Ephesians 3 – Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles & The Seven Natural Wonders of the World

Finger Pointing Up1 2Father, it’s sad to see how people can look at all the beautiful and amazing things You created in this world and not believe in You but they’ll believe all the lies that Presidents like Clinton, Bush, and Obama had told.

Since we’re talking about stupidity and ridiculous beliefs tomorrow we’ll look at…

Ephesians
Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

3:1-13 – having saved people individually by His grace (2:1-10), and having reconciled them to each other as well as to Himself through the sacrificial death of Christ (2:11-22), God also now unites them on an equal basis in one body, the church.

2 8This step in God’s eternal plan was not fully revealed in previous times.  Paul calls it a mystery.

2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

“Mystery” – a truth known only by divine revelation.  Here the word “mystery” has the special meaning of the private, wise plan of God, which in Ephesians relates primarily to the unification of believing Jews and Gentiles in the new body, the church. 

It may be thought of as a secret that is temporarily hidden, but more than that, it is a plan God is actively working out and revealing stage by stage until the Second Coming of Christ.

4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ).

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5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

4 69 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

“Principalities and powers” – Christ had ascended over all these.  It is a staggering thought that the church on earth is observed, so to speak, by these spiritual powers and that to the degree the church is spiritually united it portrays to them the wisdom of God.

This thought may be essential in understanding the meaning of “vacation” in 4:1.

“By the church” – the fact that God had done the seemingly impossible – reconciling and organically uniting Jews and Gentiles in the church – makes the church the perfect means of displaying God’s wisdom.

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

“Passeth knowledge” – Not unknowable, but so great that it cannot be completely known.

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World, is the  natural nature  on earth.

These includes:
1) Mount Everest,
2) The Great Barrier Reef in Australia,
3) Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa, 
4) Paricutin Volcano in Mexico, 
5) The Grand Canyon, Harbor of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil,
6) The Harbor of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil,
 
7) Northern Lights in Antarctic and Arctic Regions.

Mount Everest

6 Aerial photo
Aerial photo of Everest from the south, behind Nuptse and Lhotse

 

7 Mount Everest
Mount Everest Golden Summit

Mount Everest (also known in Nepal as Sagarmatha and in Tibet as Chomolungma) is the Earth’s highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas.

Its peak is 29,029 feet above sea level and is the 5th furthest point from the center of the Earth. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point.

Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 27,940 feet; Nuptse, 25,771 feet and Changtse, 24,870 feet.

Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

8 Great Barrier
Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

 

9 Perfectly positioned
Perfectly positioned on the only Great Barrier Reef island with its own commercial jet airport, qualia is on the eastern edge of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs  and 900 islands.  The reef is located in Northeast Australia off the coast of Queensland Coral Sea. 

The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms. 

The Victoria Falls

10 The Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls, in Zambia, Africa, and the world’s largest water fall

 

11 Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls, The naturally formed “Devil’s Pool”, where some tourists swim

The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya  is a natural wonders of the worlds, largest waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

 

12 Paricutin
Paricutin Volcano Eruption in 1943

 

13 Paricutin Volcano
Paricutin Volcano Natural Wonders

 Parícutin  is a cinder cone-like volcano in Michoacan, Mexico, close to a lava-covered village of the same name. The volcano is unique in the fact that its formation was witnessed from its very inception.

It appears on many versions of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Parícutin is part of the volcanic field of Michoacan-Guanajuato, which covers much of west central Mexico.

The Grand Canyon 

14 Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon from the South Rim, near the NPS Visitor Center.

 

15 Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock (located at Eagle Point) on the west rim, aptly named for its shape, is considered sacred by the Hualapai Indians.

The Grand Canyon  is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River state of Arizona, in the United States. It is maintained under the management by Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualapai Tribal Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe. 

The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

16 Christ at the Harbor
Christ at the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro

 

17 The Harbor of Rio
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro

The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro is one of the ‘Seven Natural Wonders of the World’. It is located in the country of Brazil, South America.

It is world famous for being the world’s largest bay, having mountains that come down almost to the water’s edge and for an enormous statue that looks down on the city and harbor from one the mountain peaks.

Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis

18 Northern Lights
Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis

 

19 Northern Lights
Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis

An aurora, Latin word meaning sunrise, is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude in Arctic and Antarctic regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere or thermosphere.

The magnetosphere  and the solar wind where it originates, charged particles, on Earth, are directed by the Earth’s Magnetic Field into the atmosphere. 

The aurora borealis or northern lights, in northern latitudes, named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas by Pierre Gassendi in 1621.

…Strange Lands: Social Fays.

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