Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Somebody slams into my car from behind me and I pull over. When I get out of my car, this person that rear-ended me from behind just beams around me in his car and runs. But I began to ask the Lord why.

Paul was the Jewish apostle that planted the church in Ephesus. When he wrote this letter to them, we read in Ephesians chapter three, verse one, as well as in Ephesians chapter four, verse one, that Paul was a prisoner. In Ephesians 3:1, we read this: "For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles." What type of prisoner was he? He was a real prisoner in a real material prison. Chapter four, verse one, he says this: "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called."

Here is Paul writing this letter that we're studying now, one of the deepest, most profound letters in the entire word of God that Paul wrote, and yet he's doing it from prison. The point that I'm making is that when he spoke about being in prison, he didn't blame it on men. He didn't say, "I don't know how this happened, these rebels, they put me in prison." He didn't do that. Rather, what he said was that he was the prisoner of the Lord.

Here he is in a prison, but rather than condemning his accusers and rather than pointing his finger and placing the blame on those that had put him in prison, he saw his imprisonment as part of God's sovereign plan for his life. So he said in Ephesians 3:1 and 4:1 that he was in prison as the prisoner of the Lord.

The reason that I say this is because you and I need to begin to filter what's happening in our life, not as the result of what somebody else has done to us, not simply as the result of chance, but we need to look at what's happening in our life and filter it through the sovereignty of God. Rather than thinking that we're just in this world as victims, rather than just thinking that we're in this world and everything around us is happening by chance, we need to do what Paul did and recognize that the circumstance he was in, although difficult, was part of God's sovereign plan for his life. He called himself the prisoner of the Lord.

I remember driving down the freeway and a big, huge chunk of ice from a semi fell on my car. It put a big dent on the front of the hood of my car. I said, "Lord, why did this happen?" but I didn't give it a whole lot of thought. It wasn't but two weeks later on the way back from getting a pillow for a room in my home that I call my war room, where I've got three pictures of battleships and I sit in there and I meditate and I pray and I seek the Lord. I was going to get a pillow for this room.

Somebody slams into my car from behind me and I pull over. When I get out of my car, this person that rear-ended me from behind just beams around me in his car and runs. I began to ask the Lord why. When something like that happens, I always say, "What's going on, God? This must mean something." As I began to inquire in the Lord, I felt like the Lord was trying to help me to understand even in a deeper way that I'm in a war. I was thinking, "I used to feel like I was driving a nice car, now I feel like I'm driving a tank around, it's got so many dents in it." The Lord said, "That's right, you're driving a tank. You're in a war."

God was trying to make that point. The reason, again, that I'm saying this and telling you the story and pointing out how Paul in prison considered himself a prisoner in the Lord is to try to help you to understand that rather than just blaming people for your circumstances or thinking that your circumstances are just the result of chance, recognize that many of the circumstances that we're in are the direct result of the sovereign hand of God in our life.

When things begin to happen, rather than look at the world or blame the world, let's ask ourselves, "God, what are you saying to me in this? What lesson are you trying to teach me? What are you communicating to me?" When we realize that our life is not the result of chance and that we're not simply victims of whatever may happen, but rather that our life is dictated by the sovereignty of God, we'll have peace in our life.

If you and I think that we're so vulnerable that whatever happens to us in life is simply the result of chance, of being a victim, or of luck, we'll never have any peace. There is no peace in that. It's chaos. When we believe that our life is in the Lord's hands and he is orchestrating our life and orchestrating our circumstances, we'll have peace and we'll have trust. With that comes rest, because without trust, there is no rest.

I just wanted to point out that as Paul is bringing forth these deep revelations of scripture in Ephesians, he's writing from prison and he understood his imprisonment to be the direct assignment of the Lord. He may have never had the abundance of revelation that he's given the world through the book of Ephesians had he not been in prison.

If he was traveling all over on his missionary journeys by foot and constantly dealing with this circumstance and that circumstance, and the food and places to stay and opposition from people that would come with traveling by foot preaching the gospel, he may have never had time to sit down long enough as he did in prison and be in a position where he could receive from the Holy Spirit the revelation that he's giving us in the book of Ephesians, which is one of the deepest revelations in the entire word of God. Again, I just want to encourage you. Don't blame, don't think it's by chance, but look to the Lord to try to understand what's happening in your life and why.

The Father says, "I am God and there is no other. I form light and I create darkness. I cause well-being and I create calamity. I am God," the Lord said to Isaiah, "that does all these things." There's one God and there is no other, and he is the master of the universe. We say in Hebrew, "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam." What that means is, "Blessed art thou, oh Lord our God, king of the universe." He reigns supreme. He wants us to be able to trust him in this and recognize that our circumstances in our life are in his hands.

As we look at Ephesians chapter one, verse 17 and 18, he is praying. Paul is praying for us that the Father would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know three things. Number one, Paul prays that we would know God. Not just about God, but that we would know him. It's the difference between reading about fire in a book and sticking your hand over it and getting burned by it. Big difference. God wants us to know him personally in a real way.

Secondly, Paul prays that we would understand the hope of our calling. Thirdly, Paul prays that we would understand the riches of God's glory that's in us. Let's read now the word of God, Ephesians 1, verse number 17. Paul prays that the God of the Lord Jesus Christ, of Yeshua HaMashiach, the Father of Glory—we're going to get to this in a second, though, mark that word, the Father of Glory. What type of Father do we have? A glorious Father.

If he's our glorious Father and we're his sons, then we must be his glorious children. We're looking at identity and destiny. You are a glorious child of God and your Father is the Father of Glory. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, number one, in the knowledge of him that you would know God.

Continuing in verse 18: "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, that you might know what is the hope of his calling." Now he's praying that you'll know your destiny and your future, because hope in scripture is always connected to something in the future. It's not just wishful thinking. No, it's the assurance of a real reality that's a sure thing.

He wants us to be strengthened in the assurance that we're going to heaven and that we're called to glory. So he prays, "I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened that you might know what is the hope of his calling," number two. Number three: "And what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." We're going to also pick up in verse number 19 after we get through these.

The scripture says eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and neither has it ever entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. These things God reveals to us, Paul said, by his spirit. This is what Paul's talking about here, that God by his spirit would give us a comprehension of these holy and these heavenly realities. Bless the name of the Lord.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. He's going to be right back, but first I want to let you know that you can watch full episodes of Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku TV. We have episodes that are filmed in the Holy Land and outreach events from Nigeria and Gulu, Uganda, all sorts of places. Every episode is available to help deepen your understanding of scripture and the Jewish roots of your faith. Search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku today.

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Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Let's get back and realize that this prayer is going up, verse number 17, to the Father of Glory. As we're considering our identity and destiny, this is a very important word. Some of us might not have really meditated much on this word. We've read it in scripture. We know that God's a glorious God. We've maybe even sung songs about his glory. But have we ever really thought our Father is the Father of Glory?

Why is he the Father of Glory? Because there's no other Father like him. There's no other Father like him. He's the Father of Glory. The Hebrew word for glory is the Hebrew word kabod. It means rich, heavy, weighty, great, deep, and valuable. Not only is your Father the Father of Glory, but Paul says the Father's glory is in you.

Look what he says there in verse number 18. He prays that we would understand the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Where are the riches of his glory? In you. We're talking about identity and destiny, where you're going and who you are. This is what Paul's praying that we would grasp right here. That we're born of the Father of Glory, that his glory is in us, and that there's a glorious call upon our lives.

He prays that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened. Have you ever considered this phrase, "the eyes of your heart"? Why does Paul pray, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened to understand these things" in Ephesians 1:18? Again, sometimes we hear scripture and we don't really take the time to meditate on it and ponder it enough to be able to absorb much of it.

But if you think about eyes, what are eyes for? Eyes, our physical eyes, enable us to perceive and to see material objects and the material reality in nature of life. But here, Paul is not praying that the Father would open up our natural eyes, but he's praying that the Father would open up our inward eyes, the eyes of our heart.

That we'd be able to perceive and see spiritual realities and divine material objects, that he wants us to know the things that he's revealing to us are real. They're sure. In fact, they're more real than the things that we see with our natural eyes, because the things that we see with our natural eyes are dying and fading away.

Cars are rusting, flowers die, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the spiritual realities endure forever. That's why Yeshua said don't seek the things on the earth where moth and rust destroy, but seek the things that are above where thieves can't break in and steal and that it's incorruptible and it's yours. Paul is helping us now to understand this.

This is glorious. He keeps on using the word glory, that it's the Father of Glory and that the glory of the Father is in us. He wants us to get a hold of this glory, again the Hebrew word kabod, that it's in us, that we're children of glory, sons of glory, who've been adopted in the son of glory by the Father of Glory.

Did you know all through scripture this word glory is used? Again, I'm talking about your identity today. I want you to understand that you have a glorious Father and that you're his glorious child. Don't let anybody ever make you look down at the ground again. You've got a glorious future and a heavenly calling.

It doesn't matter what your boss thinks about you. It doesn't matter what your family thinks about you. It doesn't matter what the people in the neighborhood say about you, because the Father of Glory has chosen you in his son as a child of glory. You're going to a glorious place and his glory, Paul says, is inside you. I want you to understand, Paul prays, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in you.

This whole theme of glory, we need to begin to receive it. We need to begin to enter into it. We need to be able to take the substance of it. We have a glorious future. We have a glorious God. We have a glorious king. The glory of God is in us. Glory, glory, glory. Did you know in scripture Yeshua is called the Lord of Glory in 1 Corinthians 2:8?

In 1 Peter 4:14, the spirit of God is called the spirit of glory. So we're part of a glorious family with a heavenly Father who Ephesians 1:17 calls the Father of Glory. Don't ever be ashamed of who you are. Don't ever be ashamed of preaching the gospel and being a witness, because your Father is the heavenly Father and the Lord of Glory.

Yeshua HaMashiach is the firstborn and the only begotten and we have been adopted, Ephesians 1:5, in him. Listen what Jesus prayed in John chapter 17, verse number 22 and 23. In John 17:22 and 23, Jesus said this, he's praying to the Father: "The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me."

Yeshua's saying the glory that's mine, Father, I have given to them. I'm going to prepare a place for them that where we are, they may also be. Paul speaks about this same reality in the book of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:14 when he says that the Lord called us. It says this: "It was for this purpose he called you through our gospel, that you might gain the glory of Yeshua HaMashiach, of Jesus the Christ."

Isn't that an awesome thing? That's why Paul prays, "I hope you'll understand the hope of your calling." Jesus said, "These things I speak to you that my joy may be in you." When we really believe this, that we've been chosen by the Father of Glory, that he predestined us to be his children in his son Messiah Jesus before the foundation of the world, that because we're in his son, we're blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

That we have a Father of Glory, that we're the children of glory and that we're going to a glorious place that the scripture calls heaven. Not only this, did you know that right now, if you really know the Lord, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18, you're being changed from glory to glory? You see, Paul prays, "I want you to understand there's a glory that's at work in you."

Listen once again to Ephesians chapter one, verse 18. Paul is praying that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened, that you might know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. There's glory in you. If there's glory in you, you know what? You are being changed, 2 Corinthians 3:18, from glory to glory into the image of the Father, into the image of the Son even now.

Anybody that's born of God should continually be changing. We oftentimes hear that when people get to be a certain age, they no longer can change. That's the farthest thing from the truth for a child of God. It doesn't matter if you're 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, even 100 years old. If you're a child of God, you should be changing, because you should be being transformed from glory to glory.

That's one thing my wife says that she appreciates about me. I'm always changing, always trying to grow. Paul says one thing is true about me: it's not that I'm perfect, but I keep on pressing on towards the upward call of God. He kept on growing. He was being changed. Anything that's not growing and being changed is dying.

I hope that you will yield to the Holy Spirit and allow the spirit of God, cooperate with the spirit of God to let him change you from glory to glory. This means being willing to confess our sin, to humble ourselves, to admit when we're wrong, whether it be to our children, to our employers, to our fiances, to our spouses, to our neighbors. Admit where you're wrong. Take responsibility, because the Bible says when we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When there's that open channel, he can change us from glory to glory.

Romans chapter 8, verse 29 and 30, the Lord says this through Paul: "Whom he foreknew"—that means he fore-loved you before the foundation of the world, just like Paul says here in Ephesians chapter one—"whom he foreknew, he also did predestinate. And whom he predestined, he also called; and whom he called, he also glorified."

Father God, we bless you today. We thank you, Father God, so much for choosing us in Messiah Jesus before the foundation of the world. Father, what can we say? Father, thank you for loving us. Thank you for the future we have. Thank you for the hope that we have. Thank you, Father God, that your son is in us and that we're in him. We pray, Father, that you'll empower us by the Holy Spirit to comprehend these realities, Father God, to know you, to love you, and that Yeshua, your joy, might be in us.

Thank you for tuning in today. Beloved, I've been praying that Father God would continue to subject me and that I would cooperate with his subjection and come under the blade of his word. The word is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword and it's ministered to us in the power of the Holy Spirit through Messiah Jesus.

In order for this process to take place, I have to be willing to come under his authority. When we come under his authority, it affects our disciplining of our thoughts, our attitude, our words, everything in life, including how we use our finances. I want to encourage you, surrender your finances to God, to Hashem, because we can't enter into the fullness of his presence without being surrendered to him in every area of our lives. If the Lord is blessing you and feeding you through this ministry and you feel him urging you to make a donation to him through it, beloved, just be obedient.

Dustin Roberts: Amen. Thank you for giving. Just go online to discoveringthejewishjesus.com or give generously by calling us at 800-777-7835. Now I want to take a moment and I want to just share with you about our Spanish channel. Your faithful support has opened doors that we could have never walked through alone.

We have a Spanish language program that's made possible by friends and partners just like you. We're reaching Hispanic communities across North, Central, and South America, and even in Europe. We're even posting the Spanish programs on YouTube. We're sharing the life-altering truth of God's word with people who are hungry to hear it all over the world.

From everyone here at Discovering the Jewish Jesus, we want to say thank you. Thank you for helping us share the gospel. Thank you for helping us share it in multiple languages, not just Spanish, but Russian as well and even in Hebrew. We're crossing cultures, we're crossing borders, and that's because of you.

Thank you for supporting us. If you haven't and you want to, give generously, call us at 800-777-7835 or give online at our website discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Now here is Rabbi with God's special blessing. The Aaronic blessing reminds believers that God wants to place his name and his favor over his people. Through Jesus, we receive the fullness of that blessing. Rabbi.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: What I love about the Aaronic blessing is that it did not originate with man. The words actually proceeded from the very essence of God himself. The blessing comes from the book of Numbers chapter six. Listen to these words and receive the blessing of the Lord into your life today.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. And now in Hebrew: "Yevarekhekhah Adonai ve-yishmerekha. Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vi-chunneka. Yissa Adonai panav eleikha ve-yasem lekha shalom." God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus and I'm your host, Dustin Roberts. Come back tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider explains your inheritance as a child of God. That's Thursday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.