Teachings from Dr Michael Rydelnik on January 23, 2016 on open line moody radio: Ephesians 3 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, ... -kjv 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray ... -niv 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray ... -hcsb In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul is actually praying for the Ephesians and he is praying that they will live according to their spiritual wealth. In Ephesians 1 to 3, Paul reveals all the spiritual riches, all the spiritual wealth we have as believers and then he transitions in Ephesians 3:14-21 as to how we should live as believers, how we are to live in light of that spiritual wealth. At the end of the entire discussion about the wealth of a believer, the riches that we have in the Messiah Jesus, Paul in Ephesians 3:14, says for this reason I bow my knees to the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named and I pray and he begins his prayer. In Ephesians 4, he picks up and talks about what our responsibilities are in light of our riches. For the next week few weeks, we are going to go through Ephesians 3:14-21 and learn some principles of prayer because Paul's prayer is the model for our prayers. If we are to pray for ourselves and for others and to experience all that God has for us and to live in light of the wealth that God has for us, this would be a great model for our prayers. Paul is declaring in Ephesians 3:14 that for this reason, in light of the spiritual riches that we have, and describes the way that we should pray, basically to have a needy attitude when praying. The first part of a needy attitude is a humble attitude as in I bow my knees in Ephesians 3:14. The typical Jew in the first century do not bow their knees to pray. Generally the Jewish way to pray was to have their heads up, eyes open and arms lifted up and so bowing became quite rare. The reason is bowing was sometimes taken to mean bowing before an idol and people did not want to reflect that idea. However, the idea of bowing is really a reflection of a humble attitude and is a picture of someone bowing before a king. So, Paul is not literally bowing but is saying that he is praying from a position of need, a position of humility and that he is coming as a humble person before the king of the universe. Besides having a humble attitude, if we are to pray with a needy attitude, we also need to have a dependent attitude. Paul calls God as Father in Ephesians 3:14. So often we think we call God our Father because that's what we do in our families and we get the idea of God our father from families. Actually, what Paul is saying here is that it is the opposite, because there is a heavenly father, our families have fathers, that is it is a reflection of who God is, that we have a tangible earthly reflection of what that relationship ought to be. Every family on earth gets their name from their father. The idea is we come before God as our father because we are needy children, we are dependent children. So we have to have a dependent attitude on Him. Jesus talked about having that kind of attitude with our Father when we pray when he talked about it in Matthew 7:9-11. God wants us to be dependent on him, He want us to turn to Him and then He can help us. Matthew 7 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? -kjv
Know the bible
Moody Radio listener: What is shekhinah glory? Answer on openline: The word shekhinah in Hebrew means the dwelling. It is the same word that we have in the Hebrew bible but in a different form for the tabernacle and it is the same root word because God dwells or tabernacles with us. Shekhinah talks about the presence or dwelling of God in glory. We do see the shekhinah glory like the pillar of fire that led Israel in the wilderness. Shekhinah glory also manifested itself when Ezekiel sees the glory of God departed from the temple. God is everywhere but there are times when he localize himself, the visible manifestation of God. In the same way, no one has ever seen God but Moses saw His back. Moses did not really see as if God has a back but he saw the visible manifestation of God, the shekhinah glory of God. The answer was given on January 16, 2016, openline moody radio.
Question from moody radio listener: Is Jesus the first creation of God the father in Colossians 1:15? Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik: Some of our friends who I think misunderstand the bible misunderstand that verse. I think we will have to start with John chapter 1. It says in John 1: In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. So whoever the Word was, he is God himself and then it says in John 1 verse 14 that the Word became flesh and then it dwelt among us. So it is saying that Jesus, who is the Word, he is the eternal God and he became flesh. So, we have to be really really clear that the scripture teach that the eternal Son of God is always deity. He is the eternal Word and he became flesh in the Incarnation and became a man. That being said, what does Colossians 1:15 mean when it says Jesus is the firstborn of all creation? The word firstborn is an idiom and does not necessarily mean the first creation. What it means is the most beloved. For example, of all the nations of the earth, God chose Israel and says that Israel is the first born of the nations. It says that in the book of Exodus. Well, if Israel is the first born of the nations, does it mean that Israel is the first nation? No, there were many nations even before Israel came into existence as a nation. It just means that when God chose Israel, He gave them special status, beloved of the nations. It does not mean that God does not love the other nations. In the same way, Jesus is the beloved, God the father's special love. It does not mean Jesus is the first created. Just look at the way firstborn is used in scripture and you will see that first born does not mean first in order but means beloved. Colossians 1 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: -kjv 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. -niv 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.-hcsb