Ephesians 4:7-13

Here’s another one from Ephesians. Did I ever mention how much I love this book? It’s so amazingly full of truth and insight. It’s just amazing.

Into: Paul is in the second half of his letter to the Ephesians, switching from theology and doctrine to practical application and Christian living.

Through: Paul makes a transition in verse 7 that I wouldn’t have caught without the help of my handy dandy study notes. John MacArthur points out that Paul has just moved from the unity of believers to their uniqueness. He says that we have been given grace, a common theme throughout the Bible. He then quotes Psalm 68:18, an interesting verse. Paul explains in the next verse the implications of Christ ascending, saying that in order to have ascended He must have first descended after which He could rise on high and fill the universe with His goodness. Paul then lists a few specialized tasks Christ has assigned people, gives two reasons why those gifts are given and what they are to be used for, and then states in many words the ultimate goal of the giving of these gifts.

Beyond: There is so much to talk about in this passage. Paul seems to have a knack for covering so many different subjects in such a short time. The main theme of this passage seems to be spiritual gifts, and the fact that each person has his own spiritual gift. This is what makes Christians separate from each other. Believers are to be one, yet they are also distinct. Sound like any familiar theological doctrines? Interesting. The first verse says each Christian has been given graciously a little bit of the character of Christ. That is why Christians need to all work together, because we all play our little part in completing the body of Christ. Paul then quotes an interesting verse that talks about Christ giving gifts to men, but the part that stuck out to me was where it says “He led captivity captive” (8). That just sounds so poetic and so great. It has a great ring to it, but even more so a great ring of truth to it. Christ, upon dying and rising from the grave, literally bound what had once bound mankind. He destroyed its power over man by doing what He did on the cross. He defeated the sting of death, and freed us from the power of Satan and sin. If that’s not good news, I don’t know what is. In verse 10, Paul basically explains how Christ is God. He descended and then ascended far above the heavens. He reigns on high. He fills the earth and the universe with His glory.

Then Paul gives a fairly short list of possible gifts, which all happen to be related in this way: they are to be used for “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry” and “for the edifying of the body of Christ.” My youth pastor Bobby often brings up this point: that it is not necessarily the pastors or teachers whose job it is to minister. It’s their job to prepare you for ministry. It is their job to equip the saints for that work, so the work of the ministry can’t simply be passed of as something that the pastors or teachers should do. We as individual Christians should be actively making service to Christ a personal part of our lives. If the Holy Spirit puts something on our heart, we should do it instead of passing it off to those more “experienced” or “better” at it than we are. After all, how do you think those people got “experience” or “good” at it in the first place?

This edification and building up and working continues until every Christian is absolutely perfect, like Christ. It continues to bring us closer together as one unit in our faith and in our knowledge of Christ, until each one is “a perfect man…the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (13). So many times people say that is impossible. We’re only human they say. I say that’s trash. We have the power of God Himself literally inside us. Christ lived up to the standard, and He’s living inside us.

Let’s strive for the goal without hesitation.

Ephesians 4:1-6

Another installment in the recent slew of Ephesians passages that I've been posting in order to keep up with my journaling pace. There was a point at which I kept forgetting to print my typed journal entries from my parents' computer (mine wasnt connected correctly or something), so I decided to just write them instead. Well, I got tired of not being able to print anything from my computer and fixed mine, so now I'm catching up since I can start typing my journals again without having to worry about whether or not I'll remember to print them and put them in my binder. I know... it sounds stupid... but hey, for whatever reason I never remembered to print them out from the other computer. Not a problem anymore - and thank God for that.

Into: Paul has moved on to the second half of his letter to the Ephesians, focusing now more on practical spiritual living habits that Christians should apply to their lives, rather than theological doctrine.

Through: Paul is pretty straightforward with how we should be expected to respond to the message of the Cross. We are not supposed to let grace increase (Romans 6), but live a life "worthy of our calling." This should be done, he says, in humility, gentleness, and love. We are supposed to stay unified and peaceful rather than divided. In the next few verses Paul stresses the unity of all Christians. "One body...one Spirit...one hope...one Lord, on faith, on baptism; on God and Father" who is above all. He is distinct and more powerful than His Creation. He is through all - revealed to us through Creation. He is in "you all." He dwells within us as Christians.

Beyond: The message of action Paul is pushing is pretty simple. To walk worthy of the calling to me means shooting for perfection or being above reproach; living a lifestyle pleasing to the Lord rather than trying to take advantage of a "get out of jail free card" (a lifestyle like that could be evidence that the person doesn't have the "card" anyways). Paul tells us to walk with lowliness, which is humilty; gentleness, grace; and to build up one another in love, the most important of all. This should be characteristic of our daily attitudes, not a one time thing that we just get excited about when we first become Christians. I still have trouble with this in some areas, especially the lowliness one, but quite honestly I can't remember exactly what it was like to hate everything. I just remember being miserable, and I am not tempted to go back to life without God.

The prevalent theme through the rest of this passage is that of unity. As far as it is possible we should remain unified peacefully with on another. This is probably because the evidence of our love for God is in how we love on another. Paul also uses this passage to eliminate the idea of "other reaods to heaven." There is on body, the church, that makes up the kingdom of heaven. No one in another body can make up the kingdom of heaven. They must join the church (not the organization). Only Christians are Christian. There is one Spiri, the Holy Spirit. There is on hope: we're all looking for the same thing: treasures in heaven, a deeper relationship with God. We serve one Lord, that is Jesus. John 14:6 "...no one comes to the Father but thorugh me." We have one faith, based on Scripture alone, and no other revelation. We were baptized under the same names of God. We serve one God, not multiple Gods or Allah, or anyone else. He is bigger than us, and we should submit to Him. We should reveal Him to others through our lives, and His power resides in us.

Ephesians 3:20-21

It is truly amazing how much one can get out of just two verses in the Bible. I enjoyed reading these so much and I often have to remind myself of their implications in my everyday life.

Into: Paul is finishing up his first section in Ephesians, which focuses on Christian doctrine.

Through: In this section, Paul praises God as powerful, "able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think." He proclaims that the glory of God is timeless and given to Him by the church through Jesus Christ.

Beyond: In just these two verses, Paul communicates so much meaningful and amazing truth to us. The first is that God is so good that we cannot fathom it. I like to say that no matter how good I think God is, He is always twice as good as that. The first verse is especially exciting to me because I can know that no matter what I ask God for, He is always able to do "exceedingly, abundantly more" than what I have asked. In my case, I would say that the greatest thing that could happen is my dad coming to know the Lord. That would certainly be awesome and only a result of the work of God; however, God says right here in this verse that he is able to do so much more than "just" save my dad. My mom expressed this revelation to me when she told me she had stopped praying that my dad would be saved and started praying that he would become a "mighty man of God." That is certainly above all I asked or even thought about asking. Yet, the greatness and endlessness of God's goodness is unchanged, and He still promises that He is able to do even more than what my mom dares to ask of Him! This is truly amazing, and I still am unable to fathom the complete extent of the riches of His grace" (v.16). The clause at the end of this verse seems to imply that we have some role n receiving these immense blessings. God will excercise His goodness toward us "according to the power that works within us." Now, I don't know that I am interpreting the following correctly, but from my experience, we are able to suppress that power even as Christians. I do believe that this can only happen for a short time, but neverthless as Christians, when we sin, we are essentially suppressing the power of God and holding it back from being excercised to its fullest extent. I dont want to do that. It doesn't help anyone and it doesn't even turn out to be a positive experience. Not letting the Spirit loose in my life has only gained me depression and purposelessness.

The second verse pretty much sums up what the whole Bible is about, what the prpose for our being is - that God would be glorified. I Corinthians 10:31 says it well too. Whatever we do, the goal should be to glorify God. From the greatest decisions in our lifetime, such as who to marry, or more immediately relevant for me: where to go to college, to the daily routines like eating, waking up, or going to sleep, all should be to the glory of God. Romans 14:23 approaches the issue from another angle, saying that anything without faith is sin, and matthew 22:37 says it in the most radical way I can think of - to love God with all we are: heart, soul, and mind. With every aspect of our personality and character, we seek to please the Lord, and glorify Him.

The last interesting point that Paul makes is his bit about these ideas being stretched into "generations for ever and ever." God's truth is timeless. The principle of loving God and glorifying Him with all we are will never change. There will always be a way to accomplish such a task, and the specific examples of how to do this don't like to change either. For me especially it is keeping myself pure, mind, body, and tongue. I just pray that not too many people are out there in the world claiming to be Christians and actively and habitually denying the power of the Word, and seeking what the world has to offer: impurity, pain, and dirty lips.

Ephesians 3:14-19

Into: Paul is closing the first half his letter which focuses on Christian theology. He is writing to the Ephesians.

Through: Verse 14 is one of complete submission to God and Christ. Paul subsequently explains that God is essentially the Father because He created everything on earth and in heaven. Paul does however seem to be speaking more specifically than that, though, probably about the family of the saints, the church. He says the reason he hows his knees to God is so the church may become stronger through Christ, that people would receive Christ and have Him actively living in their hearts, that they may have a firm foundation of love (specifically for one another(, that they may have a completely full understanding of the love of Christ which passes knowledge, and, ultimately, that they will be filled completely with God, living on His power and completely submitting to His will and character with their lives.

Beyond: The first verse in this passage, as I said in the previous section, is one of submission and commitment to authority. This seems to be the attitude portrayed throughout the rest of the Bible. I often have a problem living this out. Parents usually seem to be an authority that is extremely prone to error and bad decision making. I simply have to trust that obedience to the authorities over me will be only beneficial to my life. Maybe God will even deliver his promise of longer years. What a concept.

In the rest of this passage Paul explains the reason he is willing to submit in such a way, and this is for the sake of the edification of others. Ultimately his goal for tis church, and the goal we as Christians should have in our own lives is to come to experience the complete love of Christ and to know the unkowable love of Christ and to know the unknowable love of Christ, and to be filled with the complete fullness of God. The goal is to perfectly imitate the character of Christ. The goal is perfection, and God alone has the power to get us there.

Passion

I've recently been pondering a word - its meaning as well as its relevance to my life. That word is, yes, you guessed it - passion! I suppose I'm going to be Captain Obvious here and say that we should turn to the dictionary for a meaning (definition) and the Word for its relevance. It seems that this noun can be affected in two directions. It can be a sinful one, such as "lustful passion," or it can be a positive one, such as "passion for God." I'm going to focus on the more positive side of passion.

Dictionary.com says passion can mean:
Ardent love (or any other emotion for that matter)
Boundless enthusiasm
Martyrdom
among other things.

Some synonyms are: ardor, dedication, devotion, excitement, fervor, fire, intensity, joy, wrath, zeal.

Basically the point I'm trying to make is that passion is not a light word. It's strong, and having a passion isn't an idea we can toss aside. Often that passion takes the first place in your life, good or bad. So, what does the Bible have to say about this strong word? Well, the actual word passion appears 6 times in the NKJV, and every time it is used with the connotation of sinfulness (esp. sexual). Does that mean the only thing there is to be passionate about is sinning? I don't think so. Let me give some examples of a godly passion in the Bible.

Matthew 21:12 refers to the time in Christ's life where he became angry to the point of violence. He became so angry that he "drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves." John 2 talks about Jesus making a whip of cords. Now, I don't know if anyone has any experience in making whips of cords, but I imagine it took a while, sitting there weaving the thing - under a tree perhaps. The point is, Christ was passionate about preserving the temple for its proper use, and keeping it undefiled. Surprisingly, no one rose up to oppose Him. I imagine it would be scary to see the Lord of heaven and earth angry, and thats just in a form we can comprehend! Jesus is passionate about driving out sin.

In Luke 13:24, Christ tells us to "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." I remember reading in John MacArthur's Hard to Believe that the word "strive" has almost violent connotations. The narrow gate is something to we need to fight for. We need to be violently passionate when it comes to living the life of God. With this standard: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26), what less than a passion to live for Christ will suffice? I'm sure a devotion lacking in any strength will also lack in power to truly bring us to the feet of Christ. It takes all we have, and nothing less. That's passion.

Ultimately, Christ exhibited this passion on the cross. He died for something he was committed to. He is passionate about God's glory, and obedience to Him, and the fulfilment of His will, and loving and saving His lost sheep. With that perspective, everything else just seems easy.

2 Questions:
1. Could you say you are passionate about the Lord?
2. What are you going to do about that?

Ephesians 3:7-13

⁷ of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. ⁸ To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; ¹⁰ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. ¹³ Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Into: Paul is writing his third chapter to the Ephesians about Christian doctrine and theology.

Through: Verse 7 starts midsentence, with Paul describing himself as a minister of God's "promise in Christ through the gospel" (v.6). He goes on to descrive this job as a gift of God's grace, able to be given to him because God effectively worked in Him (v.7).
In the following verse, Paul mentions why this gift of the gospel was given to him, "the least of the saints." He says that it is in order for him to preach to the Gentiles, those that do not know about the true God. "The unsearchable riches of Christ" that he talks about are everything that God has to offer including His blessings, truths, and a relationship with Him. In verse 9 Paul gives another reason: to be an example to others, showing them what it means to be a part of this gospel. He again refers to the gospel as a mystery, explaining that until now, God had not revealed it to anyone. He also says something especially profound - that God created everything through Jesus Christ, implying that Christ had existed since before he was even incarnated. The next verse says that through Gods work in His church (i.e. the body of believers), God has shown His glory to the saints (v.10), which was His purpose from the beginning and was accomplished through Jesus Christ (v.11). Then Paul mentions that we can come before God boldly and confidently when we put our faith in Christ (v.12). Paul ends this section by comforting them and encouraging them not to lose heart because of the persecutions he faces, which are for the glory of God and, therefore, them.

Beyond:

Verse 7
Just the first verse of this section was so powerful to me. Basically, it highlights everything God has to do with blessing me and drowns out everything I have to do with it. Paul says being a minister is 1) a gift of grace - that is to say that I did not merit it in any fashion, but God gave it to me simply because He wanted to, and that it is 2) "by the effective working of God's power;" God is the one who worked in Paul to become holy and hodly. I also want to emphasize the fact that Paul descrives God's work as effective. God will finish what He starts, and I can take comfort in that fact - that I will continue to be sanctified and restored and God's power is able to do it.

Verse 8
In verse 8, Paul, as he does in other passages, lowers himself to the lowest position among the saints. He knew he was a wretched sinner, and if Paul the apostle was such a wretched sinner, I'm sure I have a place there there with him. I'm no apostle, but in light of God's holiness and righteousness, we're all about as low as we can get. It's humbling. "The unsearchable riches" that Paul talks about at the end of the verse give me two views on Christ's blessings. They are 1) infinite and 2) revealed. There are so many blessings that I'd never be able to find what I was looking for if I went through a list or something. I do not get to decide which I receive, but Christ is always going to be generous.

Verse 9
The part in verse 9 that hit me the most was this idea that God created all things through Jesus Christ. That is to say that jesus Christ has always existed just like God, or better yet, because He is God. Some texts do not have these words, but I have no problem accepting the implications as true, because Christ himself said, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58), a claim to divinity.

Verse 10
In verse 10, Paul says that the purpose of God's work in the church is to glorify himself to the angles, holy and unholy (i.e. angels and demons). When I submit to God in obedience, that glorifies Him, and I would imagine that the heavenly angels have a good time at the occurrence of such an event - as I'm sure they do when anyone is obedient (especially in the case of conversion). Jesus Himself testifies to this in Luke 15: "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance" (v.7) and again: "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (v.10).

Verse 11
Verse 11 is great because it lets me rest in the fact that God's ultimate will has been accomplished. His idea before all of time (if such a thing can be said) was accomplished in Christ. And Christ is our Lord! We don't live in an age of Lords and servants and what not, but I think what this implies is that we are subject to Him and obligated to serve Him. He owns us. "You are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19b). Luckily for me, my master is my friend and Redeemer, making it easy to submit, because I am confident that He will be amazingly good to me.

Verse 12
I must say that I thought the next verse to be the most profound out of them all. Through faith in Christ, I as a Christian have unlimited access to God. I can gain His ear at any time, and perhaps He is listening for me even when I'm not talking to Him. The idea that I have access to the highest King is so amazing, and on top of that I can come with boldness and confidence before the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16)! I don't even begin to pretend to know how to describe this incredble privilege. I just imagine what it would look like, and then I realize that even my loftiest picture of God's throne room doesn't even come close to doing it justice - another quite humbling thought.

Verse 13
The last verse was meant to be a comfort to the Ephesians, and I absolutely love how it ties in with what the rest of the Bible teaches. "Do not lose heart" because of what the world is doing. Christ teaches that to us - He has overcome the world (John 16:33). The same victory is promised to us as individuals: "for everyone born of God overcomes the world" (1 John 5:4). The other thing is that tribulations are a good thing - James tells us to rejoice when we are tried (James 1:2). Paul understood this, and he encouraged the Ephesians to do the same. I can rejoice when I am persecuted - and I have been persecuted, and I have rejoiced, and it was so good. God's goodness is amazing.

Hope you were encouraged.

The Good Life

This entry shouldn't be too long, but then I sometimes have a tendency to ramble (my last bible journal I accidentally wrote until 3 pages written - i still have to post that online).

I just wanted to post about something I'll be talking to people at King's this Thursday. My theme is that "God's life is the good life." It seems like that is something people just don't get. They kind of abstractly agree with it, like it's good "in theory," but in the real world it just doesn't work like that. Actually, it's the other way around. Luke 11:28 says "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." We're learning at Sphere on Wednesdays that this word "blessed" actually means "happy." You want to pursue happiness? Pursue the word and the obedience it demands! You will be happy! It's guaranteed! It's not rocket science, really, yet it took even me so long to learn this and apply it. It took me so long to take the leap of faith and pursue Christ with all my heart and leave everything else behind. To do all things for His glory. To live as if I were in heaven. To live for things above rather than things on earth. To live in eternity. My heart's longing is that the students at King's won't have to wait any longer!! And if you are reading and have been waiting and hesitating to commit your life to Christ, don't wait any longer, it's The Good Life. I'm always open to people who need encouragement @ Spleshme822 on AIM or cool_evan2000@yahoo.com if email is the medium of choice. Or even better, you can just leave a comment here and everyone can be encouraged!

Don't leave the good life behind. God is near, waiting to give it to you.

James

I had my first King's Academy Bible study this morning at 7 am. Thank God for the chance to get together with some of the guys at school... and thank God it's only once a week! I must admit, the 7am part is hard, but we had a great discussion the first time around. We're going through the book of James, and getting neck deep in each and every word.

And the first word is: James.

Honestly, we spent most of our time talking about the author's name. It was intriguing, especially since I never thought about what "James" meant before this morning. It is the same as Jacob - deceiver. Mr. Ferrante likened James naming himself first to the fact that we have to admit who we are before God before we can be blessed (like Jacob had to do after he wrestled with God). We have to admit that we are low and He is high before He will lift us up. Having a relationship with God starts with confessing all of who we are and what we've done. I've got quite a bit of confessing to do.

Who are you before God?