Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 6:11 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “The Ransom.” Speak, Lord, your words to
my heart. I read Ephesians 1 (ESV).
Chosen by God
(vv. 1-10)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in
Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for
adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of
his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in
the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon
us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the
fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on
earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been
predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to
the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might
be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Who are the saints of God?
They are all of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord
and Savior of our lives. This is speaking to us. Even before the creation of
the world, God had already chosen us to be holy, which means to be separate
(unlike, different) from the world, and to be set apart to Christ, to follow
him in obedience to his ways. He had also chosen us to be blameless in his
sight, i.e. through the death of his Son on a cross. Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
in his death became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. On
that cross he put sin to death. When he was resurrected from the dead, he rose
victorious over sin, hell and death on our behalf. Through faith in him, his
righteousness is credited to our accounts so that we, the faithful in Christ, are
no longer condemned to hell, but we have the promise and hope of eternal life with
God in heaven.
God, in love, predestined (foreordained,
predetermined) that we would be his children, by his grace, through faith in
Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. And, what is his will for
us? Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that
we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us.
He died, too, that we might no longer walk (conduct our lives) according to our
sinful flesh, but according to his Spirit, and to his righteousness and
holiness. His grace to us is not merely forgiveness of sins, an escape from
hell, and a promise of heaven when we die. His grace instructs us to say “NO”
to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives while we await his return. All this is his will for us, which he
foreordained for us.
Faith in Jesus Christ is not
a mere assent to who he was, and is, or a mere acknowledgment and acceptance of
his sacrifice for our sins or his forgiveness of our sins. When God the Father
draws us to Christ, if it is him drawing us, and not some humanistic philosophy
intended to pacify sin, he makes known to us his will and purpose. His Holy
Spirit convicts our hearts of sin, of righteousness and judgment. We are
pricked to the conscience with regard to our sins, we confess them, turn from
them, and we turn to follow our Lord in obedience. For, when we believe in
Jesus, we are crucified with him in death to sin, and we are resurrected with
him to newness of life, created to be like God (in his likeness) in true
righteousness and holiness.
God, in his love and grace, foreordained
that we should be to the praise of his glory (his divine approval). So, his
will and purpose for us is that, if we want to come after Christ, we must deny
(humble) ourselves, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and
follow (obey) him. He said that his sheep listen to his voice, and they follow
(obey) him. He said that if we love him, we will keep his word, and he and the
Father will make their home with us. He also said, in essence, that if we hold
on to our former lives of living for sin and self, we will lose them for
eternity. But, if we lose our lives (die with him to sin), for his sake, we
will gain eternal life with him (Lu. 9:23-25; Jn. 10:27-30; Jn. 14:23-24; cf.
Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).
Called to Hope
(vv. 15-23)
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in
the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give
thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope to
which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in
the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who
believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and
above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to
come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
When we trust in Jesus Christ
to be Lord and Savior of our lives, that is not the finished product. We have
just begun our spiritual journey with our Lord. Our salvation is a process of a
lifetime, not a one-time experience, and then that is it until we go to heaven
one day. We must walk by the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of our flesh. We
must walk in the light as Christ is in the light. Daily we must put on the
armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us. Daily, by
the Spirit, we are to be putting the deeds of the flesh to death, and we should
be putting on Christ and his righteousness. We must get rid of all things in
our lives which hinder our walks of faith, all sins which so easily entangle
us, and everything which weighs us down or which leads us into temptation, so
we can run with perseverance the race God has marked out for us, i.e. this
spiritual journey he has us on.
Daily we must be in the Word
of God, drinking in its truths, relying on the Holy Spirit to teach us with all
wisdom the way in which we are to walk. And, then we must be walking in that
light (enlightenment) we are given, and not walk away from it forgetting what
we look like. If we don’t walk in the truth we have already been given, then
gaining more knowledge, just for the sake of knowledge, is useless, because we
do not put it into practice. In God’s Word we learn to know him and his will
for our lives and the purpose for which he created and chose us in him. As
believers in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living within us guiding us into
all truth, too, so he makes the Word of God come alive to us in all practical
application to our daily lives. And, this is how we come to know, too, his
specific and individual callings (assignments, gifts) for our lives, so that we
can walk in them.
Also, when we believe in
Jesus, we become members of his body, his church, the people of God, who are of
faith in Jesus Christ, of whom he is the head. He purposed that we should work
together as a body in his service, according to his will, for the praise of his
glory, as each one of us does our part. So, part of his will, also, is that we
regularly meet together, according to his will, wherever possible, to study
together his word, to pray with and for one another, to encourage one another
in the faith, and for Spirit-filled and Spirit-led fellowship in Christ. We, as
well, are to build one another up in the faith, speaking to one another in
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, for the mutual spiritual growth and maturity
of one another.
Basically, the Christian life
is not just a saved life, but it is a life of following our Lord wherever he
leads us, doing what he says, going where he sends us, and saying whatever he
commands us to say. It is a life committed to Christ and to his service,
recognizing that our lives are no longer our own, but we belong to God, so now
our lives should be his to do with what he wants. They are not perfect lives,
but they are lives which walk in the light of Christ and no longer in the
darkness of sin. They are also lives surrendered to Christ, separate from the
world, and committed to holiness, godliness, purity, uprightness, honesty and
integrity - all for the praise of God’s glory, and all in his wisdom, strength
and power. Amen!
The Ransom / An
Original Work / September 8, 2011
Jesus paid the ransom,
so we’d be forgiven;
Purified from our sin,
so we’d be set free.
Crucified on a tree;
took on him our sin.
Buried our sin with Him;
rose in victory.
Jesus calls us to Him;
asks that we flee from sin;
Obey His commandments;
live eternally.
God our Father loves us,
which is why He gave us
His Son to die for us
on a cruel tree.
God created us to
walk in fellowship with Him,
daily trusting in His righteousness.
He has a plan for us
to abide in His grace;
Be transformed in our hearts;
live for him always.
Won’t you trust in Jesus?
Be your Lord and Master?
He wants to forgive you;
give you victory
Over sin and yourself;
Jesus set you free.
Daily walking with Him,
live victoriously.
Invite Him in your heart.
He’ll give you a new start.
Your old life behind you,
a new creature be.
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