C. The Eternal Spirit Heb 9:14
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal (166) Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
166 aionios {ahee-o'-nee-os} from 165; TDNT - 1:208,31; adj
AV - eternal 42, everlasting 25, the world began + 5550 2,
since the world began + 5550 1, for ever 1; 71
1) without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be
2) without beginning
3) without end, never to cease, everlasting
D. Other Scriptures: Ps 90:2; Ps 93:2; Rev. 1:8
Psalms 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God.”
everlasting = for ever, always (Strong’s 5769)
Psalms 93:2 “Thy throne [is] established of old: thou [art] from everlasting.”
Revelations 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
1 a {al'-fah} of Hebrew origin; TDNT - 1:1,*; letter
AV - Alpha 4; 4
1) first letter of Greek alphabet
2) Christ is the Alpha to indicate that he is the beginning and the end
5598 omega {o'-meg-ah} a primitive word; TDNT - 1:1,*; n
AV - Omega 4; 4
1) the last letter in the Greek alphabet
2) the last
II. THE ETERNAL PLAN
A. Belongs to the Lord -- Deut 29:29
“The secret (5641) [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law.”
05641 cathar {saw-thar'} a primitive root; TWOT - 1551; v
AV - hide 72, secret 4, close 2, absent 1, conceal 1, surely 1,
variant 1; 82
1) to hide, conceal
1a) (Niphal)
1a1) to hide oneself
1a2) to be hidden, be concealed
1b) (Piel) to hide carefully
1c) (Pual) to be hidden carefully, be concealed
1d) (Hiphil) to conceal, hide
1e) (Hithpael) to hide oneself carefully
01540 galah {gaw-law'} a primitive root; TWOT - 350; v
AV - uncover 34, discover 29, captive 28, carry away 22, reveal 16,
open 12, captivity 11, shew 9, remove 6, appear 3, misc 18; 188
1) to uncover, remove
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to uncover
1a2) to remove, depart
1a3) to go into exile
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) (reflexive)
1b1a) to uncover oneself
1b1b) to discover or show oneself
1b1c) to reveal himself (of God)
1b2) (passive)
1b2a) to be uncovered
1b2b) to be disclosed, be discovered
1b2c) to be revealed
B. Known from the beginning to the end -- Isa 46:10; Acts 15:18
Isa 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”
The proof of prophecy defines the accuracy and divine influence of the Bible.
C. Purposed in Christ Eph 3:1-12 (READ)
1. The Revelation to Paul
a. Revelation Defined
602 apokalupsis {ap-ok-al'-oop-sis} from 601; TDNT - 3:563,405; n f
AV - revelation 12, be revealed 2, to lighten + 1519 1, manifestation 1, coming 1, appearing 1; 18
1) laying bear, making naked
2) a disclosure of truth, instruction
2a) concerning things before unknown
2b) used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from
view are made visible to all
3) manifestation, appearance
b. Mystery Defined
3466 musterion {moos-tay'-ree-on} from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth); TDNT - 4:802,615; n n
AV - mystery 27; 27
1) hidden thing, secret, mystery
1a) generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals
1b) a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding
1c) a hidden purpose or counsel
1c1) secret will
1c1a) of men
1c1b) of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden
from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly
2) in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense
2a) of an OT saying
2b) of an image or form seen in a vision
2c) of a dream
Paul speaks of a mystery, but "In English a 'mystery' is something dark, obscure, secret, puzzling. What is 'mysterious' is inexplicable, even incomprehensible. The Greek word mysterion is different, however. Although still a 'secret', it is no longer closely guarded but open. . . More simply, mysterion is a truth hitherto hidden from human knowledge or understanding but now disclosed by the revelation of God." (Stott) David Guzik
c. What is the Mystery? The mystery described by David Guzik
This mystery is not one to be solved, but to be revealed by God.
Simply put, the mystery is that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body; the Jews and Gentiles would be joined together into one Body of Christ, into one Church, and no longer separated before God as such. This makes Gentiles partakers of His promise in Christ, something that is no longer reserved only for the Jew. This can only happen through the gospel, where all men have an equal standing in Jesus; the same gospel Paul is a servant of, because of the gift of grace given to him by the working of God's power.
[I Cor. 15:51 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep.”]
d. How long has this mystery existed? “from the beginning of the world”
165 aion {ahee-ohn'} from the same as 104; TDNT - 1:197,31; n m
AV - ever 71, world 38, never + 3364 + 1519 + 3588 6, evermore 4, age 2, eternal 2, misc 5; 128
1) for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity
2) the worlds, universe
3) period of time, age
e. Who holds and reveals the mystery? God “who created all things by Jesus Christ” --
Define created:
936 ktizo {ktid'-zo} probably akin to 2932 (through the idea of proprietor-ship of the manufacturer); TDNT - 3:1000,481; v
AV - create 12, Creator 1, make 1; 14
1) to make habitable, to people, a place, region, island
1a) to found a city, colony, state
2) to create
2a) of God creating the worlds
2b) to form, shape, i.e. to completely change or transform
God's creation of the world and all things therein is the foundation of the rest of the "economy," which is freely dispensed according to the universal power of God [BENGEL]. AS God created "the whole range of things" (so the Greek), physical and spiritual alike, He must have an absolute right to adjust all things as He will. Hence, we may see His right to keep the mystery of world-wide salvation in Christ "hidden in Himself," till his own good time for revealing it. The oldest manuscripts omit "by Jesus Christ."
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
2. II Tim 1:8-10 His purpose
2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
3. Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised
before the world began;”
4. Other Scriptures
a. Eph. 1:4-12 (READ) He hath chosen us
b. Eph. 2:7 “in the ages to come”
“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
c. I Peter 1:20
“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you,”
