4. Paul's explanation of "a
mystery" in Ephesians 3:1-6
The book of Ephesians is another place where Paul gives us further information about those things which were hidden from the Old Testament believer even though they were written in the Tenach, the Old Testament. Already he was in a Roman prison when he wrote this great epistle and further explained the nature of a Biblical mystery. He says this in Ephesians 3:1-6.
"Because of this grace I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles---if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you---that according to revelation He made known to me the mystery, just as I previously wrote briefly, with reference to which, when you read, you will be able to understand my grasp of the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not revealed to the sons of men as it now has been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by means of the Spirit, that is, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body, even sharing together in His promise in Christ through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:1-6).
Once again Paul has stressed the fact that a Biblical mystery relates to revelatory which was not explained by the Holy Spirit to mankind before the days of the apostles. He also has made it clear that this revelatory information now is available because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But Paul now has added some elements to his definition. The very fact that this revelation has been made known through the work of the Holy Spirit already has been developed in 1 Corinthians 2. But the fact that the channel through which the Holy Spirit has unfolded these previously concealed things by means of the apostles and prophets is new. Furthermore he now shows us that in this passage he is dealing with a different mystery than the one which we found in 1 Corinthians 2. There the mystery focused upon the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Here the focus is upon the fact that the door of salvation now has been opened for Gentiles so that they might enter the blessings of God through the gospel. Indeed, he now shows that this mystery contains a truth which could not even have been conceived by the Old Testament believer that, through the work of Christ as promised in the gospel, the Gentiles now could be joined together in one body, the body of Christ. But even more astounding is the revelation that the Gentiles now become fellow heirs. That can only mean that the Gentiles enter into some of the great blessings that had been promised to God's chosen people, Israel. Therefore, on the basis of Paul's explanation here in Ephesians 3:1-6, it is obvious that one of the mysteries which had been hidden from Old Testament believers was the new relationship that Gentiles would have to the Lord and to the physical descendants of Abraham. He now elaborates on the fact that he uniquely had been chosen to unfold these Biblical mysteries to the Church.
5. Paul's explanation of "a mystery" in Ephesians 3:7-11
Paul explains how he became a servant of the Lord in presenting the grace of God. He marvels that he who had persecuted believers before he had become a believer himself should have been chosen to reveal to the Gentiles all that God had in store for them. He speaks of the gospel.
". . . of which I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me by the effectual working of His power, unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, in order that I might preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be known to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies by means of the Church, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
The fact that Paul was given this ministry which was to be preached among the Gentiles further confirms the fact that the Biblical mysteries uniquely are revealed to the Church in this age. That which had been hidden from the beginning of time but now is being revealed is unfolded by means of the Church. Amazingly, Paul says that this revelation of the fellowship of the mystery is a means of displaying the manifold wisdom of God. That which is even more amazing in Paul's words is the fact that the revelation of this mystery by means of the Church provides revelation to angelic beings. The reference to "the principalities and powers in the heavenlies" can only be understood as speaking of the angels. Whether this refers only to the holy angels or includes the fallen angels as well is a problem. Ephesians 6:12 clearly speaks of four ranks of the fallen angels as having access to "the heavenlies." There Paul warns believers about the fact that, in order for believers to withstand Satan's attacks, we must be aware of the fact that ". . . we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the evil spiritual forces in the heavenlies" (Ephesians 6:12).
In Romans 8:38-39 these fallen angels are seen attacking believers, but only with the Lord's permission and overriding purpose of developing the believer into the likeness of Christ. Paul explains that their attacks are part of the "all things" which the Holy Spirit may pray into the lives of believers to help them overcome their weaknesses an unChristlikenesses. A crucial part of his explanation of the role of the 'all things" of Romans 8:28 follows immediately in verse 29. These are designed by the Holy Spirit and sent by the Father to conform us to the image of Christ. Together the two verses reveal this truth.
"Now we know that all things work together for good to those who are loving God, even to those who are being called according to His purpose. The reason is this: whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."
It is to be regretted that many students of the Bible cannot see the word "predestined" without immediately turning in their minds to think of the Lord's plan and work of bringing those who come to believe to salvation. In this context it must be recognized that this predestination looks forward and not backward. It looks to that glorious day when the children of God ultimately will be conformed to Christ's image when we stand before the Father in glory. In Ephesians 1:4-5 the same truth is taught but even more clearly once the interpreter turns his mind from the day of salvation to the day of glorification. A problem which has obscured that which Paul is saying in this passage is the translation of huiothesian by "adoption" rather than by "adult-son-placing." The word has nothing whatsoever to do with legal adoption of a child into another family. Indeed, we are not adopted into God's family. We are born into His family in the new birth at regeneration.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who are born, not of blood, neither because of the will of the flesh, nor because of the will of man, but who are born of God" (John 1:12).
My wife and I perfectly understand the process of legal adoption for both of our children were legally adopted into our family after being born to others. In the first place the believer is not adopted into God's family but is born into His family through the new birth. This is precisely that which the Apostle John teaches.
"But as many as received Him, He gave to them the right to become the children [not "sons" as KJV] of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not out of blood, neither out of the will of the flesh, neither out of the will of man but [were born] out of God" (John 1:12-13).
Instead, the Greek word huiothesian speaks of the act that a father performs for his son who has become mature. It is a word that describes the culmination of the long process of the training of a landowner's child. From babyhood in the Greek and Roman cultures the child was placed under the tutelage and discipline of the master's slaves. These were fully responsible for the education and development of the master's child. Finally, when the master had determined that his child had reached a stage of maturity where he could be acknowledged as and announce to be a mature son, he would call all of his slaves together at the front porch of his villa. He would robe his now mature son with a beautiful toga and announce to those slaves, who for years had supervised the child's development and education, "This is my huios, my adult son. From now on you take orders from him!" Does not Hebrews 1:14 speak of the angels in such a way as to indicate that they minister unto the ones who are about to inherit salvation? "Are not they all ministering spirits being sent out to minister for the sake of the ones who are about to inherit salvation?" Along with the Holy Spirit the guardian angels continually are ministering to believers as they look forward to the day when these children of God will enter complete maturity in the very presence of the Lord of all. They serve the Ethe Eternal in preparing His believing children in the same way that the slaves of the landholder served as they prepared his male children for the day of the declaration of their maturity.
This training with a goal of the child's ultimate adulthood is precisely the import of the word huiothesian in Romans 8 and in Ephesians 1. In the case of the New Testament believer, the Holy Spirit who undertakes the responsibility of training and developing the child of God, seeks to prepare the one who has been born into the family of God as a child so that he will become a mature Son of God. In Romans 8 and Ephesians 1 it can be seen that the term actually has two meanings. There is a sense in which a believer even today can become an adult son of God. Paul refers to this in Romans 8:14. "For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are adult sons of God." However, ultimate adult sonship which does not come until we actually stand in the presence of our Lord is the most obvious in these contexts. It is to this that Paul is referring in Romans 8:23. "And not only so, but we ourselves, having the first fruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting adult son placing, that is the redemption of our bodies."
Thus it can be seen that Ephesians 1:4-5 can be properly translated only in a way that recognizes that predestination there, as in Romans 8:29, is looking forward to the day in glory when God's children become adult sons of God.
". . . Even as He chose us for Himself in Him [in Christ Jesus] before the laying down of the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us unto adult son placing through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."
Surely it is not difficult to see why there were things hidden from the comprehension of the Old Testament believer! There were many facets of truth about believers in the age that would come to us that were utterly incomprehensible to the Old Testament believer. That is not to say that there were no hints of the fact that there would be another people created by the Lord at a future time who would be able to understand these things. Indeed, the prophet who wrote Psalm 102 was used to convey this truth and the fact that the Psalm and the conversations between the Father and the Son which the Psalm contains as the latter faced death would only be understood by yet another people. The Father says to the Son about the Psalm's revelation concerning the Son's coming death and resurrection that a people which would be created would understand its revelation about the Messiah's going to the cross before His receiving of His crown. He says:
"This is written for the generation to come; and the people who will be created will praise the Eternal Lord. The reason is that He [the Father] has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Eternal Lord look upon the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner [the Old Testament believer confined in Sheol until the provision of a sacrifice that could take away sin (John 1:29)], to loose those who are appointed to death [those who would die after the cross], to give an full exposition of the meaning of the name of YHWH, the Eternal Lord, in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem when the peoples are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve the Eternal Lord" (Psalm 102:18-22).
But the interpreter should recognize that these three reasons for the delay of the crowning of the King by the Cross of the Savior obviously was not unveiled either to the writer of the Psalm or to those who read it before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. ". . . The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. . . " (1 Peter 1:11) simply were not given meaning to these in the old economy. It should not be surprising then to find that there are those even today who cannot understand some of the great mysteries which are only revealed to mature believers (1 Corinthians 2:5-3:4 which see). Some have been taught false doctrine that conceals the truth. Others are yet immature, unable to understand anything that goes beyond the preaching of the cross. It will be seen during the examination of the rapture, one of these great mysteries revealed in the New Testament, that confusion concerning the meaning of the Word, concerning the timing of its prophesied events, and concerning the actual nature of the event great hinder those who are unable to grasp the Biblical teaching concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus in the air for those saints, dead or alive, who are in Christ Jesus.
B. The Revelation of the mystery of the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)
1. We will not all sleep but will be changed
Another Biblical mystery of great significance to the believer today was revealed by the Apostle Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians. This time that which is revealed is new light on that which will happen to believers when the Church age closes before the time of Jacob's troubles begins. This is an area of Biblical truth where many if not most believers are confused. For some the confusion grows out of total failure to recognize Paul's teaching about this crucial transition when all Church age believers since the beginning of the Church at Pentecost will enter into the presence of the Eternal Lord in their glorified bodies. Paul first presents this mystery in a great chapter that corrects the errant thinking of some of the Corinthian believers concerning the subject of resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 begins as Paul reemphasizes the essential truths of the gospel that he had preached to the Corinthians when he had come to Corinth from Athens. In verses 1-11 Paul makes it clear that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential part of that which a person must believe in order to be saved.
Paul actually presents a remarkable amount of information about the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15. Later it will be seen in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the resurrection of the bodies of departed believers is an essential part of the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul utterly has contradicted those at Corinth who were holding the doctrine of the Sadducees that there was no resurrection from the dead for believers. He scorns those who acknowledged that Christ had been resurrected from the dead but deny that there is resurrection from the dead. (12)
"Now since it is preached that Christ rose from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?. (13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen, (14) and if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith also is empty. (15) Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ, but He did not raise Him up if it were so that the dead do not rise. (16) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ has not been raised, (17) and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is without result and you still are in your sins. (18) Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If it is only in this life that we have hope in Christ, we are the most miserable of all men. (20) But now Christ has arisen from the dead, and He has become the first fruit of those who have gone to sleep [i.e., believers who have died]. (21) The reason is that since by man came death, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. (22) For even as in Adam [the one man through whom death came to the human race] all die, even so in Christ [the One Whose resurrection made resurrection possible] all [both saved and unsaved, in their own order] will be made alive, (23) but every man in his own order." [i.e., the resurrection of Church age believers will come in the rapture and others will have their resurrection at their own time].
Israel will have their own resurrection which is described in Daniel 12 as coming 1335 days after the middle of the great tribulation, or 75 days after its end. In that chapter it is revealed to Daniel that, after the actions of the tribulation world leader that have been foreshadowed by those of Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 11), three major events would befall the people of the nation of Israel.
"And at that time Michael, the great (angelic) prince who stands for the children of your people [Israel], will stand up. Then there will be:
1. a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation even to that same time. [The timing of this is developed in verses 6-8].
2. And at that time your people (Israel) will be delivered, that is everyone that will be found written in the book. (The judgment of living Israel is developed in verses 9-11. It is obvious from Daniel 12:11 that the judgment of living Israel, in preparation for the full return of its exiles to the land promised to them long ago, will take place 30 days after the last half of the seven years of the time of Jacob's troubles. Jeremiah 32:37-44 describes the work of the Eternal that brings about the transformation of those who are allowed to enter their promised land. Ezekiel 31:33-34 is the plainest statement concerning the transformation of the people of the Eternal Lord that will take place at that time. Ezekiel 20:33-44 is one of several passages in the Tanach that describes this final return of Israel from their exile. Matthew 25:31-46 develops it very clearly in the New Testament).
In my work in India checking translation work in the Tanach and in the New Testament for tribal peoples living in East India, I had a fascinating experience. I was checking the accuracy of translation work in the Old Testament book of Leviticus that had been done by three leaders of the Manipuri, Tedim Chin and Paite tribes. Mani Singh of the Manipuri tribe was translating the work that he had done on Leviticus 23:6 back into English, the trade language of India, so that I could compare that with the original Hebrew text. When he finished translating this verse that describes the keeping of the feast of unleavened bread in the week following the observance of the passover, he paused and looked very strange. And then, before I could comment on his work he said: "Uncle, we do exactly the same thing in the Manipuri tribe every spring!" And again, before I could comment, Pu Jam of the Paite tribe broke in and said: "And we do too, Uncle!" Immediately Thang of the Tedim Chin tribe of western Mayanmar also said almost exactly the same thing.
3. "Then many of them that sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life" (the timing of which is explained in verses 11-13. According to verse 11). The unsaved dead will not be raised either with church age believers in the rapture or with Old Testament believers as Paul immediately explains]: Christ the firstfruits [See v. 20]; afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. [This includes both Church age believers and Old Testament believers, even though these resurrections will be separated by more than seven years. Christ's coming in the air and His coming to the earth are spoken of as if they were one coming]. (24) Then the end [resurrection] comes when He will have put down all rule and all authority and power, (25) for he must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. [This resurrection is the one that takes place at the end of Christ's 1,000 year earthly kingdom rule. Further information about this resurrection of the unsaved dead is given Revelation 20:5a and 12-15]. (26) The last enemy to be destroyed will be death" (1 Corinthians 15:12-26).
Paul has spoken of the believers who now are asleep in 1 Corinthians 15:18 and 20. Many interpreters have made the mistake of concluding that both the body and soul of the believer is asleep today and only will awaken at the resurrection of believers. Paul absolutely denies that idea in 2 Corinthians 5:6 and 8. (6) "For this reason we are always confident, because we know that as long as we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. (8) We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." It is inescapable that Paul is announcing that the believer who dies goes immediately into the presence of the Lord in his soul and spirit. In the Epistle of First Thessalonians 4:13-14 Paul specifically announces that believers who have departed to be with the Lord when their bodies fell asleep in the sleep of death would be returning from heaven with Christ when He would return to raise their bodies from the dead to return to glory. I believe that Paul is speaking of that return in to glory into the presence of the Father in1 Thessalonians 3:13. "...To the end that He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints." But as Paul speaks of Christ's coming in the air to catch up the bodies of departed Church saints and to transform those believers who still are alive at that time, it is there that he makes it clear that only the bodies of the departed Church age saints lie asleep while they await Christ's return from glory for them. Their souls and spirits already are with Him precisely as Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8. He says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, (13)
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, in order that you will not sorrow in the same way that others [sorrow] who do not have any hope. (14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so also God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus...."
No, the entire body, soul and spirit of the believer who has died in Christ Jesus does not lie in soul sleep. Only the body lies in sleep, waiting to be awakened by the shout of the Savior and the blast of the trumpet that will initiate the resurrection of the dead in Christ.
2. The time of our transformation
a. At the twinkling of an eye
Paul has revealed that the transformation of the believer from the life that he has lived in this old body to that glorious, eternal state which we will enjoy will take no longer than the flash of light that glances off of an eyeball. It will not take the Lord an agonizing long time to search out the oceans for the scattered atoms of a believer's body who has died in the sea. There will be no painfully long wait for the believer whose body has decayed in the earth to be reassembled and raised up to be joined with his or her soul and spirit. It is the Eternal, all powerful Creator Who at a single breath transformed a lump of clay into the wonderful, brilliant first man. Paul describes the time in which the transformation of the decayed and dispersed body will take place in this way.
"Behold, I show to you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we all will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump [for the Church] for the trumpet will sound and the dead [in Christ] will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
In a moment! At the twinkling of an eye! In effect, the assembling and raising of those being resurrected, as well as the time it will take for the transformation of all Church age believers who still will be living at that moment, fully will be accomplished. In a moment! In the twinkling of an eye! Glory!
b. At the last trump (for the Church)
It must be noticed that the text above also tells us that the timing of the rapture will be initiated at the blast of the last trump. Now many have confused the timing of the rapture by confusing this trumpet blast with the sounding of the seventh trumpet by the seventh angel in Revelation 11:15. But the sounding of the trumpet at the end of the tribulation as described in Revelation 11:15-19 is a trumpet which sounds with reference to the people of the nation of Israel and the judgment of the nations that have been persecuting Israel during the time when the beast has become the world ruler and has set up his rule from the city of Jerusalem. All seven of the angelic trumpet blasts follow the opening of the seven seals. They do not overlap them. After the opening of the seventh seal there is a silence in heaven for about one half of an hour before the seven angels with the seven trumpets arise to introduce another series of seven terrible events which lead up to the close of the tribulation and the beginning of the rule of Christ over all of the world. It is an event series which brings about the judgment of the nations. But it also is an event series which ultimately brings the wayward people of Israel to their knees, beseeching the only One Who can cleanse them from their sins to come down from heaven and save them. Isaiah 63 describes the process that will lead to their repentance. Those of Israel will have recognized that it is He who will have come from Edom where He will have destroyed their enemies as the year of vengeance finally has come. They will have recognized the waywardness of Israel in the past and that will lead them to begin calling for Him to begin once again attending to His wayward people.
"Look down from heaven and see from the habitation of Your holiness and of your Glory. Where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of Your bowels and of Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained" (Isaiah 63:15).
The agony of that prayer will deepen. Eventually Israel will cry out:
"Oh that You would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains would flow at Your presence even as the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, in order to make Your name known to Your adversaries, in order that the nations may come to tremble at Your presence" (Isaiah 64:1 Engl.).
The dreadful trials which Isaiah describes as befalling the nation of Israel in the days before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth in response to their prayer above are those described in the book of Revelation. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the Church. There are only a few chapters of the book of Revelation which relate to the Church. Those having to do with the Church on earth are chapters 1-3. This section ends as our forerunner, John, is caught up in vision to see that which would follow here on earth as Israel faces her great trials that bring that people into right relationship to their Messiah.
"After this I looked, and see, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet was talking to me which said: 'Come up here and I will show you the things which must be after these things" (Revelation 4:1).
am convinced that precisely that which John heard will be spoken to the Church before the tribulation begins. The last trump that sounds at the rapture of the Church is the last trump for the Church, not for Israel. The rapture takes place before the tribulation.
Those verses in Revelation that speak of the Church in heaven after the rapture are found in chapter 19. The primary attention of the book of Revelation turns from the terrible judgments which will be taking place on the earth during the seven years of the time of Jacob's trouble to the glories surrounding the church in heaven during that time. It is a chapter that contains the joy and rejoicing of the Church as they honor the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. It describes the preparation of the Church, the Bride for her return to earth with the King, the Lord Jesus. And then the chapter moves on to describe the dreadful scene when the King does arrive on earth with all of His armies as He judges the nations and prepares earth for His one thousand year reign here on earth. No, the rapture of the Church does not take place either at the middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation. The Church will be in heaven during all of that time.
c. After the resurrection of Church age believers whose bodies sleep while awaiting the return of their spirits with Christ
Paul also makes it clear that those believers who are alive and who remain until the coming of the Lord in the air will only be transformed and translated into their eternal state after the resurrection of the bodies of those believers whose souls and spirits join their resurrected bodies. This Paul clearly says in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. (15)
"For we say this to you be the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of th Lord will not precede those who are asleep. (16) The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and who remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
3. The nature of our change (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)
Paul devotes considerable space to his description of all that will take place in our bodies at the time of the rapture. He has said in 1 Corinthians 15:51, "...We shall all be changed." Earlier in the chapter he has given more detailed information about the transformation of the believer at the rapture. In describing the resurrection from a believer's body from the dead he says in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44:
"It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. (43) It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. (44) It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body."
Paul further describes that which happens in 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. (52)
"...The dead will be raised incorruptible and we will be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. As a result, when this corruptible will have put on incorruption and this mortal will have put on immortality, then the saying that is written will be brought to pass, 'Death is swallowed up in victory."
The book of Ephesians is another place where Paul gives us further information about those things which were hidden from the Old Testament believer even though they were written in the Tenach, the Old Testament. Already he was in a Roman prison when he wrote this great epistle and further explained the nature of a Biblical mystery. He says this in Ephesians 3:1-6.
"Because of this grace I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles---if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you---that according to revelation He made known to me the mystery, just as I previously wrote briefly, with reference to which, when you read, you will be able to understand my grasp of the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not revealed to the sons of men as it now has been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by means of the Spirit, that is, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body, even sharing together in His promise in Christ through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:1-6).
Once again Paul has stressed the fact that a Biblical mystery relates to revelatory which was not explained by the Holy Spirit to mankind before the days of the apostles. He also has made it clear that this revelatory information now is available because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But Paul now has added some elements to his definition. The very fact that this revelation has been made known through the work of the Holy Spirit already has been developed in 1 Corinthians 2. But the fact that the channel through which the Holy Spirit has unfolded these previously concealed things by means of the apostles and prophets is new. Furthermore he now shows us that in this passage he is dealing with a different mystery than the one which we found in 1 Corinthians 2. There the mystery focused upon the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Here the focus is upon the fact that the door of salvation now has been opened for Gentiles so that they might enter the blessings of God through the gospel. Indeed, he now shows that this mystery contains a truth which could not even have been conceived by the Old Testament believer that, through the work of Christ as promised in the gospel, the Gentiles now could be joined together in one body, the body of Christ. But even more astounding is the revelation that the Gentiles now become fellow heirs. That can only mean that the Gentiles enter into some of the great blessings that had been promised to God's chosen people, Israel. Therefore, on the basis of Paul's explanation here in Ephesians 3:1-6, it is obvious that one of the mysteries which had been hidden from Old Testament believers was the new relationship that Gentiles would have to the Lord and to the physical descendants of Abraham. He now elaborates on the fact that he uniquely had been chosen to unfold these Biblical mysteries to the Church.
5. Paul's explanation of "a mystery" in Ephesians 3:7-11
Paul explains how he became a servant of the Lord in presenting the grace of God. He marvels that he who had persecuted believers before he had become a believer himself should have been chosen to reveal to the Gentiles all that God had in store for them. He speaks of the gospel.
". . . of which I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me by the effectual working of His power, unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, in order that I might preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be known to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies by means of the Church, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
The fact that Paul was given this ministry which was to be preached among the Gentiles further confirms the fact that the Biblical mysteries uniquely are revealed to the Church in this age. That which had been hidden from the beginning of time but now is being revealed is unfolded by means of the Church. Amazingly, Paul says that this revelation of the fellowship of the mystery is a means of displaying the manifold wisdom of God. That which is even more amazing in Paul's words is the fact that the revelation of this mystery by means of the Church provides revelation to angelic beings. The reference to "the principalities and powers in the heavenlies" can only be understood as speaking of the angels. Whether this refers only to the holy angels or includes the fallen angels as well is a problem. Ephesians 6:12 clearly speaks of four ranks of the fallen angels as having access to "the heavenlies." There Paul warns believers about the fact that, in order for believers to withstand Satan's attacks, we must be aware of the fact that ". . . we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the evil spiritual forces in the heavenlies" (Ephesians 6:12).
In Romans 8:38-39 these fallen angels are seen attacking believers, but only with the Lord's permission and overriding purpose of developing the believer into the likeness of Christ. Paul explains that their attacks are part of the "all things" which the Holy Spirit may pray into the lives of believers to help them overcome their weaknesses an unChristlikenesses. A crucial part of his explanation of the role of the 'all things" of Romans 8:28 follows immediately in verse 29. These are designed by the Holy Spirit and sent by the Father to conform us to the image of Christ. Together the two verses reveal this truth.
"Now we know that all things work together for good to those who are loving God, even to those who are being called according to His purpose. The reason is this: whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."
It is to be regretted that many students of the Bible cannot see the word "predestined" without immediately turning in their minds to think of the Lord's plan and work of bringing those who come to believe to salvation. In this context it must be recognized that this predestination looks forward and not backward. It looks to that glorious day when the children of God ultimately will be conformed to Christ's image when we stand before the Father in glory. In Ephesians 1:4-5 the same truth is taught but even more clearly once the interpreter turns his mind from the day of salvation to the day of glorification. A problem which has obscured that which Paul is saying in this passage is the translation of huiothesian by "adoption" rather than by "adult-son-placing." The word has nothing whatsoever to do with legal adoption of a child into another family. Indeed, we are not adopted into God's family. We are born into His family in the new birth at regeneration.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who are born, not of blood, neither because of the will of the flesh, nor because of the will of man, but who are born of God" (John 1:12).
My wife and I perfectly understand the process of legal adoption for both of our children were legally adopted into our family after being born to others. In the first place the believer is not adopted into God's family but is born into His family through the new birth. This is precisely that which the Apostle John teaches.
"But as many as received Him, He gave to them the right to become the children [not "sons" as KJV] of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not out of blood, neither out of the will of the flesh, neither out of the will of man but [were born] out of God" (John 1:12-13).
Instead, the Greek word huiothesian speaks of the act that a father performs for his son who has become mature. It is a word that describes the culmination of the long process of the training of a landowner's child. From babyhood in the Greek and Roman cultures the child was placed under the tutelage and discipline of the master's slaves. These were fully responsible for the education and development of the master's child. Finally, when the master had determined that his child had reached a stage of maturity where he could be acknowledged as and announce to be a mature son, he would call all of his slaves together at the front porch of his villa. He would robe his now mature son with a beautiful toga and announce to those slaves, who for years had supervised the child's development and education, "This is my huios, my adult son. From now on you take orders from him!" Does not Hebrews 1:14 speak of the angels in such a way as to indicate that they minister unto the ones who are about to inherit salvation? "Are not they all ministering spirits being sent out to minister for the sake of the ones who are about to inherit salvation?" Along with the Holy Spirit the guardian angels continually are ministering to believers as they look forward to the day when these children of God will enter complete maturity in the very presence of the Lord of all. They serve the Ethe Eternal in preparing His believing children in the same way that the slaves of the landholder served as they prepared his male children for the day of the declaration of their maturity.
This training with a goal of the child's ultimate adulthood is precisely the import of the word huiothesian in Romans 8 and in Ephesians 1. In the case of the New Testament believer, the Holy Spirit who undertakes the responsibility of training and developing the child of God, seeks to prepare the one who has been born into the family of God as a child so that he will become a mature Son of God. In Romans 8 and Ephesians 1 it can be seen that the term actually has two meanings. There is a sense in which a believer even today can become an adult son of God. Paul refers to this in Romans 8:14. "For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are adult sons of God." However, ultimate adult sonship which does not come until we actually stand in the presence of our Lord is the most obvious in these contexts. It is to this that Paul is referring in Romans 8:23. "And not only so, but we ourselves, having the first fruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting adult son placing, that is the redemption of our bodies."
Thus it can be seen that Ephesians 1:4-5 can be properly translated only in a way that recognizes that predestination there, as in Romans 8:29, is looking forward to the day in glory when God's children become adult sons of God.
". . . Even as He chose us for Himself in Him [in Christ Jesus] before the laying down of the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us unto adult son placing through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."
Surely it is not difficult to see why there were things hidden from the comprehension of the Old Testament believer! There were many facets of truth about believers in the age that would come to us that were utterly incomprehensible to the Old Testament believer. That is not to say that there were no hints of the fact that there would be another people created by the Lord at a future time who would be able to understand these things. Indeed, the prophet who wrote Psalm 102 was used to convey this truth and the fact that the Psalm and the conversations between the Father and the Son which the Psalm contains as the latter faced death would only be understood by yet another people. The Father says to the Son about the Psalm's revelation concerning the Son's coming death and resurrection that a people which would be created would understand its revelation about the Messiah's going to the cross before His receiving of His crown. He says:
"This is written for the generation to come; and the people who will be created will praise the Eternal Lord. The reason is that He [the Father] has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Eternal Lord look upon the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner [the Old Testament believer confined in Sheol until the provision of a sacrifice that could take away sin (John 1:29)], to loose those who are appointed to death [those who would die after the cross], to give an full exposition of the meaning of the name of YHWH, the Eternal Lord, in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem when the peoples are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve the Eternal Lord" (Psalm 102:18-22).
But the interpreter should recognize that these three reasons for the delay of the crowning of the King by the Cross of the Savior obviously was not unveiled either to the writer of the Psalm or to those who read it before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. ". . . The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. . . " (1 Peter 1:11) simply were not given meaning to these in the old economy. It should not be surprising then to find that there are those even today who cannot understand some of the great mysteries which are only revealed to mature believers (1 Corinthians 2:5-3:4 which see). Some have been taught false doctrine that conceals the truth. Others are yet immature, unable to understand anything that goes beyond the preaching of the cross. It will be seen during the examination of the rapture, one of these great mysteries revealed in the New Testament, that confusion concerning the meaning of the Word, concerning the timing of its prophesied events, and concerning the actual nature of the event great hinder those who are unable to grasp the Biblical teaching concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus in the air for those saints, dead or alive, who are in Christ Jesus.
B. The Revelation of the mystery of the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)
1. We will not all sleep but will be changed
Another Biblical mystery of great significance to the believer today was revealed by the Apostle Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians. This time that which is revealed is new light on that which will happen to believers when the Church age closes before the time of Jacob's troubles begins. This is an area of Biblical truth where many if not most believers are confused. For some the confusion grows out of total failure to recognize Paul's teaching about this crucial transition when all Church age believers since the beginning of the Church at Pentecost will enter into the presence of the Eternal Lord in their glorified bodies. Paul first presents this mystery in a great chapter that corrects the errant thinking of some of the Corinthian believers concerning the subject of resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 begins as Paul reemphasizes the essential truths of the gospel that he had preached to the Corinthians when he had come to Corinth from Athens. In verses 1-11 Paul makes it clear that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential part of that which a person must believe in order to be saved.
Paul actually presents a remarkable amount of information about the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15. Later it will be seen in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the resurrection of the bodies of departed believers is an essential part of the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul utterly has contradicted those at Corinth who were holding the doctrine of the Sadducees that there was no resurrection from the dead for believers. He scorns those who acknowledged that Christ had been resurrected from the dead but deny that there is resurrection from the dead. (12)
"Now since it is preached that Christ rose from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?. (13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen, (14) and if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith also is empty. (15) Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ, but He did not raise Him up if it were so that the dead do not rise. (16) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ has not been raised, (17) and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is without result and you still are in your sins. (18) Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If it is only in this life that we have hope in Christ, we are the most miserable of all men. (20) But now Christ has arisen from the dead, and He has become the first fruit of those who have gone to sleep [i.e., believers who have died]. (21) The reason is that since by man came death, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. (22) For even as in Adam [the one man through whom death came to the human race] all die, even so in Christ [the One Whose resurrection made resurrection possible] all [both saved and unsaved, in their own order] will be made alive, (23) but every man in his own order." [i.e., the resurrection of Church age believers will come in the rapture and others will have their resurrection at their own time].
Israel will have their own resurrection which is described in Daniel 12 as coming 1335 days after the middle of the great tribulation, or 75 days after its end. In that chapter it is revealed to Daniel that, after the actions of the tribulation world leader that have been foreshadowed by those of Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 11), three major events would befall the people of the nation of Israel.
"And at that time Michael, the great (angelic) prince who stands for the children of your people [Israel], will stand up. Then there will be:
1. a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation even to that same time. [The timing of this is developed in verses 6-8].
2. And at that time your people (Israel) will be delivered, that is everyone that will be found written in the book. (The judgment of living Israel is developed in verses 9-11. It is obvious from Daniel 12:11 that the judgment of living Israel, in preparation for the full return of its exiles to the land promised to them long ago, will take place 30 days after the last half of the seven years of the time of Jacob's troubles. Jeremiah 32:37-44 describes the work of the Eternal that brings about the transformation of those who are allowed to enter their promised land. Ezekiel 31:33-34 is the plainest statement concerning the transformation of the people of the Eternal Lord that will take place at that time. Ezekiel 20:33-44 is one of several passages in the Tanach that describes this final return of Israel from their exile. Matthew 25:31-46 develops it very clearly in the New Testament).
In my work in India checking translation work in the Tanach and in the New Testament for tribal peoples living in East India, I had a fascinating experience. I was checking the accuracy of translation work in the Old Testament book of Leviticus that had been done by three leaders of the Manipuri, Tedim Chin and Paite tribes. Mani Singh of the Manipuri tribe was translating the work that he had done on Leviticus 23:6 back into English, the trade language of India, so that I could compare that with the original Hebrew text. When he finished translating this verse that describes the keeping of the feast of unleavened bread in the week following the observance of the passover, he paused and looked very strange. And then, before I could comment on his work he said: "Uncle, we do exactly the same thing in the Manipuri tribe every spring!" And again, before I could comment, Pu Jam of the Paite tribe broke in and said: "And we do too, Uncle!" Immediately Thang of the Tedim Chin tribe of western Mayanmar also said almost exactly the same thing.
3. "Then many of them that sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life" (the timing of which is explained in verses 11-13. According to verse 11). The unsaved dead will not be raised either with church age believers in the rapture or with Old Testament believers as Paul immediately explains]: Christ the firstfruits [See v. 20]; afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. [This includes both Church age believers and Old Testament believers, even though these resurrections will be separated by more than seven years. Christ's coming in the air and His coming to the earth are spoken of as if they were one coming]. (24) Then the end [resurrection] comes when He will have put down all rule and all authority and power, (25) for he must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. [This resurrection is the one that takes place at the end of Christ's 1,000 year earthly kingdom rule. Further information about this resurrection of the unsaved dead is given Revelation 20:5a and 12-15]. (26) The last enemy to be destroyed will be death" (1 Corinthians 15:12-26).
Paul has spoken of the believers who now are asleep in 1 Corinthians 15:18 and 20. Many interpreters have made the mistake of concluding that both the body and soul of the believer is asleep today and only will awaken at the resurrection of believers. Paul absolutely denies that idea in 2 Corinthians 5:6 and 8. (6) "For this reason we are always confident, because we know that as long as we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. (8) We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." It is inescapable that Paul is announcing that the believer who dies goes immediately into the presence of the Lord in his soul and spirit. In the Epistle of First Thessalonians 4:13-14 Paul specifically announces that believers who have departed to be with the Lord when their bodies fell asleep in the sleep of death would be returning from heaven with Christ when He would return to raise their bodies from the dead to return to glory. I believe that Paul is speaking of that return in to glory into the presence of the Father in1 Thessalonians 3:13. "...To the end that He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints." But as Paul speaks of Christ's coming in the air to catch up the bodies of departed Church saints and to transform those believers who still are alive at that time, it is there that he makes it clear that only the bodies of the departed Church age saints lie asleep while they await Christ's return from glory for them. Their souls and spirits already are with Him precisely as Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8. He says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, (13)
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, in order that you will not sorrow in the same way that others [sorrow] who do not have any hope. (14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so also God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus...."
No, the entire body, soul and spirit of the believer who has died in Christ Jesus does not lie in soul sleep. Only the body lies in sleep, waiting to be awakened by the shout of the Savior and the blast of the trumpet that will initiate the resurrection of the dead in Christ.
2. The time of our transformation
a. At the twinkling of an eye
Paul has revealed that the transformation of the believer from the life that he has lived in this old body to that glorious, eternal state which we will enjoy will take no longer than the flash of light that glances off of an eyeball. It will not take the Lord an agonizing long time to search out the oceans for the scattered atoms of a believer's body who has died in the sea. There will be no painfully long wait for the believer whose body has decayed in the earth to be reassembled and raised up to be joined with his or her soul and spirit. It is the Eternal, all powerful Creator Who at a single breath transformed a lump of clay into the wonderful, brilliant first man. Paul describes the time in which the transformation of the decayed and dispersed body will take place in this way.
"Behold, I show to you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we all will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump [for the Church] for the trumpet will sound and the dead [in Christ] will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
In a moment! At the twinkling of an eye! In effect, the assembling and raising of those being resurrected, as well as the time it will take for the transformation of all Church age believers who still will be living at that moment, fully will be accomplished. In a moment! In the twinkling of an eye! Glory!
b. At the last trump (for the Church)
It must be noticed that the text above also tells us that the timing of the rapture will be initiated at the blast of the last trump. Now many have confused the timing of the rapture by confusing this trumpet blast with the sounding of the seventh trumpet by the seventh angel in Revelation 11:15. But the sounding of the trumpet at the end of the tribulation as described in Revelation 11:15-19 is a trumpet which sounds with reference to the people of the nation of Israel and the judgment of the nations that have been persecuting Israel during the time when the beast has become the world ruler and has set up his rule from the city of Jerusalem. All seven of the angelic trumpet blasts follow the opening of the seven seals. They do not overlap them. After the opening of the seventh seal there is a silence in heaven for about one half of an hour before the seven angels with the seven trumpets arise to introduce another series of seven terrible events which lead up to the close of the tribulation and the beginning of the rule of Christ over all of the world. It is an event series which brings about the judgment of the nations. But it also is an event series which ultimately brings the wayward people of Israel to their knees, beseeching the only One Who can cleanse them from their sins to come down from heaven and save them. Isaiah 63 describes the process that will lead to their repentance. Those of Israel will have recognized that it is He who will have come from Edom where He will have destroyed their enemies as the year of vengeance finally has come. They will have recognized the waywardness of Israel in the past and that will lead them to begin calling for Him to begin once again attending to His wayward people.
"Look down from heaven and see from the habitation of Your holiness and of your Glory. Where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of Your bowels and of Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained" (Isaiah 63:15).
The agony of that prayer will deepen. Eventually Israel will cry out:
"Oh that You would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains would flow at Your presence even as the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, in order to make Your name known to Your adversaries, in order that the nations may come to tremble at Your presence" (Isaiah 64:1 Engl.).
The dreadful trials which Isaiah describes as befalling the nation of Israel in the days before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth in response to their prayer above are those described in the book of Revelation. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the Church. There are only a few chapters of the book of Revelation which relate to the Church. Those having to do with the Church on earth are chapters 1-3. This section ends as our forerunner, John, is caught up in vision to see that which would follow here on earth as Israel faces her great trials that bring that people into right relationship to their Messiah.
"After this I looked, and see, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet was talking to me which said: 'Come up here and I will show you the things which must be after these things" (Revelation 4:1).
am convinced that precisely that which John heard will be spoken to the Church before the tribulation begins. The last trump that sounds at the rapture of the Church is the last trump for the Church, not for Israel. The rapture takes place before the tribulation.
Those verses in Revelation that speak of the Church in heaven after the rapture are found in chapter 19. The primary attention of the book of Revelation turns from the terrible judgments which will be taking place on the earth during the seven years of the time of Jacob's trouble to the glories surrounding the church in heaven during that time. It is a chapter that contains the joy and rejoicing of the Church as they honor the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. It describes the preparation of the Church, the Bride for her return to earth with the King, the Lord Jesus. And then the chapter moves on to describe the dreadful scene when the King does arrive on earth with all of His armies as He judges the nations and prepares earth for His one thousand year reign here on earth. No, the rapture of the Church does not take place either at the middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation. The Church will be in heaven during all of that time.
c. After the resurrection of Church age believers whose bodies sleep while awaiting the return of their spirits with Christ
Paul also makes it clear that those believers who are alive and who remain until the coming of the Lord in the air will only be transformed and translated into their eternal state after the resurrection of the bodies of those believers whose souls and spirits join their resurrected bodies. This Paul clearly says in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. (15)
"For we say this to you be the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of th Lord will not precede those who are asleep. (16) The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and who remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
3. The nature of our change (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)
Paul devotes considerable space to his description of all that will take place in our bodies at the time of the rapture. He has said in 1 Corinthians 15:51, "...We shall all be changed." Earlier in the chapter he has given more detailed information about the transformation of the believer at the rapture. In describing the resurrection from a believer's body from the dead he says in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44:
"It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. (43) It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. (44) It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body."
Paul further describes that which happens in 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. (52)
"...The dead will be raised incorruptible and we will be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. As a result, when this corruptible will have put on incorruption and this mortal will have put on immortality, then the saying that is written will be brought to pass, 'Death is swallowed up in victory."
Part 3 Tomorrow
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