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the eternal purpose (the purpose of the ages, R.V. margin) which He purposed in Christ
Jesus our Lord" (11). God not only brought into being the physical creation; He also
made the great platform of time, subdivided into ages, upon which He is working out this
vast redemptive plan which embraces the highest heaven as well as the earth, and the
Word of God is the written record of this plan which is centred in Christ Jesus. It is when
one realizes this and has some insight into it, that the Bible is transformed as far as we are
concerned. Without such knowledge it is just a haphazard collection of books in one
volume and alas this is how it is seen by many professing Christians. God has an eternal
plan to which He is working, with a goal of perfection and glory that finally nothing can
frustrate. What an unspeakable privilege to have any part in it, and yet this can be true of
all the redeemed, whether the earthly or the heavenly people of God.
Not only is this so, but the Body of Christ has the tremendous boon of unrestricted
access to God at all times: "In Whom we have boldness and access with confidence by
the faith of Him" (12). What a contrast to Israel who, in spite of their unique position as
a nation, never enjoyed such a favour! In contrast, this church can come into the holy
presence of God at all times through Christ Jesus the Mediator, the one go-between or
Way back to God. This means that all other intermediaries, whether religious or
otherwise, are dispensed with, and away goes all Romish pretensions of human
priesthood and glorified saints on the one hand or the false mediation of Gnosticism,
whether in ancient or modern dress.
Verse 12 not only assures us of continual access through Christ, but tells us that in
coming unto this most holy Presence we do not have to fear or cringe, but have
`boldness' and `confidence'. This does not mean we can swagger into the presence of
God. There must always be deep reverence and consciousness of what we are doing, and
this will be easier to preserve if we constantly remember that it is all "through the faith of
Him", that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, and without Him, such an approach would be
unthinkable and impossible. We believe it is a mistake to translate the phrase "by the
faith of Him" as "by our faith in Him" for this would shift the basis of access away from
the Lord to ourselves and our puny faith. And what happens to access if our faith should
fail or turn to unbelief? No, the truth of our access to the Divine Presence rests on
Christ's faithfulness (the thought behind the word `faith') not on anything we are or can
do.
The Apostle has now finished his great digression in which he explains what lay
behind his prison ministry for the Gentiles (3: 1) and he now picks up the thread in
verse 14 from verse 1, "for this cause", that is, the greatness and wonder of God building
in this church a dwelling for Himself (2: 20-22). This leads immediately to his second
great prayer, just as the revelation of the Father's choice and will, the Son's redemptive
work, and the Spirit's present witness led to the first prayer in chapter 1: (16-23). We
compared these two prayers in an earlier study and noted that the direction of the first
prayer is upward and largely concerns the ascended Christ in the heavenly places. The
second prayer has a downward direction, bringing before the Ephesian saints and all who
follow, what this highly exalted Christ can be to each member of His Body; the fact that
He can dwell in their hearts by faith and fill them up to the brim with His fullness.