggle, perhaps more furious than any in the past-but it is doomed, and waning to its end. So far has the Kingdom of Christ advanced, so mightily does the Word of God grow and prevail in the earth, that faith may well assure itself of the promised triumph. Soon we shall shout ‘Alleluia! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!’” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“The whole of salvation, in which is displayed the great Wisdom of God, is according to a purpose of His; the scheme of it is fixed in the council of peace; the thing itself is effected in pursuance of it; Christ, the Redeemer, was set forth in it; His incarnation, the time of His coming into the world, His sufferings and death, with all their circumstances, were decreed by God; and the persons for whom Christ became incarnate, suffered, and died, were appointed unto salvation by Him; and the application of it to them is according to His purpose; the time when, the place where, and the means whereby souls are converted, are all settled in the decrees of God; the Gospel itself, the preaching of it by such and such persons, its use to make men see the mysteries of grace, and the fellowship of them, and to make known these things to the angels of heaven, are all according to a Divine purpose: and this purpose is eternal, or was in the Mind of God from all eternity; for no new will can arise in Him; no purpose, resolution, or decree can be made by Him in time, which was not in His Breast from everlasting; and His Purpose concerning the salvation of men must be eternal, since a council of peace was held, a covenant of peace was made, a promise of life was given, persons were fixed upon to be saved, a Savior was appointed for them, and grace, and the blessings of it were put into His Hands before the world began.” Dr. John Gill

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…