THE UNCOVERING
Tuesday – November 22, 2016
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publications. Some fifty-three years ago today John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas. John Kennedy was the thirty-fifth President of the United States. The first President assassinated was Abraham Lincoln (April 14, 1865), then came James Garfield (July 2, 1881), William McKinley (September 6, 1901), and then John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963). I am sure that many if not all of you who are old enough will recall exactly where you were and what you were doing when the news of President Kennedy’s death got to you. You and I as the Church, the body of Christ, must be diligent to pray for our leaders including the President of the United States. We pray for their protection, for them to rule in righteousness, and for God to have great mercy upon them. I will now pick-up our Bible study with the third chapter of Ephesians.
Ephesians 3:1-6 (KJV)
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
The Apostle Paul is called the Apostle to the Gentiles. The Jewish mindset was that salvation, a relationship with God, was only for the Jew and those who chose to join themselves to the Jews. The Jews have known that there was a Messiah coming but believed the Messiah was their Messiah and not the redemption of the whole world. Albeit cryptic, a promise of salvation came to all people immediately after the fall in the Garden of Eden found in Genesis 3:15 and 3:21. Adam was not a Jew, when he sinned death came upon all men and by the last Adam, Jesus, life came upon all men. By definition Adam was a Gentile, he was not a Jew. The first Jew was Abram and he fathered a nation and by that nation all men have received the Word of God and a much needed Savior. Enoch, Noah, and Melchizedek were all Gentiles but had a close relationship with the Most High God. The Jewish people started with Abraham a type and shadow of God the Father, and Isaac a type and shadow of Jesus, God the Son. We find the word ‘revelation’ in Ephesians 3:3 which is to uncover or to disclose. The revelation of the Messiah exploded with the coming and the sacrifice of Jesus, what had been rather murky before was now coming into the fullness of light. When the Apostle Paul speaks of wanting them and us to understand his knowledge of the mystery of Christ he is saying he wants us to know how he has put these things together.
You perhaps have heard the saying that the Old Testament is Jesus concealed and the New Testament is Jesus revealed. With the coming and sacrifice of Jesus the Holy Spirit gave an increasing clarity of the Truth, present from the beginning, to the Apostles and Prophets and this process continues to this day and will not end until the coming of Christ. Notice that revelation of new understanding, increased light, does not come through the Evangelist, the Pastor, or the Teacher. This is an area that is not easily understood and may cause problems. It may cause problems because many do not recognize the Apostles and Prophets are still being ordained of God in and for the Church. Each of us have special and unique supernatural gifts and natural talents and we must operate within them. When we attempt to operate outside our gifting’s we will run astray and take others with us. Correction and realignment with the Word of God come through the Apostle and Prophet. Other than Jesus, The Messiah, the other Truth that the Jews stumbled over was that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, partakers in the same redemption, the two now one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:6 (KJV)
6 That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
The knowledge that God would redeem all peoples was known from the beginning and is clear to us now but was lost to them. Anyone could become a Jew, submit to the God of the Jews, and many did for example in Egypt such that when they left Egypt they were a mixed multitude (Jew and Gentile)(Exodus 12:38). They were one body coming out of Egypt just as any Jew who accepts Jesus as Lord and any Gentile who accepts Jesus as Lord is of one body, the body of Christ (a mixed multitude).
The point that I am making is that this knowledge was known albeit shrouded from the beginning and with the Messiah the cover was taken off and there was a full disclosure. It was a mystery to the Jew that they would become a new creation on entering the Kingdom of God, partake of the redemption in the same way as the Gentile and be one body of new creations with the Gentiles in the Messiah. After all the Jews considered the Gentiles dogs and would not eat with a Gentile or go into the home of a Gentile or allow a Gentile to enter their home. Kind of reminds one of the Church today. As I conclude today look at what God said to Abraham and Isaac while they were at Mount Moriah.
Genesis 22:16-19 (KJV)
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
That seed is Jesus and He has possessed the gate of His and our enemies and in Him so do we, and in Him everyone can be blessed. The Blessing is back! Our authority is restored in Christ Jesus, the Seed. This saying of God was an Oath, a Covenant and when Abraham left Mount Moriah he went and lived at Beersheba which means the completion of an oath. The Blood Covenant was set that would bring salvation to all peoples.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
