A GREAT MYSTERY ILLUMINATED
Tuesday – March 14, 2017
Today, Tuesday, I use to remind us all to pray for our nation. The picture to the left is of our First Lady, Melania Trump, reading the Lord’s Prayer before a rally in Florida in February. When I say pray, I am saying that we are to decree, declare, the Word of God, the will of God over this Covenant nation. The devil had almost wrestled this nation away but we are taking it back, evils of all kinds are being exposed and righteousness will once again be the gold standard. The heathen will rage as their father the devil rages but pay no attention to that go about the work of the Kingdom for the glory of God.
Job 22:25-29 (KJV)
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
Now back into our text from Ephesians.
Ephesians 5:30-33 (KJV)
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
I spent quite a bit of time yesterday talking about Ephesians 5:31 yesterday but I want to revisit this verse from a somewhat different angle which will give further illumination and consolidation of the Truth. We will look at the gender and number of key words in this verse, all taken from the HCSB Reverse Interlinear Bible. HCSB stands for Holman Christian Standard Bible. The word ‘man’ is singular and male as you might expect. ‘Father’ is masculine singular and ‘mother’ is feminine singular. Recall that the feminine gender brings with it productivity or reproductively when given the right seed. In the case of the physical relationship between a man and a woman the sperm (seed) of the man is the right seed to become one with the ovum of the woman.
In the spirit realm the seed is the Word of God which when we accept it transforms us to be more and more like Him. When we speak that Word (seed-sperm) by faith (absolute reliance upon God nothing doubting), in love (obedient to the Word of God), led of the Spirit of God there will be opportunity for change. All persons have free-will and may accept the Word of God and be changed or they may reject the Word of God. Perhaps unbeknown to them the rejection of the Word of God brings a change as well which is a hardening of the heart. In this example the seed is the Word of God and the ovum is the freewill person.
Moving on with Ephesians 5:31, the word ‘his’ is masculine singular and ‘wife’ is feminine singular. A man (his) by himself cannot bring a child (spirit, soul, and body) into this earth any more than a woman can alone. This is also true in the spiritual realm for married couples. That is not to say that single men or women cannot be productive for the Kingdom of God. A ministry partner whether it be the husband or the wife adds another dimension, a multiplying force (one can put 1000 to flight and two ten thousand) to the ministry of the other for it is their call not his or her call alone. The marriage in no way limits the call of God. This brings us to the phrase ‘one flesh’ which is feminine singular. Maximum potential is achieved in the marriage of two persons when they practice being one flesh just as our maximal potential is reached for the Kingdom of God when we practice being one with the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we finish out this chapter the Apostle Paul tells us directly, I am talking about Christ and the church. Today due to the secularization of society and the Church we need this message concerning the special relationship between husband and wife emphasized. This relationship between Christ and the Church is the relationship we have individually with Christ and as a married couples (one flesh) have with each other and with Christ.
Ephesians 5:32 (KJV)
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Have you wondered why Paul uses the word ‘Christ’ here rather than the word ‘Jesus’? In many instances people will automatically translate the word ‘Christ’ as referring to Jesus and in some cases that is accurate but in many if not most cases that is not accurate. Remember that at the initiation of The Blood Covenant not only was Abraham and Jehovah God there but the Word (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 15:17-18 (KJV)
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
The ‘smoking furnace’ is the Holy Spirit, the ‘burning lamp’ is the Word, ‘LORD’ is Jehovah God, and then Abram (later Abraham) are the four parties to the creation of The Blood Covenant. We find in Hebrews 9:14 that Jesus was able to do what He did at the Cross through or by the Eternal Spirit. The Holy Spirit was integral to the Cross and in Jesus’ rising from the dead. He is just as integral to our mission in the body of Christ, our rising from the spiritual dead, and one day our physical body being transformed to a glorious body like unto our Lord’s. The chapter ends with Paul admonishing husbands to love their wives and for wives to reverence their husbands. When the Scripture says that Sarah called Abraham ‘lord’ that is not a master and slave arrangement, but a recognition of exactly what we have been talking about, the relationship in our marriages and with Christ.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
