Ephesians 4: 1-6
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
Paul's mention that he's the Lord's prisoner will be brought out later in this chapter, tomorrow.
He is begging his readers to live up to the Lord's expectations of them, in the light of all He has done for them, listing some of the attitudes that they need to do this:
with all humility and gentleness with patience showing tolerance for one another in love,
being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Humility is seeing ourselves as Christ sees us, not worth any more or less than any other believer; gentleness is needed to deal with one another without our rough edges cutting one another; patience is needed to not rush the responses of one another; and tolerance is putting up with others' habits that get on our nerves, without lashing out. We are to love one another as fellow brothers and sisters in God's family, making the effort to get along with each other, putting the other's needs before our own.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
We all are members of one body with Christ as our Head, because we all have the same Holy Spirit of Life giving us life. The Father called each of us into His family with one hope of our calling to the final destination that God made us for. There is one Lord who is our Boss, the Head of our body, directing and doing through us as His hands and feet. We all believe with one faith, the truth of His death and resurrection for us; and there is only one baptism that we picture with our water baptism, the immersion of each of us into the body of Christ.
We acknowledge only one God, the Father-Progenitor, who made all things through His Word, the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit--He is the One who thought us all up, and we are His imagination, so we "live and breathe and have our being in Him" (Acts 17: 28). That makes Him over all and though all and in all. We, as His imagination, are all inside His mind: if He weren't thinking about us, we wouldn't exist!
So Paul is begging these believers in Ephesus to clean up their lives and thinking. To realize who they are in Christ, and to love one another with Christ's Love for us: that unconditional, sacrificial care for each other that He displayed in taking our death upon Himself.
We are all body parts of one body, so if one part hurts, we all feel the pain. And when one part is honored, we all enjoy the pleasure. And the body we are, is the body of Christ, so we need to realize how He would live in our circumstance (WWJD).
We are to leave all the ways of this world, and the cultural evils of our societies that we live in, and show the World who God is and how much He Loves us!
O my Father, what You have done for us is so stupendous! I am trying to get my head around even a part of what You have already accomplished for us, for us to enjoy the benefits, as You receive the credit, the glory for having done it all!
O Father, You are so great, so good, so powerful, so smart and wise and clever! Everything that You plan, You have already finished. And You have designed us to be Your own children, intimate members of Your royal family. And You have us in school here on this Earth, in this world we have made on it; and all the trials and lessons and testings we encounter here are growing us up, and preparing us to be ready to be Your governors and kings and queens, managing Your universes.
Please help us all to realize how important we are to You right now, and to cooperate with You in living in this world without being of it, recognizing that our home is in You, in Your eternity, enjoying fellowship with You and with one another forever.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, Son of the Father, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Monday, January 13, 2020
God's Love
Ephesians 3: 14-21
For this reason
The reason is that God took the dregs of creation and made us into the very pinnacle of His program, as we discussed yesterday.
I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in Heaven and on Earth derives its name,
Every being, angelic or human, exists because the Father thought us up and made us. So He deserves our adulation at bended knee.
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
The riches of His glory, not stingy or limited.
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
That His power would make us strong, in our spirit and soul and mind and heart.
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
That our daily living would be Christ living inside us, because we believe Him.
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
The roots that stabilize us, as though we are planted, in the ground of love, God's Love:
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
That all of us, God's saints, might be able to understand.
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the Love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
How big it really is, in every direction, this Love that God Loves us with; shown to us by Christ Jesus, that goes way beyond anything our little brains can know.
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
God wants to fill us up with Himself! How can that be? How could God fill us up with Himself without bursting our flesh? This is incredible!
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,
God wants to do so much more for us than anything we could ever ask Him for, or even think of or imagine! He wants to give us stuff that only He could design and plan, to carry out His program for each of us.
according to the power that works within us,
The power to do all this that we can't even imagine, is already inside us! God's Holy Spirit is the Life that gives us life, and He is working in us already, even while we still are on this Earth.
to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
God the Father will receive all the glory for all He has done in the church, the body, and in Christ Jesus, the Head, throughout all eternity future!
Oh my Father, You want us to understand that Your Love for us is so much more than we will ever be able to comprehend with our tiny brains! So we just have to believe it. We are to put our faith into You and Your Son to have Loved us so much that You have taken care of all our needs for us, that we could never do.
That Your mercy and Your grace is our redemption out of the slave-market of sin, into the glorious freedom of being members of Your own family! You have taken us from the bottom to the top in Your program.
From being filthy enemies, to being honored members of the Royal Family!
O Father, please help us to grow into being the siblings of Your Son. Show us how to live as Your children, members of Your royal family, living out the character of Christ.
Father, I know that I have far to go to learn this, but I also know that You have been working with me and on me and in me to learn these traits. And that You have also worked through me on occasion to draw others into relationship with You.
Keep me on Your path that You have set my feet upon; I place my hand into Yours, so that I will not veer off to the right or to the left, or slip into a ditch, or wander off, or lag behind or run ahead of You.
Your timing is perfect, and I want to align my thinking processes with Your thoughts for me, so that I will follow You closely and do what You have made me to do for You.
Father, grant me good success in the endeavors You have set before me to accomplish. May my efforts result in the growth of many of Your children, and the drawing of many more into Your family.
My Father, You have given me Your power: let me not squander it.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
For this reason
The reason is that God took the dregs of creation and made us into the very pinnacle of His program, as we discussed yesterday.
I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in Heaven and on Earth derives its name,
Every being, angelic or human, exists because the Father thought us up and made us. So He deserves our adulation at bended knee.
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
The riches of His glory, not stingy or limited.
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
That His power would make us strong, in our spirit and soul and mind and heart.
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
That our daily living would be Christ living inside us, because we believe Him.
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
The roots that stabilize us, as though we are planted, in the ground of love, God's Love:
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
That all of us, God's saints, might be able to understand.
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the Love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
How big it really is, in every direction, this Love that God Loves us with; shown to us by Christ Jesus, that goes way beyond anything our little brains can know.
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
God wants to fill us up with Himself! How can that be? How could God fill us up with Himself without bursting our flesh? This is incredible!
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,
God wants to do so much more for us than anything we could ever ask Him for, or even think of or imagine! He wants to give us stuff that only He could design and plan, to carry out His program for each of us.
according to the power that works within us,
The power to do all this that we can't even imagine, is already inside us! God's Holy Spirit is the Life that gives us life, and He is working in us already, even while we still are on this Earth.
to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
God the Father will receive all the glory for all He has done in the church, the body, and in Christ Jesus, the Head, throughout all eternity future!
Oh my Father, You want us to understand that Your Love for us is so much more than we will ever be able to comprehend with our tiny brains! So we just have to believe it. We are to put our faith into You and Your Son to have Loved us so much that You have taken care of all our needs for us, that we could never do.
That Your mercy and Your grace is our redemption out of the slave-market of sin, into the glorious freedom of being members of Your own family! You have taken us from the bottom to the top in Your program.
From being filthy enemies, to being honored members of the Royal Family!
O Father, please help us to grow into being the siblings of Your Son. Show us how to live as Your children, members of Your royal family, living out the character of Christ.
Father, I know that I have far to go to learn this, but I also know that You have been working with me and on me and in me to learn these traits. And that You have also worked through me on occasion to draw others into relationship with You.
Keep me on Your path that You have set my feet upon; I place my hand into Yours, so that I will not veer off to the right or to the left, or slip into a ditch, or wander off, or lag behind or run ahead of You.
Your timing is perfect, and I want to align my thinking processes with Your thoughts for me, so that I will follow You closely and do what You have made me to do for You.
Father, grant me good success in the endeavors You have set before me to accomplish. May my efforts result in the growth of many of Your children, and the drawing of many more into Your family.
My Father, You have given me Your power: let me not squander it.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, January 12, 2020
A Mystery Revealed
Ephesians 3: 1-13
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--
Paul was writing this letter from prison, traditionally in Rome (Acts 28: 16-31).
if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you;
that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in brief.
By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
A mystery is something that is not known yet, and God had not revealed this part of His plan until He formed the church to be Christ's body. He gave this gracious task to Paul to reveal it.
to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
The mystery is that Jews and Gentiles will both be in the same family, not separated any more, as God had separated the Israelites from the pagan peoples that surrounded them. This is a totally new concept.
of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
Paul is the one God appointed to share this new phase of God's plan. God powerfully worked in Paul to save him, and teach him, and enable him to travel and preach; he was given this precious truth to share with us all!
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given,
Paul is amazed that God would choose him to give this message, he who had worked so hard against God to try to destroy His church!
to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;
God chose to use Paul to let Gentiles know how much God Loves them, too, and wants them also to be washed clean, and to participate in God's program in the world today, and to be members of His own family. This is something that was only hinted at in the Old Testament, and is now fully explained (did you read yesterday's message?).
so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
God wanted us to show His angels and the demons to see His amazing grace and goodness to us, His church; made up of all peoples and nations and tribes and colors and languages, from every area of the Earth where people live.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
This was always His plan from the very beginning, even before He created. He wanted everyone everywhere to know Him, to recognize His goodness and graciousness, in granting mercy to beings who could never deserve it, yet remaking them into glorious beings of light to help Him rule! From one extreme to the other! Only our God would do something like that!
in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Because Christ Jesus sacrificed His life and poured out His blood to cleanse us, now, by putting our faith and trust in Him, we can be God's own children in His royal family, with the right and permission to freely approach His very throne.
Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
Paul says, don't be sorry for me! He is in prison because He was preaching the Resurrection of Christ, and would not back down. Now he has the time and opportunity to write and encourage these believers at Ephesus, so it's a good thing, for their benefit.
For God to take the least of us, and put him at the head of the line, is just like our God! Jesus said that some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last (Luke 13: 30), and He took Paul, the least, and put him first!
Well, I can't claim to be the least, because Paul already took that spot! But I am one of "the least of these" who God rescued out of a deep pit of sin and deception, and He raised me up and set my feet upon the solid Rock of my Salvation! He was so gracious and merciful to me, to call me one of His chosen!
And He does the same for everyone who calls on Him! He is not willing that any would perish; He made the human race to be His children, and He wants everyone to hear about what His Son has accomplished, so that they would all realize how desperate they are, and turn to Him for Redemption!
God is merciful to not pour out His wrath on us, that we deserve; He poured that on Christ Jesus on the cross for us! And He is gracious to us in washing us clean, forgiving us totally, and giving us His own Spirit of Life into our spirit to make it alive. Now we are His family. His grace gives us all the goodness we could never earn or deserve!
And it is up to us, people, brothers and sisters, to tell everyone in the whole world! This is the "job" He gave us to do, why He leaves us here instead of taking us directly home!
We need to grow up, and we need to tell everybody what He has done for us as His witnesses, and we are to recognize that He is working through us to do all this. We are His hands and feet. Let's get to work!
O my Father, thank You so much for Your great mercy and grace! Thank You for Your almighty power to do everything You want to do. Thank You for Your goodness and generosity to share Yourself with Your creation. You have placed Your beauty into everything You made, and You are our Standard for beauty and righteousness and justice and order.
Father, Your faithfulness assures me that You will finish everything You started, because You already see it all finished. You have done everything You planned, we are still just in the midst of it playing out.
I don't see what the future holds for me, but I know You are holding my future! So, my Father, continue to work in me and on me and for me and through me, to accomplish everything You put me here to do.
And You will receive all the credit for doing it all!
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--
Paul was writing this letter from prison, traditionally in Rome (Acts 28: 16-31).
if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you;
that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in brief.
By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
A mystery is something that is not known yet, and God had not revealed this part of His plan until He formed the church to be Christ's body. He gave this gracious task to Paul to reveal it.
to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
The mystery is that Jews and Gentiles will both be in the same family, not separated any more, as God had separated the Israelites from the pagan peoples that surrounded them. This is a totally new concept.
of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
Paul is the one God appointed to share this new phase of God's plan. God powerfully worked in Paul to save him, and teach him, and enable him to travel and preach; he was given this precious truth to share with us all!
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given,
Paul is amazed that God would choose him to give this message, he who had worked so hard against God to try to destroy His church!
to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;
God chose to use Paul to let Gentiles know how much God Loves them, too, and wants them also to be washed clean, and to participate in God's program in the world today, and to be members of His own family. This is something that was only hinted at in the Old Testament, and is now fully explained (did you read yesterday's message?).
so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
God wanted us to show His angels and the demons to see His amazing grace and goodness to us, His church; made up of all peoples and nations and tribes and colors and languages, from every area of the Earth where people live.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
This was always His plan from the very beginning, even before He created. He wanted everyone everywhere to know Him, to recognize His goodness and graciousness, in granting mercy to beings who could never deserve it, yet remaking them into glorious beings of light to help Him rule! From one extreme to the other! Only our God would do something like that!
in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Because Christ Jesus sacrificed His life and poured out His blood to cleanse us, now, by putting our faith and trust in Him, we can be God's own children in His royal family, with the right and permission to freely approach His very throne.
Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
Paul says, don't be sorry for me! He is in prison because He was preaching the Resurrection of Christ, and would not back down. Now he has the time and opportunity to write and encourage these believers at Ephesus, so it's a good thing, for their benefit.
For God to take the least of us, and put him at the head of the line, is just like our God! Jesus said that some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last (Luke 13: 30), and He took Paul, the least, and put him first!
Well, I can't claim to be the least, because Paul already took that spot! But I am one of "the least of these" who God rescued out of a deep pit of sin and deception, and He raised me up and set my feet upon the solid Rock of my Salvation! He was so gracious and merciful to me, to call me one of His chosen!
And He does the same for everyone who calls on Him! He is not willing that any would perish; He made the human race to be His children, and He wants everyone to hear about what His Son has accomplished, so that they would all realize how desperate they are, and turn to Him for Redemption!
God is merciful to not pour out His wrath on us, that we deserve; He poured that on Christ Jesus on the cross for us! And He is gracious to us in washing us clean, forgiving us totally, and giving us His own Spirit of Life into our spirit to make it alive. Now we are His family. His grace gives us all the goodness we could never earn or deserve!
And it is up to us, people, brothers and sisters, to tell everyone in the whole world! This is the "job" He gave us to do, why He leaves us here instead of taking us directly home!
We need to grow up, and we need to tell everybody what He has done for us as His witnesses, and we are to recognize that He is working through us to do all this. We are His hands and feet. Let's get to work!
O my Father, thank You so much for Your great mercy and grace! Thank You for Your almighty power to do everything You want to do. Thank You for Your goodness and generosity to share Yourself with Your creation. You have placed Your beauty into everything You made, and You are our Standard for beauty and righteousness and justice and order.
Father, Your faithfulness assures me that You will finish everything You started, because You already see it all finished. You have done everything You planned, we are still just in the midst of it playing out.
I don't see what the future holds for me, but I know You are holding my future! So, my Father, continue to work in me and on me and for me and through me, to accomplish everything You put me here to do.
And You will receive all the credit for doing it all!
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Enemies No More!
Ephesians 2: 11-22
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands--
Remembering that we were dead, and now we're alive in Christ, Paul is bringing out the main differences between the Gentiles and the Jews.
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Remember before you were saved, while you were still dead, and were without any future or prospects.
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
These Gentiles who were so far away from God and God's people and His ways; now they have been washed clean in the blood of Christ and brought close to the heart of God.
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Christ Jesus Himself is our peace, who tore down the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the Lord dwells--this is the wall that separated us from God. And the whole Law with the sacrificial system separated the Gentiles from Israel.
Now Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law, has broken down all the barriers, and now welcomes all of Mankind into the chosen family of God.
by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Jesus' body and blood, on His altar, the cross, as the Lamb of God, fulfilled the sacrifices that were required; so we don't need to offer animals on altars any more, He finished it.
and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
And by offering Himself He became our total remedy for reconciling with God and with one another. We're not enemies any more. We are all one body, and Jesus is our Head.
And
Christ Jesus proclaimed to both Jews and Gentiles that we are at peace with one another, and we have peace with God the Father; because we both, Jews and Gentiles, can now approach God the Father by the same Holy Spirit that lives in both of us.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
Now both Jews and Gentiles are all saints, brought into the family of God together as His children, all one family.
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Paul changes to another illustration, portraying us as a building. The foundation of this building is the apostles and prophets, and the corner stone that holds it together is Christ Jesus.
in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Where God dwells is His temple. When He puts His Spirit into each of us, making us alive, then He dwells in us, individually. So the picture here is that we are living "stones" that are being laid on the foundation to build a building in Heaven for God to live in.
Right now as we live our lives here, God lives in each of us as a little miniature temple, so we can talk with Him any time, He's right here with us all the time. And when He gathers us together into one structure, then we will be His holy temple in Heaven where He lives.
And we read the end of the story in Revelation that Heaven comes down to the New Earth for God to dwell with His people, His family, forever (Revelation 21: 1-3).
This is the final destination that God has planned for us, and when we get there, I imagine that He has a lot more adventures for us, so we will be busy working on His good purposes for us forever!
In the mean time, while we're still here, we need to pay attention to all the lessons He is teaching us, and pass all the tests He presents to us, so that we will grow up to be the adults in His family. We're children in school now. No matter how many years we've been in this world, we're still children spiritually. We need to remember this, as well as where we're headed.
O my Father, Your plans are so wonderful! You have planned out my life so that I will face all the situations that will grow my faith and trust in You, and I ask You for the strength and perseverance and faithfulness to pass all the tests You will prove me with.
Send me out, Father; use me and my words and my actions to show the world who You are, and how much You Love each one of us! Enable me to demonstrate to others how You have already met all of our needs, and that You want them all to turn to You for cleansing and new birth.
Grow Your family, Father, using my hands and feet; to help Your children grow up, and to add many more children to Your household.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands--
Remembering that we were dead, and now we're alive in Christ, Paul is bringing out the main differences between the Gentiles and the Jews.
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Remember before you were saved, while you were still dead, and were without any future or prospects.
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
These Gentiles who were so far away from God and God's people and His ways; now they have been washed clean in the blood of Christ and brought close to the heart of God.
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Christ Jesus Himself is our peace, who tore down the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the Lord dwells--this is the wall that separated us from God. And the whole Law with the sacrificial system separated the Gentiles from Israel.
Now Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law, has broken down all the barriers, and now welcomes all of Mankind into the chosen family of God.
by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Jesus' body and blood, on His altar, the cross, as the Lamb of God, fulfilled the sacrifices that were required; so we don't need to offer animals on altars any more, He finished it.
and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
And by offering Himself He became our total remedy for reconciling with God and with one another. We're not enemies any more. We are all one body, and Jesus is our Head.
And
He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near (Isaiah 57: 19);for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Christ Jesus proclaimed to both Jews and Gentiles that we are at peace with one another, and we have peace with God the Father; because we both, Jews and Gentiles, can now approach God the Father by the same Holy Spirit that lives in both of us.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
Now both Jews and Gentiles are all saints, brought into the family of God together as His children, all one family.
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Paul changes to another illustration, portraying us as a building. The foundation of this building is the apostles and prophets, and the corner stone that holds it together is Christ Jesus.
in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Where God dwells is His temple. When He puts His Spirit into each of us, making us alive, then He dwells in us, individually. So the picture here is that we are living "stones" that are being laid on the foundation to build a building in Heaven for God to live in.
Right now as we live our lives here, God lives in each of us as a little miniature temple, so we can talk with Him any time, He's right here with us all the time. And when He gathers us together into one structure, then we will be His holy temple in Heaven where He lives.
And we read the end of the story in Revelation that Heaven comes down to the New Earth for God to dwell with His people, His family, forever (Revelation 21: 1-3).
This is the final destination that God has planned for us, and when we get there, I imagine that He has a lot more adventures for us, so we will be busy working on His good purposes for us forever!
In the mean time, while we're still here, we need to pay attention to all the lessons He is teaching us, and pass all the tests He presents to us, so that we will grow up to be the adults in His family. We're children in school now. No matter how many years we've been in this world, we're still children spiritually. We need to remember this, as well as where we're headed.
O my Father, Your plans are so wonderful! You have planned out my life so that I will face all the situations that will grow my faith and trust in You, and I ask You for the strength and perseverance and faithfulness to pass all the tests You will prove me with.
Send me out, Father; use me and my words and my actions to show the world who You are, and how much You Love each one of us! Enable me to demonstrate to others how You have already met all of our needs, and that You want them all to turn to You for cleansing and new birth.
Grow Your family, Father, using my hands and feet; to help Your children grow up, and to add many more children to Your household.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Friday, January 10, 2020
How Are We Alive When We're Dead?
Ephesians 2: 1-10
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked
We were dead. Dead people can't do anything. They're dead. Our sinfulness that resulted in our disobeying the rules caused us to be spiritually dead. So we lived our physical lives as the walking dead.
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
We lived our lives obeying the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of disobedience, that his minions are still following. We were also his minions.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
We all used to live our lives following this evil spirit, indulging in all the worldly pleasures that hold so much promise but never delivers. The nature we were born into, with that damaged DNA we inherited, deserves wrath. We were born as chamber pots, deserving only the dregs of this world.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great Love with which He Loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
God knew we could never do anything that He could accept, so He did it all. That's how much He Loves us. We were dead, so He made us alive. But we are alive only in Christ Jesus. "G.R.A.C.E." is "God's Riches At Christ's Expense." Jesus Christ paid our full sin-debt for each of us.
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
This we have not experienced yet, but God sees us as already resurrected, at the destination He predestined for us.
so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
In the future ages of existence, we will be like trophies that will display to all creation how gracious and kind God is to take such disreputable beings and make us into glorious beings of light that are prepared to rule and manage in His own Kingdom.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
We have been given access to this grace through our believing and trusting God to have done it; and even this faith to believe it is also a gift that God gives us, in drawing us into His family.
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
There is nothing that we can do to work up this faith, or to try to get God's favor. We were dead, remember, so we couldn't do anything. Jesus said that no one could come to Him unless the Father draws him (John 6: 44).
So when someone turns to God from idols (I Timothy 1: 9), it's because God the Father has drawn them. All we can do is to want to find Him, and He will be found of us (Jeremiah 29: 13), when we decide to seek Him earnestly. He does all the rest.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
When we are saved, that's when God creates us new, putting His Spirit into our spirits, making us alive. He does this so that we will be able to do things He can accept and reward us for, because He is doing it all through us, as we are in Christ Jesus as His body.
We are alive with the same Holy Spirit in us that is the Spirit of Jesus. We are one with Him with the same Spirit, as He is one with the Father (John 17: 21-23).
God has done it all. There is nothing we can do at all in any of this process, so there is nothing that we can boast about in ourselves. If we want to boast, we can only boast about what God has done! In spite of us!
O my Father, You are so great, so good, so compassionate, so powerful. You do whatever You want to do, and there is no one who can say anything to You about it. You are not accountable to any other--every other is accountable to You. You have made us, and You have re-molded us into something else entirely!
We, being made in Your image, are already able to do whatever we can imagine (Genesis 11: 6), by taking what You have created, and rearranging and restructuring it into "new things" that can perform in ways that would have been incomprehensible to people of former ages.
[For example, we've gone to the Moon! And today, the little phone in our hand holds more computing power than was required for those Moon shots! Truly amazing!]
Thank You, thank You, that You have caused us to be re-born and re-made and re-molded into beings that will be able to actually rule and manage in Your Kingdom! I cannot imagine all the fabulous things You will have us doing!
O Father, help us to understand how wonderful You are, and how fantastic Your works are, and to appreciate all You have already accomplished for us, to show all the Universe how gorgeous You are, and Your goodness and glory!
Help us now, Father, to live our lives showing the world that Jesus really did come, and finish everything You said He would do to save us, and will return again to enforce His rule over this Earth, taking over the whole world we have built on it. Help us to love those in our little worlds as You have Loved us, and draw to Yourself all those who will want what we have, and call on You.
That Your house will be filled up with all Your children, every place at Your grand Banquet Table occupied, that we will eternally enjoy Your fellowship and presence.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is our Christ and Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer, Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked
We were dead. Dead people can't do anything. They're dead. Our sinfulness that resulted in our disobeying the rules caused us to be spiritually dead. So we lived our physical lives as the walking dead.
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
We lived our lives obeying the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of disobedience, that his minions are still following. We were also his minions.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
We all used to live our lives following this evil spirit, indulging in all the worldly pleasures that hold so much promise but never delivers. The nature we were born into, with that damaged DNA we inherited, deserves wrath. We were born as chamber pots, deserving only the dregs of this world.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great Love with which He Loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
God knew we could never do anything that He could accept, so He did it all. That's how much He Loves us. We were dead, so He made us alive. But we are alive only in Christ Jesus. "G.R.A.C.E." is "God's Riches At Christ's Expense." Jesus Christ paid our full sin-debt for each of us.
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
This we have not experienced yet, but God sees us as already resurrected, at the destination He predestined for us.
so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
In the future ages of existence, we will be like trophies that will display to all creation how gracious and kind God is to take such disreputable beings and make us into glorious beings of light that are prepared to rule and manage in His own Kingdom.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
We have been given access to this grace through our believing and trusting God to have done it; and even this faith to believe it is also a gift that God gives us, in drawing us into His family.
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
There is nothing that we can do to work up this faith, or to try to get God's favor. We were dead, remember, so we couldn't do anything. Jesus said that no one could come to Him unless the Father draws him (John 6: 44).
So when someone turns to God from idols (I Timothy 1: 9), it's because God the Father has drawn them. All we can do is to want to find Him, and He will be found of us (Jeremiah 29: 13), when we decide to seek Him earnestly. He does all the rest.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
When we are saved, that's when God creates us new, putting His Spirit into our spirits, making us alive. He does this so that we will be able to do things He can accept and reward us for, because He is doing it all through us, as we are in Christ Jesus as His body.
We are alive with the same Holy Spirit in us that is the Spirit of Jesus. We are one with Him with the same Spirit, as He is one with the Father (John 17: 21-23).
God has done it all. There is nothing we can do at all in any of this process, so there is nothing that we can boast about in ourselves. If we want to boast, we can only boast about what God has done! In spite of us!
O my Father, You are so great, so good, so compassionate, so powerful. You do whatever You want to do, and there is no one who can say anything to You about it. You are not accountable to any other--every other is accountable to You. You have made us, and You have re-molded us into something else entirely!
We, being made in Your image, are already able to do whatever we can imagine (Genesis 11: 6), by taking what You have created, and rearranging and restructuring it into "new things" that can perform in ways that would have been incomprehensible to people of former ages.
[For example, we've gone to the Moon! And today, the little phone in our hand holds more computing power than was required for those Moon shots! Truly amazing!]
Thank You, thank You, that You have caused us to be re-born and re-made and re-molded into beings that will be able to actually rule and manage in Your Kingdom! I cannot imagine all the fabulous things You will have us doing!
O Father, help us to understand how wonderful You are, and how fantastic Your works are, and to appreciate all You have already accomplished for us, to show all the Universe how gorgeous You are, and Your goodness and glory!
Help us now, Father, to live our lives showing the world that Jesus really did come, and finish everything You said He would do to save us, and will return again to enforce His rule over this Earth, taking over the whole world we have built on it. Help us to love those in our little worlds as You have Loved us, and draw to Yourself all those who will want what we have, and call on You.
That Your house will be filled up with all Your children, every place at Your grand Banquet Table occupied, that we will eternally enjoy Your fellowship and presence.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is our Christ and Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer, Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, January 9, 2020
What To Pray For
Ephesians 1: 15-23
For this reason
The reason is in the preceding verses we just covered yesterday.
I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
Paul has heard about the believers who live in Ephesus, of their faith and their loving acts to help other believers.
do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
Paul has been praying for these believers, probably by name, thanking God for them. How often do we pray for other believers we know?
This is how he prays for them:
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
He wants God to open their understanding to be able to comprehend who God is and all He has done for us.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
He asks God to give them a wise understanding of God's destination for us all and the abundance of the riches we will enjoy as His kings and queens.
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
To understand how great His almighty power is for us and for our benefit as believers.
These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
The power of God that is working in us is the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, resurrected His body into a whole new life, and gave Him His throne in Heaven. This power is what we have access to!
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
This authority is over all other authority or might or rule everywhere in Heaven and on Earth and in every other place in all creation, both now and in the future!
And He put all things in subjection under His feet,
God the Father gave to God the Son the Lordship over all Creation.
and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
which is His body,
Jesus is the Head and we are His body, as His church, His bride.
the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
We as the church are the fulfillment of His being, to fill up the substance of everything in the Universe, and all the Universes after this one He will create throughout all eternity future!
O my Father, open our minds and hearts to understand and comprehend and revel in all the goodness You have planned for us! Remind us to be praying for one another to realize how much You have Loved us, in making us to be Your children, primary members of Your own family.
Keep us mindful, Father, to remember one another in prayer before You, to lift up each other before Your throne for Your special attention for blessing and growth in the character of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Continue to shape and mold us, Father, into the very image of our Lord, so that we will be prepared and ready to help Him rule when the time comes.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus
For this reason
The reason is in the preceding verses we just covered yesterday.
I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
Paul has heard about the believers who live in Ephesus, of their faith and their loving acts to help other believers.
do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
Paul has been praying for these believers, probably by name, thanking God for them. How often do we pray for other believers we know?
This is how he prays for them:
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
He wants God to open their understanding to be able to comprehend who God is and all He has done for us.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
He asks God to give them a wise understanding of God's destination for us all and the abundance of the riches we will enjoy as His kings and queens.
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
To understand how great His almighty power is for us and for our benefit as believers.
These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
The power of God that is working in us is the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, resurrected His body into a whole new life, and gave Him His throne in Heaven. This power is what we have access to!
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
This authority is over all other authority or might or rule everywhere in Heaven and on Earth and in every other place in all creation, both now and in the future!
And He put all things in subjection under His feet,
God the Father gave to God the Son the Lordship over all Creation.
and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
which is His body,
Jesus is the Head and we are His body, as His church, His bride.
the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
We as the church are the fulfillment of His being, to fill up the substance of everything in the Universe, and all the Universes after this one He will create throughout all eternity future!
O my Father, open our minds and hearts to understand and comprehend and revel in all the goodness You have planned for us! Remind us to be praying for one another to realize how much You have Loved us, in making us to be Your children, primary members of Your own family.
Keep us mindful, Father, to remember one another in prayer before You, to lift up each other before Your throne for Your special attention for blessing and growth in the character of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Continue to shape and mold us, Father, into the very image of our Lord, so that we will be prepared and ready to help Him rule when the time comes.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Seal And Promise
Ephesians 1: 7-14
In Him we have Redemption through His blood,
Redemption is His total rescue from this whole fleshly existence, all the way into having the Resurrected body like Jesus was Resurrected with.
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
Our trespasses are the wilful sins we commit, knowingly disobeying what we know is right. This is only one of the kinds of sin we are rescued from.
according to the riches of His grace
which He lavished on us.
God showered His grace on us abundantly, freely giving us all the good we could never earn or deserve.
In all wisdom and insight
He made known to us the mystery of His will,
"Wisdom" is sophia, "higher, spiritual or lower, worldly wisdom."
"Insight" is phronesis, "intellectual or moral insight; prudence, wisdom."
God's insightful wisdom has let us know what His will is, that was not known before. That we will one day be His kings and queens, managing all the worlds He will create in the future eternity, starting with Jesus' 1000-year reign on this Earth.
according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
God the Father intended to give the Lordship to the Son, which He did, making the Son the Lord God Almighty.
with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times,
God the Father is looking at the end from the beginning, the overt rule of the Son, Christ Jesus our Lord
that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the Earth.
After Jesus returns as King, He will unite all the Earth with the rest of the Universe and all creation, including the holy angels and the demons and their leader; all creation.
In Him
we also have obtained an inheritance,
As Jesus' brothers and sisters, and His bride, and His body; we also will sit in His throne as He sits in His Father's throne, to administer and manage all the parts of His great Kingdom.
having been predestined according to His purpose
This is our final destination, why we were saved and molded and grown up in God's family; His purpose for us.
who works all things after the counsel of His will,
God is God, He does whatever He wants to do, and succeeds at everything.
to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ
Paul and the rest of the apostles and the believers in the churches he founded were the first people to be Christ's body, His bride. Through the ages since they lived, many more have been added to this number, and will be until He returns.
would be to the praise of His glory.
Our lives are to reflect the family's characteristics, and He will get all the credit for it all.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation--having also believed,
When the Christians in Ephesus heard the message of the Gospel, they believed that Jesus died for them and rose from the dead, and put their trust in Him to do what He said He would do, to save them from sin.
you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of Promise,
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,
with a view to the Redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
When they believed, God put His Holy Spirit into their spirits, just as He still does today into us. His Spirit causes us to be born spiritually into His family, and is the down-payment on the full Redemption that will be accomplished when we also are resurrected. He seals us up to this future, that nothing can change.
And God still gets all the credit, all the glory and praise for having thought it all up, planned it all out, and carried out all His plans to their completion.
O my Father, thank You so much for planning to create Mankind to be Your own children! That's why You are not willing for any of us to perish, but for all to come to the realization that we deserve that execution death Jesus died in our place as the Lamb of God. That is why He came as a human.
Thank You for washing us so clean that we are without even a trace of a shadow of sin, completely pristine, so that You could come into us as Your Spirit to live permanently with us, never to leave or forsake us. He is our sealing wax, and our promise of everything else You have planned for us.
Thank You for having me be born as a human, also, to be in Your own family, instead of an angel or any other sentient being. We will sit with You in Your throne, under the authority of Your Son. After we learn all the lessons and pass all the tests here.
And Your Kingdom will never stop growing more extensive and expansive.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, is God the Son, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
In Him we have Redemption through His blood,
Redemption is His total rescue from this whole fleshly existence, all the way into having the Resurrected body like Jesus was Resurrected with.
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
Our trespasses are the wilful sins we commit, knowingly disobeying what we know is right. This is only one of the kinds of sin we are rescued from.
according to the riches of His grace
which He lavished on us.
God showered His grace on us abundantly, freely giving us all the good we could never earn or deserve.
In all wisdom and insight
He made known to us the mystery of His will,
"Wisdom" is sophia, "higher, spiritual or lower, worldly wisdom."
"Insight" is phronesis, "intellectual or moral insight; prudence, wisdom."
God's insightful wisdom has let us know what His will is, that was not known before. That we will one day be His kings and queens, managing all the worlds He will create in the future eternity, starting with Jesus' 1000-year reign on this Earth.
according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
God the Father intended to give the Lordship to the Son, which He did, making the Son the Lord God Almighty.
with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times,
God the Father is looking at the end from the beginning, the overt rule of the Son, Christ Jesus our Lord
that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the Earth.
After Jesus returns as King, He will unite all the Earth with the rest of the Universe and all creation, including the holy angels and the demons and their leader; all creation.
In Him
we also have obtained an inheritance,
As Jesus' brothers and sisters, and His bride, and His body; we also will sit in His throne as He sits in His Father's throne, to administer and manage all the parts of His great Kingdom.
having been predestined according to His purpose
This is our final destination, why we were saved and molded and grown up in God's family; His purpose for us.
who works all things after the counsel of His will,
God is God, He does whatever He wants to do, and succeeds at everything.
to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ
Paul and the rest of the apostles and the believers in the churches he founded were the first people to be Christ's body, His bride. Through the ages since they lived, many more have been added to this number, and will be until He returns.
would be to the praise of His glory.
Our lives are to reflect the family's characteristics, and He will get all the credit for it all.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation--having also believed,
When the Christians in Ephesus heard the message of the Gospel, they believed that Jesus died for them and rose from the dead, and put their trust in Him to do what He said He would do, to save them from sin.
you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of Promise,
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,
with a view to the Redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
When they believed, God put His Holy Spirit into their spirits, just as He still does today into us. His Spirit causes us to be born spiritually into His family, and is the down-payment on the full Redemption that will be accomplished when we also are resurrected. He seals us up to this future, that nothing can change.
And God still gets all the credit, all the glory and praise for having thought it all up, planned it all out, and carried out all His plans to their completion.
O my Father, thank You so much for planning to create Mankind to be Your own children! That's why You are not willing for any of us to perish, but for all to come to the realization that we deserve that execution death Jesus died in our place as the Lamb of God. That is why He came as a human.
Thank You for washing us so clean that we are without even a trace of a shadow of sin, completely pristine, so that You could come into us as Your Spirit to live permanently with us, never to leave or forsake us. He is our sealing wax, and our promise of everything else You have planned for us.
Thank You for having me be born as a human, also, to be in Your own family, instead of an angel or any other sentient being. We will sit with You in Your throne, under the authority of Your Son. After we learn all the lessons and pass all the tests here.
And Your Kingdom will never stop growing more extensive and expansive.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, is God the Son, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
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