By the will of God...

In the west, especially in America, we like to think of ourselves as "self-made", as having become who we are through our own individual efforts and choices.  Even a little thought demonstrates the fallacy of that conceit.  Why are you the race you are?  Why are you a citizen of your country?  How did you come by your physical and mental capabilities?  Look around; are there others around you that are markedly different in their opportunities and capabilities?  Could you as easily have been born and raised in their circumstances?    Even when in comes to our "raisin's and bringin's up" as my Irish grandmother used to say, we are formed largely by our parents, for good or ill, whom we did not choose.  The most fundamental "material" underlying who we are was not our choice.

OK, granted, you may say. But what I do with that material is my own choice.  And indeed it is, from one perspective.  From the human, in-the-flow-of-time perspective, whatever you do that was not forced upon you was done freely, by your own choice.  The Bible recognizes and assumes the reality of this choice.  Joshua told the Israelites, "Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  God definitely calls us to choose, and respects those choices.  

Nevertheless, there is an out-of-the-flow-of-time, eternal perspective that belongs only to God and is the realm of His own will.  We cannot comprehend this, as we cannot move our own minds out of temporal ways of thoughts.  We live in time as fish live in water, or, more precisely, as we live in the three dimensions of space.  Though we can mathematically describe additional dimensions, we cannot perceive them, we cannot hold them in our mind's eye in the way that we can recall or imagine a smell, a landscape, or a conversation. We live in time and space, and probably always will (presuming that our resurrected existence will be like it was before the Fall, wherein Adam lived in time and space.)  So we can recognize and talk about the eternal will of God, and say true things about it, but we cannot fully comprehend it, and in fact all we can know about it is what is revealed to us by one who lives in it, namely God.  

Paul opens the letter to the Ephesians by noting that he is an apostle "by the will of God."  The full story is told in Acts.  Paul, being born into a prominent Jewish family and into Roman citizenship with all its privileges, received an education from Gamaliel, a rabbi who is still famous and whose writings are still studied today.  Paul was a persecutor of the followers of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus himself states that Paul was a persecutor of Jesus!  Keep in mind that, from our Western perspective, this was all Paul's own choice.  Paul became an apostle of Jesus because Jesus forcibly knocked him from his horse and blinded him while he was on his way to arrest Christians in Damascus.  Paul was told to go into Damascus, blind, and wait for further instructions.  So when Paul states that he is an apostle "by the will of God", he knows that quite literally, and forcibly, and through no choice of his own, his course in life was redirected 180 degrees, and from being a persecutor of Jesus and Christians he would become himself a persecuted Christian and "doulos" (bondservant/slave) of Christ.  This was not because Paul chose this way after much consideration and reflection, but because God chose him and forcibly intervened in his life, against Paul's will.  

This perspective of Paul, that what he is, he is by the will of God, is key to understanding much of the rest that he will write to the Ephesians.  

But consider: what are you "by the will of God"?  Are you a wife, a mother, a husband, a father?  Do you really see these as being "by the will of God"?  If so, then you will see that you are called to those roles, that they were assigned to you by your maker.  Were you given a strong body? a capable mind?  If so, you were assigned those resources by your Father.  Were you given a broken body or mind?  If so, then no less than the able-bodied, you have been given these limitations for a purpose, and you are who you are "by the will of God".  Let us think first about what we have been given, and only then about what we "will" do. 

Thoughts on Ephesians

One might call the letter to the Ephesians the "Deep Gospel" or the "Full Gospel".  It moves beyond the core teaching of the substitutionary death of Christ and of salvation by grace through faith to consider "the mystery of (God's) will" regarding His plan for the whole sweep of history and for all the nations of the world.  The core teaching of the gospel is restated and affirmed, of course, but its underpinnings in God's intentions and choices before the foundation of the world, and its goal for the fullness of time, these are the ideas which excite Paul's exuberant praises, thanksgivings, and encouragements to his brethren in Asia Minor.  God has had an incredible plan all along, since before the creation, key parts of which had remained hidden from the understanding of mankind but which are now revealed to His people in the current, last days of the world:  all things created, whether in Heaven or Earth, are to be united in Christ, and all his people, from all the nations (not just or even primarily Jews) are to be united into one body, which will manifest this fullness of all-in-all.  And we are and will be part of that body.

This letter answers the question, what are we saved for?  To what end our salvation?  Why all these ages before and after the coming of Jesus?  I am a Christian, I have left the bondage of sin and the world, but into what have I entered?  What is the point?  What is God's purpose in history, whether the history of the whole world down through the ages, or the history of my own relatively brief life?

An understanding of these mysteries is the great news that Paul is sharing with the Ephesians, and it is in light of this understanding that we are to live as befits a people with such a glorious past and future.

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I am currently teaching Ephesians to an adult Sunday school class.  As a reference for those students, and an exercise for myself, I will in the coming days attempt to place in this blog space some thoughts on that text.  

Jeremiah 29: The comfort of the Lord's discipline

This is a wonderful chapter. God's people have abandoned Him and served other gods, over and over again, and as a result they are about to be taken into exile to Babylon. There is no doubt in the text that this is punishment for their unfaithfulness, and a fulfillment of the Curse which Moses warned them of, should they abandon their Lord and Saviour.

Yet, love and gentleness are evident here. In Jeremiah 27, God has told His people that if they submit to this inevitable exile graciously and humbly, and do not resist the Babylonians, that they will be spared the murderous destruction that was typical of conquest at that time, and their lives will be spared. But the false prophets argue and subvert Jeremiah's admonition by telling the people that Babylon will fall in two years (it does not.) The people do resist, and we know that their city fell in fire, rape, pillage, and the dashing of infants' heads against the rocks. This was not what God wanted.

In this chapter, Jeremiah addresses the exiles who were taken in the first wave, before the total destruction. Daniel was among these. They are told to embrace life there in exile, not to pine and despair, but to live, to marry, to have babies, to grow food, and to increase in number (very similar to the command to Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.") Most surprisingly, rather than try to undermine or sabotage the Babylonian culture, they are to pray for it, to seek its good, to seek the good of any Babylonian city to which they are taken, for "in its prosperity shall be your prosperity." Why? "Because I know my plans for you, plans not for calamity but for a future and a hope." (My wife's favorite verse.) This whole terrible experience is part of God's plan for their good, for their cleansing, even as a loving father sadly chastises his son or daughter so that they will grow up straight and good and have a good life.

We know that God did ultimately judge Babylon for its great pride and brutality, but that was not to be the goal of his people. They were to seek the real good of these pagan cities, and in so doing, could still have a good life even in the midst of their punishment. Many, even most of the exiles would never see Jerusalem again...seventy years was longer than the normal life span. Yet their children would, and these exiles were to make sure that there would be children to return, and that those children understood why they had been exiled, that they would never fall into idolatry again.

As we find ourselves disciplined by the Lord, we should remember Babylon. Though He chastise us, it is because He loves us and seeks our real prosperity. Furthermore, as we live in these pagan cities of the West, knowing that they are not our homes, we should nevertheless live fully in them, seek their prosperity, for in their prosperity will be our prosperity.

Acts 19: Magic and the name of Jesus

In Ephesus, Paul finds a small group of disciples who apparently heard the gospel in a very indirect and incomplete way, yet believed what they had heard. Paul finds that they have only heard and entered into John the Baptist's baptism of repentance. After explaining the full gospel, they are baptized "in the name of Jesus", and immediately begin speaking in tongues as a manifestation of their receipt of the Holy Spirit. This, I think everyone will agree, is rather miraculous.

Later we see Paul teaching for an extended period in Ephesus, and teaching carefully and accurately about Jesus, as we noted yesterday. In this context of careful teaching and preaching of Jesus, Paul also performs many miracles. This catches the attention of "spiritual practitioners' (exorcists) who try to cast out demons in Jesus' name, but cannot. In another place, a magician named Simon is impressed with Paul's apparent ability to "cause" the Holy Spirit to fall upon his hearers, and offers to buy this power, earning a strong rebuke from Paul.

These incidents seem to offer some insight into the meaning of doing anything "in the name of Jesus." Jesus taught that if we ask anything "in his name", the Father will grant it. This sounds almost like magic. However the episodes in Acts show that it is not merely a matter of saying, "In Jesus' name", but rather of being in a real, actual and personal relationship with Jesus. The miracles performed by Paul were incidental, not central, to his ministry of serving others by bringing them into a relationship with Jesus. The miracles occurred because he had a relationship with Jesus, knew Jesus, and shared His heart and desires. Simon and the exorcists had no such relationship, and their attempt to use Jesus' name in a formulaic way, like an incantation, was abortive.

We are asking "in the name of Jesus" only when we have a relationship with him and are in a position in which we represent His desires when we pray. If we are simply stating our own desires, without reference to that relationship, and add the words, "In Jesus name", we are using His name in a magical way, and can expect no particular answer, except possibly discipline.

Acts 18: Reasonable faith.

Twice in this chapter, it is stated that Paul "reasoned" with his hearers, trying to persuade the Jews of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Late in the chapter, Priscilla and Aquila take aside another preacher of the gospel and instruct him more carefully, so that what he states will be more accurate. All the persuading and refutation going on here is based upon reason and an accurate understanding of scripture and historical facts.
There is no touchy-feely, loosey-goosey gospel here, but sober, careful, prolonged reasoning in which accuracy is paramount. Paul does not rely on tricks, or emotional appeals, but seems to rely upon careful discourse with educated men and women. Earlier in the book of Acts, a possessed slave girl known for divination follows Paul around and proclaims that he is telling the truth. One might think that Paul would welcome this testimony, but he does not. He is annoyed with it, and eventually casts out the demon, even though the demon was "supporting his message." He is content with the gospel message, carefully and reasonably preached and discussed, and needs and wants no dramatic sideshows, even if they support his message.

Today, the gospel, taken seriously, learned carefully, and discussed faithfully and accurately, is equally persuasive. The reason of man may not be sufficient to discover the gospel or attain salvation, but it is nevertheless a gift to man from God which is to be used in all our discourse about the gospel.

Thoughts on Readings

Not much...almost nothing...has been going on here. I am convicted that despite all the reading and thinking that I do, I don't very often share what I have learned. Each time I pray the Daily Office, I pray the line, "Lord, Open our lips". Perhaps, if I simply write down some of the thoughts I have when doing my devotional reading, someone out there might find it useful. So here goes....

Immanuel, the First and the Last

One of Jesus's names is Immanuel, which means "God with us". In the first chapter of Revelation, we see Jesus among the lampstands, which are the churches in their light-giving aspect. In the opening to this book, the Lord God says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who was and is and is to come, the Almighty." Alpha and Omega were the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, of course, and under this statement can be brought all sorts of ways in which God is the First and the Last. He is eternal, existing before the first thing and beyond the last thing; he encompasses all; he is the first and final cause of all things; he was there before the beginning and will be there after the end, etc. He always was, he is currently, and he is "coming" in the future. His saying, "Is to come" rather than the strictly parallel "will be" suggests a future not merely of existing but of acting, of self-revelation.

In the opening vision, we see Jesus standing among the Lampstands of the Seven Churches. He is there in their midst, holding in his hand their "angels". He identifies himself as "the First and the Last", not using the exact Alpha and Omega terminology used a few verses prior, but clearly reflecting the same idea. Do a word search on "first and last" and you will see that it is used of God throughout the Old Testament. (In the OT, it would not have been Alpha and Omega because those books were not originally written in Greek, but in Hebrew or Aramaic.)

So here, at the opening, we see Jesus, the eternal one, the one who died and returned to life, standing here on earth, in our midst, caring for us, having the angels of our churches in the palm of his hand. Jesus as Immanuel, God with us. Whatever frightening vision are to come, this revelation begins comfortingly with the truth that we are not alone in the world, that though we may not see Him with our physical eyes, yet Jesus is in our midst, walking among His churches.