Christ Among Us

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Ephesians 4:7-10 God has given his grace to each one of us measured out by the gift that is given by Christ. That’s why scripture says, When he climbed up to the heights, he captured prisoners, and he gave gifts to people. What does the phrase “he climbed up” mean if it doesn’t mean that he had first gone down into the lower regions, the earth? The one who went down is the same one who climbed up above all the heavens so that he might fill everything. 

There are a couple things that stand out to me and give me even more hope in Christ. First of all, Paul reminds us that each person has been given the gift of grace because of Jesus Christ. This means that we all have been given the same amount of God’s grace. No one has more of Christ than anyone else. As we go through our life, we can remember this truth: everyone is equal in the eyes of Christ. He loves and reaches out to each person; and this is what we should do. Because God first loved us, we love other people. Because God pursued and continues to pursue us, we go out and pursue people for Christ with the Holy Spirit directing us in our steps.

The second thing Paul reminds us is that Christ ascended into heaven, a subtle reminder that Christ was resurrected and is with God. But even more than that truth, Paul is reminding the people of the other part of the gospel message: Christ came down to earth and lived as a human among us. This is the aspect of the gospel message that we can sometimes overlook. Christ’s death and resurrection is the pivotal point of the message; but Christ also lived among us so he could show people how much God really cares.

If you ever get to a place where we doubt that God is for us, we can remember that God, in human form, Jesus Christ, walked among us. As it says in the book of Hebrews, “he was tempted in every way yet was without sin.” His life was an example for us to show us what life should look like. The same person who is in heaven right now is the same person who walked among us and who walks among us today.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so impactful to our us that if we allow it, the message will change us.

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Worthy Life

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Ephesians 4:1-6 Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. 

“But you don’t know what this person did to me!” “How can I treat them with gentleness and patience when they are the ones clearly in the wrong?” I have heard people say many times, “I wish everyone would just follow the Golden Rule (treat others the way you want to be treated).” As I heard the person say this, I remembered how they bad mouthed another person right before that.

Living in humility, gentleness and patience in this world is not easy. This kind of life is so against how everyone else wants us to live. We walk around wanting to get revenge, or even hold back forgiveness. But, in reality, who is holding back forgiveness and plotting revenge really hurting? See we want to have justice done, but we forget how damaging attitudes like that actually are to our soul. We become calloused and do not see people as God sees them. We’ll focus on the brokenness and become blinded to any amount of goodness in another person. There is no one too far away from God to come close and know God. We can be the people to show others this incredible grace by our words, actions, and even thoughts.

Our attitudes are the most important thing that people will remember about us after we have an encounter with them. This realization struck me several years ago when I found myself not wanting to offer forgiveness to a person who hurt me. Somehow, God brought healing into my heart and I was able to forgive. This doesn’t mean I condone or tolerate what the person did; instead I released the control that negative attitude had on my life.

Though I am far from being a very humble person, I ask God daily to show me the qualities in people He desires me to see. When I look at people, I am in awe at how God is moving in their life, even when they can’t see it for themselves. We are all called to show and teach people about the Kingdom of God and God’s grace. People will be turned away if we have, even the slightest hint of, a feeling we think we’re better than them. Jesus Christ has made it so that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. “There is no slave or free, Jew or Gentile….all are one in Christ Jesus.” This is the spirit we should work with because the Spirit of God is residing in us.

God is working in all people, in some way. He has also called us to a live of serving and loving those around us, even the difficult ones (add your own phrase); but God still desires we live in humility, peace and gentleness with each other. This does not come easily to us; in fact it goes against our basic instincts. But, this means we have the chance to call on God and allow His Spirit to work through us.

God is calling, and has called, you and me to change the world with Him by proclaiming Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives; and to make us a “city on a hill whose light cannot be hidden.”

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Changed From The Inside Out

Ephesians 3:14-21 This is why I kneel before the Father. Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by him. I ask that he will strengthen you in your inner selves from the riches of his glory through the Spirit. I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers. I ask that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God. Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us; glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen. 

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Paul is saying something really interesting in this passage. He is asking God to strengthen the people in their spirits from the riches of his glory. Why would Paul be asking this? I believe this has something to teach us today. We often look to the physical appearance of people and do not pay as much attention to the person on the inside; but God is more concerned with the heart. So, if we were strengthened from the inside out, we would be able to handle life on the outside.

So what is something we should be strengthened with on the inside? Love. When we are strengthened with love, we know Christ in our hearts, and we can begin to see just how big love is. We want to downplay love as a simple emotion; but love is so much more than that. Love has to do with actions, attitudes, thoughts. It is something that changes us from the inside out. This is what should ground us in our life.

God is love. When we know God, we can know love. As we allow Christ to live in our hearts, we will know how to see people with soft hearts and show them the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ. Paul is asking his people that they know the love of Jesus Christ; but he says that Christ’s love is too far beyond knowledge. This is something for us to think about today also. We should not want to make love as something easy to explain. Not should we make love as a check-list to fill out. The fullness of Christ lives in us, who know him, and this is what connects us together.

Every person and ethnic group is recognized by God. When we have love governing us, God gets the glory. Because the glory of God is so incredible, we cannot even fathom the incredible power he has. This is the same power that lives inside us when we accept love. The gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful and life changing that we are changed from the inside out. Our challenge is to allow this love of God to change us.

Tomorrow we begin Ephesians 4.

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Me?

Ephesians 3:8-13 God gave his grace to me, the least of all God’s people, to preach the good news about the immeasurable riches of Christ to the Gentiles. God sent me to reveal the secret plan that had been hidden since the beginning of time by God, who created everything. God’s purpose is now to show the rulers and powers in the heavens the many different varieties of his wisdom through the church. This was consistent with the plan he had from the beginning of time that he accomplished through Christ Jesus our Lord. In Christ we have bold and confident access to God through faith in him. So then, I ask you not to become discouraged by what I’m suffering for you, which is your glory. 

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This passage reminds me of an ongoing conversation God and I have, “Why are you sending me into ministry? Don’t you know there are better people out there?” I would venture to guess that you are in a similar boat. You may not be asking why you’re in ministry as a vocation; but you may be asking why you are in a certain life situation. You may also think to yourself that you do not deserve to be able to do what you do. Whatever it is that goes through your mind, God has a plan for you.

Paul was heading on a completely different life course when he was struck down by a bright light. This was his vocational shift period that he realized what God would have him do with his life. Remember, Paul was going to arrest those who followed Jesus and all of a sudden, God made Paul change his life purpose to be an evangelist to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). Or was it all of a sudden?

Sometimes I think the things we go through are situations that God wants us to go through so that we will be better equipped to handle the future plans He has for us. We always have to freedom to do things our way; but when we learn and follow the plans God desires, we will actually find more fulfillment. Not safety. But joy and peace and a filling of the spirit. I can look back on my life and see the different things I did, right and wrong, and see now how that experience is helping me today. Others may not ever see their life circumstances tie together, but God is somehow using our past to shape us for the future.

There has always and will always be a plan for your life and for my life. Jesus Christ is that plan. When we accept Christ, we allow him to transform us and become new creations. Our past does not define us; it only shows us where we have been. Our future does not define us. We do not know what will happen. Jesus Christ is our present who gives us new life and redeems our past so that we can live, not just in the future, but now in the present. God has a plan for your life. How do you find out this plan? Ask God and spend time with people who will lead you on the path to God through Jesus Christ.

You are valued. You have worth. You have a purpose. Trust God.

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Sharing What We’ve Learned

Ephesians 3:1-7 This is why I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ for you Gentiles. You’ve heard, of course, about the responsibility to distribute God’s grace, which God gave to me for you, right? God showed me his secret plan in a revelation, as I mentioned briefly before (when you read this, you’ll understand my insight into the secret plan about Christ). Earlier generations didn’t know this hidden plan that God has now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets through the Spirit. This plan is that the Gentiles would be coheirs and parts of the same body, and that they would share with the Jews in the promises of God in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I became a servant of the gospel because of the grace that God showed me through the exercise of his power. 

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At first when I read this, it almost seems that Paul is acting smug, “I know this…and was revealed to ME…” But I think there is something deeper to what Paul is saying. If this were this only passage we read of Paul’s writings, we miss what the entire message is. Paul is overflowing with the grace of God and is held responsible to share this grace with all people he encounters.

Think of a time when you were given knowledge. Were you the only one? Did it make you feel part of the group to know the same things they know? We all like to be “in the know” and to know things other people don’t. This can give us superiority and authority over others. If we’re not careful, we will us that knowledge for ourselves. There is always something more that we can know other people don’t. Secrets and gossip are rampant. I have fun with people when I sing to them, “I know something you don’t know.” This is a fun thing to do.

Now, what if we are given some incredible news, like anything God reveals to us, and we just try to keep it to ourselves and don’t share? Paul is reminding us that he has a responsibility to share the good news that was revealed to him. I believe God still reveals wisdom and truth to us today through His Spirit. What is something you feel God has spoken to you? Paul is saying that the plan of God is to bring ALL people to God through Jesus Christ. This is an awesome plan because that means that God is wanting you and me to come to faith and knowledge in Him. This is something we cannot keep to ourselves. If we are given some insight to what God is doing, that means we are spending time with God and we see the world through His eyes which means we share what we have learned.

This is one of the things I love about the book of Ephesians, about the whole Bible really, that God’s grace and mercy is available for all people. There are stories in the Old Testament through the New Testament that show God speaking to His people and giving them a word or insight the rest of the culture needs to hear. This is what Paul is doing. This is what we are called to do.

Because of Jesus Christ everything is different. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that changes us and transforms us to new creations who go out and make a difference in the lives of those around us and share in the goodness of God in all aspects of our lives.

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Level Playing Field

Ephesians 2:14-22 Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God. When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near. We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit. So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household. As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit. 

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How do you feel about other people? What causes divisions between groups of people? Isn’t it interesting how the Gospel of Jesus Christ promotes reconciliation and repentance of sin by God’s grace, and we get it through our heads to “hate” other people because they are not like us. But we can also think, “how are this person, or this group, and I similar?” Doesn’t this change how we might think about others? Thinking we could be like them?

Now, there are people who will disagree with this, but God does not want His people to divide the world. He wants the world to be reconciled to Himself and for all people to come to faith in Him. We are the ones who want to divide. We are the ones who think because someone is different, then they are bad and shouldn’t be “in the group.”

Does this sound like anyone you might know? As I am writing this, I realize I am describing ME. My guess is that description is also you. It seems to be human nature to be around people who are just like us. This makes us more comfortable. But God, wants us to be engaged in, not influenced by, the world around us. I believe the first thing to do is to come to faith in Christ so that we can be filled with His love, His presence, His life and see the world through His eyes.

Jesus broke all kinds of cultural boundaries, but He did it because He loves. We like to ask the question “What Would Jesus Do?” This is a dangerous question to ask because we know what Jesus would do, we just don’t always want to do what He would do. Jesus leveled the playing field. Because of Jesus there is no separation from lepers and society. Samaritans and Jews. Pharisees and citizens. Jews and Gentiles. Black or white. There is no distinction in any group because Christ breaks the veil we use to separate “us” from “them.”

This reconciliation God did through Christ first restores our relationship and standing with God and then frees us to bring reconciliation and healing to those around us who are “different” from us. Having our relationship with God restored means we allow God to change our lives from the inside out and we allow Christ to lead our lives. It begins with a simple communication and belief. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just about our relationship with God, but also our relationship with other people. This is why Jesus summed up the Law with two phrases, “love God and love people.” The Gospel changes EVERYTHING because now we can realize we are all on the same playing field with God. Some are coaches, some are players, some are caring for the team, some are in the stage of learning, etc. We are all on the same team. The Gospel changes us.

See you tomorrow in Ephesians 3!

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We Belong

Ephesians 2:11-13 So remember that once you were Gentiles by physical descent, who were called “uncircumcised” by Jews who are physically circumcised. At that time you were without Christ. You were aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God’s promise. In this world you had no hope and no God. But now, thanks to Christ Jesus, you who once were so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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I know everyone one of us has felt like we wanted to be part of a certain group, but for some reason we felt like we did not belong. We have also felt like we do not deserve to have the people in our life that we have because we feel unworthy. This kind of attitude and mindset seems to be prevalent. There is only one problem with this kind of thinking: we devalue ourselves.

Yes, there is part of us that has made mistakes and has lived a life we did not want to live, but there is something incredible about grace. God grace is pulling us in and is giving us a new life that we never expected to have. Yes, we live lives separate from God. Yes, we do not have everything in a row. Yes, there are parts of our past that we wish we could escape from. Yes, yes, yes. This list of reasons why we do not belong goes on and on. We focus on our failures and God focuses on our future.

Our lives, without Christ, do not have the joy and peace; but when we realize Christ is already here and is calling us to know and follow Him, then we become filled with His Spirit. It is by the grace of God that we belong. We belong with groups who desire to help us live right. We desire to be loved. We desire to be with someone in life that will help us live out the life God has in mind. We desire all of this stuff and we belong.

We should just lay down our past, look to Christ and ask Him to be the central focus of our life. This makes Him Lord and Savior, and us His people. Our lives take on a whole new meaning because it is from a payment that we belong to God. This is a payment we did not give, but was paid for us. This payment was the blood of Jesus Christ who lived an incredible life that God wants us to live, died this death that is so incredibly cruel and humiliating and rose from the dead. He rose from the dead because, even though the world showed it did not want Him, He wanted to show the world that it was wanted.

What are you struggling with today that makes you feel like you do not belong? I hope you can see and hear the soft voice of God so loudly that your perspective changes and that you can see and know that God is pursuing you and even believes in you. You and I belong, we just need to believe this and trust this. Because of Jesus Christ everything is different. What once caused division and rule keeping, now invites all people to know grace. Your life will be drastically different if you find the grace that is around you.

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Not By Us

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Ephesians 2:8-10 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. 

This is the message of the gospel, “God freely gives grace to us.” Receiving something for nothing is hard for us to do. We want to have to earn a gift, earn favor, earn respect; but that is not how God works. God freely gives grace, or does he? Grace has come at a cost, the death of Jesus Christ. So giving grace to us may not cost us anything, but it cost God greatly. He lived this life as a human to show how we are supposed to live, and people put Him to death. But that is not the end of the story! Jesus Christ walked out of that tomb three days later because death cannot keep God contained. His life, His presence is too powerful that it cannot be kept silent or locked up. There is so much power, so much grace, so much love from God, that He wants nothing more than to lavish His people with this amazing gift; and we do not have to do anything except accept the gift and allow it to change our life!

I believe God gives us this gift freely, and without and human earning, is because He knows how pride can and does destroy the fabric of how society ought to live. He knows that we cannot handle trying to earn His grace because we would all think we are better than the person next to us; when in reality, we are in the exact same position as them. This levels the playing field so that we do not think, or are not supposed to think, we are better than anyone else.

Living in and accepting in God’s grace means there is some work to be done. Each of us has been gifted with this grace to do works that God has lined out for us. We are all working toward a common goal, to work with Christ to show people the Kingdom of God, but each of us has roles to play and parts to work in. It is through these works that God’s light shines through us and we remember what God has done in us and through us. This makes us God’s accomplishment.

God knows we will mess up and turn away from Him at different parts of our life, but when we are doing what God calls us to do, God is proud and can revel in His masterpiece, His handiwork which is you and me. You may not feel like a masterpiece at times; but remember, it takes time to become the perfect instrument, or to play with perfection. You are an incredible person!

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Incredible Gift

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Ephesians 2:1-7 At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else. However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus. 

So here Paul goes again, talking about how bad the person is who is in the world. This is something that deters people. Who wants to hear what a bad person they are, or who wants to hear they are dead spiritually? But this is something we all need to hear, be reminded of and speak about. We need to speak about this because it will be so easy to boast thinking that we are “self-made” and everything we have been able to do, we have done on our own.

I don’t know about you, but I have not ever seen a dead person do anything. Paul is reminding the people, and us, of the fallen state of creation. We can see this all the time, everyday. All we have to do is turn on the TV or listen to the radio for just a few minutes to hear about beheadings, burning people, genocide, wars, corruption, etc, etc, etc. This can be depressing if we just focus on this. Yes, we do live in a fallen world and our actions lead us to a life further away from God, which leads to misery in the soul. We become desensitized to the violence around us, we act like nothing is wrong, we are dead spiritually because we do not care nor love anymore.

Verse 4 begins with “However, God…” Other translations use the phrase, “But, God…” I love this phrase because it points to hope. We can land on these words and know something different is about to happen. Then the sentence goes on, “who is rich in mercy.” We often feel like we should not go to God because our “problems” are too big or too petty for God to listen to our forgive, but there is mercy for you and for me. Christ brings life into our soul and this means that we are alive again!

Because we are alive in Christ, we know and experience the incredible love God has for us; and we can pass on this love God has for us to those around us to help bring life and light into their lives. God gives us this gift of being alive so that future generations will know of his glory and his greatness and the incredible life He has in store for each person.

God giving us this gift is awesome. He places us with Christ. This gift is ready and available for you. How will you allow Christ to shine in your life so that others will know of his presence and love for them through you?

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No Boundaries

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Ephesians 1:20-23 God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens, far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way. 

We can go through life drained because we keep going through our own reserves of power and can easily forget to renew and refill that reservoir. Paul reminds his readers of the power of God that has been displayed through Jesus Christ. This is awesome that we can know of this power and tap into it.

Jesus Christ called himself the Living Water which means that anytime we need to be filled and refreshed we can just go to him. God has placed Christ as the head of the church. Often times we can think that we are the ones in charge and do not seek to find counsel or help to learn the direction to take. After all, Christ is the one we glorify and worship in the church, so we should seek after his council and direction.

So a question can arise, “what exactly is the ‘church’?” We tend to think about the “church” as the place we go to worship, have Bible study, prayer chapels, etc; but the church is so much bigger than that because the church is not even a building. The church is the body of Christ, the community of faith, stepping out and bringing the message of Christ into the world through acts of loving service, reconciliation, speaking love and truth. We, as the church, also plant for the harvest which includes the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Christ “fills everything in every way” because he is the source of life and the source to find life and the source of hope and peace in this world. Living for Christ means we have incredible opportunities to serve this broken, hurting world to bring light into dark lives. Since the church is not a building, we are not limited by anything except our own prejudices. Christ has given us life and light so that we can go anywhere and speak to anyone.

How is the life of Christ working through you?

Tomorrow begins Ephesians 2 🙂

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