Ephesians 4:1-6 Be Humble and Gentle!

Ephesians 4:1-6  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

In today's focus, Paul beseeches the church at Ephesus to gather as one people that God has changed from the nature of the world to a new, born again community.  Jesus prayed that this miraculous happening would occur not only in his time with his disciples and followers, but become a reality in the church throughout the ages.  “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  (John 17:20-23)  Paul relates that there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who has created all things through Jesus Christ, the Word.  Consequently, he wants believers in Ephesus to be one in unity, buried into this new life found in the eternal Father through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.  This born again life spawns from Jesus Christ on the cross.  Because of the Father’s great love, his tolerance and patience for a wayward humanity, He gave Jesus as a ransom for their sinful souls.  This rebellious people lived their lives contrary to what they knew was good and holy.  They experienced condemnation, Gentile and Jew alike.  From the beginning of time, God had placed in the minds of men and women his law of righteousness: their conscience.  Gentiles and Jews inherited this conscience that knew the difference between right and wrong.  Of course, societal norms might skew their understanding somewhat, but the reality of knowing the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, was embedded within them from the beginning, for they were made in God’s image, with his consciousness.  Paul talks about this reality in Romans 2, Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.  They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.  And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.  (Romans 2:14-16)  We can readily understand that having our conscience only within our mind is rather nebulous; it can be altered easily by many ideas within a society.  But still within the hearts of men and women there is a conscious understanding about right and wrong and good and evil.  All people live with this God-given understanding, although somewhat abstract or not very concrete.  However, a rebellious people, the descendants of Abraham, were given the WRITTEN LAW.  No longer nebulous in character, but precise, explaining the righteousness of God through commandments, regulations and rituals.  No longer is the law of God just in the minds of people, but written on tablets of stone.  No longer could men and women claim that they did not know the purity and holiness of God, for it was written.  In a sense, the Jews were doubly guilty of violating God’s perfection, his holiness.  For the Jew, there would be no excuse, for not only did they have the law written on their minds, but also on tablets of stone and parchment.  But God chose the people of Israel to know the law.  He chose them to possess the law because of his love for Abraham.  Abraham’s people became the possessors of a great light, God’s written law.  They attempted to obey the law, to please a righteous God.  But the law was really death to them, for it revealed clearly that man cannot obtain the perfection of God through his human efforts.  Therefore, a new way must be provided for men and women to please a righteous, perfect, eternal God.  Paul ministered this new way.  Even in prison he preached this Good News to the people of Ephesus of oneness with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Paul distilled this new way to the Corinthians as well.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that CHRIST DIED for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he WAS BURIED, that he WAS RAISED on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that HE APPEARED to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he APPEARED to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he APPEARED to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he APPEARED to me also, as to one abnormally born.  (1 Corinthians 15:3-7)  This new way represents a change of heart in people.  As Paul tells the Ephesians, Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  As followers of Christ, as one with God, we should emulate God’s likeness of love and caring for all people.  Paul desires the Ephesians to work at being Christ's Ambassadors to the world.  We should abide in unity with all believers, everywhere.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  Rather than quarrel and practice disunity, we should be united in one name and that is Jesus Christ.  How easy it is for the fleshly Christian to pontificate about his knowledge and wisdom, separating himself or herself from the body of Christ because of some special knowledge that he or she has about the goodness and grace of God.  Peter tells us the carnal Christian will separate himself or herself from the body for self-aggrandizement.  How sad when this behavior becomes a standard within Christian communities.  We have Paul as a good illustration of what it means to be a leader in the church of God.  Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.  Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. . .  For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.  (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 & 11-12)  How beautiful are these words.  He was living a life worthy of his calling as an apostle in the body of Christ.  He as all of us should care for others in the body of Christ as a nursing mother.  A nursing mother provides not only for the comfort and security of the child by holding the child at her breast, but she also provides nourishment for the child so that the baby might survive.  We too ought to provide as a nursing mother comfort and peace to believers around us.  But also because of love for others, as a GOOD FATHER does, our actions and words should be encouraging, comforting and urging people to live lives worthy of God.  A good father and a nursing mother will bring their child into a land of peace, a land where God dwells.  Paul worked hard to provide for the Thessalonians.  He wanted all of them to be in the bond of peace, in oneness with God.  He wanted them to identify only with Christ and the new life now found in God forever.  His hoped for them and for all new converts that God’s comforting love would bind them with God in all they did in life.  Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  (Hebrews 13:20-21)

The nature OF CHRIST transcends the nature of mankind.  As Paul enumerates in Romans 2, man’s nature is rebellious to the goodness of God, his peace and tranquility.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.  (Romans 1:29-32)  Men and women chafe under this description of them.  They do not like the scriptures that say, no man or woman is good.  When God gave Canaan to the Israelites, He told them directly, you are receiving this land from me not because you are good, but because I am good.  You are a rebellious people, serving yourself and other gods that allow for your sinful nature.  But I am giving you grace by allowing you to enter this land of milk and honey.  This story is still being written today: God is righteous, man is not.  And love per say is not the answer to God’s demands on people’s lives.  We see this in the story of Lazarus and the rich man.  Even in Hades, the rich man possesses love, for he asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to his five brothers to tell them of his fate.  He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers.  Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’  “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”  (Luke 16:27-31)  We see even the love sent from Hades will not change the nature of willful men and women.  Not even if someone comes back from the grave.  What then is the answer to man’s intransigent nature?  A simple belief in God’s work on the cross.  When Jesus was accosted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus had just been baptized in the river Jordan.  At that time He was filled completely with the Holy Spirit.  Now full of the Holy Spirit He was led into the wilderness.  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.  (Luke 4:1-2)  Because of his hunger, the devil came to him, to question Jesus about the words that God told Jesus as He was being baptized.  When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.  And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  (Luke 3:21-22)  The devil questioned Jesus about these words that were said to him in the Jordan River.  If God’s words to you are really true, then take this stone and turn it into bread.  Jesus said, No!  I live only by the manna of my Father God.  The devil then said, God said you are his Son.  I can give you more than what this voice said to you.  I have all the kingdoms of the world in my hands.  You can receive them now if you will worship me.  These words you supposedly heard have not promised you such glory.  Jesus responds that He worships and serves only God.  Then the devil takes him to the Temple where God dwells.  He boldly approaches the Temple of God’s domain, and places Jesus on top of the Temple, telling him to jump off.  He mockingly says, if God is really here, the one you claim to believe in, surely here in his presence, He will rescue you by having angels keep you from hitting the ground.  Jesus responds, you are tempting God himself and his power.  The words God told me at my baptism are real.  I am the Son of God.  And you should not test the Lord God who has made all things.  We who are children of God sometimes find this kind of testing when we are weak and sick.  The devil knows our position in life.  But we react as Jesus did, when He used the Scriptures against the devils words. When Satan asks: Are you really born again?  Did God really say that you are his child?  We answer with God’s word.  Paul says, There is one body and one Spirit, JUST AS YOU WERE CALLED to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  We who are IN CHRIST unite as one, knowing that God is one, and IN CHRIST we have eternal life.  The devil is the father of all lies who desires to separate us and to destroy us.  But in Christ and the word, we have the power to defeat the enemy and all his lies.      

Ephesians 3:14-21 Strengthened with Power!

Ephesians 3:14-21  For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.

Because of God's mysterious plan of salvation revealed to mankind in these last days, people of faith in Christ Jesus’ works can come boldly before God.  This condition of holiness before God is the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  The cleansing blood of Jesus allows for the Spirit of God to dwell in people's hearts.  Peter talks about this wonderful time we live in by quoting the prophet Joel.  “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  (Acts 2:17)  Rightness with a holy God is the product of the Spirit’s work within the hearts of men and women of faith in Christ Jesus.  IN CHRIST we now become the children of God, not just children of flesh.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  Paul’s ministry to the Ephesians begins with about twelve men who were followers of God through the baptism of John.  They were earnest men who wanted God in their lives, so as John preached, they were orienting their lives toward God by living in a state of repentance, illustrated by caring for others.  “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”  (Luke 3:11)  This kind of life is good; however, it lacks true transforming power.  Paul ministers that the real change of a life comes from the power of the Holy Spirit resident in people.  Only faith in Jesus and the concomitant residence of the Holy Spirit in the heart can make someone acceptable to a holy God.  Jesus puts it this way, “you must be born again," made completely new.  Therefore, these twelve were introduced to the name of Jesus.  While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.  There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?  ”They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”  “John’s baptism,” they replied.  Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance.  He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”  On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  There were about twelve men in all.  (Acts 19:1-7)  When they heard about John pointing to the one coming after him, they were baptized in the name of Jesus, and then received a sign of wholeness by speaking in other languages and prophesying.  This indicated to them that they are now completely new, born again.  This powerful transforming work of Jesus Christ in lives was THE MESSAGE Paul was communicating to the Greek communities.  This new work of God was available to all people, everywhere, a new work of God implemented through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  Perfection and rightness with God was now available to all people.  In the Old Testament we see men constructing the physical temple where God would dwell on earth.  Everything had to be done exactly as the Lord directed.  All measurements had to be perfect; all materials had to be as God commanded.  Nothing was left to the creativity of men; all of it had to be precisely as God desired.  This is symbolic of what God demands of human beings who will be the temple of the living God.  His dwelling place must be perfect, and only Jesus Christ is perfect.  Anything less than perfection will be destroyed.  Holiness is eternal.  Eternity is a place of holiness.  To be with God forever demands perfection.  Only Jesus is perfect, so by faith we hide in Jesus’ righteousness, not our own righteousness.  The Bible says that Moses was the most humble man on earth.  But even Moses was told to take off his sandals when approaching the burning bush.  He was on holy ground; therefore, nothing manmade could walk on that surface.  The flesh begets flesh; the spirit begets spirit.  Man’s works are not completely without defects: God is perfect, holy.  God’s works are holy, not man’s works.  Jesus Christ is holy--the only human that has ever walked on the face of earth without God’s disfavor, for all other humans have fallen short of the perfectness of God.  Therefore, IN CHRIST, we find favor with God or perfection in his eyes.

John the Baptist's ministry was direct and powerful, demanding people to repent of their sinful ways.  Yet his ministry did not stop with just good works, but he also talked about the one who would follow him.  The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.  The one who comes from heaven is above all.  He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.  Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.  For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.  The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.  (John 3:31-36)  Everything including people and existence itself is in the hands of Jesus Christ, and whoever honors him will be honored by God.  The covenant with Abraham was the same way.  Whoever would bless Abraham would be blessed, but whoever cursed Abraham would be cursed.  Abraham was considered righteous because he believed God’s words that were told to him.  He believed the promises that God gave him.  We now have the Word of God in our presence because of the Holy Spirit with us.  Do we believe The Word or are we putting Jesus to shame by not trusting in him completely?  Abraham trusted God’s word; we are to trust in God’s Word, Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is God’s love to humankind, given freely to all people.  Therefore, Paul says. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  By knowing Christ and his love, we become instruments of God’s love to all people, everywhere.  By loving people that God has made in an intrinsic manner, we are exposing Jesus' immeasurable richness to all people, how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  The Good News, God's way for all people to become his children in an eternal venue, is precisely the message that Paul was teaching to the Ephesians.  He spent his first three months in Ephesus teaching The Way to the Jews in the synagogue, but many of them were opposed to his teaching.  Because of their strong opposition to this message of freedom from sin though faith in Jesus Christ, he abandoned the synagogue and went to a secular hall to lecture the truth about God’s plan of salvation.  At this time, God gave Paul the ability to perform marvelous acts in the name of Jesus Christ.  God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.  (Acts 19:11-12)  As with Stephen and Peter before him, wonderful miracles were performed by them to validate the power of God in and through Jesus’ name.  Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.  (Acts 7:8)  In Acts 5 we see Peter’s shadow had healing power.  God's intrusion into man's affairs came through mighty acts of the Holy Spirit.  Healing and casting out demons was a big part of the Good News to a sick and dying world.  Jesus came to ransom people from the Evil One.

Because of the intransigent nature of men and women against God’s will in their lives, their good works were not enough to conquer the sin within them.  This intractable behavior of evil within mankind has played a big part in the history of man’s existence.  Men and women do not want to fall under the control of a righteous God.  Often we choose to maneuver around what the scriptures demand in our lives.  We digest only the part of the word that we desire to believe in, allowing our fleshly lives to determine what we will choose.  We often write our own Bible, deleting or accepting the parts our flesh will agree with.  Sadly, the immeasurable riches of the word are often designed as our fleshly self-will desires.  This pattern of accepting part of what God has said to mankind has been evident from the beginning of time.  Man’s violent and self-willed nature is like the person singing as they pass the graveyard, willingly avoiding the truth of their short lives and their disobedient nature to an eternal God.  We sing as we pass the graveyard, ignoring the gravity of not doing God’s will at all times.  The prophets of old would often express this dire position of people when it comes to obeying God’s will.  Rather than the people expressing God’s care for the widows, orphans, immigrants, and poor, they would take advantage of the helpless and the weak.  God not only judged them because of their idol worshipping, but also because of their lack of love for fellow human beings, especially the poor.  The Jewish people obeyed the words of God they wanted to obey, and they avoided the words they did not want to obey.  “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message.  They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing.  They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.  That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.  (Zechariah 6:11-12 NLT)  The Holy Spirit who is with us is still talking to the hearts of men; He is still beseeching men and women that if they have two shirts give one away to the disadvantaged, the poor, the infirm, the stranger.  Yes, salvation has come to our households through the works of Christ on the cross, but we still cannot live in sin and selfishness and be approved by the God of love.  He demands perfection and we are PERFECT IN CHRIST.  But we are also ambassadors, expressing the nature of God to a sinful world.  If we stubbornly refuse to obey the voice of the God of love, and we edit the Bible according to our fleshly desires, we are shaming the holy ground we walk upon.  God is present with us, and He will judge our works.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”  (Hebrew 12:28-29)  We are in a kingdom that cannot be shaken; consequently, we are to serve God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Do not MAKE your heart stony.  Instead express through words and deeds the truth of God’s great love toward all people.  Show by your life, God’s immeasurable love for people, helping them to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, letting them to know this love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.  Breakfast companions, we are those who love as God loves, so that no one we know will face perdition.       

         

  

Ephesians 3:7-13 Suffering Is Your Glory!

Ephesians 3:7-13 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. 

In the above focus, Paul tells us that the manifold wisdom of God should be revealed to all people through the church of the living God. The mystery of God hidden from the beginning of time is that the rightness with the Creator of mankind comes THROUGH AND IN CHRIST JESUS THE LORD. God’s eternal purpose of redeeming man unto himself has been accomplished through Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, in him (Jesus Christ) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. The scriptures tell us that we can enter boldly into the very presence of a perfect Godbecause of the price that Jesus paid for us. Because of his work on the cross, we are worthy to know God as our Father. This redemptive plan of God is the glorious mystery that the prophets could see only darkly. Now Paul exposes the Gentiles to this wonderful plan of redemption. He, a persecutor of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, has been called to reveal the plan ofGod to all people. He who saw all converts to Christianity as apostates becomes a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, preaching his name to all people. Jesus' plan for this rebel shook Paul to the core of his being. ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ (Acts 22:14-16). As Paul relates to the Ephesians, this call of God on his life put him in great peril, both from the Jews and the Gentiles. To the Jews he was an apostate, to the Greeks he was a madman who was trying to destroy their worshipping of idols. In the Gentile cities he was stoned, beaten with rods, and whipped many times. The Jews from Asia traveled from city to city, confronting Paul with threats and violence. We see after Paul was accosted in Jerusalem by the Jews from Asia who had riled up the crowd against him, Paul attempts to defend himself to the angry mob. He tells them his story about his conversion on the road to Damascus. The crowd is attentive until he says, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!He’s not fit to live!” (Acts 22:21-22) At that time they boldly and viciously try to kill him. Even after the commander of the Roman army intervenes in the commotion by arresting Paul, the Jews were still attempting to kill Paul. As the soldiers were taking Paul back to the garrison, they had to lift Paul on their shoulders to keep the mob from murdering him. The mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!” (Acts 21:33-36) Now as he is writing this letter to the Ephesian church who were aware of Paul’s troubled life, even now in prison, he tells them, I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. To propagate the plan of God to redeem all of mankind from their slavery to sin, was for Paul like a woman in childbirth, great pain would be involved in this new birth of life for all people. Paul was the tip of the spear in spreading this Good News to mankind.

The Good News that Paul was exposing to the world was centered on the transformation of people’s hearts, delivering them from slaves to sin to righteousness in God. For Paul the message is the boundless riches of Christ. Jesus and his work moves us to the Holy of Holies. Christ tore down the curtain in the tabernacle between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place symbolizes the works of men to serve God, incense burning and the sprinkling of blood to appease a righteous God. But the Holy of Holies is not the work of men, but is where God dwells. Jesus obliterates this partition between God and man. The curtain is torn down because Jesus completes the works of men to appease a Holy God. He satisfied every requirement of the law and became the perfect sacrifice to ransom the souls of men from ungodliness. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. (Hebrews 6:19-20) Paul suffered much in delivering this Good News to the Ephesians, but he is totally satisfied with his life, for he knows it was poured out as a drink offering to God. Now in Rome, he writes the Ephesians to keep working in love to serve all people. He knows that the deeper life IN CHRIST consists of fulfilling Jesus’ command of being perfect in love, to love even your enemies. In Hebrews we see the writer telling us to move on from the elementary teachings of the Good News. Often the church gets stuck in rehearsing what it means to be saved. We tarry with the first tenants of knowing God, but fail to move on with developing the purpose of God in our lives. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.And God permitting, we will do so. (Hebrews 6:1-3) Our understanding of the first works of salvation are internalized mightily in our souls, but the aspect of loving others as we love ourselves sometimes escapes our consciousness. We glory in our salvation, but often are fixated only on that fact in our lives. But God has asked us to be emblematic to the world of deeper realities in Christ. We are to express his nature and not the nature of the self-willed human. We are his ambassadors. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.(2 Corinthians 5:14-15) To be legitimate Ambassadors of God, we must pay the price of love; sacrifice is part of that kind of life. Paul paid a huge price to deliver the Good News to the people of Ephesus. He suffered for them but it was entirely for their glory, that they too may enter with Christ into the very presence of the Mighty God.

Often our personal suffering drives us away from God rather than toward God. We wonder where are you God when we feel unrestrained pressure on our lives. Our temples, our place where God dwells in us, have been attacked by the vicissitudes of life, maybe sickness, financial difficulties, the scorn of others, and the like. The aspect of focusing on others becomes difficult for us because we are tormented by the difficulties of living. Paul’s life is a good example for all of us. He is now writing to churches in Rome, places where he spread the News of Jesus Christ’s work of redemption. These converts came out of great travail on his part. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 11:23-29) We see in this long list of trials Paul’s desperation of being just human with no divine intervention in many of these difficult circumstances. Even after being arrested in Jerusalem from a mob so intent on killing him that they are not even afraid of the Roman soldiers, beating and striking Paul as he is carried on the shoulders of the soldiers. Jesus assured Paul that he will not be killed there; therefore, he must go to Rome in chains. We see God expressing through Paul’s life the enduring love of God for people, even those who hate his servants. In the Old Testament, we often read about God’s enduring love in the midst of trials. We see the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem being destroyed, and Israelites carried off into captivity. We see awful things happening to the Israelites. They are murdered, raped, and mistreated. As with Paul in his circumstances, where is God? In the book of Ezra we see some of the Jewish captives being allowed to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. They are coming out of a foreign land where they were treated as dirt, mere slaves to do the bidding of their captives. Now they are in Jerusalem building a Temple for the glory of God. After they finish the foundation of the Temple, we see them praising the faithful God of their ancestors. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of theLord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets,and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praisetheLord, as prescribed by Davidking of Israel.With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” (Ezra 3:10-11) Paul expresses the same theme through his difficult life: HE IS GOOD, HIS LOVE TOWARD ALL PEOPLE ENDURES FOREVER. He was willing to give his life for the people in Ephesus. He was willing, are we willing? What are we holding back? Are we moving on from the elementary tenants of salvation to a more mature life of love? Or, is our self-will so strong within us that we adamantly oppose the will of God to love all people as we love ourselves. The first cardinal law of loving God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength is meaningless if we do not love people. We are fooling ourselves. People, as God so loved the world and gave his only begotten Son, He presents a challenge for all of us. Let us love our world today.  

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Ephesians 3:1-6 This Mystery: Light of Life!

Ephesians 3:1-6  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.  In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

In the above verses we are given insight into Paul’s ministry to the people of Ephesus.  He tells them that he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus, not for his sake but for the benefit of the Gentiles.  His mission given to him from Jesus Christ is that all people everywhere are to hear the Good News, including the Ephesians.  Paul was a fervent follower of the law.  To him the law represented the light of God.  But Jesus interjected himself into Paul’s life by being a great light, so much so that he was blinded by that light.  Rather than the law, Jesus became the light in Paul’s life.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12)  As a prisoner of Christ, Paul no longer walked in darkness, a prisoner of sin.  Paul’s desire was to set all people free from the darkness of sin, to present to them the light of the world, Jesus Christ.  Paul did a one hundred and eighty degree turn in his life when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  HIs mission to Damascus was to bring back the apostate Jews to Jerusalem.  These Christians that he would capture would be  tortured and maybe killed.  But Jesus stopped him short of fulfilling that mission.  Paul was struck with blindness.  Then he was sent to a man in Damascus, Ananias.  Ananias told Paul that his life was now in the hands of the Lord and that he was called to announce the Good News that Jesus saves everywhere.  Ananias also told him that he would suffer many hardships in carrying out this task of spreading the news that Jesus saves people from sin.  Paul heard Ananias' words as a faithful Jew, zealous for the law.  He probably did not envision himself going into Gentile land and preaching that a Jew named Jesus would save them from their sins.  But God called him to a deeper walk.  In Arabia, God unwrapped the mystery of salvation of all people before Paul’s spiritual eyes.  But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.  I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia.  Later I returned to Damascus.  (Galatians 1:15-17)  Paul in Arabia learned the Good News from the mouth of Jesus.  I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.  I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.  (Galatians 1:11-12)  He was given this supernatural encounter in his life because he would suffer much for this message of the Good News.  He would not have an enclave of Jewish people surrounding him with support, yes some, but only a few.  He would be in foreign lands, preaching a message that would confront the pagan practices of the Gentiles and their society.  For three years in Arabia, he sat at the feet of Jesus and learned of the mysterious plan of God conceived before anything was made that all people would be saved through Jesus Christ and the cross.  All people through Christ will be brought into oneness with God, members of his family.  A glorious message for mankind, but the  followers of Satan would reject this message vehemently and savagely.  Paul would be the target of many attempts upon his life.  He definitely was a sheep among wolves.

Before Paul’s three years in Arabia, Peter had been exposed to this mystery of all people being cleansed by God through Jesus Christ and the cross.  Cornelius, a Roman officer, was a man of prayer and the giving of alms to the poor, but he was not a Jew.  Jews were not even to associate with the Gentiles and especially not to enter the houses of Gentiles.  However, Cornelius was given a vision.  The angel in the vision tells him to have some of his men go to Joppa and to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.  He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”  (Acts 10:5-6)  Cornelius sends three men to fetch Peter, one soldier and two of his servants.  As the three were journeying to Peter’s house, the Lord gives Peter a vision of a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.  It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.  (Acts 10:11)  As a faithful Jew of the law, Peter would never consider eating something that the law prohibited to eat.  But in the vision he is commanded to eat anything on that sheet for what God makes clean is clean indeed.  So with the help of the vision and the voice of the Lord, Peter is persuaded to go with the three men who sought him out from the house of Cornelius.  He meets Cornelius outside of the house and then enters into the house where many other people had gathered.  Peter addresses the crowd by saying, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.  You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.  (Acts 10:34-36)  As Peter was speaking about Jesus Christ’s works, his death and subsequent resurrection, the Holy Spirit fell upon all the people in the house.  God verified to Peter and the circumcised believers that came with him that God is no respecter of people.  Who God makes clean is clean.  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.  For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.  Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.  They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”  (Acts 10:44-47)  Because of Peter’s experience, the church leaders in Jerusalem were open to the Gospel going to the Gentiles, but Paul was not just open to that truth: he was a missionary to the Gentile world.  By spreading the Good News to the Gentile world, he became an enemy to both Orthodox Jews and heathen Gentiles.  He suffered persecution from both groups.  But because of his time in Arabia, he would not bow down, even to the Jews that wanted the converts to Jesus to be circumcised.  For Paul, it was grace alone that saved people, not human efforts.  But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  (Romans 3:21-23)  Anything other than the grace and works of God is foolishness to Paul.  To the Galatians, Paul confronts a divergent belief about salvation: the need to be circumcised.  This is a deadly teaching, for it invades the purity of grace and will finally lead to death for those who put their trust in grace plus law, for God will not share his glory with any man.  You foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish?  After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?  Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?  (Galatians 3:1-4)  Paul had learned the purity of the message of salvation from Jesus.  He would not let anything contaminate the cause of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection.  Salvation rested exclusively in and through Jesus Christ.

As Paul was a prisoner of Jesus Christ, we who are around this breakfast table are also prisoners to him and his message of salvation.  Christ is our life, his duty is our duty, his likeness is our likeness.  Jesus fulfills the law; his righteousness surpasses anything words can state.  Jesus is the only one who is absolutely perfect, and we are to be like him in every respect if we are to be acceptable to a holy, eternal God.  Of course, in our fleshly state, we cannot be like him through works, but by faith we can be exactly like him for we hide in the body of Jesus.  By faith we are IN HIM.  This of course gives us freedom to live joyously without fear from the consequences of sin, which is death away from God.  When we live for Jesus, we will focus our lives on doing things that are helpful to all people.  This servanthood should be a part of our daily lives.  If we are but religious without the works of the Spirit, we can become hardened to needs of other people.  Both Jews and Gentiles need to see the grace of God in Christians.  Without revealing to the world through our actions God’s love, we are but sounding brass, a clanging noise, immersed within all other sounds in the world.  God’s love in us must be expressed through our words and actions to a sinful world.  We see Jesus' love for a lost world in his actions with a woman caught in adultery.  The religious people brought this woman to Jesus.  They put her IN FRONT of the crowd, exposing her to the ridicule and criticism of the people.  The religious ones were proud to present her in that way.  But Jesus knew that no man was good, not Jew or Gentile, not the law bound or the lawless.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  (John 8:1-5)  At first Jesus ignored them; then he responds to their comments.  What should be done with this woman?  They knew his teachings and Jesus' lifestyle, so they wanted him to backup the law of judgment on sin.  However, Jesus knew the hearts of all men.  Therefore, He says, Let the one without sin cast the first stone.  We find that none of them, even the religious leaders, were willing to cast the first stone.  All understood in reflecting on their own lives that they were sinful.  Not one is righteous, not even one.  Paul is a prisoner to this message that no one is righteous, not even one.  Therefore he abandons teaching the law as the means of being right with God.  As Jesus knew when dealing with the adulterous woman, all people whether circumcised or not are sinful.  Paul who was taught by the Spirit of God knew circumcision or the law does not make a person a child of God; only faith in Jesus Christ makes an individual part of the family of God.  As members of that family, breakfast companions, we are bound to Jesus, known even as his body.  What should our daily lives consist of, Jew or Gentile alike?  We are to love God with all our HEART, SOUL, MIND, and STRENGTH.  And equally as important, as with the adulterous woman and the wayward Gentile, we are to love our neighbor, especially those who are without God in their lives.  Paul’s neighbors were the people in Asia Minor, Greece and Rome.  He loved them, gave his life for them.  Dear friends, we too are God’s prisoners.  We as Paul said are members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.  Let us in this world reflect who we are IN CHRIST as we share that promise.  Amen!