“He chose us in Him – Christ – before the foundation of the world …” (Ephesians 1: 4)
“He chose us in Him.”
This idea of God choosing “us” is not simply a figure of speech. It’s an important fact. Paul repeats it five times in the first 3 Chapters of this letter. God “destined us in love to be His Sons through Christ,” he writes in verse 5. “(He – God – purposes, in His Sovereign will, that all human history shall be consummated in Christ … .” (vs. 11) “(W)e who first hoped in Christ are destined to live for the praise of His glory.” (vs. 12) “We are his … Creation, in Christ Jesus to do those good deeds which God planned for us to do.” (2: 10) In Chapter 3 he writes about “the plan in the mystery hidden for ages by God who created all things …” (vs.9) All of this, he asserts, is “according to the eternal purpose which He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (3: 11)
We are living “destiny”! God has –always had – a plan. His purpose is being carried out through Christ and those who follow Him.
This is high voltage!
It’s what King David wrote about – often sang – in Psalm 139. “All the days I was destined to live were prepared before I’d even lived one of them.” He was overwhelmed by it. “How invaluable to me are your thoughts … incomprehensible …” “Such knowledge is too lofty for me to attain.”
Several years ago a man I’ve always known and loved deeply helped me understand just how lethal such information can be. He said, point blank, “What if you’re not chosen?” Then he said. “I believe I’m one of the rejects!” I struggled to reason with him but could not convince him that the plan of God includes sacrificial love for any and all who will believe it is being offered to them.
Never, since then, have I had more than a casual conversation with this man. By his choice we’ve lived estranged. I’ve prayed for him. But I do not know what he’s done with God’s offer of love.
Such knowledge is “too lofty for us!” It’s potentially harmful. It’s harmful to the person, like my Friend, whose “fear of God,” is actually “distrust” of God. But it’s especially lethal in the minds and hearts of the “religious elites,” who speak glibly of the “elect.”
Yes! “Many are called … few are chosen. (Matthew 22: 14) But that “choice” is God’s and God’s alone. Finite beings that we are, we lack the knowledge required to make such choices. Many of the biblically correct, religiously precise people alive in Jesus time came to the conclusion that He was not “chosen.” We incomplete, often ignorant Children of Adam and Eve need only know 2 things about one’s chosenness. First, our destiny as a race, is defined by “love.” “God loves the world …” Secondly, “God is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to repent. “ (2 Peter 3: 9) He – God – “… now commands all people, everywhere, to repent.” (Acts 17:30) As far as we humans know any and every person we encounter, Christ-follower or no, is loved and hotly pursued by a God who passionately cares about their destiny and died to salvage them. To wonder whether they’re “chosen” before we offer them God’s mercy is dangerously presumptive!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The You God Sees 2.
“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” (Ephesians 1: 4)
Before ever a word of Creation was spoken God’s plans included you! In conference the Father, His “only begotten Son,” and His Spirit determined that the Son would become human. Regardless of what it would require, He would elevate any and all humans, who recognized Him as the “Hope” of their race, to the status of “Chosen.” He would empower them to live faultlessly by the Father’s standards.
“In Him” all of this is possible!
When the Father looks at His Son with pride He also sees someone else. He sees every human person who believes, as He does, that this “Son of Man” is the “Supremely Chosen;” “THE ONE.” He, “the Anointed,” has brought all believing humanity with Him into the Royal presence. The Father sees them as “Chosen” with His Son. He hears the Son’s plea on their behalf. Acknowledging His advocacy the Father pronounces them “morally faultless.”
This is the “You God Sees.” A “beloved Child with whom He is very pleased”!
Before ever a word of Creation was spoken God’s plans included you! In conference the Father, His “only begotten Son,” and His Spirit determined that the Son would become human. Regardless of what it would require, He would elevate any and all humans, who recognized Him as the “Hope” of their race, to the status of “Chosen.” He would empower them to live faultlessly by the Father’s standards.
“In Him” all of this is possible!
When the Father looks at His Son with pride He also sees someone else. He sees every human person who believes, as He does, that this “Son of Man” is the “Supremely Chosen;” “THE ONE.” He, “the Anointed,” has brought all believing humanity with Him into the Royal presence. The Father sees them as “Chosen” with His Son. He hears the Son’s plea on their behalf. Acknowledging His advocacy the Father pronounces them “morally faultless.”
This is the “You God Sees.” A “beloved Child with whom He is very pleased”!
Monday, March 08, 2010
The You God Sees ...
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places …” (Ephesians 1:3)
“Blessed … blessed … blessing.” What is this “blessedness?”
Dallas Willard explains that it is “the highest state of well-being we humans can experience.” The Greeks used the term to describe the “blissful existence of their gods.” “Bliss, the dictionary says, is “complete happiness;” the conditions you’d expect to find in “Paradise.”
Paul, Christ’s Ambassador to the 1st Century Roman World, is the writer of this letter “to the Ephesians.” He’s obviously ecstatic. We might think he’s having a good day. It seems a bit overstated. Certainly life as we know it has its moments of “bliss.” But “every” form of “complete happiness”?
Actually Paul’s in prison as he writes this. He’s under “house arrest” in Rome. There are Roman soldiers guarding him. Some historians suggest that he may have been chained to one of the soldiers. He’s allowed to receive visitors. He can go about his work as a Preacher and Writer. But his future is precarious. Things aren’t going well for Christians in Rome. Still Paul sees himself in a completely different light. He sees himself as God sees him. He knows our “Lord, Jesus Christ” is now resident in “the Heavenly places.” The Son of Man, who conquered “death,” and the “evil forces” who’d been bent on His destruction, is now reunited with Father God. The “joy” His conquest acquired is now His reality and the certain experience of everyone who trusts Him.
Paul knows this. His faith assures him that no present circumstance, grim though it may be, can alter his spiritual, heavenly condition. Christ has demonstrated that you can be dying the most barbaric death in human history and winning your greatest battle at the same time. He who “for the Joy offered Him, endured the Cross, ignoring the momentary disgrace,” has proven that true “Joy” is certain for those who follow Him.” (See Hebrews 12:2)
Paul a soon to be executed prisoner in Rome; you in the midst of your ordinary day-to-day life; are, as God sees it, residents of “the Heavenly places.” Nothing can take away your “Joy.” You are “well.” For you “every kind of thing is very well.”
“Blessed … blessed … blessing.” What is this “blessedness?”
Dallas Willard explains that it is “the highest state of well-being we humans can experience.” The Greeks used the term to describe the “blissful existence of their gods.” “Bliss, the dictionary says, is “complete happiness;” the conditions you’d expect to find in “Paradise.”
Paul, Christ’s Ambassador to the 1st Century Roman World, is the writer of this letter “to the Ephesians.” He’s obviously ecstatic. We might think he’s having a good day. It seems a bit overstated. Certainly life as we know it has its moments of “bliss.” But “every” form of “complete happiness”?
Actually Paul’s in prison as he writes this. He’s under “house arrest” in Rome. There are Roman soldiers guarding him. Some historians suggest that he may have been chained to one of the soldiers. He’s allowed to receive visitors. He can go about his work as a Preacher and Writer. But his future is precarious. Things aren’t going well for Christians in Rome. Still Paul sees himself in a completely different light. He sees himself as God sees him. He knows our “Lord, Jesus Christ” is now resident in “the Heavenly places.” The Son of Man, who conquered “death,” and the “evil forces” who’d been bent on His destruction, is now reunited with Father God. The “joy” His conquest acquired is now His reality and the certain experience of everyone who trusts Him.
Paul knows this. His faith assures him that no present circumstance, grim though it may be, can alter his spiritual, heavenly condition. Christ has demonstrated that you can be dying the most barbaric death in human history and winning your greatest battle at the same time. He who “for the Joy offered Him, endured the Cross, ignoring the momentary disgrace,” has proven that true “Joy” is certain for those who follow Him.” (See Hebrews 12:2)
Paul a soon to be executed prisoner in Rome; you in the midst of your ordinary day-to-day life; are, as God sees it, residents of “the Heavenly places.” Nothing can take away your “Joy.” You are “well.” For you “every kind of thing is very well.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)