faithjourney

A Community in Christ (pt 1)

https://youtu.be/dWa6iH7-LgY?si=bO2B1E0PyfOs5erT

A sense of community and belonging is a very powerful need for human beings; very important for our mental and physical health. It helps us to build a sound sense of self-identity. In healthy communities people are supported to grow and flourish as human beings, to find and develop their talents and skills and to live in healthy relationships. In healthy communities people feel valued. So we naturally build communities to foster the things that are important to us. Education, health, food production, the arts, politics, culture and religion all have their community support structures to facilitate their activities. And in times of difficulty or uncertainty it is often to our communities that we go for support and guidance.

People were no different in the Apostle Paul’s time and community support structures were just as important, particularly religious ones. But, the Christian church, which was in its infancy, was specifically targeted for persecution as an unacceptable new religion. Christians could, as Paul knew by experience, be beaten and imprisoned for their faith and martyrdom was a real threat. So Paul knew if the church was to not only going survive, but flourish and grow, it needed a very strong foundation, as a community, and for each of its individual believers.

So when we come to the book of Ephesians, which Paul wrote while imprisoned, we find not a letter dealing with sin and salvation, like Romans, or the pastoral issues a particular church was facing, but a letter addressed simply to all devoted believers. These then, are things that Paul thought it important for all Christians and their communities to know, so it follows we would likely benefit from knowing them too.

After his standard greetings Paul writes one really long opening sentence which in our English bibles is cut up into 11 verses and even more sentences. And it is in this one long sentence, which begins in verse 3, that Paul sets out the framework of understanding for the rest of the letter.

The poetic and rhythmic style of this long Greek sentence has lead some commentators to postulate it was an early hymn or creed but as there is no other evidence of this, it is also just as likely that Paul was so wrapped up in the beauty of the things he was describing that it naturally came out in a poetic-hymn style. There is so much in this one sentence that today we will just look at verses 3-7.

And in the Passion Translation verse 3 reads:

1:3 “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!”

As the commentator FF Bruce says,“Here the keynote of the Epistle to the Ephesians is struck at once. The writer and his readers are ‘in Christ’ – members of Christ, sharers of his resurrection life – and because Christ himself is now exalted in the heavenly realm, those who are ‘in him’ belong to that heavenly realm , too”

When we were living in Germany, in April 1986, we decided to go to Paris for a long weekend. To do so at that time, we required a visa. So we went to the nearest French consulate to get one. While waiting to get ours, we overheard some other people also trying to get visas to enter France. There was a Chinese man who had been invited to speak at a conference in Paris. Despite all the documentation he had that the invitation was real he was not believed and could not get a visa. A German man was also unable to get a visa for his Mexican wife, a permanent German resident, because she was still a Mexican citizen. And a Spanish man was grilled in detail about his intentions before reluctantly being given a 12 hour visa. In contrast, we simply handed over our passports, waited a little while and then were given them back with the standard visa stamped inside. No questions asked.

The more we travelled the clearer became just how much privilege there was attached to being a white Australian citizen. The origins of our birth put us in a very privileged class.

Likewise here in this beginning verse Paul is saying God has put us in an even more privileged class, a truly blessed community for..

“Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father”

God, our heavenly parent, our maker, has given us a love gift of all that He is and has. It is simply astounding to contemplate. All heaven’s blessing lavished upon us: all God’s love, holiness, righteousness, purity, power, joy, peace, authority and glory residing in us for us to embrace and live in and through. Can you believe it? What an extraordinary privilege! What a firm foundation for any person and community!

But how, you might say, how has God done this? Has it really happened? How could this possibly be achieved?

It is all, says Paul, because God sees us wrapped into Christ. From God’s perspective we are in Christ now. Already glorified residents of heaven. We are as much a part of God’s family as Jesus is, because we are a part of everything Jesus is. All His holiness, righteousness, purity, glory, power, joy and love is wrapped in and around us to make us just like Him, a beloved child of God, created in God’s image. Even as an idea it is probably far greater than anything we would imagine for ourselves, but it is not just an idea, it is a reality. And a reality we can choose to live from daily through the Holy Spirit’s personal ministry.

Is that not something worth celebrating again and again?

Imagine communities of people who are increasingly living ‘in Christ’, living in and from the love, compassion, holiness and integrity of Jesus – is that not what the world most needs now?

Now I am sure it won’t surprise you to know that some have questioned whether these heavenly blessings are ours now or only when we die and go to heaven. But Paul’s language in this passage is quite explicit. This has already happened and is a reality we can begin to experience now. How much can we experience now? It would seem the limits are in only in our beliefs and thinking. For Paul says every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift because

God has wrapped us into Christ.

And Paul continues in verse 4, explaining:

1:4a “And in love he [God] chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe!”

So the origins of us being ‘in Christ’ began in the love of God before this universe was even made, before we existed. God loved us and chose us in love when we were just an idea. And I can imagine the Trinity deciding it together. Seeing in their mind’s eye an extended family they could create, full of love, joy and and fellowship and choosing to create us in that. They chose us, not because we could earn such love but because they have such deep love and joy they want to share with us for eternity.

So as individual believers and as a Christian community we can rest in the fact that our existence ‘in Christ’ is and always has been God’s loving choice for us.

We are God’s Beloved, chosen in Christ

And verse 4 continues with

1:4b “Because of his great love, he [God] ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.”

When our current king was born to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip he was immediately recognised as the person who would inherit the British Throne from Elizabeth. The authority of the English law of succession degreed it and that made it so. By law he was ordained to be King on Elizabeths death, and indeed that is what happened.

Similarly, because of the greatness of His love for us, God established by His authority that we would be holy with an unstained innocence, entirely sanctified.

The word holy carries the meaning of being set apart, consecrated, or sanctified for sacred use. It underscores the moral and spiritual purity associated with holiness. The idea is that what God calls holy must be distinct in purpose and dedicated to His honour. This designation reflects not only a moral standard but also a transformative relationship with the God who is entirely separate from sin and imperfection.

God knew we would need holiness if we were to be in intimate relationship with Him, and He knew we could never be that without His help, so by His authority He gifted it to us. This is not just wishful thinking or future dreaming on God’s part because Paul makes it clear that for God, these things are true for us now.

We are God’s Beloved, chosen and holy in Christ

1:5-6 “For” Paul continues in verse 5 and 6, “it was always in his [God’s] perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace —for the same love he has for the Beloved, Jesus, he has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure!”

In the Roman Empire, as Paul and this letter’s recipients were, adoption was a far more formal and serious process than what we have now. In that time and society, fathers had complete control over their children ALL their life. As long as the father was alive, his children and their property were under the father’s complete control, no matter how old or powerful they were. He even had the right to kill them. And when the father died they inherited all his property and any debts. So when a child, normally a son, was adopted by a new family, there was quite an involved ceremony, in which the son was actually sold three times from his current to the new father. And when that sale was complete the new father now had complete control over the adopted son. The son was no longer answerable to his old father, and could no longer inherit either property or debts from his old father. In every sense the transfer of relationship was complete and the adopted son treated the same as a biological son of the new father.

Likewise, as FF Bruce put it in his commentary on Ephesians:“God marked us out in advance as those who were to receive a highly honoured status as His sons (and in this case sons is not meant to refer to a gender but children who fully inherit all the father has). This ‘adoption’ is more than our relationship to God as His children which is ours by the new birth; it embraces all the privileges and responsibilities which belong to those whom God has acknowledged as his freeborn, full grown [heirs]. It is a status which we receive in Christ .. through faith (Galatians 3:26; 4:5)”

When King Charles was first conceived, a potential king was alive. Yet as a newborn baby King Charles had no concept of his royal identity. But as he grew that changed and he learned of and was prepared for his future role as King in the belief it would happen. And now he is king.

Similarly, as believers, we only consciously begin to experience being united with Christ, being God’s beloved, when we believe in and accept God’s gift of salvation. Then the Holy Spirit guides and empowers us into learning to live as God’s children. But from God’s point of view we have always been the people of His eternal choice and that choice is so completely bound up with the person of Christ that we have been ‘in Christ’, in His Beloved, since before this world’s foundation. God put us ‘in Christ’ so our personal journey is one of coming into agreement with God.

And Paul in Romans 8 tell us our status as sons of God will be given full and universal recognition” when Christ returns and all of creation will then be freed from slavery to decay and share in our joy.

Our salvation is so much more that just a ticket to heaven! It is a very real loving community, wrapped in Christ, in unity with God, glorifying Him.

None of this is earned by us, not even when we believed the Gospel, for even that is a gift. It is all a gift of God’s love. For the same depth of love God has for Jesus he has for us! And this tremendous gift of love, poured out on us, glorifies God and the wonder of His grace in choosing us.

In Christ we are God’s Beloved holy heirs, glorifying Him.

But what about our sins? What has God done about all the times we have and will ignore Him, choosing other paths?

1:7 “Since we are now joined to Christ,” continues Paul in verse 7, “we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace.”

Travelling abroad as white Australians in the 1980s we found our authenticity, motives and past were never doubted or questioned. We were welcomed wherever we went. It was a great privilege, a gift of birth that in reality we basically took for granted.

But our union with Jesus is a much greater gift and privilege for it releases us from the debt of all our sin and births in us into a life of holiness as God’s Beloved holy children. God has given us freedom from sin to live as His holy children. And for God, the process of adopting us was so intimate and costly it was as if He crucified His very own heart. The cost to God was the life of His Beloved son, Jesus, yet He paid it willingly.

In Christ we are God’s beloved holy heirs, glorifying Him.

Because we are made in God’s image, God knows a sense of community and belonging is very important for our mental, physical and spiritual health. So He built the church in Christ. In Christ we are fully supported to grow and flourish as human beings, to find and develop our talents and skills and to live in healthy relationships. In Christ we can be filled with a sound sense of self-identity as we experience holiness and being deeply and eternally valued by God.

Being ‘in Christ’ is the firm foundation we need.

So let’s just stop here and take time to receive some of the blessings of being in Christ, Paul has mentioned thus far. Things which will help to anchor and secure us in the intimate knowledge that we are full members of God’s family.

Please remember these heavenly treasures are not things to be earned, nor any reflection on your current life situation or feelings, they simply come from a loving God who loves giving gifts.

So let’s pray.

Just make yourself comfortable and close your eyes

And in your mind see that Jesus is here.

Jesus is here, as He promised He would be.

Jesus is here, right now

Jesus is here, in and around you

The light of His Glory fills and surrounds you

Welcome Him

Worship Him

Jesus is here

Jesus is here

Jesus is here right now

Jesus is saying, “My child I love you.

Not as the world loves with conditions and strings attached

But as God loves me, we both love you

Deeply, unconditionally and eternally

I love being part of you

Living in you

Giving you all that I am and have

It was for the joy of being with you like this that I went to the cross

Knowing we were one

Knowing I could die with you and for you

To break the hold of sin and death over you

Erasing all record of your sin

And even better,

Knowing I could rise with you to the powerful new eternal life of Glory

That God planned for both of us

Hold my hands Beloved

See how My Presence

The fullness of who I am

Fills you to overflowing

My Holiness

My righteousness

My purity

My peace

My love

My joy

The very fullness of My glory

Is all yours

Flowing in you till you are overflowing with Me

You are in me as I am in you

Rest in me Beloved

In all I have done for you

Rejoice in me

And all we are together

You are God’s Beloved child

And in you He is WELL pleased.

Receive that now

Live in that today

For all of heaven’s blessings are yours now and forever.

In Me

(Pause)

Remember you can come to me for more of heaven’s blessings any time you like

For it brings me great joy to share them with you

Amen.

A New Heart and Spirit

A New Heart and Spirit

“Therefore, say to the people of Israel what I, Lord Yahweh, say: I will not take action for your sake, people of Israel, but for the sake of the honour of my holy name, which you have caused to be slandered among the nations wherever you have gone. I am going to magnify the holiness of my great name, which you have greatly dishonoured before the eyes of foreign nations. And when I magnify my holiness in you before their eyes, the nations will know that I am Yahweh. I, Lord Yahweh, have spoken.

I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back home to your own land.

I will sprinkle purifying water over you, and you will be cleansed from all the filth of your past.

I will wash you clean from the defilement of worshipping false gods.

I will graciously give you a new, tender heart and put a new, willing spirit inside you.

I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead.

I will put my Holy Spirit in you to empower you to keep my laws and to live by them.

You will be my people and I will be your God.”

Ezk. 36:22-28 TPT

I was brought up going to Sunday School or church every Sunday. By the time I was 16 years old I was convinced I would never be good enough to be acceptable to God and there was nothing I could do about it. Church was becoming increasingly boring and irrelevant and I was seriously thinking of giving up on it all together.

Then I went on a Christian holiday camp. I can’t now imagine what made me choose that camp as it was all outdoors activities, sailing, canoeing, hiking, camping etc and I was not an outdoors activities type of person. But I went. And at that camp I met too remarkable people. One was my group leader and the other was the camp chef. And these two people stood out because right from the very moment we met, they genuinely acted like people who really cared about me, even though they really knew nothing about me at all. I had never met such loving people. As the camp went on I could see that what was special about these two people was Jesus presence in them. It is hard to explain but I could really see Jesus in these two people and it became clear that it was Jesus who was loving me and accepting me, just as I was, through these two people. And I knew I wanted to stay in that love, and be empowered to love others like that, for the rest of my life. So I went to a quiet place and asked Jesus to be lord and saviour of my life. And I knew His answer was yes!

Shortly after that I was baptised and became a member of my home church. I joined the youth group hoping to get some insight into how to live the Christian life. At one of the Bible studies the youth group ran I can remember asking one of the leaders what you needed to do as a Christian. He said, “Read the Bible and do what it says.” So that is what I attempted to do for very many years.

When I became and adult I got married, completed an honours degree and doctorate in science and began a career as a research scientist in West Germany..

During that time, I read the Bible, was in home groups that studied and discussed the Bible, and listened to sermons on Bible passages and I can honestly say it had little impact. I knew there was still a huge gap between discipleship as I read about in the Bible and what I could do, but I could not understand how to bridge that gap. So my Christianity became performance based and I was not happy with that but could not see another way.

One day, as I was sitting in church service at an American Military Base Church in West Germany, the preacher started to talk about the power of God’s love to transform our lives. He went on to quote a passage from a children’s story called “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams.

The main character in the story is a stuffed velveteen rabbit, a child’s toy. The scene he quoted was this discussion between the children’s toys:

“”What is REAL?” Asked the Rabbit one day, , when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL.”

“Does it hurt?” Asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse, “you become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

“I suppose you are Real?” Said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

“The Boy’s Uncle made me Real,” he said. “That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”

In those words I heard God saying to me that His love for me was gong to make me into the real person He created me to be, the loving person He created me to be, and that assurance renewed and strengthened my conviction that Jesus was the answer I needed.

My husband and I had our first child, moved to Tasmania, had a second child, and then moved to NSW. There we joined a large vibrant Church. I had stopped working when I had the kids but gradually began working again, running Biology lab classes.

One Sunday, in a prayer time at the end of sermon on commitment, I re-confirmed my commitment to follow Jesus. As I did that I was suddenly aware of God’s presence. It was like He was sitting in the pew behind me and He leant forward to me and said, “I want you to go to Bible College.”

As it happened, our church had a Bible College, training ministers, on site. But I was totally taken aback by the idea. “I can’t I replied. I’m a scientist with all that training and just restarting my science career. People will think I am crazy if I give all that up! No, I can’t do it!” God did not reply. He did not need to. I knew what He wanted and the choice was mine to make. It took me quite some weeks. Every Sunday in church I would be aware of God’s Presence, just behind me, waiting for me to say yes. And I would present the same argument knowing deep down that it was pointless.

I thought maybe discussing the idea with my husband would be a way of getting out of it but he just told me to do what I wanted to do and he would support me. So I decided to go and talk to the head of the Bible College in our church and see if she would refuse to take me. So I went in and told her how I had experienced God telling me to go to college, and explained how this seemed a crazy waste of all my science training. Then I pulled out my trump card. I was not suitable material , I told her, to go to college and train to be a minister. I was largely just pretending to be a Christian. Sure I came to church most Sundays, and went to a small group Bible Study, but except when my circumstances demanded it, I did not read my Bible and did not pray. Not only that, I did not want to. The Bible made no real sense to me and my prayers were useless. I thought this was bound to get me barred from college and packed off to get my act together. How could a hopeless Christian like me train for the ministry? But she just looked at me and smiled and said, “We can deal with that. When would you like to start?” So I left science and went to Bible College.

One of the first subjects I did at Bible College was a guide in how to prepare sermons. The first assignment we had in this subject was to prepare all the notes and information we would need to write a sermon on Ezekiel chapter 37. And the first thing we were instructed to do when preparing a sermon was to read the chapters that came before and after the passage for the sermon. So I read Ezekiel chapter 36. When I got to verse 26 I read

“I will graciously give you a new, tender heart and put a new, willing spirit inside you. I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead.” Ezk. 36:26 TPT

And as I read this verse it was like the words were written in bright neon lights, to make the point they were just for me. I recognised God was making the point that this was an offer He was making to me personally on that day. I knew my heart had become hardened and I could not love others in the way I wanted to so I most enthusiastically said. “Yes please! Do that in me!”

The first thing I noticed was that it was like a great burden had been lifted from me. I did not have to find a way to become the person God wanted me to be, He was going to do it in me! I could relax and stop pretending I knew how to be a Christian.

So was this accomplished just like that? Was I suddenly all God wanted me to be? Was I suddenly completely holy?

The answer is yes and no. Yes God has cleansed me from all sin, and given me a new responsive heart and spirit, joined to His Holy Spirit, and He is my God. But this is a HUGE HUGE HUGE gift. So big it is really impossible to describe much less experience and live in in one day. And God’s ways of doing things are often so different from what I know and expect, though always better. The only thing I can liken it to is going to live in a foreign country where you don’t even know the language. It takes time to learn a new language and new culture and new ways of doing things. We take for granted that so many of the things we do are normal and have so many habits that we are not even aware of. And that’s ok. God knows that. What He wants is a chance to be with you and in you, in everything you say and do so that TOGETHER you can become the person He created you to be. A child of God, made in God’s image. It is both an immediate change and a life journey. And God loves to journey, to do life, with His people.

“I will sprinkle purifying water over you, and you will be cleansed from all the filth of your past.

I will wash you clean from the defilement of worshipping false gods.

I will graciously give you a new, tender heart and put a new, willing spirit inside you.

I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead.

I will put my Holy Spirit in you to empower you to keep my laws and to live by them.

You will be my child and I will be your God.”

If there is one passage in the Bible that describes the Gospel, for me it is this one, Ezekiel 36:25-28. And it is God’s gift of love to us, and ALL God’s work from beginning to end. All you need to do is agree, accept this amazing gift, open it and live in it with Him.

We could spend a lifetime exploring what this passage means in practice and how it relates to the rest of Scripture but the one thing I want to make clear to you today is that it is ALL God’s work, every single bit of it. All a gift from His heart of love. And if you want it it is yours now, today.

So today God is making an offer to you:

“I will sprinkle purifying water over you, and you will be cleansed from all the filth of your past.

I will wash you clean from the defilement of worshipping false gods.

I will graciously give you a new, tender heart and put a new, willing spirit inside you.

I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead.

I will put my Holy Spirit in you to empower you to keep my laws and to live by them.

You will be my child and I will be your God.”

Is that what you want too?