Our text for today brings to an end the first half of Paul’s letter to this thriving church in Ephesus. It also brings a thematic end to what Paul has spent the entirety of this letter talking about thus far, and that is the privilege of the Christian. Remember, this is the standard format for the Great Apostle. He first deals with doctrine and theology, and then deals with the implications and application of all that he’s been teaching. Our text for today, the second half of chapter three, is somewhat of Paul’s doxology on all that he’s said thus far. Very quickly I’ll remind you of where we’ve been. For the most part we’ve been talking about the great privilege that it is to be found in Christ. Paul’s talked about how salvation is completely a work of God (chosen, redeemed, and sealed) and that regardless of what nationality you are that the gospel is open to you. Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s some universal thing that is everyone’s right and privilege, but that there is nothing inherently within anyone that makes them a recipient of God’s grace and mercy. That choice is completely and totally up to God and God alone. We are simply the ones who very lovingly, graciously, and humbly receive the benefits of that election that Paul spoke of in the opening statements of this epistle; that’s why we say that it is the privilege of the Christian and not the right or reward of the Christian.
So, as Paul prepares to bring to a close the doctrinal portion of his epistle about the church (which many biblical scholars have taken this to be a written prayer of Paul’s), he begins by saying, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father.” Two things; the first is that the phrase “for this reason” refers to, in my opinion, the entirety of what he has said. Again, in my opinion, Paul isn’t just referring to the most recent thing that he’s talked about (which is the gospel being as much for the Gentiles as it is for the Jews). Some scholars have wanted to limit the scope of these words to mean either only his most recent doctrinal point or the fact that he didn’t want them to lose hope because of his being under house arrest. However, even in the most limited view of this phrase, Paul would be referring to this very same plan of salvation that is made known through Christ. So, we can safely assume that no matter what view you take of the phrase “for this reason”, Paul is speaking about rejoicing in God. Secondly, the fact that Paul talks about his posture is important. You see, the Jewish custom for praying was to stand up. They would think it a farce for us to be sitting down with our hands in our pockets during a time of prayer. The Jews (as well as some other Christian churches through the ages) understood reverence to be conveyed to God during prayer only when standing. Honestly, it makes sense. When the president of a company, a superior office, an elected official, or anyone else whom is owed respect walks into a room what do we do? Well, we stand (or at least we ought to). We stand to show them the honor and respect that they deserve. However, by Paul’s bowing his knees, by his kneeling, there is a sense of humility and urgency and importance that is being conveyed here. Paul is, in essence, saying, “Thank you, God, for all that you’ve done and all that you are doing. Lord, I am not even worthy to stand in your presence and so I lower myself to the lowest possible place.” It’s Paul’s way (and a right way) of showing reverence and honor to a holy God. Yes, it’s different from Jewish tradition, but different from tradition doesn’t necessarily mean worse than traditional.
After Paul’s reminding his audience what he’s previously said, he also reminds them that as followers of Christ, they are all part of the same family. All Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ. If we wanted to make some type of analogy, we could say that we’re all related in Christ with church being sort of like a family reunion with the blending together of a lot of different types of people who are all related. Yes, we’re very different people with very different views and opinions, but we’re all related; we’re all related in Christ. That’s where we’re going to spend the rest of our time together this morning really looking at two things. We’re going to look at how this body collectively and we individually are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and how we are made to comprehend the love of Christ.
All of this sort of comes out of a natural progression throughout this text really. First, there is Paul’s thanking God because of all that he’s already taught, followed by the petition made by Paul on the behalf of his audience that they would be “strengthened with power through his [Holy] Spirit in [their] inner being.” In other words, that our hearts would be strengthened, our minds changed, and our souls shaped by this power. Any change or confidence that one has that stops at a surface-level isn’t from God. Paul prays that the teaching that he has given thus far would not be a point of contention and anger, but would be one that only renews our faith in God. I love what John Calvin says about this being strengthened by the Holy Spirit. He says that, “believers have never advanced so far as to not need farther growth. The highest perfection of the godly in this life is an earnest desire to make progress.” In other words, even though this church was doing well and even though Paul had just given them all of the information that he had and even though he knew that they were as well-equipped for ministry and growth as anyone, they still needed more. They needed the Holy Spirit, and they didn’t just need him a little, but they needed him in their inner being. They needed him to change them and strengthen them down to the most intimate parts of their bodies, minds, and souls. They needed what is known as divine grace; grace that only comes from God. God knows our limitations and our inabilities; therefore He is the only one who can overcome them in His creating within us a new man. In order for us to really transform and change, we must have the Holy Spirit. We can’t do it by ourselves. We don’t like hearing that because we’re a people who for the most part pride ourselves on our self-sufficiency. However, when it comes to our salvation, we simply have no choice but to rest in God that He will perform this saving work in us and to us.
Now, out of this grace, as a result of the Holy Spirit’s working in us and strengthening us, we ought to grow in our comprehension and understanding of the love of Christ. Naturally, as we come to understand what God has done to us and for us, our appreciation and admiration ought to grow, but our understanding of Christ’s love for us ought to grow as well. However, one thing that I think we need to get a handle on (or at least try to) is what we mean when we say or read “the love of Christ.” Obviously it’s something that is very expansive, and impossible for our finite minds to completely understand. These general units of measurement or space that Paul gives us here of “breadth and length and height and depth” ought to harken our minds back to our saying at the end of chapter two that we are Christ’s temple, the “living stones” of 1 Peter 2. This tells us that Christ’s love for us is great. So, there’s no denying that in understanding Christ’s love that we have to think about something that is quite large. Our problem, however, has been that far too often we have actually over-sized the love of Christ. I know that that sounds odd, but follow me for a second. If you were in our Sunday School class last week, you might recall that I said that Christ died specifically for you and not generally for you. In other words, at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross, he had you and me on his mind, specifically. His death, his sacrifice, wasn’t undertaken with just the general thought of whoever determines later on that they wanted a part of what he was offering would receive it. No! Christ’s death was to redeem to the Father those specific people whom the Father had given to him. Some of them were past, some present, and some future.
Perhaps instead of saying that we over-size the love of Christ, we might could say that we over-extend it. You see, we make Christ’s death a universal truth for all mankind. We make the sacrifice on the cross include those whom Scripture clearly teaches that it doesn’t include. This past summer, we looked at John 3:16 and specifically at that word that is translated “world’. We find in that passage “For God so loved the world…” the cosmos in Greek. We try and apply the death of Christ to those whom it does not apply to. It applies only to those whom, as Paul said to begin this epistle, those whom He chose before the foundation of the earth and that He predestined for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Paul has come full circle in this first half of his epistle. God has chosen you to be His people, He has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to work on your hearts and change your minds and strengthen you for the ministry of the gospel. And he has done this not because of anything that is present within you or that He foreknows as being present within you, but simply because He loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His Son into the world to die, specifically for you. Not for mankind in general, but specifically for you and for me, for those whom God chose before the foundations of the earth.
Paul concludes this first half of his letter to the Ephesians with a doxology. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” In other words, thank you, God. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for what you have done. Thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for what you are going to do. We are to trust in God and to trust in the unfolding of His plan. It may not be easy, and it may not be what we want, but if it is the will of God, then is good and perfect. Thank God for what He is doing, and thank God for His calling us to play even the smallest part in it.
No comments:
Post a Comment