Ephesians 2:1-10 ...you were dead in your transgressions and sins...we were...objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God...made us alive...raised us up with Christ... seated us with him... that... he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...it is the gift of God... so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice how Paul preaches the gospel to the Ephesian believers. The emphasis is not on their faith or acceptance of Christ, but in God's work. As a matter of fact, the act of faith is not even mentioned except briefly in verse 8. To me this is the difference in preaching the gospel to unbelievers and preaching the gospel to myself. I need to remember God's work first and foremost. It is because He first made me alive that I was able by faith, to trust in Him. To an unbeliever, I would stress the "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." To the believer, see who you were, what he has done, and out of a heart overflowing with gratitude for his grace - live the life to which you are called (vs. 10).

A short prayer

It is amazing, Father, that the One Holy God has chosen to reveal himself to sinful man. Help me to overcome my sinful nature and to see you more clearly. It is only in this that I will find true joy in life. I ask that the desires of my heart would be turned to love you above all that I am immersed in. That the way you want me to live would become as a second nature. Thank you for your gift of salvation in which I stand today. Amen.

Col. 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
What does it mean for Christ to have supremacy (first place)? First, Christ is God's display of His glory to fallen man. In Jesus we have all of God in a human body. Yet, He is king over all mankind and creation. And it is through Him that fallen mankind can be restored to a right relationship with God. His preeminence is in this sense part of his nature. Second, Christ's supremacy is over the church. He's the boss. Although He is the Sovereign over all creation, the church is special in that we are his redeemed people who are living out the kingdom of God in the world today. Christ is head of this body. I am a part of this body, therefore, all areas of my life should reflect my King's priorities. Today, I want to place Jesus in his rightful place as King by reordering my priorities around Him and His priorities.

2 Cor. 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Notice where Paul has fixed his gaze... not simply into eternity, but on an object that stands in eternity. The promise of God, the person of Christ, the kingdom of our God - all these are unseen and stand beyond the "temporary." If our hope is fixated on Christ, the troubles and cares of life will not shake us. When we fix our hope on this life, troubles will overwhelm us. We can have confidence in the circumstances around us because the sovereignty of God is working towards an end. It is not the end in itself. Take confidence today. If our eyes are fixed on the things around us, we must readjust our focus and place our hope for this life and the next in Christ.

2 Cor 1:21, 3:18 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ...And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
My salvation will always be because of Christ. My salvation experience in the past, the living out of my salvation in the present, and my future completed salvation in a life that goes on forever with God. It is a temptation to think that my present experience of salvation (sanctification) will be caused in part by my obedience, my spiritual disciplines, my love for God. Yet Scripture is definite when it states "God makes...us...stand firm in Christ." This is God's work, not mine. The result of His work is that day by day we are transformed into his image allowing us to see more and more of his glory. Delight in the glory of God is to begin in our present experience of salvation and will only grow until the consumation of our salvation when we will "see Him as He is."

Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
What are needs? So often I make my wants, my needs. God has promised to provide abundantly for us as his children. Our deepest needs are not physical. Yes, God will provide our physical needs (see Matthew 6:25-34), but here he speaks of providing our needs "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Perhaps this refers to my daily needs, but it also speaks to my spiritual needs. The riches I have in Christ are far beyond any riches we can gain on earth. They are not worth comparison. It is my tendency to focus on the temporal rather than the eternal. There are very few things that will last forever. Relationships may be one of the things that we will last into eternity future. Even if they do, all relationships are secondary to the primary relationship (with God). All other relationships exist because of that one. In this sense, the relationship I have with God on this side of eternity is the only thing I will carry past the grave. My primary business, then, must be this relationship. All other relationships and life events (the things I enjoy or suffer through) must all be held in light of my eternal relationship with my Father in Heaven, through His Son, made real today in my life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 8:1b-3 Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.

 

In this passage, Paul turns his attention to a problem in the Corinithian church. Some of the Corinithian believers were exercising their Christian liberty by eating meat offered to idols. However, other believers (having been saved out of the pagan environment) viewed this as sin. The first comment Paul makes is regarding knowledge and love. He isolates love as a governing principle for the Christian life. Verse 3 is interesting because Paul does not immediately go where I would think he would. He ends up there in verse 13 when he declares that if his eating meat will cause a brother to fall into sin (by partaking in eating meat and violating his conscience), "I will never eat meat again." But it's not where he starts. He starts with love for God (vs. 3).

 

All relationships we have with others must flow from a love for God. Unless we love God, our love for others will be self gratifying. If I do not first love God but attempt to love others, I find my love to be contingent on their actions. It is as I love God and am known by Him that I am able to truly love. Because my focus is Godward, not toward people, their actions have no impact on my love. It is in this way that we can love those that are "unlovable." Not only the unlovable, though, for even those we love most (for me, my wife) will let me down. It is of vital importance that we develop first a love for God before venturing into the realm of loving others. It is then that we can truly love with God's love.

1 Cor. 4:4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

 

The conscience is a God given thing, I thank the Lord for my conscience; however, because of the deceitfulness of sin, my conscience will deceive me. The apostle Paul lived with a clear conscience, but realized that sin can very easily still creep in. I look to my wife and other believers who would know me well (unfortunately they are few and far away, at this point...) to help me in this area. As depressing as it can be to see our sin, it is always important to remember grace. As we come to God's Word, and become more sensitive to the Spirit's conviction, our sin becomes more and more visible. Yet, never forgetting, that this is part of God's grace in our lives  ...where sin increased, grace increased all the more. (Rom 5:20)

Romans 13:14 ...clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Each day I feel that I am realizing (more and more vividly) how far I have yet to go! And how often I put on masks to make myself look better than I am. Putting sin to death in our lives needs to begin with our thoughts. We need to guard our patterns of thought (...do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature). Guarding our thought life, however, is only one side of the coin. We must also actively clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus. Just as I put clothes on in the morning, so too must I be actively placing my mind and spirit under the covering and control of my Lord.

Romans 8:6b ...the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace...

How often do our minds fit into this description? One of the signs of a Spirit empowered life is a mind that is controlled by life and peace. In this passage, Paul contrasts life in the Spirit with death in sin. We as believers have One who overcame sin on our behalf, this is why we now are controlled by life. So often, however, we think that sin is still in control. The truth of it is that the Spirit is control. Lord, I ask to be changed so that I live out this truth! The second sign of a Spirit empowered life (by this I mean a truly Christian life - not a mystical experience) is that our minds will be controlled by peace. As Phillipians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." What does it mean to have a mind controlled by the Spirit? Our lives will be lives of peace. Even in conflict. There is a peace that comes in the midst our daily busyness as we realize that even then, God is at work. His Spirit will accomplish his purpose of sanctification through the daily events (trials, temptations, and successes).

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. - Romans 10:33-36

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

I read a definition of theology that I really liked. "Theology is faith seeking understanding." I like this for a few reasons. First, it is grounded in faith. There have been many "theologians" who have no true faith in God. Under this definition, they may be psychologists, but not theologians. Theology must begin in and flow from our faith. If our theology is merely based on facts, it becomes stale; theology based on faith is alive and must find practical expression. Second, the definition emphasizes the ongoing nature of theology. To arrive at an end point in theology is to arrive at a completed understanding of our faith, including it’s object – God. Of course this is impossible! Our theology must always be being refined by the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and lastly our experience of the Word and the Spirit (in subjection to the first two). Finally, the definition is simple. It’s easy one to remember.

As the verse in Hebrews emphasizes, faith is being sure of our hope. Blending this verse and the above definition, hope becomes an orientation for theology. What do you hope for? My hope is often misplaced. My hope must always be looking forward to that day when the consumation of all things occurs. Revelation gives us this:

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

What would it mean for me to orient myself around this? Well for starters it puts a correct perspective on life. Theology must be practical, if it is not, it is of no benefit.

1 John 3:1a How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

I am a father of five children. Last night was not a restful night. On my way in to work this morning, God in his goodness reminded me of all I have to be thankful for. It started with seeing the sun coming up, breathing, walking, my family, etc. It was precisely what I needed. It reminds me of an old hymn called "Count your blessings". But I find that for me, blessings very quickly become expectations. This is why the gospel is for today. The verse above is exactly the blessing I need to remember. Not the "I'm a great guy and no wonder God wants for his child" attitude but "I, as a hater of God, have been given this BLESSING of childhood."

Phillipians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
In this passage our Saviour gives us a model for relating to those around us. It says that he "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." I would then ask this...

If divinity is not something to be grasped, what is? My petty clutching on to things such as being noticed for my work, being appreciated for what I do, my finances, my aspirations... this is getting pathetic!

Today in my workplace, how can I be like Christ? Whatever I am grasping is so far beneath what he released that it is not worthy of comment.

Thank you for giving me an example, Lord. Help me to follow this in the relationships that surround me today.