Roger's Postings

Friday, November 18, 2011

Ephesians 1:15-23       In Christ, a sure hope of a glorious inheritance!                        20/11/11
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, {16} I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. {17} I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. {18} I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, {19} and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, {20} which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, {21} far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. {22} And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, {23} which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Today is the last Sunday of the Church Year and our attention is drawn to the end of all things and to that which is truly important in life. As we think of loved ones and friends who have passed on before us and even our own lives and what is good and important, we are here drawn to the inevitable conclusion, that it is being connected to Jesus Christ that is what is important, now and for the end as well. Like Paul, we give thanks to God for those who live and die, with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour: For those who are in Christ there is the sure hope of a glorious inheritance.

 So there is nothing more important for us to do than to focus on and place our trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Our readings of the last weeks have reminded us of how terrible that Last Day will be for many people, however here we are reminded of who Jesus Christ is and how important he is in enabling us to face thinking about that day with confidence and hope. Whenever we look anywhere else other than Jesus for our confidence and hope we are left in uncertainty, despair, or with a misplaced and false hope. The Scriptures are very clear that there is only one sure and certain hope for that day.

We and our world so often want to put that focus and hope on ourselves and what we do. ‘He/she was a good person, therefore they will be OK.’ ‘They were good church people,’ or ‘they always helped and cared for other people.’ And there are many other responses as to why people will fare well when it comes to facing the Lord and the Last Day. Yet the Bible is very clear that our destiny does not rest on how ‘good’ we are or are not: None of us are good enough to deserve entry into heaven.

Sure that is a ‘bitter pill’ for our human ego. We all too often want to put ourselves in the centre of the picture. Life is all about, I, me and myself, first and foremost. However here we are reminded again that is Jesus Christ who is central and most important. He and what he says is what needs to be our guiding light in all matters spiritual. His view of the Last Day and what will take place is what is paramount, not our ideas.

 As a result, yes, that Last Day will be a horrible day for those who choose to ignore what God has to say and who do not take Jesus Christ seriously. However, on the other hand, for those who believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Saviour, that Day will be a great and glorious Day. It will be a day when we join with our loved ones who have died in the Lord and with all the saints and angels, to never again be separated. But even more importantly and significantly greater will be the fact that we will be gathered into the presence of our great and glorious God and there enjoy eternal peace, rest and joy in his midst, without any worry, sickness, pain or death ever again.

 With such a wonderful outcome of life awaiting those who are in the Lord, we are here and now encouraged by these words of St Paul to the Ephesians and to us also. His prayer for us all is that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know him better. He knows very well that our human tendency is to turn our focus in on ourselves, so he prays that God’s Spirit, who knows what is good and right and for our lasting good, might impart to us the things that are important for this life; and for us to be able to stand with confidence on that last great day. At the same time this Spirit knows and works with and through the revelation that God has given to us in his Word: For again, it is what we have in the Bible that is what is important for us to know as we go through life.

In that, we are again reminded that the primary task of the Holy Spirit is to help us to know our Lord in a greater way. The Bible is very clear that our God is the Creator and preserver of all things. He is a Holy and Awesome God who is not to be messed with or taken for granted. His holiness is such that he cannot tolerate sin: in fact he pronounced death on Adam and Eve and all who sin. However his love for us was such that he promised a way out for all who look to and place their trust in him. Then in the fullness of time he sent his Son into our world to take care of God’s holiness and wrath so that we might be forgiven and be acceptable in his sight, despite our sin. He died on the cross as punishment for our sin, so that God may look with favour on us and give us his peace.

So the Holy Spirit is seeking for us to have a greater knowledge of God in this way so that we can truly appreciate who he is and what he has done for us. All so that we will have the confidence to face that Last Day knowing that all will be well for us: Not because of anything that we have done, but because of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. This is what Paul next goes on about.

 He prays that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which he has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. In a world that is chasing dream after dream, which is here today and gone tomorrow, the Spirit’s aim is to enlighten us so that we can have a sure and certain hope that is truly great. God wants and has called us to be able to live confidently and positively throughout our life. We can do so when we know for sure that God has made possible his glorious inheritance in the saints. This inheritance is so rich: we will be a part of that which is perfect in every way.  

 Not only is the Spirit seeking to build up in us that knowledge of this hope, but also of God’s incomparably great power for us who believe. The hope we have is not an empty promise, but is accompanied with the power to do the impossible. When we look to ourselves we see that it is impossible for God to accept us, as we do not even come close to living up to God’s expectations of us. We have sinned much and deserve to have God completely abandon us and bar us from eternity. However the same power is at work for us as it did for Jesus.

How great is that power? Here we are drawn to see what God has done for this Jesus on whom was laid the sin of all of us. He was so abhorrent and unacceptable that God punished him with the worst death possible. However God’s power was such that he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. That is amazing. The one who took on himself all the horrendous sin of every single human-being; and was as a result seen by God to be the very worst of sinners and cursed as such; is now raised to life and given the highest position of all. That is something that is way beyond what is reasonable and possible from a human perspective.

But even more than that, we are told that: God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
This Jesus, who willingly took on himself our sin so that we might be forgiven, is now the one who rules over everything and who wants to fill us with everything good in every way. He wants to do all he can so that we can be with him in glory.

 So then, as we look to him and allow his Spirit to work in us, we can have every confidence to go forward positively and with certainty. We know that for all of those who look to him and trust him, that Last Day is not something horrible; but that which will be the very best. For there we will be given the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. We will join with all our loved ones who are in the Lord and all the saints, to forever share in the perfection of what God intends for his people. There to give glory and honour to our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To whom, after-all, belongs all glory and honour now and always. Amen.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish


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