The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Ten - A Jul 22, 2018 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T017_20180722.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Eph 2:1 ¶ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, Today we will begin to look at the new nation that would produce fruit for the Kingdom of the Heavens taken from Israel. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday July 22nd 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 10A A New Creation 1). Mt 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. We have seen from our previous studies that the offer of the Kingdom of the Heavens brought to Israel first by John the Baptist and then by the Christ, the 12 and the 70, had been rejected by the nation under the influence of their religious leaders - Mt 23:13 ¶ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. a). And consequently, the One born the ‘King of the Jews’ was crucified, and national allegiance was given to a pagan, Gentile king within the kingdom of Satan instead – Joh 19:15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" We should be careful to note in the crucifixion though that the nation of Israel had rejected the Christ as their King, they had not rejected Him as their Passover Lamb – Joh 1:29 ¶ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! In killing their King, they had so to speak unwittingly killed their Passover Lamb, the very action that was given to them alone to do, and an event that is absolutely essential for what remains their future deliverance at the end of the Tribulation; that time when they will look upon the One whom they pierced; bringing about the national repentance that the Lord had sought, but was not forthcoming, at His first advent. 2). We had also seen from the opening verses this morning, that the Kingdom of the Heavens, rulership from the heavens over the Gentile nations of the earth in the place of Satan and his angels was to be taken from Israel and given to another ‘nation’ which would produce fruit with respect to this realm of the Kingdom. a). We had seen that this new ‘nation’ is alluded to in Matthew Chapter 13 when Jesus left the house – the house of Israel and went and sat by the sea – with the sea representing the Gentile nations. b). The parables then given in Matthew Chapter 13 form a dispensational history of this new ‘nation’ before it existed with respect to that which would be taken from Israel and given to them - Mt 13:19a "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, c). Now, although this new ‘nation’ is introduced by the Lord in Matthew Chapter 13, this is not the first time that this entity had been seen as it had been set forth in the types from the very beginning. d). This we had first seen through Adam and the Woman and then through Joseph’s marriage to Asenath, a Gentile before he deals with his brothers after they had thought him dead. And again, through Moses’ marriage to Zipporah, a Gentile, before Moses returns to deliver Israel from Egypt. And again, through the Book of Ruth where we saw a Gentile woman become part of a Jewish family associated with the death of a son, who became Boaz, the kinsman redeemer’s wife upon the redemption of the lost inheritance. e). So, continuing in the Gospel accounts we find a collective noun given to this new ‘nation’ in - Mt 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. It is the word ‘church’ – a translation of the Greek word, ‘Ekklesia’, which talks of an assembly, with the idea of a group of individuals being called out from a larger group to form that assembly. f). Now, this is a word we should be a little careful with as there is nothing in the word itself that denotes Christians – in fact we can see this same word used of Israel in the wilderness in - Ac 7:37 "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.' 38 "This is he who was in the congregation [KJV – church – Ekklesia] in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, It will then be the context in which the word appears that will determine which ‘assembly’ is being talked about. g). So, if we can summarize some things for a moment – the Kingdom of the Heavens taken from Israel is to be given to a new ‘nation’, an ‘assembly’ that will come primarily from the Gentile nations – not one particular Gentile nation and not referring to all Gentile nations collectively, but those called out of those nations to form an assembly of those who would hear the Word of the Kingdom, who would produce fruit and therefore receive the positions of rulership in the heavens over the Gentile nations of the earth in the place of Satan and his angels that were rejected by and taken from the nation of Israel. h). And those who were to comprise this new ‘nation’ would produce fruit in relation to the Kingdom of the Heavens – something that Israel, as a nation, never did and can’t now ever do. i). And as we think about this we will realize that although Israel as a nation did not produce fruit for the Kingdom of the heavens, individuals within the nation did – there were those who believed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and received the message of the Kingdom of the heavens. j). And as we think about this we will realize that being a part of the new nation called out of the Gentile nations does not automatically mean of itself that fruit is produced for the Kingdom. There will be individuals within this new nation who will produce fruit and individuals who won’t, just as we saw with Israel – this we will come back to. 3). Ge 1:26 ¶ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." There is something contained in these verses which is so obvious we might easily gloss over it – In order to replace Satan and his angels as the earth’s rulers God brought into being an entirely new creation – Man. An entity that had not existed before and was created for the specific purpose of ruling and because Adam is created he is called a son of God – Lu 3:38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. And so here is a first mention principle that must hold true from the time of Man’s creation onwards for those who will rule in Satan’s place. a). Those who will replace Satan in the heavenly realm must be a unique creation and because of that creative process must be a son of God. b). Ge 22:17 "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. After Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans and tested on Mount Moriah, rulership in the earthly and heavenly realms of the Kingdom are given exclusively to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob in response to Abraham’s faith – something else we will keep in mind for later. c). Now, as we have just established from Genesis, if Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob are to rule in the place of Satan they must be both a unique creation and a son of God. So, how does that work given that all of these descendants have been procreated? d). Well, let’s look at what the scripture says - Isa 43:1 ¶ But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. The word translated ‘created’ in Isaiah is the same Hebrew word – ‘bara’ - used for God’s creation of Adam – and so in Jacob we see a totally unique creation that had not existed before being completely separate from the other nations and separate from the kingdom of this world and because of this unique creation we see in – Ex 4:22 "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn. That which we have now come to call ‘the old creation in Jacob’, the nation of Israel was God’s son and adopted as God’s firstborn son and therefore in a position to rule in the place of Satan and his angels – the very purpose for their deliverance from Egypt and witnessed in the earthly realm of the Kingdom being covenanted to David and then the Kingdom of the Heavens offered to and rejected by the nation at the Lord’s first advent. e). So, that which we saw with Adam is repeated with respect to Israel to accomplish the exact same purpose. f). Now we have put all this together so that we will realize that those called out of the Gentile nations who form the assembly we call the ‘Church’ must also be a totally unique creation and a son of God if they are to rule in the place of Satan – And to come back to something we had noted a little earlier, they must also be descendants of Abraham, as it is to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob alone that rulership has been given. g). So, to summarize, the new ‘nation’, taken mainly from the Gentile nations, to whom the Kingdom of the Heavens is to be given must be a unique creation, they must be descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and must be a firstborn son of God if they are to replace Satan and his fallen angels as rulers over the Gentile nations from the heavenly realm of the Kingdom. h). And this of course is exactly what the scriptures teach us, as we will see as we continue, but to begin, let’s deal with what is necessary to become part of the new nation in the first place, because it is only as a result of becoming a part of the new nation that the Word of the Kingdom can be heard and only by hearing the Word that producing fruit with respect to Kingdom of the Heavens is possible. i). And to understand what takes place we can turn to Paul who gives us an excellent insight into the condition into which we were all born – Eph 2:1…………who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others…………………..11 ¶ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. We were ‘without Christ’ we were ‘aliens from the commonwealth of Israel’, we were ‘strangers from the covenants of promise’, we had ‘no hope’ and we were ‘without God in the world’; being dead in trespasses and sins and children of wrath. j). In effect then, we were a part of the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of this world, not just positionally but also by nature and character – born in the image and likeness of fallen Adam spiritually dead and separated from God’s purpose. k). We needed to be delivered from the kingdom of Satan and delivered from death, the penalty of sin – neither of which we could accomplish by our own efforts, just as Israel could not deliver itself from Egypt. l). A seemingly intractable dilemma – but if we keep reading in Ephesians Chapter 2 we see how the dilemma is resolved - Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. That from which we were estranged we have now been brought near to and if we go back to the first part of Ephesians 2:1, which we deliberately left out, we will see – Eph 2:1 ¶ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, We see here spiritual life – And - Eph 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. And that which has made all of this possible is stated clearly at the end of v13, ‘by the blood of Christ’ - Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. m). And that which is our part to enact our permanent transfer from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, that enables the penalty for our sin to be paid by Another, is simply to believe that this is what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us through His death and shed blood on the cross – Ac 16:30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." And for every person who has believed or will believe that Christ died in their stead they become part of the new nation seen in Matthew Chapter 21; they are called out from the children of wrath, the eternally lost, to form an assembly of those who are no longer slaves to Satan’s kingdom, an assembly of those who were once dead but now have spiritual life that cannot ever be lost, an assembly who can now hear the Word of the Kingdom and produce its fruit. n). All this is accomplished through Christ’s finished work on the cross - Eph 2:4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 4). Php 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Just as Israel was not to be reckoned among the nations, being separate from them and separate from Satan’s kingdom, so our citizenship is in heaven, a spiritual nation, completely separate from the nations of the earth and separate from Satan’s kingdom also. a). But what about the criteria for rulership? – to be a descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, a unique creation and a son of God? Ga 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. The Christ is a Jew, a descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, and those who are Christ’s, who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ are, according to the scriptures, a part of His body - 1Co 12:27 ¶ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. Ga 3:7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Ro 9:6 ¶ But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. From our positional standing, ‘in Christ’, being part of Christ’s body and by having faith as Abraham did, from God’s perspective, we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham through faith. b). 2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Those ‘in Christ’, those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ are, at the moment that faith is exercised, a ‘new creation’. A new creation exactly as we saw with Adam and the old creation in Jacob – a unique creation that had not existed before, but now brought into being for the purpose of rulership in the heavenly realm of the Kingdom - Ga 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Ga 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. c). Before the ‘new nation’ was brought into being Mankind could be divided into two, Jews and Gentiles. The ‘new nation’ would then be comprised of those taken from the Jews and in the greater majority from the Gentiles, giving rise to a 3rd division of mankind which is neither Jew nor Gentile, but a new creation – those at this end of the dispensation that we have came to call Christians - Eph 2:14 ¶ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. So then, the one new man in Christ is a spiritual descendant of Abraham through faith and is a completely new and unique creation, part of a spiritual nation whose citizenship is in heaven – and because of this creation the one new man can be seen as a son of God - Ga 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. d). And those who are sons will in that future day be adopted as a firstborn son, completing the criteria necessary, which was established in Genesis, to replace Satan and his angels as rulers over the Gentile nations of the earth from the heavens - Ro 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. This is not the whole picture with regards to the new nation, the one new man in Christ, but the rest will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Ten - A Jul 22, 2018 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T017_20180722.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Eph 2:1 ¶ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, Today we will begin to look at the new nation that would produce fruit for the Kingdom of the Heavens taken from Israel. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday July 22nd 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 10A A New Creation 1). Mt 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. We have seen from our previous studies that the offer of the Kingdom of the Heavens brought to Israel first by John the Baptist and then by the Christ, the 12 and the 70, had been rejected by the nation under the influence of their religious leaders - Mt 23:13 ¶ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. a). And consequently, the One born the ‘King of the Jews’ was crucified, and national allegiance was given to a pagan, Gentile king within the kingdom of Satan instead – Joh 19:15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" We should be careful to note in the crucifixion though that the nation of Israel had rejected the Christ as their King, they had not rejected Him as their Passover Lamb – Joh 1:29 ¶ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! In killing their King, they had so to speak unwittingly killed their Passover Lamb, the very action that was given to them alone to do, and an event that is absolutely essential for what remains their future deliverance at the end of the Tribulation; that time when they will look upon the One whom they pierced; bringing about the national repentance that the Lord had sought, but was not forthcoming, at His first advent. 2). We had also seen from the opening verses this morning, that the Kingdom of the Heavens, rulership from the heavens over the Gentile nations of the earth in the place of Satan and his angels was to be taken from Israel and given to another ‘nation’ which would produce fruit with respect to this realm of the Kingdom. a). We had seen that this new ‘nation’ is alluded to in Matthew Chapter 13 when Jesus left the house – the house of Israel and went and sat by the sea – with the sea representing the Gentile nations. b). The parables then given in Matthew Chapter 13 form a dispensational history of this new ‘nation’ before it existed with respect to that which would be taken from Israel and given to them - Mt 13:19a "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, c). Now, although this new ‘nation’ is introduced by the Lord in Matthew Chapter 13, this is not the first time that this entity had been seen as it had been set forth in the types from the very beginning. d). This we had first seen through Adam and the Woman and then through Joseph’s marriage to Asenath, a Gentile before he deals with his brothers after they had thought him dead. And again, through Moses’ marriage to Zipporah, a Gentile, before Moses returns to deliver Israel from Egypt. And again, through the Book of Ruth where we saw a Gentile woman become part of a Jewish family associated with the death of a son, who became Boaz, the kinsman redeemer’s wife upon the redemption of the lost inheritance. e). So, continuing in the Gospel accounts we find a collective noun given to this new ‘nation’ in - Mt 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. It is the word ‘church’ – a translation of the Greek word, ‘Ekklesia’, which talks of an assembly, with the idea of a group of individuals being called out from a larger group to form that assembly. f). Now, this is a word we should be a little careful with as there is nothing in the word itself that denotes Christians – in fact we can see this same word used of Israel in the wilderness in - Ac 7:37 "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.' 38 "This is he who was in the congregation [KJV – church – Ekklesia] in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, It will then be the context in which the word appears that will determine which ‘assembly’ is being talked about. g). So, if we can summarize some things for a moment – the Kingdom of the Heavens taken from Israel is to be given to a new ‘nation’, an ‘assembly’ that will come primarily from the Gentile nations – not one particular Gentile nation and not referring to all Gentile nations collectively, but those called out of those nations to form an assembly of those who would hear the Word of the Kingdom, who would produce fruit and therefore receive the positions of rulership in the heavens over the Gentile nations of the earth in the place of Satan and his angels that were rejected by and taken from the nation of Israel. h). And those who were to comprise this new ‘nation’ would produce fruit in relation to the Kingdom of the Heavens – something that Israel, as a nation, never did and can’t now ever do. i). And as we think about this we will realize that although Israel as a nation did not produce fruit for the Kingdom of the heavens, individuals within the nation did – there were those who believed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and received the message of the Kingdom of the heavens. j). And as we think about this we will realize that being a part of the new nation called out of the Gentile nations does not automatically mean of itself that fruit is produced for the Kingdom. There will be individuals within this new nation who will produce fruit and individuals who won’t, just as we saw with Israel – this we will come back to. 3). Ge 1:26 ¶ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." There is something contained in these verses which is so obvious we might easily gloss over it – In order to replace Satan and his angels as the earth’s rulers God brought into being an entirely new creation – Man. An entity that had not existed before and was created for the specific purpose of ruling and because Adam is created he is called a son of God – Lu 3:38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. And so here is a first mention principle that must hold true from the time of Man’s creation onwards for those who will rule in Satan’s place. a). Those who will replace Satan in the heavenly realm must be a unique creation and because of that creative process must be a son of God. b). Ge 22:17 "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. After Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans and tested on Mount Moriah, rulership in the earthly and heavenly realms of the Kingdom are given exclusively to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob in response to Abraham’s faith – something else we will keep in mind for later. c). Now, as we have just established from Genesis, if Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob are to rule in the place of Satan they must be both a unique creation and a son of God. So, how does that work given that all of these descendants have been procreated? d). Well, let’s look at what the scripture says - Isa 43:1 ¶ But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. The word translated ‘created’ in Isaiah is the same Hebrew word – ‘bara’ - used for God’s creation of Adam – and so in Jacob we see a totally unique creation that had not existed before being completely separate from the other nations and separate from the kingdom of this world and because of this unique creation we see in – Ex 4:22 "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn. That which we have now come to call ‘the old creation in Jacob’, the nation of Israel was God’s son and adopted as God’s firstborn son and therefore in a position to rule in the place of Satan and his angels – the very purpose for their deliverance from Egypt and witnessed in the earthly realm of the Kingdom being covenanted to David and then the Kingdom of the Heavens offered to and rejected by the nation at the Lord’s first advent. e). So, that which we saw with Adam is repeated with respect to Israel to accomplish the exact same purpose. f). Now we have put all this together so that we will realize that those called out of the Gentile nations who form the assembly we call the ‘Church’ must also be a totally unique creation and a son of God if they are to rule in the place of Satan – And to come back to something we had noted a little earlier, they must also be descendants of Abraham, as it is to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob alone that rulership has been given. g). So, to summarize, the new ‘nation’, taken mainly from the Gentile nations, to whom the Kingdom of the Heavens is to be given must be a unique creation, they must be descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and must be a firstborn son of God if they are to replace Satan and his fallen angels as rulers over the Gentile nations from the heavenly realm of the Kingdom. h). And this of course is exactly what the scriptures teach us, as we will see as we continue, but to begin, let’s deal with what is necessary to become part of the new nation in the first place, because it is only as a result of becoming a part of the new nation that the Word of the Kingdom can be heard and only by hearing the Word that producing fruit with respect to Kingdom of the Heavens is possible. i). And to understand what takes place we can turn to Paul who gives us an excellent insight into the condition into which we were all born – Eph 2:1…………who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others…………………..11 ¶ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. We were ‘without Christ’ we were ‘aliens from the commonwealth of Israel’, we were ‘strangers from the covenants of promise’, we had ‘no hope’ and we were ‘without God in the world’; being dead in trespasses and sins and children of wrath. j). In effect then, we were a part of the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of this world, not just positionally but also by nature and character – born in the image and likeness of fallen Adam spiritually dead and separated from God’s purpose. k). We needed to be delivered from the kingdom of Satan and delivered from death, the penalty of sin – neither of which we could accomplish by our own efforts, just as Israel could not deliver itself from Egypt. l). A seemingly intractable dilemma – but if we keep reading in Ephesians Chapter 2 we see how the dilemma is resolved - Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. That from which we were estranged we have now been brought near to and if we go back to the first part of Ephesians 2:1, which we deliberately left out, we will see – Eph 2:1 ¶ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, We see here spiritual life – And - Eph 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. And that which has made all of this possible is stated clearly at the end of v13, ‘by the blood of Christ’ - Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. m). And that which is our part to enact our permanent transfer from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, that enables the penalty for our sin to be paid by Another, is simply to believe that this is what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us through His death and shed blood on the cross – Ac 16:30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." And for every person who has believed or will believe that Christ died in their stead they become part of the new nation seen in Matthew Chapter 21; they are called out from the children of wrath, the eternally lost, to form an assembly of those who are no longer slaves to Satan’s kingdom, an assembly of those who were once dead but now have spiritual life that cannot ever be lost, an assembly who can now hear the Word of the Kingdom and produce its fruit. n). All this is accomplished through Christ’s finished work on the cross - Eph 2:4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 4). Php 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Just as Israel was not to be reckoned among the nations, being separate from them and separate from Satan’s kingdom, so our citizenship is in heaven, a spiritual nation, completely separate from the nations of the earth and separate from Satan’s kingdom also. a). But what about the criteria for rulership? – to be a descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, a unique creation and a son of God? Ga 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. The Christ is a Jew, a descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, and those who are Christ’s, who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ are, according to the scriptures, a part of His body - 1Co 12:27 ¶ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. Ga 3:7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Ro 9:6 ¶ But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. From our positional standing, ‘in Christ’, being part of Christ’s body and by having faith as Abraham did, from God’s perspective, we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham through faith. b). 2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Those ‘in Christ’, those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ are, at the moment that faith is exercised, a ‘new creation’. A new creation exactly as we saw with Adam and the old creation in Jacob – a unique creation that had not existed before, but now brought into being for the purpose of rulership in the heavenly realm of the Kingdom - Ga 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Ga 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. c). Before the ‘new nation’ was brought into being Mankind could be divided into two, Jews and Gentiles. The ‘new nation’ would then be comprised of those taken from the Jews and in the greater majority from the Gentiles, giving rise to a 3rd division of mankind which is neither Jew nor Gentile, but a new creation – those at this end of the dispensation that we have came to call Christians - Eph 2:14 ¶ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. So then, the one new man in Christ is a spiritual descendant of Abraham through faith and is a completely new and unique creation, part of a spiritual nation whose citizenship is in heaven – and because of this creation the one new man can be seen as a son of God - Ga 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. d). And those who are sons will in that future day be adopted as a firstborn son, completing the criteria necessary, which was established in Genesis, to replace Satan and his angels as rulers over the Gentile nations of the earth from the heavens - Ro 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. This is not the whole picture with regards to the new nation, the one new man in Christ, but the rest will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing.