Graduate 185: Advent & Ephesians, Day 12
"...to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."
If you read ahead to v. 13, you'll see a shift in the orientation of Paul's address. V. 12 concludes, "to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." V. 13, then opens, "In Him, you also,...". The shift probably refers to the two main groups that comprised the Ephesian church: Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Yesterday, I mentioned how God's redemptive plan began with the people of Israel. The gospel--the good news that people could be in relationship with God--was first revealed to the Jews. But from the very beginning, God's plan has been to reach the entire world.
In Genesis 12, where God first calls Abraham (then, Abram) into a new land, He says to him:
"Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (vv. 1-3, emphasis mine.)
In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul talks about how the covenant that God made with Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
"Even so Abraham 'believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.' Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel before hand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you." So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. ... Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He [i.e. the author] does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ." (3:6-9, 16)
The foundation of the relationship that the people of Israel enjoyed with God was faith. God instructed Abraham to go and He went. He gave the people of Israel His laws, and they agreed to follow them. He invited the people of Israel, over and over again, to trust Him, and when they did, they got to see God work on their behalf.
In the New Testament, and in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the opportunity to have that relationship with God is extended to all peoples. It is no longer confined to those who belong to the nation of Israel. It is no longer defined by the law that Moses gave to them. Rather, people from all over the world are invited to enjoy a personal relationship with the God of the universe. The end result of the fulfillment of the plan that God put into motion way back in the Old Testament.
It's important to keep in mind how this fulfillment of God's plan in the nation of Israel redounds to His glory, but I also want to draw our attention to the way in which our own lives also work to the praise of His glory. How does the experience of the Jewish people contribute to the praise and glory of God? How do our own lives contribute to the praise and glory of God? Sometimes these notions can seem so abstract to us. Are we just supposed to feel warm emotions of gratitude whenever good things happen? Are we supposed to mentally say a, "Thank you, God," whenever something good happens? That often winds up being pretty artificial. Yet, for the person who has put his or her faith in God and experiences His presence and activity, praise is very much the natural response.
Those who really put their trust in God--who commit to following Him in faithful obedience in everything that they do--invariably begin to see Him working in their lives and circumstances. That's certainly what happened for the people of Israel. It was usually very clear when God was abiding with His people and when He was not. In the same way, when God is active and involved in our lives, the fruits are always very evident. Often we don't see this kind of result because we don't take seriously that God really does want to enter into the substance of our everyday lives. We don't trust Him with our families, jobs, mortgage payments, morning and evening commute, conflicts with neighbors, etc. In many cases, it may not be clear to us how to go about trusting God with these things. But if we are not trusting God with all these areas of our lives, then we are probably not going to see Him working there. On the other hand, if we choose to trust God in all these areas, then we will see Him work. Not only will we see Him work but we will see how much better God's way is than anything we could come up with on our own. And when God's goodness and kindness and generosity and patience and mercy and graciousness are manifested to us and in us--when we see God changing and transforming us in truly remarkable ways--the natural response really will be praise of His glory.
Most of the men and women of faith whom God called had little or no conception of the grand work that God was accomplishing. They had no clue that they were part of this cosmic plan. Occasionally they caught glimpses of it. God told Abraham that He would be the source of blessing to the nations. Joseph knew that God had sent him into Egypt so that his family would be saved. David and Solomon were told that they would have an enduring legacy. But Ruth probably didn't understand how her decision to move to Israel would lead her to be part of the lineage of the Messiah. Rahab didn't understand how significant was her decision to protect the Israelite spies. In fact, it's pretty rare that God shows us, in detail, how our daily decisions to follow Him in the little things impact the course of history that He is unfolding. But as they chose and we choose to follow God, He works all those different threads together. And the end result is that He is brought more and more glory--here and now and in the future.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
If you read ahead to v. 13, you'll see a shift in the orientation of Paul's address. V. 12 concludes, "to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." V. 13, then opens, "In Him, you also,...". The shift probably refers to the two main groups that comprised the Ephesian church: Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Yesterday, I mentioned how God's redemptive plan began with the people of Israel. The gospel--the good news that people could be in relationship with God--was first revealed to the Jews. But from the very beginning, God's plan has been to reach the entire world.
In Genesis 12, where God first calls Abraham (then, Abram) into a new land, He says to him:
"Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (vv. 1-3, emphasis mine.)
In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul talks about how the covenant that God made with Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
"Even so Abraham 'believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.' Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel before hand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you." So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. ... Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He [i.e. the author] does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ." (3:6-9, 16)
The foundation of the relationship that the people of Israel enjoyed with God was faith. God instructed Abraham to go and He went. He gave the people of Israel His laws, and they agreed to follow them. He invited the people of Israel, over and over again, to trust Him, and when they did, they got to see God work on their behalf.
In the New Testament, and in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the opportunity to have that relationship with God is extended to all peoples. It is no longer confined to those who belong to the nation of Israel. It is no longer defined by the law that Moses gave to them. Rather, people from all over the world are invited to enjoy a personal relationship with the God of the universe. The end result of the fulfillment of the plan that God put into motion way back in the Old Testament.
It's important to keep in mind how this fulfillment of God's plan in the nation of Israel redounds to His glory, but I also want to draw our attention to the way in which our own lives also work to the praise of His glory. How does the experience of the Jewish people contribute to the praise and glory of God? How do our own lives contribute to the praise and glory of God? Sometimes these notions can seem so abstract to us. Are we just supposed to feel warm emotions of gratitude whenever good things happen? Are we supposed to mentally say a, "Thank you, God," whenever something good happens? That often winds up being pretty artificial. Yet, for the person who has put his or her faith in God and experiences His presence and activity, praise is very much the natural response.
Those who really put their trust in God--who commit to following Him in faithful obedience in everything that they do--invariably begin to see Him working in their lives and circumstances. That's certainly what happened for the people of Israel. It was usually very clear when God was abiding with His people and when He was not. In the same way, when God is active and involved in our lives, the fruits are always very evident. Often we don't see this kind of result because we don't take seriously that God really does want to enter into the substance of our everyday lives. We don't trust Him with our families, jobs, mortgage payments, morning and evening commute, conflicts with neighbors, etc. In many cases, it may not be clear to us how to go about trusting God with these things. But if we are not trusting God with all these areas of our lives, then we are probably not going to see Him working there. On the other hand, if we choose to trust God in all these areas, then we will see Him work. Not only will we see Him work but we will see how much better God's way is than anything we could come up with on our own. And when God's goodness and kindness and generosity and patience and mercy and graciousness are manifested to us and in us--when we see God changing and transforming us in truly remarkable ways--the natural response really will be praise of His glory.
Most of the men and women of faith whom God called had little or no conception of the grand work that God was accomplishing. They had no clue that they were part of this cosmic plan. Occasionally they caught glimpses of it. God told Abraham that He would be the source of blessing to the nations. Joseph knew that God had sent him into Egypt so that his family would be saved. David and Solomon were told that they would have an enduring legacy. But Ruth probably didn't understand how her decision to move to Israel would lead her to be part of the lineage of the Messiah. Rahab didn't understand how significant was her decision to protect the Israelite spies. In fact, it's pretty rare that God shows us, in detail, how our daily decisions to follow Him in the little things impact the course of history that He is unfolding. But as they chose and we choose to follow God, He works all those different threads together. And the end result is that He is brought more and more glory--here and now and in the future.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 6:27 PM
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