203 - BOLDLY, THROUGH THE BLOODJANUARY 3, 1960
HENRY F. KULP
Ephesians 2: 14 - 22 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
In this portion of Scripture we have Paul bringing out that there was a difference between Jew and Gentile–God had erected a middle wall of partition–He had made a difference between Jew and Gentile, but now, through Jesus Christ this middle wall of partition has been broken down, and now there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–they are on the same plane, and God instead of having a favorite has a new man—Jew and Gentile, it matters not if they see their need in Christ and believe on Him, they are made of this one new man–not a nation now, but a man.
1/ Everything is under this one new man. When we compare this with
II Corinthians 5: 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
We recognize that in this new man, this new creation, old things are passed away and all things become new. Now that which passed away, the old requirements and conditions that were in days gone by—everything is brand new.
2/ Let us look at the basic requirement of the old covenant, the basic requirement for the nation Israel, and I am thankful that I am not under this requirement today–that is spiritually.
Galatians 6: 15 In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Here it is, in Christ Jesus, in this new man, in this new creation, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but this new creation, the new man. Now you know at one time, this did avail something.
Genesis 17: 11, 12 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your forskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
And here it says that the male child that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you. It is a token of the covenant between me and you, by Abraham—he was Abram at the time–was circumcised when he was 99 years of age, and at that time his name was changed from Abram to Abraham. Circumcision was the very basis, at the very heart of the covenant God made with the father of the nation. At the time the middle wall of partition was erected, circumcision plays a very definite role, for it was necessary, it did avail.
3/ Genesis 17: 14 Here it says, And the uncircumcised man child, whose flesh is not circumcised, his soul shall be cut off from his people; (because) he hath broken my covenant.
4/ You remember the story of Moses.
Exodus 4: 24 - 26 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
Moses had not circumcised his son, and he was to be the deliverer of his people. God met his son sought to kill him. Why? Because the basic requirement of the covenant had not been met. Circumcision did avail much in those days. But in Galatians He says circumcision availeth nothing, but to be part of this new creation, where all the these old requirements and conditions are done away with and everything is become new.
5/ Then notice, also, that when Israel was God’s special chosen treasure—
Exodus 19: 5, 6 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
God puts the condition of “if ” in front of it. If you will obey My voice, indeed then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me—but praise God, in this new creation, the word “ if “ has been dropped. It is all of grace—certainly we are far better today, with the middle wall of partition broken down then Israel was when it was standing.
6/ Also take the Sabbath where it says the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath.
Exodus 31: 16, 17 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Israel was to observe the Sabbath throughout their generation as a perpetual sign—A sign between me and the children of Israel forever.
The Sabbath is not for today. Because Israel has been set aside, and God is dealing with Jew and Gentile on the same footing—if they believe on Christ they are part of a new creation, and so therefore, with this truth in mind, the Sabbath is not for today. The Sabbath has been set aside. How I praise God that I do not have to keep the Sabbath day—I have something far better in Christ Jesus.
7/ Made one in Christ Jesus because we are one new man. That is the main reason that the word, atonement is not in the Pauline Epistles. We talk of the atonement today, but we have something far better then atonement—that is an Old Testament word, that is a word while the middle wall of partition is standing. It is not a word for the time since the middle wall has been broken down. For atonement means covered.
You might say, in Romans 5: 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
The word atonement appears here in Romans—but in the original that should be reconciliation and we are part of this new man. Again with the breaking down of the middle wall of partition, we have something better.
The reason this is so important is because we are made part of Jesus Christ. Our sins are not just covered, but they are completely gone, and we are as righteous as Christ is, because we are part of Christ.
Let us look at Adam for a few moments—when he was created—before woman was given to man, his name was called Adam—then God caused a deep sleep to come upon man and took a part out of his side, formed a woman from it, and gave her back to man to become one flesh with him, and He called their name Adam.
Genesis 5: 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
In like manner, Christ came to this earth, and through His blood and resurrection, we are made part of His body, we become one flesh to Him, as in the case of Eve, we are given His name.
Speaking to the members of the Body of Christ, the Apostle Paul says,
I Corinthians 12: 12 Whereas the body is one, and has many members, so also is Christ.
Our name is Christ—we are part of this new creation, and it is so much better than anything in the past.
8/ Ephesians 2: 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Ephesians tells us that He hath reconciled both Jew and Gentile unto God in one body by the cross. God has done something else here. He has made reconciliation. The word, reconciliation is a wonderful word. In the English language when we speak of reconciliation we think of two parties who were once fighting and wrangling, and having hatred in their hearts against one another making peace with one another.
This, however, is not the meaning of the word that is translated reconcile. The lexicon defines this word, CHANGE ON THE PART OF ONE PARTY ONLY. So the enmity between God and man has been eliminated as far as God is concerned. The only enmity that now exist is now in man’s own heart.
10/ Ephesians 2: 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Here we are told we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. With the breaking down of the middle wall of partition, we have access to the Father. This is brand new. Do you realize that of old there was no immediate access to God? Do you realize that even the Jew with all the earthly blessings of being a Jew did not have this privilege which we have today. Remember the temple—there was the holy of holies with the ark of the covenant, the broken law in it—the mercy seat above it, the blood sprinkled upon it, and to get into that room where God came down to have fellowship with man, he had to go through the veil into that room, and then it was only once a year, and then it was only the high priest who came in with the shed blood, and he had to come through the veil, into the presence of God, but it was dark—no windows in that room, it was absolutely pitch dark, and dark when he met with God, and then only once a year. We do not have that today—we have immediate access with God Almighty.
11/ But now let us look at that day when the priest went in with the blood once a year to the mercy seat, into the holy of holies, into that black darkness where God came down in the Shekinah Glory. The high priest went alone into the tabernacle. All the other priests were to leave the tabernacle and stand with the common people on the outside. Then the high priest, laid aside his glorious high priestly garments with many colors, and girded himself in a plain linen turban and robe. This change was made in the tabernacle, away from the eyes of the people, and now in the plain garments, he took the blood from the altar, the burnt offering, and carried it into the most holy place, where the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat were—without uttering a word, he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat, and when God was satisfied, the priest would go back and put on his high priestly garments. It was a beautiful robe, and a border on the bottom with golden bells which kept up a continual tinkling when the priest moved about in the tabernacle.
The priest, when he went in had to lay aside these beautiful garments, and just have on the plain linen garments, but now he would come back and take off these plain garments, and put back on his high priestly garments, and as he would put them on and take this first step the bells would start to tinkle all the while the people stood outside in great suspense, they were almost in breathless silence. If everything was not done according to God’s plan, according to God’s will—if there was an error on the high priest’s part, or a slip on his part, God would not accept the blood of the offering. He would be struck dead and not return even as the two sons of Aaron had experienced.
So they waited anxiously for the news of success, and when they heard these bells tinkling, they knew that all was well, the priest had been spared, and he was coming back to them. God had accepted the blood atonement—there had been access to God once again. The priest was still out of sight, but the moment the tinkling of those bells began, they knew the work had been done, a great shout would go up among the people that would shake the very mountains around them.
We have something far better then that today—through Jesus Christ this middle wall of partition has been broken down, and we have immediate access with God the Father through Jesus Christ. We have it so much better than what the nation Israel did in days gone by.
12/ Remember, Leveticus 10: 1, 2 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Here is the sad story of Nadab and Abihu, the high priests? They offered strange fire to God and they were slaughtered with fire from God. They did not have the privilege of direct access to God as we do. Their strange fire did not bring them nigh to God, it did not give them access to God. How much better we have it then Nadab and Abihu.
13/ Then we have the record in Leviticus 16 of how after the incident, the Lord instructed Moses how Aaron might make atonement once a year for himself and for the people. This was to be done with blood and great care was to be taken so they would carry out God’s plan and Aaron wouldn’t die. There was always fear that he would die, the high priest would go into the holy of holies with trembling and fear. But, we come with boldness, with no fear and trembling, we have access to God.
14/ Notice, here that the Holy Spirit is the guide. For He takes both Jew and Gentile into the presence of God. The word, access, is a strange word indeed. In the original language it means, to have an entrance, to stand before a sovereign. The thought that is brought out here is that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us entrance to stand before the Sovereign of the universe, God the Father.
15/ Notice, verse 17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
Prior to this time we didn’t have this privilege, but now we do. Then we come to verse 19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Here we have another wonderful fact brought out—one of the new things of this creation, for it tells us how—that means at this present time, we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, this was not true in days gone by. Not even Israel had this glorious hope, not even Israel could say this was true of them.
16/ Some folks tell us that we will never go to Heaven—we are just spiritual Israel. Don’t you believe it—that is not true according to God’s Holy and Precious Word. Two words that are very important, are, now therefore—now and therefore, because of all this is true therefore we are now fellow-citizens with the saints. The words, with the saints, is TONE—HOG—GEE—OWN and it means the holiest of all. We are fellow-citizens in the holiest of all. We can understand the holiest of all when we go to Hebrews 9: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Here it says the Holy Ghost—this signifying that the way into the holiest of all, or the most holy place. So, we know that has to mean Heaven. It is the most holy place in all the universe. It is the place that is not marred and stained and blighted by sin. It is the immediate presence of God the Father. Therefore, we are saints of the most holy place, we are saints of Heaven. It is perfectly proper to say that we are fellow-citizens of Heaven.
17/ Ephesians 2: 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
There are some who teach that the prophets here are the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles are the Lord’s Twelve. This cannot be, for we are dealing with the mystery not made known in the earlier ages. The main thing to notice is the order of the words, they are not prophets and apostles, as they would normally be, but apostles and prophets.
II Peter 3: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
The Old Testament prophets were placed before the apostles. Notice the order here.
Then we go back to Ephesians 4: 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
He tells us that He gave some apostles and some prophets, and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers, the order is the same here—this is the gift of the ascended Christ to His Body, to His Church.
18/ Ephesians 2: 21, 22 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Here we have a beautiful word picture. The Ephesians would jump at this picture because immediately in their minds they would picture that the very heart of their great city was a great temple. It was where they worshipped in days gone by. It was a great building made of large stones, and in this temple they had Diana, an idol they said fell from Jupiter and they worshipped her. So, then Paul uses this illustration, they would picture the Holy Spirit constructing the temple, and He uses living stones, fitting them into their places in the structure. Folks from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, from all over the world, at the moment they are saved, made by the Holy Spirit, who is the builder, part of this great temple, this habitation of God.
20/ How wonderful it is to part of the habitation of God upon this earth. This is something that is not true in days gone by, but is true now. Praise God, that the middle wall if partition has been broken down.
AMEN
Ref: 01/03/1960 BOLDLY, THROUGH THE BLOOD / 09/06/2020
No comments:
Post a Comment