EMMDEV 2011-09-08 [Ephesians] Blessing 4: Fellow-workers

9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Ephesians1:9-10

This one is a mouthful!
It boils down to this: God is planning to bring everything under the Lordship of Jesus and it gives Him pleasure to include us in this plan!

But let's look in a little more detail:
While God's ways are very much beyond our grasp and ken, He chooses to make this mystery made known to us. And although we only scratch the surface of it, He wants us to begin to know and understand it all.
Paul says "No eye has seen,no ear has heard,no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." (1Cor2:9-10)

And in the Old Testament we read: "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecc3:11)

Including us in His plan is God's good pleasure. Elsewhere Paul notes that we are God's fellow-workers(1Cor3:9).

And we are in a process, the world is not there yet, times have not yet reached fulfilment yet, but there will be a great and glorious day when every knee will bow and tongue confess that Christ is Lord, and all tears are wiped away!

But in the meantime, God has placed Eternity in our hearts!
Although we don't fully understand, we have His message and the hope of His coming that burns in us. He has entrusted His message into our hands and we are His Fellow-Workers whose greatest reward and longing is to see Jesus crowned over all!

What a blessed privilege!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-09-07 [Ephesians] Blessing 3: Redeemed and Forgiven

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians1:7-8

We have moved from the two blessings of the past into the three blessings of the present...

To be redeemed is to be bought back or ransomed. We were lost and unable to save ourselves. But we have been rescued by Christ. He has forgiven our sin, paid the debt and cancelled the penalty.

A ransom is paid when an innocent party is kidnapped and those who love the victim pay a price to have them returned. But we were not innocent - we got ourselves into trouble. Jesus came to save (redeem) us with his life (His blood) even though we did not deserve it. This is grace.

Paul says that our first blessing of the present is that we are the objects of Christ's lavish grace. (The Greek implies "poured out in huge bucketfuls!)

And this was not done on a whim. This grace has been lavished on us with all of God's wisdom and understanding - this is a very deliberate act. God has a plan and a purpose and He is executing His plan with attention to detail and crystal clear focus.

So this blessing tells us that we are valuable to God, that He dotes on us and ponders over us, that He paid a massive price for us.

Thank you Lord for Your rich and lavish grace!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-09-06 [Ephesians] Interlude 1 - Doxology.

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians1:6

A doxology is a short hymn or phrase of praise repeated in services.

There are three very similar phrases that appear in this long sentence of our blessings in Christ. They appear after the first two blessings, after the next three and then after the final two.

The phrases (i call them doxologies) are "To the praise of His glorious grace" and "to the praise of His glory" (which appears twice). The first time the phrase appears it is in its fullest form, the other two repetitions are shorter, because they act as abbreviations of the first. They bring the full impact of the first doxology to mind.

What these phrases do is to divide the seven blessings into our past, our present and our future. The first doxology is a response to the blessings of our past.

According to Paul, our past looks like this:
1. Before the creation of the world, God knew that it would cost the blood of Christ to make us holy and blameless, but He made us and chose us anyway!

2. It was His pleasure and will to predestine us to be adopted as His children - in other words He loved us even though we have done nothing to deserve it.

What does this lead Paul to do?
He spontaneously praises God because there is one word that dominates our past: GRACE.
And grace is best defined as _G_od's _R_iches _A_t _C_hrist's _E_xpense.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-09-02 [Ephesians] Blessing 2: Adopted in spite of...

In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will. Ephesians1:5

God created us in His image and gave us the freedom to choose...
... and we chose WRONG!
Why would God even want any more to do with us?

Christian Band, NewSong, put it very eloquently:
"Sometimes I wonder: how You could ever love us?
We're never satisfied no matter what You do
You send the rain and we complain there's no sunshine
Yet every breath we take is all because of You

Sometimes I wonder: will things get any better?
Looks like we haven't changed since the dawn of time
You light the way - still we stay in darkness
And we try to tell ourselves that we will be just fine

Only heaven knows the pain we put You through
I don't know what You're thinking Lord
But I know what I would do

I'd start all over on Mars
Create a world that is far away from our ungratefulness
If I were the God that You are, I would be tempted to walk away
Wash my hands of this crazy mess
Make a world that would follow Your heart
I'd start all over on Mars!"
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God did not "start all over on Mars" instead he decided to get us back. He decided to "adopt" us (after we had rejected Him as our Father.)
This adoption would cost a great deal...
Here's the heavy irony: For you and I to be adopted as sons and daughters of God, His only Son would have to die.

This gives us a reason to worship Him on Sunday!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-09-01 [Ephesians] Blessing 1: Chosen

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians1:4

Our universe is not here by accident. WE are not here by accident.

When God created the world it was with us in mind. He created us to be holy and blameless in His sight. Some people say that God made us because He was lonely - but this is not true. The Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit share a love so perfect that they are one.

God created us for His glory and pleasure so that we could see and understand His awesomeness and respond in worship. He gave us free will so that we could choose to be holy and blameless in His sight.

But free will means that we can also choose NOT to be holy and blameless. Did God consider this? What would He do if we made the wrong decision?? From the very outset, the Scriptures make it clear that it was God's plan to send His Son to redeem fallen humankind.

A friend of ours, James Greaves, put it like this: "When God was creating the world and He used his pinkie to make the Grand Canyon and heaped up the rocks to make Everest, did He pause when He made Golgotha?"

Our first blessing is that we are twice-chosen by God: Before He created the world, He thought about us - He chose us to be made in His image to reflect His holiness and glory. But because we had the potential to reject Him, He chose us again in view of the redeeming work that Christ would do.

So there is a sense that Christ was already crucified in the mind of God when He created us. God knew what creating us might cost and yet He made us anyway!

Amazing love! We are twice chosen in Christ!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-08-31 [Ephesians] Seven Blessings - Intro

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians1:3

As I mentioned last week, Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence in the original Greek. In this long sentence Paul describes the past, the present and the future hope that we as Christians have in Jesus Christ. As we work our way through these seven blessings, we will see that they are Trinitarian: the blessings of the Father, Son and Spirit.

Paul describes these as our "Spiritual Blessings" in the "Heavenly Realms." I believe Paul's implications are that these blessings are significant and eternal. They are not simply the blessings of physical comfort and they are not only for this life.

Does this mean that they are "pie-in-sky-one-day-when-we-die?"
I don't think so!
I think these blessings are vital for us to hold on to for our day to day inspiration as we "fight the good fight."

Sometimes we get caught up in the gruntwork of life. The daily hustle and bustle wears down our excitement and joy. Paul wastes no time in this letter - he plunges straight into "counting our blessings!" He wants to wow his reader's hearts with an awesome sense of God's goodness and the "big-ness" of His purpose for our lives.

He invites us to have a sense of blessedness in our lives again!
Will you "count your blessings" with me over the next few days?

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-08-26 [Ephesians] Seven Blessings - Overview

Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence in the original Greek! It spells out our seven spiritual blessings in Christ.

Today there is no devotional thought from me... just Eugene Peterson's translation of the passage. Read it through slowly once or twice or thrice. Next week we'll unpack it.
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How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free peopleâ€"free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home freeâ€"signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. Ephesians1:3-14

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-08-25 [Ephesians] Grace and Peace

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians1:2

In Ephesians Paul uses the word "Grace" 12 times and the word "Peace" 7 times.
We'll delve into the theological meanings of these two words as we work our way through the letter.

For now, just the simple thought that Paul starts the letter with this wish: that his readers would experience grace and peace.

Paul is in prison!
Yet he can wish grace and peace to his readers.
It seems that having grace and peace is not dependent on circumstances, but it is something that transcends our circumstances. Grace and peace do not require the absence of trouble and hardship, but rather they can be our experience in spite of adversity.

But Paul goes further - grace and peace come from a _relationship_ with God. There is part of me that wishes that he had used a Trinitarian formula here: "from God our father, the Lord Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit." But Paul takes the work and presence of the Spirit as a given - he understands that we only experience the Father and the Son through the mediation of the Spirit. The nature of our relationship with God is that we have a relationship _with_ the Father and Son _through_ the Spirit.

So here's the basic definition:
Grace: I have received unmerited favour through God's goodness.
Peace: My soul is at rest because I depend on God and not myself.

At the very outset Paul wishes this for his readers and this is the one of the most powerful features of Christianity: Christians experience and manifest grace and peace - and if we don't, there is something wrong with our relationship to God.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-08-24 [Ephesians] Salutation

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Ephesians1:1

Most scholars agree that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians while he was a prisoner in Rome in about 60AD. From the background introductions we have done over the last two weeks, we know that Paul was known, loved and respected by the congregation.

In fact, when Paul was on his way to Jerusalem and knew that he was going to be arrested and dragged off to Rome, he summoned the Ephesian elders to Miletus - a journey of more than 60km. They came very willingly and Paul gave them this commission:
"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood."

Paul reminds them of his calling as an apostle. This word literally means "sent-out" and carries the implication of missionary, pioneer, church-planter, new-work-starter and boundary-breaker. Paul was all of these things in all his missionary work.

He also affirms that his life and calling has been according to God's will - this is a courageous statement because Paul is writing from prison! But Paul knew that God's purposes are greater than our temporary troubles and that trouble could be transformed into victory.

He calls the Ephesian Christians "Saints." This is a difficult word: Today "being a saint" is an _achievement_ but in Paul's time it was a _calling._ It wasn't that the Ephesians had "arrived" and were exceptionally pious, holy and respected it was that they were being called to live differently, to march to the beat of a different drum, to walk in obedience to God. They were being called to be holy and faithful and Paul saw them as "works in progress."

His greeting (salutation) is brief, but powerfully indicates that it is Christ Jesus who has called Paul (through thick and thin) and it is Christ Jesus who is at the centre of the Ephesian congregation.
It is all about Christ!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2011-08-23 [Ephesians] Intro 9: Impact

AC 19:23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25 He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. Acts19:23-26

Ephesus was the host city of the temple of Artemis. Paul's preaching and teaching was starting to have an economic impact - at the start of the chapter there were 12 men who were filled with the Spirit. Now Demetrius is bemoaning the fact that "large numbers of people in Ephesus and practically the whole province of Asia" had heard Paul's message.

Not only was this a message that spread, but it was a message that had an impact!

If you read the rest of the chapter, it's very interesting to watch the events unfold. Demetrius leads a march of the "Silversmithing Union". They claim loyalty to Artemis, but their real issue is economic. The mob gets unruly and grabs some of the Christian leaders, Paul wants to speak to the mob and it looks like the stage is being set for Paul to be stoned again (it happened in Iconium in Acts 14)

But there is an interesting turn of events as some high profile people intervene: They persuade Paul not to speak to the mob and then the city clerk uses his influence to settle the crowd.

This leads us to a few observations:
1. The spread of the gospel has been very effective
2. Paul wasn't afraid to speak straight.
3. Lifestyles were being changed: People weren't buying idols
4. The care and concern that people had for Paul.
5. The gospel had spread through all strata of society.

This brings us to the end of the Introduction to Ephesians - tomorrow we'll start (finally!) the letter to the church in Ephesus.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/