Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday,
November 9, 2018
First, there is what we call The theocentric, or pre-Incarnation, dispensations are the Age of the Gentiles and the Age of Israel, which occurred “long ago” before God had “spoken to us in [His] Son” (Heb 1:1 ).
This passage says that the Lord Jesus Christ is not like God but He is God.
And not only is Jesus Christ exactly like God the Father and God the Holy Spirit but He also controls the universe by the power of His Word or His words of power.
And all this took place when the Lord Jesus Christ had made us all holy and also He purified us and then He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
This is known as the doctrine of the Session which is when the Lord Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of God and He has been elevated above all, angels and humanity, to this place of power and authority.
To understand this and to be promoted above all of God's creation is to be rewarded by our Lord Jesus Christ by two major doctrines, our Lord's ascension into heaven following His resurrection and His position at the right hand of the Father.
In fact, the doctrines of the ascension and the session is the doctrine of Christology that pertains to the transfer of our Lord's true humanity from planet earth to the third heaven in a resurrection body.
Or keep on thinking about passages and doctrines like the two inferred, the ascension and the session.
Our Lord's ascension into heaven following His resurrection and His position at the right hand of the Father is one of the main reasons that the apostle Paul says what he said in Phi 2:9-11.
Here is a passage that rewards winner believers for their faith, their endurance and their humility which means teachability.
The ascension is the doctrine of Christology that pertains to the transfer of our Lord's true humanity from planet earth to the third heaven in a resurrection body.
The session is the doctrine of Christology that pertains to the glorification of our Lord's humanity at the right hand of the Father presuming your understanding of the Hypostatic Union.
And that's because they have seen something in this period called the church-age that they could have never seen in heaven concerning God.
Because in order to understand God's grace to the maximum, they have to study the objects of maximum grace, and that is fallen, depraved, unworthy, spiritually dead members of the human race.
And when angels observe us as totally depraved and totally undeserving anything from God and then see a perfectly constructed plan directed toward imperfect man.....it brings glory to God.
They see something in that which teaches them something about God which they could never see.......the grace and mercy of God toward undeserving and unworthy creatures.
Prin-It is His grace being manifested to us that brings glory to Him in the angelic conflict.......and that is why there is such an attack upon the grace of God.
As the apostle Paul said in 1Co 1, God has chosen the weakest of all creatures, mankind, to resolve the angelic conflict in the most magnificent realm.
And that's why every time someone in this age chooses to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God does something for them that staggers the minds of the elect and fallen angels.
Another magnificent point of Bible doctrine, in choosing the plan of God at salvation through faith in Christ, regenerate mankind becomes positionally superior to angels through the baptism of the Spirit and resultant positional sanctification.
This not only makes us royal family of God, but also a new spiritual species, making it possible for the first time in history for all believers to live the unique spiritual life of freedom instead of an independent life of slavery.
The born-again regenerate member of the human race is now positionally higher than angels, since we are in union with Christ who is now seated at the right hand of the Father and higher than angels.
Heb 1:3, And He [Jesus Christ] is the radiance [flashing forth--the humanity of Christ is the flashing forth] of His [God the Father's] glory, and the exact representation of His nature [deity of Christ];
and He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
And that's when Jesus Christ received His third royal warrant, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and that's when the angelic conflict shifted gears into its intensified stage.
Heb 1:4 Having become [Jesus Christ in His humanity] as much better than the angels, as He has inherited an excellent or superior title to theirs [third royal title]."
Heb 1:5, "For to which of the angels did He [God the Father] ever say, [Psa 2:7] `You are My Son [deity of Christ], this day I have given birth to You [humanity of Christ in hypostatic union]?
And again [2Sa 7:14], `I will be His Father and He will be My Son.'"
Now which angel did God ever say that to?
The answer of course is no angel!
Heb 1:6, And when He again brings His First‑born into the world [Second Advent] He says, [Psa 97:7], let all the angels of God worship Him.'"
That's an interesting doctrine for another group of witnesses....called the Jehovah's witnesses], Your throne, O God is forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of Your kingdom [Second advent, Millennium, and eternal kingdom].'"
God could not say this to deity, and He never said this to an angel; He said this to the humanity of Christ, making the humanity of Christ superior to angels.
That's why we are told in Ephesians 2:6 that God the Father raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,
However, we cannot take advantage of our position now on earth unless we live in the PPOG designed for us in eternity past by God the Father.
Grace glorifies the Creator!
Grace glorifies God!
And so, we have what is called Christocentric dispensations which begin with the first advent of Christ (also called the Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union) and continue with the Church Age, which is the present dispensation.
Finally, there is also eschatology which is the study of the final destiny of the human race, and the eschatological dispensations that the Bible prophesies and promises for the end of history are the Tribulation and Millennium.
God’s unified, integrated, unchanging plan for human history calls for many expressions of His grace.
He graciously provides the means for executing that plan, and the Bible reveals these various provisions.
Salvation itself, however, is appropriated in only one way throughout human history—by grace through faith (Gen 15:6; Act 16:31).
In every dispensation there is only one Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in that dispensation (Joh 14:6).
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. (Act 4:12
In Hebrew His name is JHWH, a word considered too holy to pronounce, so He is called Adonai.
He appeared in many forms before His incarnation, including the burning bush, the cloud, the pillar of fire, and the Angel of Jehovah.
He has many functional titles as well, like Messiah, Son of David, Lord of the Armies, or Prince of Peace.
In the Greek of the New Testament, He is Christos or kurios or Iesous or any combination of the three. We know Him in Modern English as the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Christ is revealed to everyone who desires to know God. God reveals Christ in many ways throughout the ages, but faith in Him is the only way of eternal salvation.
He does so to reveal His unchanging glory, wisdom, and power under different conditions.
From God’s eternal perspective the ultimate in this long and varied demonstration of His character is the relationship between Christ and the Church, in which the believer is in union with Christ.
Satan and the host of angels who joined his revolution evidently were brought to trial and convicted (Eze 28:16-18), for their sentence is recorded in Scripture (Mat 25:41).
The sentence of fallen angels to “eternal fire” was pronounced before mankind existed. Why, then, was the execution of the sentence postponed until after human history ends (Rev 20:10)?
Satan objected to God’s verdict, just as he continues to contend against God. Any objection to perfect divine judgment slanders the character of God.
In a momentous action, God convened an appeal trial in which He would demonstrate His perfect character while allowing Satan every opportunity to prove his own case (Job 1:12; 2:6; Mat 4:1-11).
In human history, for our benefit and for the benefit of the angels, God magnificently answers every aspect of Satan’s objection in the prehistoric trial.
Simultaneously, Satan is attempting to prove himself equal with God (Isa 14:14), but the devil displays only arrogance, incompetence, and evil, which confirm his guilt.
The “numerous and diverse aspects of God’s wisdom” are revealed through mankind, and most dramatically through the Church, “to the rulers and the authorities [fallen angels] in the heavenly places.”
These changes produce the dispensations.