Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

The study of Ephesians chapter 1. You might not feel all the time accepted, but positionally, every believer in Yeshua the Messiah is accepted in the presence of God, not only for time but also for eternity.

Now that we finished to talk about God the Father and the one who planned this great redemption work, now we're talking about God the Son. And in verses 7 to 12, God the Son, in order for us to be able to be in such a favored place, God the Son had to pay the price in order that he might provide such a great redemption. And so I want you to notice that in verses 7 to 12, what God the Son, what Yeshua the Messiah have done.

First of all, in verse 7a, it says that he had redeemed us. In whom, this is in the Messiah, in Christ, in Yeshua, in the beloved, we have redemption through his blood. Notice, brothers and sisters, you know what the word redemption mean? Geula in Hebrew. Lig'ol mean to buy back.

You see, we were once belonging to God anyway by creation. God created humanity and men belong to God by creation. But we left the Lord. Sin put a distance between us and God. And what happened in order for God to bring us back to himself, he had to buy us again to make us his own again because of creation we fell through sin, he had to buy us back. That's where you get the word lig'ol and that's where we get the word goel, the redeemer will come out of Zion.

And the redeemer indeed came. And our Lord Jesus, our Lord Yeshua, it says in whom, as we read here in verse 7a, in whom we have, notice, it doesn't say we might have one day, we maybe gonna have redemption or we might lose this redemption, he says in whom we already have redemption. But how did he redeem us? It was through his blood.

Notice, brothers and sisters, the price that Yeshua paid is his life. The life of the flesh is in the blood. And God said, "I gave you that to make an atonement for the soul." The blood had to be drained and shed, the blood of the Messiah.

And think about it every time when you think about your great place and my great place in the presence of God, realize this again and again, that it cost the blood of the Messiah had to be shed. He had to die on a cross. Peter said that in 1 Peter 1:18 and 19, "For you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received from your fathers, but you were redeemed with the precious, precious blood of the Messiah as of a lamb without blemish, without spot."

Yeshua had to pay for that. He had to pay this great price when he shed his precious blood as we have here, the Son, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, Yeshua redeemed us, but it cost him a great price. He had to shed his blood. When he was raised there upon the cross.

We just came from Golgotha, some of us were just there. We just came from the garden of Gethsemane, Gat Shemani. And we were reading the text from the Bible. When Yeshua said, "Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from me." You think it was possible? He says, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done."

It was not possible that the cup of God's righteous indignation against sin will pass away. He must drink this cup of God's righteous judgment against sin when he was placed on the tree. And on the tree, remember what he said? "My God, my God, why did you forsake me?" And God forsook him as a judge. He laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

And that's why Paul emphasizes here so strongly. He says we have redemption, yes, we have been bought again, but it cost the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. That's why we can never take this lightly because something that can be saved without the blood of the Messiah, why do you tell me every time that you must be born again on a basis of the death of the Messiah? Well, we say it because there is no other way except the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

The Psalmist of Israel said this. Listen to this. Psalm 49. "They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother." You cannot buy a person's salvation and redemption with all the money and all the wealth that you have in this world.

That's why he says, "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Psalm 49:6-7. You cannot pay for salvation with any merit or any wealth in this world. Because it says in verse 8, "For the redemption of their soul is costly and it ceases forever." You cannot give to God anything in order to redeem a soul. You can never do so by any price.

Because the redemption of their soul is very expensive and the only way to redeem a soul is on a basis of the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And that's why he says, and here is what the Son have done, the Messiah have done, he paid for the price of redemption.

Every one of us, brothers and sisters, today, when you really sit before the Lord and realize your redemption, your salvation, again and again we ought to go back to the basic. It is the precious, precious blood of Yeshua the Messiah that was paid in order to redeem me for my sin and my sins. The blood had to be shed. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22. There is no other way.

So we have redemption, but the price was the blood of the Messiah. Secondly, in verse 7, he's adding up another one to mention about what Yeshua the Son have done. He have forgive our sins. Notice that verse 7b, after he said in whom we have redemption through his blood, he adds here "the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace."

You know every sin that we have committed have been forgiven to us. And it was according to the riches of his grace. He forgave us. As far as the east is from the west, so far he removed all our transgressions from before him. All our sins, so great, so many, were forgiven to us because of what Yeshua the Messiah have done for us.

So he redeemed us, verse 7a. He forgave us, verse 7b. And then verses 8, 9, and 10, the Messiah made known to us the will of God. It is Yeshua that made known to us the will of God. Let me read you those verses. Ephesians 1:8. It says that he gave us an exceeding amount of wisdom and prudence. Wherein he, this is God through the Son, has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence.

The word for prudence can be intelligence. The word for wisdom, hokhmah. In other words, he give us an exceeding amount of information to enable us to be wise and intelligent in the things of God.

You know, wise that the believer knows about the plan and the program of God while the unbelievers totally have no idea about the future and the things that God has in mind for mankind? Well, because we have received it through the Son who had given to us, notice, all wisdom and also prudence or intelligence.

He given us so much wisdom and intelligence. Often times when you read in the Bible about believers in the history of the church as well as the history of our people Israel, you notice how much wisdom these men of God had because of what the Lord have done for them.

Verse 9, he continue, he made known unto us the mystery of God's will. I'm reading verse 9, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he have purposed in himself." Now that word for mystery is not something that is hidden. From the believer, it's not hidden.

In other words, God through the Messiah made known unto us the mystery of his will. We have the knowledge according to the word of God, not with some sort of speculation. On the basis of the word of God, we have the knowledge of the mystery of the plan, the purposes, and the will of God. He showed this to the believers.

We know that the church will end in a certain period of time of the church history. That the believers will be taken out of here. We know that there is a tribulation time that is going to come in the future day. That God in his will and purpose and wisdom going to have a seven-year tribulation where there will be a time of Jacob's trouble.

We know that the Messiah is going to come again and that he is going to establish the Messianic Kingdom in the coming day. We know that. How do we know it? Well, he revealed to us the mystery of his will. And it is according to his own purpose which he purposed in himself.

And now verse 10 as well, let me read that. Notice what is the will of God. This is beautiful. God's will is to gather together in one all things in Christ, in Mashiach. You know what God want? He want that everything in eternity future and coming soon will be gathered together under his own Son, the Messiah himself.

Look at verse 10, "That in the dispensation of the fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in Mashiach, in Messiah, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him."

You know, there are group of professing Christians or name the name of Christ or the Messiah who don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They don't believe in his divine nature. And while the Father say, "Listen, this is my beloved Son, hear him," they bring him down. God elevates him.

And so we find out in verse 10 that God is saying that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, in other words here he takes us all the way to the end of the ages, and he says, look what I want to happen in the coming days. That I'm going to gather together in one all things in my Son, in the Messiah. Everything that we have link us with the person of Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah.

Notice the word dispensation. The word here for dispensation is really the Greek word oikonomia, which simply mean economy or economy of God or an ordered age. And so what God is saying that in the ordered age that God planned, he intend that all things might be linked with the Messiah and that everything going to be under his authority and his supremacy. When every knee will bow, where every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

This is amazing. Can you imagine the very one that died on the cross and was rejected is the very one that is going to rule and reign in the coming days? The one that people today use his name as a curse word, as a swear word, this is the one that is going to be placed in a full authority over this universe in the dispensation, in the ordered age of the fullness of time. God will give him this wonderful place of being over all things and everything will be subjected unto him. Beautiful to see that.

And so verses 7, he redeemed us. Verse 7b, he forgave us. Verse 8 to 10, he made known unto us the will of God. And now quickly, verse 11 and 12, he made us God's inheritance.

You know when our parents passes away, whatever they leave for us become our own inheritance. But do you know brothers and sisters that not only that we are going to receive inheritance in the future day, but we become his inheritance? In other words, you and I, though we don't necessarily think it so, but you and I, every believer today, every believer in Yeshua the Messiah become his own inheritance.

We become a treasure to the person of the Messiah. We became a gift of the Father to the Son. It says in verse 11 that the believers became God inheritance. Listen to that. "In whom," again the word in Messiah, "in whom also we have obtained"—now the word obtained should be said we have been made, not obtained, but been made an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who work all things after the counsel of his own will.

Now you notice that, brothers and sisters, that the believers become an inheritance that the Father would give to the Son. It's like you and I like trophies. You remember John chapter 17, Yeshua said, "Father, I will that they which thou had given me will be with me." Every believer is a gift of the Father to the Son. God the Father gave the believers to become a gift for his own Son and we become an inheritance of the Son.

That's why the Bible tells us in the book of Corinth where we read, "Know ye not that ye are not your own and you were bought with a price?" Now we sometimes don't realize that, but we are really not belong to ourselves. We have been bought with a price and we belong to Yeshua. "Know ye not," Paul said to the Corinthians, that you are not your own anymore, you have been bought with a price. As the Father gave the gift to the Son, don't you know that? He said we are gift from the Father to the Son.

Important to understand that, beloved brothers and sisters. Even Paul when he was on the way to Damascus and he was persecuting the believers, Yeshua said to him, "Shaul, Shaul, why do you persecute me?" When he was persecuting the believers, he was persecuting those that are the heritage of the Son. The head is in heaven, the body is on earth, and we belong to Yeshua the Messiah. We became an inheritance that the Father gave to his Son.

And in verse 12 in connection with the Son, the believers are for the praise of God's glory. It says here that "we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in the Messiah." We should be to the praise of his glory.

Every time a person become a child of God, it is a praises to God. It is for his own glory, not for our glory, but for his own glory. That we should be, not only do to praise God and to glorify him, but we become to the praise of the glory of God because we have been elected and chosen, but also we ultimately who trusted in Yeshua the Messiah.

Now if you will bear with me, I want to conclude with verses 13 and 14 so we'll have the whole triune Godhead before us here in these verses. Now that we talked about the Father, verses 3 to 6, who is the one that planned this from eternity past, this great salvation. We talked about the Son, verses 7 to 12, who paid the price for this great salvation.

Now in verses 13 and 14 we have God the Holy Spirit who sealed us. Every one of us who became believer in Yeshua the Messiah and marked us and say you belong to me. Notice, I'm reading those two verses. Look what the Spirit of God did. It says in verse 13, "In whom, in Yeshua, in Messiah, ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth of the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."

Let me just make a remark or two about this verse. Notice the order, there are three things that he says here in verse 13. He speaks about them they heard the message of the gospel, then they believed the message of the gospel, and finally they were sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.

Notice the order. They first heard the message that were preached, then in response to the message they believe it, and thirdly they were sealed. After that you heard first of all, the gospel must have been preached. Faith comes by hearing, Romans 10, hearing by the word of God. Then when they heard this, it says the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and then he says in whom also then after you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Now what is the sealing does? You know when you write a letter to somebody and you address it to certain person, you lick the envelope and you seal that letter that this letter will be opened only by the person whose name is on that envelope. What we really find out, brothers and sisters, that God have marked us. He have sealed us. He put a stamp of sealing and he said "this person belong to me."

The Spirit of God came and indwelt in the believer once we have accepted Yeshua. We have now become believers and we are sealed by the Spirit of God. You cannot be unsealed for a moment. You cannot be unsealed. A letter you might be able to unseal, a stamp you might be able to erase, but you can never unseal a person that was sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.

And so he's saying to them, after you heard the message, you believe the message, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. As it is mentioned also in chapter 4 of this book and verse 30, he said there "whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." So you and I are sealed people. No one can take us away from Yeshua. The Holy Spirit of God came and indwelt in every one of us who have accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

And finally in verse 14, what the Spirit of God's sealing does? He become an earnest, down payment. Verse 14, "which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory."

The Holy Spirit of God is a pledge. God gave us a pledge. And he says listen, you have accepted me, you belong to my Son Yeshua, I'm giving you a pledge, a promise. Take that pledge, meaning the Holy Spirit of God. And this pledge is only a temporary assurance that there is a full redemption yet ahead when the body of ours after we'll be receiving a new body, a glorified body and all this human being, spirit, soul, and body are going to be presented before God for time and for eternity.

So the Holy Spirit of God is an earnest. It's eravon. In Greek it's called arrabon or arrabon. In Hebrew it's eravon. It's a pledge that the full promise of salvation will surely come to pass in the life of each and every one that have accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

So brothers and sisters to conclude here with our chapter for today, the Father is the originator, he is the one who planned. The Son, he is the one who paid the price. The Spirit, he is the one who sealed us and made us assured individuals who belong to the Father for time and for eternity. That's the rich blessings that we possess because of what God had planned for us in eternity past. Well, may the Lord just bless what have been said by the grace of God for his word.

You have been listening to Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0. Or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com.

You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.