Saviour of All Fellowship
September, 2006

Dear Friends in Faith,
     In this issue I’d like to bring our attention to Ephesians and the “in Christ” relationship we have and which the universe will have.

“IN HIM IN WHOM OUR LOT WAS CAST also
(Ephesians 1:11)

“. . . making known to us the secret of His will (in accord with His delight, which He purposed in Him) to have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ–both that in the heavens and that on the earth–in Him in Whom our lot was cast also, being designated beforehand according to the purpose of the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:9-11).
     Everything that the Blessed God and Father is doing for the entire universe is being done in Christ. Right now, all “believers in Christ Jesus” (Eph.1:1) enjoy this positional relationship as being “in Christ Jesus.” The blessings which are Christ’s are ours now and will be the possession of the rest of the universe in the future.
     In the following verses Paul gives the “in” relationship the believer enjoys now and in the future along with what the universe will enjoy later:

     1:3 “God . . . blesses us with every spiritual blessing . . . in Christ.
     1:4 “He chooses us in Him.
     1:6 “the grace which graces us in the Beloved.
     1:7 “In Whom we are having the deliverance . . . the forgiveness of offenses.”
     1:9 “His will which He purposed in Him.
     1:10 “to head up all in the Christ.
     1:11 “In Whom our lot was cast also.”

     A. E. Knoch wrote concerning the lot: “There was a custom in ancient times which helps us in understanding this phrase. The community land of a village was divided into a few large groups of fields, and the farmers formed themselves into corresponding groups, choosing one man in each group as its representative. The allotment began by the heads of groups casting their lots first. Every man in a given group cast his lot in his headman, just as our lot is cast in Him Who has been allotted the headship of the universe. His portion is ours in Him” (Unsearchable Riches, Vol.9 p.142).
     What is really good news, is not that only the believer’s lot is cast in Christ but that it is cast also. By the term also we can safely infer that others have their lot cast in Him, not just believers today. Therefore, not only is His portion ours, but it is the portion of all in the heavens and all on the earth who are to be headed up in the Christ also after the believers are headed up in Christ! God is heading the entire universe into blessings of unheard of proportions of breadth and length and depth and height, which the ungraced human mind cannot yet grasp but which we are to be strong to grasp (Eph.3:18). His Son is the means by which this is accomplished.
     “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing among the celestials, in Christ”! (Eph.1:2,3).

Yours in God’s grace and peace,
Tony Nungesser

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