Ephesians Lesson 28 of 39 part 5

Ephesians 4:15b

"...which is the head, even Christ:"

Before we get to far, we feel that we should repeat what we said about the word “even” here is added because it in most Bibles is in italic and a shade of gray. Depending on the publisher and translation or version of the Bible your using will determine if added words are in italic and lighter in color because I have seen some that were not published this way, but in most cases we can leave this word out and thereby learn allot from so doing. So we can read this as, “which is the head, Christ.” Let’s look at a few references then, of the Head. It is a term that Paul and only Paul uses over and over, that we are the Body and Christ is the head. Of course the first one we trust most of you already know is found in 1Corinthians chapter 12. We could look at so many references in this chapter because everything from verse 12 to the end of the chapter speaks of this analogy. The Body of Christ, the True Gentile Body, The True Church are only a Pauline doctrine and term. No other portions of Scripture, - the four gospels, the Old Testament, the Book of Acts, Revelations,- none of it speak of the One Body of Christ, and there is definitely a reason for this.

Paul is the only Apostle given, by the Resurrected LORD, those things held in secret, held back from Israel, which Deuteronomy calls mysteries. And remember that it was written by Moses, by revelation, as was Genesis. The Torah holds these thing within its text but the eyes of the Religious leaders did not see them nor did their ears hear them. Because like so many others who followed, they only saw and heard what their minds had been conditioned to see and hear. They did not see or hear the spiritual language within the text because of a blindness or what is called a mental blockage, in other words they all saw what others had told them it said. By way of preconceived ideas, they did not have a clear perception and besides after time God had given them a familiar spirit to believe their own lies.

This has filtered down to us, to this very day. And is why so many within the churches, the Religious world, do not get what Jesus, Paul and others and yes, what we are saying. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the ontological essence of Christ within us to Him be the glory for He knows the mind and heart of God and conveys it to His own.

1Corinthian 12:12

"For as the body (this human body) is one, and hath many members, (fingers, hands, toes, eyes, ears, and so forth) and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." (the implication is, the One Body of Christ)

The Body of Christ is not just one person, or a fraction of one person, the One Body of Christ is not just one great evangelist, or some great Bible scholar, but rather the One Body of Christ is every believer from the greatest to the least of all believers since Paul’s conversion, and we all function as one. In verse 13, a verse we have looked at so often because it is one of the most important verses in the Bible as it explains the only baptism that really counts.

1Corinthians 12:13

"For by one (the Holy) Spirit, are we all baptized into one body,"

Not just those who have had a special revelation or seemingly are more elite in their faith than the rest of us, but rather every believer regardless of our station in life, or our station in our Spiritual maturity. We have all been baptized into this Body of Christ. Mans hands have not handled this, because when they do they soil or contaminate most everything touched. This is a divine working untouched by human hands. It is and will remain a sovereign act of God, just as He is the only one who can circumcises our heart. The cutting away of the sin flesh which surrounds it, for out of it then come the issues of Life restored, which we know is Christ.

Paul is the only Apostle given, by the Resurrected LORD, those things held in secret, held back from Israel, which Deuteronomy calls mysteries. And remember that it was written by Moses, by revelation, as was Genesis. The Torah holds these thing within its text but the eyes of the Religious leaders did not see them nor did their ears hear them. Because like so many others who followed, they only saw and heard what their minds had been conditioned to see and hear. They did not see or hear the spiritual language within the text because of a blindness or what is called a mental blockage, in other words they all saw what others had told them it said. By way of preconceived ideas, they did not have a clear perception and besides after time God had given them a familiar spirit to believe their own lies. This has filtered down to us, to this very day. And is why so many within the churches, the Religious world, do not get what Jesus, Paul and others and yes, what we are saying.

To see this we will need to back up here in 1Corinthians to chapter 2:

1Corinthians 2:7-14 “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden which God ordained before the world unto our glory:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.9 But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love (obey) Him.10 But God has revealed to us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.14 But (or Because) the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know (understand them) because they are spiritually discerned.”

To confirm this turn to 2Peter and read it, for in the text is his telling those to whom he is writing that they are to pay attention to Paul's teachings because they are right, though they may be hard to understand and because of this many have wrested his words to their own destruction.