The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 42

IT. FoR WHAT THE CHlIBCH DLE.."SES Gun? "Who hath blessed us with every spiritual ~lcssing." W~ are n_ot to think merely ?f blessiuiz thflt hns beon nctually enjoyed. It Js rather ble..,;smg without respect to time, It is all that God hl\S in store for• the Church, and that is really inexhaustible blessing. "In our Father's house there. is enough and to spare." He is not exhausted in blessing one but has more than enouah for ~; a.nd he has not one kind of ~lessing merely, but ~very kind-all that we c:n poss!bly need to comple~ our. hap12mess. An~ he h~s an. infinite willi~gness and longin~ to bestow. He 1s. glonfied 1D our commg to him with ll\rge petitions, in, his bestowmg on us large blessmgs. The blessing being ch~racterized as spiritual' seems to point to the connection of the blessing with the Spirit. For, as there has been repeated refer~~ce already ~ the Father and the Son, s.o now there is reference, though not very e~plic1t, to ~~e_Th1rd Pei:son of the Godhead. It is ~y the Spirit's instrumentality, 'and with the Spm t s blessed mfluences, that the Church JS enriched. .: • . 1 IIL ~"TEE FROM WHICH THE CHURCH IS BLESSED. " In the heavenly places.'' This indicates the centre or height from which the blessing proceeds. : " Come, thou holy Paraclete, And, from thy celestial seat, Send thy light and brilliancy," } t :tl:,0 indicates the Church's de.stinaia'on in being blessed. For, though the Church can U~s.;; God for what it bas under Eartlly conditions, there is not yet the,full realization of the hies. It is when draZCR ~ the c.entre, taken up to the Father's house, that it will be known how God can bless. IV. Hr.,,,uBICAL COl!<'"?,-:ECTION OF THE BLESfilNG. "In Christ." It is in the historical Christ that the treasury is opened out of which the Church is blessed;--R. F. Vers. 4-10.-0rigination of the Ohurch. I. Tm: CHURCH TBAOED UP TO ''l'Bic FJ.ECTIVE LOVE OF Gon. 1. Ohosen for himself. "Even as he chose us." • He cl;iose ue out of the sinful mass of humanity. He chose us for himself, as be chose ·ancient Israel for himself. 2. Chosen in Ohrut as covenant Head, "In him." He was God's sovereign choice: "Behold my Servant, whom I have chosen." Abraham, notably· among men', was chosen; and, viewed as existing in him as their covenant heiid, were ·the Israelites chosen as a nation. And so, viewed as existing in Christ as our greater Representative, have we been thought about and chosen by God. 3. Ohosenfrom eternity. "Be.fore the foundation of tbe world." He chose us ere ever we bad thought of him, ere ev'~r we bad being, ere ever this world on which we stand was founded, There in ·the depths of et.ernity the Church lay in the thought of God, the object of the Divine election. 4. Chosen with a viezo to holiness. "That we should be holy and without blemish befor.e him." For in the thought of God we could not be thought as simply st.anding before him in onr sinful state. Called out of that, the intention was that we should ba,e those positive elements of holiness 'IITought in us to onr highest capacity which God has in absolute perfection; and that we should be free from all that inca- pacitate; for his presence. 5. Chosen in lnve. "In love." It seems best to connect thiB with what goes before. He chose ns to be fit for his presence in love. The love being placed last coven; the intention as well as the a.et of choosing. It was·iove that was the moving principle in the election of the Church. God was so full of love that he could be satisfied with nothing but his having the Church for himself. •• ' II. TID!: CmracH TBACED UP TO THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTION. 1. Our adoption pl'e- daermined. "Having foreordained us unto adoption as sons." This predetermining (prearranging, prelimiting) is thought of as anterior to the elective act, covering, we may say, the whole counsel that there was about us. God has foreordained with a view to our having the position of sons. It was tbe highest position in which God could. place us. "Behold, what manner of love the Father bath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." It was placing us in most favoured:n~mess'to him.self. It was placing us where we could enjoy all the tenderness of his fatherly love, all the plenitude of his fatherly blessing. This adoption was placing us in the family, arter we had been displaced, disowned, disinherited. 2. The predetermining extended tv tltR- mearl,/J by which our a,dopti<>n as 60718 was to be accomplished. " Through Jesus (.;LriEt." It was arranged beforehand that Christ should be Accomplisher of our adop- CH, I, 1-23.~ THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 39