Ephesians 3:10-11 To the intent that now to the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,… I. Let us consider WHO ARE MEANT BY THE CHURCH. Paul sometimes uses this appellation to denote a single society of Christians; but he more commonly uses the term to denote the whole number of the elect, or all who shall finally be sanctified and saved. This portion of mankind he considers as composing the Church universal, which is a spiritual body, of which Christ is the spiritual Head. In this comprehensive sense the apostle uses the term Church in the text. He means to signify by it the whole Church of the firstborn in heaven, or all who shall be set up as monuments to display the riches of Divine grace to the whole intelligent creation. II. WHEN THE DEITY FORMED HIS PURPOSE OF REDEEMING THE CHURCH FROM AMONG MEN. The text tells us it was in eternity: "According to the eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." All the elect are said to have been "chasen in Christ before the foundation of the world." Christ is called "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." And St. John tells us, he "saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth." These are plain declarations that the gospel scheme of salvation was formed in eternity; which perfectly accords with every just idea of the Divine character. God was self existent, independent, and absolutely perfect from eternity. He was infinitely able to form His whole plan of operation before He began to operate; and no good reason could possibly exist for His neglecting, a single moment, to fix all future events. III. WHY GOD WAS GRACIOUSLY PLEASED TO DEVISE AND ADOPT, FROM ETERNITY, THE GREAT SCHEME OF MAN'S REDEMPTION. To this inquiry the apostle gives a general answer in the text. He says, it was "to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God." Moved by infinite benevolence, the Deity determined to make Himself known through the medium of His works; and, among all possible works, He saw the work of redemption to be the best adapted to answer this glorious and important purpose. He knew that His creatures could not see the natural and moral excellency of His nature, unless He actually displayed Himself in His works. 1. God chose the work of redemption, because it was the only one in which He could display all His perfections before the minds of His intelligent creatures. 2. Another reason why God devised and adopted the work of redemption, was, because there was no other way by which He could so clearly and fully manifest any of His perfections. We have just observed that there was no other way by which He could discover all His perfections; but we now farther observe, that there was no other by which He could display any of His perfections, in their highest beauty and glory. 3. There was another important reason why God determined to make: Himself known by the work of redemption. He saw it was necessary, not only to display all His perfections, and to display them all in the clearest manner, but also, to prepare the minds of all moral beings to view them with the greatest attention and sensibility. He meant not only to give them an opportunity to see Himself, but to awaken their attention, and fix it upon His great and amiable character. And nothing could be better adapted to this end than to place them in a situation which would render all the displays of His glory highly interesting to themselves. (N. Emmons, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, |
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