Besides the happenings around the incarnation and death of Christ there could hardly have been an event which had a greater influence on the course of world history than the conversion of Saul, or Paul of Tarsus. After all who, apart from our Lord, has played a greater role in the development of the world's thinking and historical development?
This is indeed the most famous of all conversions. Even non-believers know the story. Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, writes in some detail about it no less than three times. Here in our text he relates it himself, and later twice reports on how Paul himself describes it in his speeches (Acts 22:1-16; 26:9-18).
A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS CONVERSION
People often talk of a "Damascus Road" conversion, which alludes to Saul's dramatic about-turn to Jesus.
The conversion of one who hated the church.
A dramatic conversion it was indeed. Just think of Saul as he was before the event.
Prior to this chapter Luke refers to Saul three times. In 7:58 it is mentioned that Saul looked after the clothes of those who stoned Stephen. In 8:1 we read that the young Pharisee approved of the murder. And in 8:3 we find his hate-filled persecution of the church.
Luke's choice of words emphasises Saul's bitter and unremitting persecution of Jesus' disciples. Calvin describes him as a wild and bloodthirsty animal.
According to Acts 8:3 Saul "began to destroy" the church. In non-Biblical Greek the word refers to the way in which a wild animal tears a carcass to pieces.
In 9:21 we read that the people were astonished upon hearing that the persecutor of the church had been converted and was preaching the gospel. Is this not the man who "caused havoc" in Jerusalem among those who call on His name? The word they used could be translated as crush or destroy. Paul himself uses the word twice in the letter to the Galatians to describe his obsessive persecution of the church before his conversion (1:13; 23).
Paul was "breathing out murderous threats" against the Lord's disciples (9:1). This expression could also refer to the growling and snorting of wild animals.
No wonder that the apostle in later years said, "In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them" (26:11).
Truly this was a most dramatic conversion in the fullest sense of the word. Within a matter of days the ferocious wolf turned into a lamb - in fact, a loving and caring shepherd.
The Spirit prepared Saul for this moment.
Was Saul's conversion really an out of the blue happening as people seem to think?
Certainly he was changed in a moment from someone full of burning hatred into a broken man who wanted with all his heart to serve the Lord.
But do not think that the Lord had not spoken to him before he went on that journey to Damascus.
In Paul's version of what happened to him (Acts 26) he said that the Lord had spoken to him as he fell to the ground and said, "It is hard for you to kick against the goads" (14). The image used is that of a sharp instrument used to tame a wild animal. The implication is that the Lord had already for some time been breaking him in.
Are there any indications in the Word that this had been the case? Indeed! The Lord prepared Saul over a period for the Damascus road.
What are the goads against which he kicked?
• We may assume that Paul wrestled with doubts even at the time when he was filled with hate against the Christians.
He was about the same age as Jesus and it is most likely that the young rabbi had seen and heard Jesus. How could this intelligent man, versed as he was in the Old Testament Messianic prophesies, not have wondered sometimes about this remarkable Man from Nazareth?
• Another goad must have been Stephen's martyrdom. This godly man's powerful sermon and strong witness simply must have made an impression on this ardent devotee to Judaism. Quite possibly he was in the meeting of the Sanhedrin when they saw how Stephen's face became like that of an angel (Acts 6:15).
• The sharpest goad in Saul's flesh was, however, his own conscience. He could testify later that he had been faultless as far as legalistic righteousness was concerned (Ph 3:6). But to be outwardly exemplary is one thing; what goes on in your mind is something completely different. That is why Paul admits in Rm 7:7 ff. that he had suffered under what went on in his heart. Especially the tenth commandment - against covetousness - gradually convinced him of his depravity.
Once the Holy Spirit starts working on a person's conscience, it is a matter of time before you capitulate.
What we have to recognize therefore, is that Saul's experience on the Damascus road was not merely a sudden conversion, but had probably been preceded by a long process of conviction by the Holy Spirit.
In his conversion Saul was not completely passive.
The Lord's grace was not so overpowering that it ruled out Saul's will and choice.
Yes, the Lord so humiliated Saul that he fell to the ground. But He did not destroy him. He did not make a robot out of Saul. No, the future apostle's mind and will certainly played a role.
In asking Saul, "Why do you persecute me?", the Lord was addressing Saul's mind and conscience. And Saul was not so overcome that he was unable to talk. He asked after all, "Who are you, Lord?" When the Lord replied, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting", the words were etched so deeply in his being that he became and remained for the rest of his life a relentless worker for Christ's honour, gospel, kingdom and church.
Last but not least, Saul could obey a command. He got up and walked to Damascus.
PAUL'S CONVERSION WAS A SOVEREIGN ACT OF GOD
Having said all the above, it must also be stressed that this conversion was an act of sovereign grace on the part of God.
After all, the Lord initiated everything that occurred - the preparatory work, the light from heaven, the voice, the irresistible power. Clearly God decided that the moment had come for Saul's salvation, and thus it was unavoidable.
Furthermore, Paul never tired of stressing in his writings that the Lord had sovereignly taken hold of his life. That is why he wrote in Gl 1:15-16, "God ... set me apart from birth and called me by his grace".
He then goes on to say that God had revealed His Son to him so that he could proclaim the gospel amongst the heathen nations.
Paul's conviction that he had been saved by sovereign grace is strikingly underlined by some of the expressions he uses.
• In Ph 3:12 he says that Christ had taken hold of him. The word also means "to arrest". Ironically, this happened to Paul just before he arrived in Damascus to arrest the Christians!
• In 2Cor 4:6 he compares a true conversion experience to God's sovereign words at creation, "Let light shine out of darkness". Thus, he says, God made His light shine in his heart to give him the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. This, he then says, is the light that shines forth from Jesus Christ.
In 1 Tm 1:14 he writes that the grace of the Lord was poured out on him abundantly. The image he uses is that of a river in flood.
• In this connection Stott in his commentary calls to mind a few metaphors that C.S. Lewis uses in his autobiography (Surprised by Joy) with regard to his own conversion. Lewis writes that the Lord reeled him in like a fish; he felt like a mouse being chased by a cat; it was like a fox being overtaken by a pack of hounds; like a chess player gradually being manoeuvred into a position of checkmate.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS TELL US?
1. Think for a moment of your own conversion.
The circumstances and the manner of every person's conversion to Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest and King are unique. Each one of us has his or her own story.
It may have been more dramatic or more mundane; it happened to us at different ages; sometimes it happened gradually over a lengthy period, sometimes the fight was over very quickly; sometimes there were tears of remorse, sometimes we were surprised by the joy of our salvation.
But there is always one common factor: it is always a conversion to Jesus Christ! Take Him out of the picture and per definition there cannot be a conversion.
2. Those who are still resisting Jesus Christ must know that there is no way of escaping a meeting with Him.
The Word of God states that every knee shall bow before Him. May the Lord in His mercy grant that you will do so in this present time of grace because millions of people will only come to bend their knees when it is too late.
I cannot therefore let this moment pass. If you are still a passionate opponent of the Holy Spirit I must call on you to turn to the Lord. Do so while you still have time, still have access to His grace. It is free - even to those who hate Christ and his church, like Saul of Tarsus!
3. Those of you who are praying for loved ones, never lose hope - no matter how long it takes!
If the first century's most unlikely candidate for salvation could be turned inside out in the twinkling of an eye, who could possibly evade the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Remember, your prayers are woven into the outworking of God's council!
4. Are you also driven to your knees in adoration at the fact that our King converts ardent enemies to loving and life-long servants?
Truly, for those of us who have been taken hold of by His grace, nothing makes more sense than to love and serve Him with an undivided heart!
Nico van der Walt
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
EE27 - ECCL 12:1 : REMEMBER YOUR CREATOR
Let us look only at the first part of Ecc 12:1: "Remember your Creator..."
In this case the admonishment is directed specifically at young people: "... before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, 'I find no pleasure in them' ".
But this is, of course, a general principle which applies to us all no matter how old we are. So let us look at our text in this way. After all, every Christian, old or young, owes his or her existence and preservation to God our Creator.
THE WORD "CREATOR"
The Biblical concept, to create, is of fundamental theological importance. Throughout the Bible the word has only God as subject - simply because only He can create. We find the verb in the very first verse of the Word: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
• The word conveys the meaning of bringing about something - out of nothing. It therefore implies that the sovereign God is the Source, Owner, Ruler and Maintainer of everything that exists.
• The word is often used in the second part of Isaiah's prophesy (chapters 40-66), in fact 20 times out of a total of 49 in the Old Testament. This part of the book is one of the most comforting portions in the whole of the Old Testament. These two truths, taken in tandem, underline a most important principle: those of us who truly remember our Creator, should not regard the fact that He rules sovereignly over us as a threat, but as a wonderful source of comfort!
Isaiah 45:17-18 puts it in these moving words: "But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting. For this is what the LORD says - he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited - he says: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.' "
• Here in Ecclesiastics the word "Creator" is used in the plural form. This is often the case in the Old Testament (Job 35:10; Ps 149:2; Isa 54:5). It also brings to mind Gen 1:26: "Let us make man in our image..."
Without a doubt this is an allusion to the three Persons of the Trinity - who were indeed involved in the creation of all things, and are still involved in their preservation.
• The concept "Creator" emphasizes the most basic relationship in which man can stand to God. This is true of each and every person: He made me!
• The words, "Remember your Creator", are not meant to imply that each one of us has his own creator. There are no other creators! What the writer wishes to stress is that every human being must personally and individually think about the Creator of all. He is therefore saying to his readers, you too are a creation of this Creator!
THE WORD "REMEMBER"
The word is intended to convey more that just thinking, reminding yourself, or remembering that you have a Creator. It has a much wider and fuller meaning. Of course we must be mindful of God, but more than that, we must value and cherish our relationship with Him.
But it goes even further than that: the Christian must, with loyalty and faithfulness, live a life that is evidence of the implications and responsibilities that such a relationship implies.
It indicates an attitude of the heart, not just a mental exercise.
God called upon His people continuously to remember Him. But they failed persistently. Hence His reproach that they had forgotten Him.
In Dt 32 the Lord rebukes His people because of their idolatry with the words, "You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth." (18).
And in Isa 51:12-13 He comforts and encourages them (with a mild reproof): "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens ...".
HOW WE REMEMBER OUR CREATOR?
Our attitude towards our Maker finds expression in at least five attitudes of heart and ways of living.
1. Acknowledgement
In Him, and in Him alone, you and I have our origin.
By Him I was "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps 139:14), He formed my spirit within me (Zech 12:1), He "knit me together in my mother’s womb" (Ps 139:13).
These are the things we must think about and meditate upon over and over again. Look, for instance, at your hands and feet. More than half the bones in your body are located in these four limbs. The hand is capable of an almost unlimited number of functions. The concert pianist uses them to play as many as 120 notes per minute, the surgeon to perform the most delicate of operations. A caressing hand can communicate intense emotion and tenderness. And that same hand is capable of driving a heavy axe deep into a log. And then we have not even considered the brain behind it all!
Marvel at the capabilities of your Creator - and worship Him!
And if you are a true Christian, never think about Him as your Creator without reminding yourself that he is also your Re-creator. Is the greatest of wonders not the heart transplant that you underwent at the moment of your regeneration? That was, after all, the most glorious, was it not!
2. Subjection
God is your Creator and therefore also your indisputable and sovereign Owner. He has absolute authority and say in and over your life. He is the Potter, you are the clay (Rm 9:20-21). He can and will do with you and me as He pleases!
We have no choice but to accept it patiently and submissively - together with all its theological and practical implications.
How threatening this all would have seemed had God not revealed Himself to us as the Most-Benevolent and All-Bountiful. Those of us who are truly His children can trust in Him completely. Those of us who are in Christ can rest assured that everything that happens to us happens for our own eventual good, namely conformity to the likeness of the Son (Rm 8:28-30).
All this takes nothing away from the fact that you and I are answerable to Him and will have to give account to Him. After all, if He is my Maker, I owe Him everything!
Of course this gives rise to the burning question: How can I as sinful being one day stand blameless before Him (Job 4:17; 9:2)? Can there possibly be a more important question?
Let those of us who are in Christ rejoice endlessly that we have in Him the perfect Mediator - that we will indeed stand blameless before our Creator one day, credited with our Substitute's righteousness (Rm 4).
3. Dependence
God is not only my Creator, but also my Keeper - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Would God create someone and then neglect or forget about him or her?
Let us therefore with the greatest confidence offer our prayers and requests and trust and thanks. Approach Him with every need; it pleases and glorifies Him.
To live for yourself and in your own strength is to forget your Creator. To remember Him is to joyfully lay down your so-called independence, and to peacefully and trustingly place yourself in His care.
What a consolation: I have a Father in Christ who looks after me and cares for me - always.
4. Gratitude
Take note of your Creator's kindness. Acknowledge it. Meditate upon it. Train yourself in showing gratitude. What is there in your life that you have not received from Him?
And never forget, you owe it all to the mediatory work and intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Devotion
If then everything you are and what you have comes from your Creator, there can be only one suitable response: unqualified and loving obedience. Let it be the single-minded passion of your life. Then you will remember your Creator in the way that pleases Him.
And remember, you cannot devote yourself to your Creator without at the same time devoting yourself to the Son, Jesus Christ. After all, God made the universe through Him (Hb 1:2). And this finds expression in a life of persevering discipleship.
THE ESSENCE OF THE LIFE OF A CREATURE
There can be no deeper or more fundamental transgression before God than to live only for yourself. Not to devote yourself with everything that you have to your Creator in acknowledgement, subjection, dependence, thankfulness and devotion, is criminal to the utmost degree. To ignore your Creator, doing your own little thing, is the most basic and worst of all sin.
The essence of what God demands of us is that we walk with Him. And effectively this means to acknowledge Him in all our ways (Pr 3:6) - in submission, dependence, gratitude and devotion. This is the childlike life of faith on which the Bible so strongly insists.
IMPOSSIBLE FOR NATURAL MAN
To remember his Creator by no means comes naturally to fallen man. On the contrary, since the Fall he has fled from his Creator like a bug from the light. In his fancied independence he pats himself on the back under the illusion that he will be able to cope and work out his own salvation. He either replaces his Creator with all manner of gods made up in his own mind, or else hides himself in religious formalism.
Look around you. If you see a man or woman or child who remembers his or her Creator in faithfulness - whose life is controlled by it from A to Z - you see a person who bears the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit, someone redeemed from the curse of the Fall by Christ's death of atonement. You see a pardoned sinner, lovingly elected by the Father before creation.
Whether you are young or old, do you remember your Creator?
Nico van der Walt
In this case the admonishment is directed specifically at young people: "... before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, 'I find no pleasure in them' ".
But this is, of course, a general principle which applies to us all no matter how old we are. So let us look at our text in this way. After all, every Christian, old or young, owes his or her existence and preservation to God our Creator.
THE WORD "CREATOR"
The Biblical concept, to create, is of fundamental theological importance. Throughout the Bible the word has only God as subject - simply because only He can create. We find the verb in the very first verse of the Word: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
• The word conveys the meaning of bringing about something - out of nothing. It therefore implies that the sovereign God is the Source, Owner, Ruler and Maintainer of everything that exists.
• The word is often used in the second part of Isaiah's prophesy (chapters 40-66), in fact 20 times out of a total of 49 in the Old Testament. This part of the book is one of the most comforting portions in the whole of the Old Testament. These two truths, taken in tandem, underline a most important principle: those of us who truly remember our Creator, should not regard the fact that He rules sovereignly over us as a threat, but as a wonderful source of comfort!
Isaiah 45:17-18 puts it in these moving words: "But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting. For this is what the LORD says - he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited - he says: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.' "
• Here in Ecclesiastics the word "Creator" is used in the plural form. This is often the case in the Old Testament (Job 35:10; Ps 149:2; Isa 54:5). It also brings to mind Gen 1:26: "Let us make man in our image..."
Without a doubt this is an allusion to the three Persons of the Trinity - who were indeed involved in the creation of all things, and are still involved in their preservation.
• The concept "Creator" emphasizes the most basic relationship in which man can stand to God. This is true of each and every person: He made me!
• The words, "Remember your Creator", are not meant to imply that each one of us has his own creator. There are no other creators! What the writer wishes to stress is that every human being must personally and individually think about the Creator of all. He is therefore saying to his readers, you too are a creation of this Creator!
THE WORD "REMEMBER"
The word is intended to convey more that just thinking, reminding yourself, or remembering that you have a Creator. It has a much wider and fuller meaning. Of course we must be mindful of God, but more than that, we must value and cherish our relationship with Him.
But it goes even further than that: the Christian must, with loyalty and faithfulness, live a life that is evidence of the implications and responsibilities that such a relationship implies.
It indicates an attitude of the heart, not just a mental exercise.
God called upon His people continuously to remember Him. But they failed persistently. Hence His reproach that they had forgotten Him.
In Dt 32 the Lord rebukes His people because of their idolatry with the words, "You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth." (18).
And in Isa 51:12-13 He comforts and encourages them (with a mild reproof): "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens ...".
HOW WE REMEMBER OUR CREATOR?
Our attitude towards our Maker finds expression in at least five attitudes of heart and ways of living.
1. Acknowledgement
In Him, and in Him alone, you and I have our origin.
By Him I was "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps 139:14), He formed my spirit within me (Zech 12:1), He "knit me together in my mother’s womb" (Ps 139:13).
These are the things we must think about and meditate upon over and over again. Look, for instance, at your hands and feet. More than half the bones in your body are located in these four limbs. The hand is capable of an almost unlimited number of functions. The concert pianist uses them to play as many as 120 notes per minute, the surgeon to perform the most delicate of operations. A caressing hand can communicate intense emotion and tenderness. And that same hand is capable of driving a heavy axe deep into a log. And then we have not even considered the brain behind it all!
Marvel at the capabilities of your Creator - and worship Him!
And if you are a true Christian, never think about Him as your Creator without reminding yourself that he is also your Re-creator. Is the greatest of wonders not the heart transplant that you underwent at the moment of your regeneration? That was, after all, the most glorious, was it not!
2. Subjection
God is your Creator and therefore also your indisputable and sovereign Owner. He has absolute authority and say in and over your life. He is the Potter, you are the clay (Rm 9:20-21). He can and will do with you and me as He pleases!
We have no choice but to accept it patiently and submissively - together with all its theological and practical implications.
How threatening this all would have seemed had God not revealed Himself to us as the Most-Benevolent and All-Bountiful. Those of us who are truly His children can trust in Him completely. Those of us who are in Christ can rest assured that everything that happens to us happens for our own eventual good, namely conformity to the likeness of the Son (Rm 8:28-30).
All this takes nothing away from the fact that you and I are answerable to Him and will have to give account to Him. After all, if He is my Maker, I owe Him everything!
Of course this gives rise to the burning question: How can I as sinful being one day stand blameless before Him (Job 4:17; 9:2)? Can there possibly be a more important question?
Let those of us who are in Christ rejoice endlessly that we have in Him the perfect Mediator - that we will indeed stand blameless before our Creator one day, credited with our Substitute's righteousness (Rm 4).
3. Dependence
God is not only my Creator, but also my Keeper - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Would God create someone and then neglect or forget about him or her?
Let us therefore with the greatest confidence offer our prayers and requests and trust and thanks. Approach Him with every need; it pleases and glorifies Him.
To live for yourself and in your own strength is to forget your Creator. To remember Him is to joyfully lay down your so-called independence, and to peacefully and trustingly place yourself in His care.
What a consolation: I have a Father in Christ who looks after me and cares for me - always.
4. Gratitude
Take note of your Creator's kindness. Acknowledge it. Meditate upon it. Train yourself in showing gratitude. What is there in your life that you have not received from Him?
And never forget, you owe it all to the mediatory work and intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Devotion
If then everything you are and what you have comes from your Creator, there can be only one suitable response: unqualified and loving obedience. Let it be the single-minded passion of your life. Then you will remember your Creator in the way that pleases Him.
And remember, you cannot devote yourself to your Creator without at the same time devoting yourself to the Son, Jesus Christ. After all, God made the universe through Him (Hb 1:2). And this finds expression in a life of persevering discipleship.
THE ESSENCE OF THE LIFE OF A CREATURE
There can be no deeper or more fundamental transgression before God than to live only for yourself. Not to devote yourself with everything that you have to your Creator in acknowledgement, subjection, dependence, thankfulness and devotion, is criminal to the utmost degree. To ignore your Creator, doing your own little thing, is the most basic and worst of all sin.
The essence of what God demands of us is that we walk with Him. And effectively this means to acknowledge Him in all our ways (Pr 3:6) - in submission, dependence, gratitude and devotion. This is the childlike life of faith on which the Bible so strongly insists.
IMPOSSIBLE FOR NATURAL MAN
To remember his Creator by no means comes naturally to fallen man. On the contrary, since the Fall he has fled from his Creator like a bug from the light. In his fancied independence he pats himself on the back under the illusion that he will be able to cope and work out his own salvation. He either replaces his Creator with all manner of gods made up in his own mind, or else hides himself in religious formalism.
Look around you. If you see a man or woman or child who remembers his or her Creator in faithfulness - whose life is controlled by it from A to Z - you see a person who bears the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit, someone redeemed from the curse of the Fall by Christ's death of atonement. You see a pardoned sinner, lovingly elected by the Father before creation.
Whether you are young or old, do you remember your Creator?
Nico van der Walt
EE25 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [12]
Last time, when we looked at v.19b dealing with our being filled to the measure of the fullness of God, we did not discuss the fact that our full inheritance in Christ will only find perfection at our resurrection. Only then will the full glory that God has prepared for His children from all eternity become a reality. No matter how well we progress in our sanctification in this life, it will always remain only a fraction of our ultimate inheritance.
Just the thought of it compels Paul (in verses 20-21) to burst forth in a lofty song of praise: " … to him be glory ... for ever and ever!"
THE GUARANTEE OF OMNIPOTENCE (3:20)
❏ This song of praise is mainly a rejoicing at the wondrous omnipotence of the Lord (20). Paul is, after all, fully aware of the doubts that sometimes overwhelm us: Will God really be able to fill us with the fullness in Christ that He has promised? Will we really be raised from the dead? Can the children of God really look forward to the glory promised by the Bible? Does God really have the power to raise a body that has been dead for a thousand years?
Here in verse 20 the Word of God gives a very striking answer to all these vexing questions. He could hardly have put it more strongly and with more conviction.
❏ The apostle describes God's omnipotence as seven layers of truth, building on each other:
What God has promised to do for us:
1. He is able to do (He has the power);
2. therefore He can do whatever we ask Him in prayer;
3. it even applies to those things we do not have the courage to ask, but only think;
4. He can do it all (Gr. panta)
5. and He can do even more than that (Gr. huper);
6. even more abundantly (Gr. ekperissos);
7. more abundantly by far (Gr. huperekperissou).
❏ Herein lies the answer to the questions that vex us; herein lies our most wonderful consolation: The omnipotence of the Lord my God will take me to Him one day when the time for my departure from this life arrives. And when the time comes for the resurrection, He will also raise my body in glory, no matter how badly it was ravaged or destroyed at the time of my death or afterwards.
❏ The apostle then continues. What he says is not just wishful thinking. God works "according to his power that is at work within us" (20b). Paul therefore reminds the Ephesians that they have experiential knowledge of this power. It is already at work within them. He does not elaborate on this statement though. He has already done so earlier in the letter, and assumes that what he teaches in chapters 1 and 2 is still fresh in the minds of his readers.
❏ A comparison between this prayer and the one in chapter 1 shows that there is a marked similarity between the two.
In the earlier prayer the apostle prays that his readers may know the riches of God's glorious inheritance in the saints. He then immediately proceeds to talk about God's power - the power that He employs to our benefit (19a).
This power already came into play in Christ's life when the Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heaven in a position of authority over the powers of darkness (1:20-23).
However, Paul's argument does not stop here, but is continued into the first ten verses of the next chapter. In 2:5-6 he states that what has happened to Christ has also happened to us (past tense!), although in a different sense. We also have been made alive, raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realms. And this is how Christians know the power of God through experience.
This is all very well, but what is Paul talking about? The key can be found in 2:1-3. As sinners we were dead in our sins (2:1), but were made alive when we were born again and were saved (2:5). Secondly we were under the wrath of God (2:3b), but were made alive like Christ when the Father declared that He was innocent and therefore could not stay in death under His wrath (2:6). And thirdly, we were slaves to the world (2a), the devil (2b) and the flesh (3a) - but have been placed with Christ in a position of authority in the heavenly realms (2:6).
Paul's argument in Eph 1 and 2 is therefore: you may rest assured that God has the necessary power to realise finally and fully the riches of your inheritance in Christ. After all, this power is already at work in your lives. You know the life-changing effects of regeneration, the full assurance of justification by faith, and the reality of victory over sin.
MAY THE FATHER BE GLORIFIED FOR EVER AND EVER (3:21)
❏ It is inevitable: nothing but exalted praise can now follow. Exactly this is what Paul proceeds with.
Let us take a closer look at Eph 3:21.
❏ The words, "to him" (the Father), are accentuated by their position in the sentence.
❏ The "glory" (Gr. doksa) that belongs to the Father is significant.
In Greek the word is closely related to the verb, to make an evaluation. To have glory therefore means to be someone of whom others have a high estimation, someone whom they praise and honour, someone to whom they pay homage.
The Old Testament equivalent (Hb. kabod) is illuminating. The primary meaning of this word is that of weight. To have glory therefore means to be someone who has weight - someone of substance, dignity, magnificence, status and majesty.
Paul's heartfelt wish is therefore that all people should be deeply aware of God's indescribable glory and majesty.
❏ The words "in the church" are meaningful. It can be interpreted in two ways, both of which are probably applicable in this case.
• May the church itself experience it in this way. In other words, may each member be deeply aware of the Father's glory - His power, wisdom (3:10), mercy and love (2:4), and grace (2:5-8).
• May the outside world to an increasing extent see the glory of God reflected in the church. In other words, may the unbelievers become deeply aware of the glory of God as they observe the lives of Christians. May even the angels be overwhelmed by wonder at the rich diversity of God's wisdom when they observe the church (3:10; 1Pet 1:12).
❏ The qualification "in Christ Jesus" must not be missed. It emphasises the fact that the glory and praise given to the Father is inextricably linked with Jesus Christ. Without Him and His work, there would have been no glory given to God. Christ was and still is the only channel through which the Father's glorious work flows.
The apostles never tired of emphasising this truth. Truly, the church (or the preacher) who does not have this truth at the centre its teaching, is not proclaiming the true New Testament message.
❏ Paul then proceeds on the loftiest of lofty notes. It is his passion that the Father be glorified "in all the generations of the age of the ages" (lit.). The idea is that dispensations, each consisting of dispensations, should follow each other continuously for ever and ever. The apostle grabs for words and expressions to emphasise the eternity of God and His dominion.
Forever and ever we, the church of Christ, will sing the praises of our heavenly Father. As we are carried ever higher, from one discovery to the next, our praises will rise from one crescendo to the next. We will take an inexpressible delight and joy in Him. And we will experience an ever present and predominant gratitude before Him.
"When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we've first begun.” [John Newton (1725-1807): Amazing Grace].
❏ How else can Paul close but with the word "Amen"? It is an exclamation: Truly! Certainly!
A FEW THOUGHTS OF APPLICATION
1. The Christian faith is not just a philosophy - a metaphysical pie in the sky.
Those of us who have received true salvation have first-hand experience of the life-changing effects of regeneration, of the boldness and security arising from our justification, of the victory over sin as a way of life. Yes, we often fail. Nevertheless, we know these realities to be predominant in our lives.
2. If then you know the working of this power of God in your life, you have every reason to be sure of your future resurrection in glory.
Yes, we believe and say this in faith, but death to us will not be a jump into a pitch-dark abyss. We have experienced the beginnings of God's salvation, and we know that the hereafter will be a never-ending continuation thereof.
3. God will be and must be glorified in and through the church.
What a responsibility the church has! Let us not underestimate the importance of being part of a church. Doing your own thing in your own little corner, is not in accordance with God's ways. We are, of course, talking of a true church, a loving community of disciples who work arm in arm at knowing and serving the Lord zealously in accordance with His truth and commands.
And if there is not such a church in your town? Then you must be Christ's witness in your community. In principle there is no difference between you and the missionary in a far country. Find other followers of the Lord and plant a New Testament church. Also in your area God has to be glorified in and through a body of true disciples.
4. Take seriously your calling and rejoice in your destiny to glorify your heavenly Father forever and ever.
You say that you are a Christian? Let it then be engraved on the tablets of your heart: to glorify God is what your whole life is about - in fact your whole eternity. Let it be at the heart of your convictions; let it be the aim of all your endeavours; let it be the central passion of your existence!
Nico van der Walt
Just the thought of it compels Paul (in verses 20-21) to burst forth in a lofty song of praise: " … to him be glory ... for ever and ever!"
THE GUARANTEE OF OMNIPOTENCE (3:20)
❏ This song of praise is mainly a rejoicing at the wondrous omnipotence of the Lord (20). Paul is, after all, fully aware of the doubts that sometimes overwhelm us: Will God really be able to fill us with the fullness in Christ that He has promised? Will we really be raised from the dead? Can the children of God really look forward to the glory promised by the Bible? Does God really have the power to raise a body that has been dead for a thousand years?
Here in verse 20 the Word of God gives a very striking answer to all these vexing questions. He could hardly have put it more strongly and with more conviction.
❏ The apostle describes God's omnipotence as seven layers of truth, building on each other:
What God has promised to do for us:
1. He is able to do (He has the power);
2. therefore He can do whatever we ask Him in prayer;
3. it even applies to those things we do not have the courage to ask, but only think;
4. He can do it all (Gr. panta)
5. and He can do even more than that (Gr. huper);
6. even more abundantly (Gr. ekperissos);
7. more abundantly by far (Gr. huperekperissou).
❏ Herein lies the answer to the questions that vex us; herein lies our most wonderful consolation: The omnipotence of the Lord my God will take me to Him one day when the time for my departure from this life arrives. And when the time comes for the resurrection, He will also raise my body in glory, no matter how badly it was ravaged or destroyed at the time of my death or afterwards.
❏ The apostle then continues. What he says is not just wishful thinking. God works "according to his power that is at work within us" (20b). Paul therefore reminds the Ephesians that they have experiential knowledge of this power. It is already at work within them. He does not elaborate on this statement though. He has already done so earlier in the letter, and assumes that what he teaches in chapters 1 and 2 is still fresh in the minds of his readers.
❏ A comparison between this prayer and the one in chapter 1 shows that there is a marked similarity between the two.
In the earlier prayer the apostle prays that his readers may know the riches of God's glorious inheritance in the saints. He then immediately proceeds to talk about God's power - the power that He employs to our benefit (19a).
This power already came into play in Christ's life when the Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heaven in a position of authority over the powers of darkness (1:20-23).
However, Paul's argument does not stop here, but is continued into the first ten verses of the next chapter. In 2:5-6 he states that what has happened to Christ has also happened to us (past tense!), although in a different sense. We also have been made alive, raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realms. And this is how Christians know the power of God through experience.
This is all very well, but what is Paul talking about? The key can be found in 2:1-3. As sinners we were dead in our sins (2:1), but were made alive when we were born again and were saved (2:5). Secondly we were under the wrath of God (2:3b), but were made alive like Christ when the Father declared that He was innocent and therefore could not stay in death under His wrath (2:6). And thirdly, we were slaves to the world (2a), the devil (2b) and the flesh (3a) - but have been placed with Christ in a position of authority in the heavenly realms (2:6).
Paul's argument in Eph 1 and 2 is therefore: you may rest assured that God has the necessary power to realise finally and fully the riches of your inheritance in Christ. After all, this power is already at work in your lives. You know the life-changing effects of regeneration, the full assurance of justification by faith, and the reality of victory over sin.
MAY THE FATHER BE GLORIFIED FOR EVER AND EVER (3:21)
❏ It is inevitable: nothing but exalted praise can now follow. Exactly this is what Paul proceeds with.
Let us take a closer look at Eph 3:21.
❏ The words, "to him" (the Father), are accentuated by their position in the sentence.
❏ The "glory" (Gr. doksa) that belongs to the Father is significant.
In Greek the word is closely related to the verb, to make an evaluation. To have glory therefore means to be someone of whom others have a high estimation, someone whom they praise and honour, someone to whom they pay homage.
The Old Testament equivalent (Hb. kabod) is illuminating. The primary meaning of this word is that of weight. To have glory therefore means to be someone who has weight - someone of substance, dignity, magnificence, status and majesty.
Paul's heartfelt wish is therefore that all people should be deeply aware of God's indescribable glory and majesty.
❏ The words "in the church" are meaningful. It can be interpreted in two ways, both of which are probably applicable in this case.
• May the church itself experience it in this way. In other words, may each member be deeply aware of the Father's glory - His power, wisdom (3:10), mercy and love (2:4), and grace (2:5-8).
• May the outside world to an increasing extent see the glory of God reflected in the church. In other words, may the unbelievers become deeply aware of the glory of God as they observe the lives of Christians. May even the angels be overwhelmed by wonder at the rich diversity of God's wisdom when they observe the church (3:10; 1Pet 1:12).
❏ The qualification "in Christ Jesus" must not be missed. It emphasises the fact that the glory and praise given to the Father is inextricably linked with Jesus Christ. Without Him and His work, there would have been no glory given to God. Christ was and still is the only channel through which the Father's glorious work flows.
The apostles never tired of emphasising this truth. Truly, the church (or the preacher) who does not have this truth at the centre its teaching, is not proclaiming the true New Testament message.
❏ Paul then proceeds on the loftiest of lofty notes. It is his passion that the Father be glorified "in all the generations of the age of the ages" (lit.). The idea is that dispensations, each consisting of dispensations, should follow each other continuously for ever and ever. The apostle grabs for words and expressions to emphasise the eternity of God and His dominion.
Forever and ever we, the church of Christ, will sing the praises of our heavenly Father. As we are carried ever higher, from one discovery to the next, our praises will rise from one crescendo to the next. We will take an inexpressible delight and joy in Him. And we will experience an ever present and predominant gratitude before Him.
"When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we've first begun.” [John Newton (1725-1807): Amazing Grace].
❏ How else can Paul close but with the word "Amen"? It is an exclamation: Truly! Certainly!
A FEW THOUGHTS OF APPLICATION
1. The Christian faith is not just a philosophy - a metaphysical pie in the sky.
Those of us who have received true salvation have first-hand experience of the life-changing effects of regeneration, of the boldness and security arising from our justification, of the victory over sin as a way of life. Yes, we often fail. Nevertheless, we know these realities to be predominant in our lives.
2. If then you know the working of this power of God in your life, you have every reason to be sure of your future resurrection in glory.
Yes, we believe and say this in faith, but death to us will not be a jump into a pitch-dark abyss. We have experienced the beginnings of God's salvation, and we know that the hereafter will be a never-ending continuation thereof.
3. God will be and must be glorified in and through the church.
What a responsibility the church has! Let us not underestimate the importance of being part of a church. Doing your own thing in your own little corner, is not in accordance with God's ways. We are, of course, talking of a true church, a loving community of disciples who work arm in arm at knowing and serving the Lord zealously in accordance with His truth and commands.
And if there is not such a church in your town? Then you must be Christ's witness in your community. In principle there is no difference between you and the missionary in a far country. Find other followers of the Lord and plant a New Testament church. Also in your area God has to be glorified in and through a body of true disciples.
4. Take seriously your calling and rejoice in your destiny to glorify your heavenly Father forever and ever.
You say that you are a Christian? Let it then be engraved on the tablets of your heart: to glorify God is what your whole life is about - in fact your whole eternity. Let it be at the heart of your convictions; let it be the aim of all your endeavours; let it be the central passion of your existence!
Nico van der Walt
EE24 - EPH 3:14-21: AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER (11)
We come now to the third and last petition of this prayer. Like a mountaineer, Paul has ascended to a height where the thin air leaves us giddy - or, to mix our metaphors, we are out of our depth. What does the apostle mean when he prays, "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God" (19b)?
Firstly we need to carefully analyse the text, otherwise we could get totally lost. We therefore need to ask ourselves what the Greek text tells us.
WHAT ON EARTH DOES THE APOSTLE MEAN?
❏ The words, "to the measure of the fulness of God", indicate movement, or growth, on the part of the Christian - progress towards a certain goal.
What is this goal? It is "all the fulness of God"!
In the original Greek this expression can be interpreted in two ways. It could refer to the fulness that comes from God, that which flows from Him, everything He gives to us - in other words our full inheritance in Christ. Or it could mean the fulness that fills God in His deity.
Surely Paul could not have had the latter interpretation in mind. Even in glorious eternity, although we will be without sin and indescribably more glorious than now, we will still be human. We should therefore think in terms of the first meaning.
❏ Yet, if we ask ourselves what this fulness is that flows from God into us, we realise that the two alternatives mentioned actually walk hand in hand. Is it not at the heart of our inheritance in Christ that we become more and more like God? Does Christian growth not have everything to do with the forming of Christ's image in us?
According to Rm 8:29 we have been chosen to be conformed to the likeness of the Son. And 2Cor 3:18 assures us that we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ with ever-increasing glory. Think also of the typical Biblical injunction, "Be holy because I am holy" (Lev 11:44-45; 1 Pet 1:15-16). And Jesus orders us, "Be perfect ... as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).
Finally, a few verses on from our text we read that the end goal of the ministries mentioned in Eph 4:11 is specifically to ensure that the church grows and becomes mature, "attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ" (4:13).
❏ To summarise: In the final analysis this prayer is concerned with the Ephesians receiving their full inheritance in Christ. And the culmination of that is conformity to the image of Christ.
Taking also the previous verses into consideration, this prayer reveals to us one of the most fundamental keys to genuine sanctification: to the extent that the Holy Spirit dwells and works in us, to that extent Christ will live in our hearts. And to the extent that we become Christ-centred, to that extent we will get to understand and experience Christ's love for us. And to that extent our inheritance in Christ will become a reality in our lives - at the heart of which is conformity to the Son.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS TELL US?
1. Let us not get bogged down by the first principles of our faith.
Too many churchgoers are quite satisfied to rest in the knowledge that they have been saved. Nothing is more against the spirit of the Word than such a self-centred mentality!
Leading up to one of the most serious warnings in the Bible, the letter to the Hebrews cautions us not to stick to the elementary things about Christ, with no interest in forging ahead in knowledge, sanctification and perseverance (Hb 5:11-6:12).
The apostle sets a wonderful example in Phil 3:7-11. He forfeits everything and forcefully strives to obtain Christ as his only gain - to know Him; and the power of His resurrection; and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death; and finally sharing in the resurrection.
Don't ever forget: those who do not persevere in the race will never receive the prize!
2. Let us not misunderstand this prayer - and perhaps become arrogant and full of pride.
Some televangelists and cult leaders apparently regard themselves as little gods. They forget that the Fall came about when Eve believed the snake that she would become like God if she ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:5).
There is an essential and total difference between God as God, and man as man. It is the difference between the Creator and the created, the completely Sovereign and the totally dependent. Conformity to the image of God can therefore never be absolute. It is always qualified. In fact, in a sense the ambition to be like God is the worst of sins.
There are accordingly two vital truths that we must hold on to. In one sense it is man's greatest calling to be like God. In another sense this desire is the most terrible sin man can commit.
It is therefore clear that unless the Lord himself reveals to us in what ways we should become like Him - unless He clearly limits and defines it - we run the danger of transgressing all kinds of blasphemous limits. But, of course, the Lord did not leave us in the dark. To His Old Testament people He gave His law, which is an expression of His perfect character. And for His New Testament church he supplemented His law, refined it, and rounded it off perfectly in the person, teaching and example of the Word who became flesh (Jn 1:18; 14:9; Heb 1:3). By His life Christ demonstrated here on earth, and in a body like ours, what a godly life of obedience looks like. The will of God could not have been shown to us more clearly.
3. The fact that the apostle prays here for God to work in the lives of the Ephesians should not mislead us into an attitude of passiveness.
We must pray, as the apostle is doing here. This is, after all, what this passage teaches us. Let us never forget: the Lord's enabling work in us, on the one hand, and our own responsibility on the other, are not in conflict.
How then should we live in order to grow in conformity to the image of Christ - so that we can be "filled to the measure of all the fulness of God"? Such prominence is given to the call to sanctification in the New Testament that we could give dozens of different replies to the question, without once contradicting ourselves. Nevertheless, Paul's teaching on the fruit of the Spirit in Gl 5 is both fundamental and practical.
• We are like Jesus to the extent that the nine Spirit-given virtues in Gl 5:22 find expression in our lives. But this does not happen automatically. Reborn believers also have to do with ever-present sinful desires. We are incapable of producing the fruit of the Spirit in our own strength, least of all for any length of time. That does not mean, however, that the battle to live a life of holiness is doomed to failure. Not in the least! When a person is regenerated the Lord not only gives him or her a new heart with His commandments engraved on it, but also the Holy Spirit as a permanent Helper. The Lord therefore makes me willing to carry out His will (by giving me a new heart); and He enables me to do it (through the power of the Spirit) (Ph 2:13).
But, if I am to bear this fruit, I need to have the right attitude towards both the flesh and the Spirit.
• The correct way of dealing with the flesh is described in v 24: Those who belong to Christ have crucified their sinful nature with all its passions. To crucify something is to execute it. It is the strongest possible way of distancing yourself from it, of finally turning your back on it. The image speaks volumes. The correct attitude towards the flesh is to be totally merciless. In ancient times only criminals who were guilty of the most heinous crimes were crucified - those who deserved no mercy.
This negative aspect of sanctification was referred to as mortification by the old Puritans.
Mortification is final. Nobody has ever come down from the cross. A true Christian refuses to look back. He is not prepared to reconsider his decision. It is final.
Mortification is painful. There has never been a worse form of execution than crucifixion. The battle between flesh and Spirit is no joke. It is very real.
Mortification is a lifelong process. Crucifixion was a slow death. It sometimes took days. We have to take up our cross daily, right up to the end.
One of the main reasons why we have such a long drawn out battle with some of our sins is because we have not really crucified them. We fool ourselves. We have secret sins, bosom buddies, with which we keep on flirting. Do you have such a persistent sin in your life? Perhaps you have found the real reason for it.
• The correct attitude towards the Spirit is described in two vital ways.
Firstly, we must allow ourselves to be led by Him (Gl 5:18). The verb is in the passive form. The emphasis is on what the Spirit does and what I should allow Him to do. Elsewhere the word "lead" is used to describe a shepherd leading his flock, or the wind driving a ship. I must therefore submit to the initiatives and guidance of the Spirit. I must take His demands on my heart seriously and obediently.
Secondly, we should "live by" (v.16) and "keep in step with" (v.25) the Spirit. To think that our only responsibility is to passively submit our lives to the control of the Holy Spirit would be a mistake. No, living in the fulness of the Spirit demands serious commitment and effort.
The word translated as "live by" in v.16 is the word normally translated as walk in the New Testament. But the word translated as "keep in step with" is a loaded term, emphasising a way of life in accordance with an example, a principle or a norm (Acts 21:24; Rm 4:12; Gl 6:16; Ph 3:16). Here in Gl 5 the Holy Spirit Himself is that norm. I must follow the road that He has determined.
But what does this mean in practice?
The close relationship between the Spirit and the Word indicated elsewhere (compare for instance Eph 5:18 and context with Col 3:16 and context) makes it quite clear that the way of the Spirit is also that of the Bible. A life lived in step with the Spirit is a life in harmony with the Spirit-inspired Word.
We should therefore not understand this to mean that we should live in obedience to certain subjective promptings of the Spirit. No, we are talking about principled obedience to God's Word. This has always been how the true church has interpreted this matter.
History has confirmed over and over again: dedicated obedience to the Word has always ennobled man; mysticism has always misled him.
CONCLUSION
Let us then "go on to maturity" (Hb 6:1). All of us who are in Christ are, after all, called upon to seriously pursue the fulness of God.
Nico van der Walt
Firstly we need to carefully analyse the text, otherwise we could get totally lost. We therefore need to ask ourselves what the Greek text tells us.
WHAT ON EARTH DOES THE APOSTLE MEAN?
❏ The words, "to the measure of the fulness of God", indicate movement, or growth, on the part of the Christian - progress towards a certain goal.
What is this goal? It is "all the fulness of God"!
In the original Greek this expression can be interpreted in two ways. It could refer to the fulness that comes from God, that which flows from Him, everything He gives to us - in other words our full inheritance in Christ. Or it could mean the fulness that fills God in His deity.
Surely Paul could not have had the latter interpretation in mind. Even in glorious eternity, although we will be without sin and indescribably more glorious than now, we will still be human. We should therefore think in terms of the first meaning.
❏ Yet, if we ask ourselves what this fulness is that flows from God into us, we realise that the two alternatives mentioned actually walk hand in hand. Is it not at the heart of our inheritance in Christ that we become more and more like God? Does Christian growth not have everything to do with the forming of Christ's image in us?
According to Rm 8:29 we have been chosen to be conformed to the likeness of the Son. And 2Cor 3:18 assures us that we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ with ever-increasing glory. Think also of the typical Biblical injunction, "Be holy because I am holy" (Lev 11:44-45; 1 Pet 1:15-16). And Jesus orders us, "Be perfect ... as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).
Finally, a few verses on from our text we read that the end goal of the ministries mentioned in Eph 4:11 is specifically to ensure that the church grows and becomes mature, "attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ" (4:13).
❏ To summarise: In the final analysis this prayer is concerned with the Ephesians receiving their full inheritance in Christ. And the culmination of that is conformity to the image of Christ.
Taking also the previous verses into consideration, this prayer reveals to us one of the most fundamental keys to genuine sanctification: to the extent that the Holy Spirit dwells and works in us, to that extent Christ will live in our hearts. And to the extent that we become Christ-centred, to that extent we will get to understand and experience Christ's love for us. And to that extent our inheritance in Christ will become a reality in our lives - at the heart of which is conformity to the Son.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS TELL US?
1. Let us not get bogged down by the first principles of our faith.
Too many churchgoers are quite satisfied to rest in the knowledge that they have been saved. Nothing is more against the spirit of the Word than such a self-centred mentality!
Leading up to one of the most serious warnings in the Bible, the letter to the Hebrews cautions us not to stick to the elementary things about Christ, with no interest in forging ahead in knowledge, sanctification and perseverance (Hb 5:11-6:12).
The apostle sets a wonderful example in Phil 3:7-11. He forfeits everything and forcefully strives to obtain Christ as his only gain - to know Him; and the power of His resurrection; and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death; and finally sharing in the resurrection.
Don't ever forget: those who do not persevere in the race will never receive the prize!
2. Let us not misunderstand this prayer - and perhaps become arrogant and full of pride.
Some televangelists and cult leaders apparently regard themselves as little gods. They forget that the Fall came about when Eve believed the snake that she would become like God if she ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:5).
There is an essential and total difference between God as God, and man as man. It is the difference between the Creator and the created, the completely Sovereign and the totally dependent. Conformity to the image of God can therefore never be absolute. It is always qualified. In fact, in a sense the ambition to be like God is the worst of sins.
There are accordingly two vital truths that we must hold on to. In one sense it is man's greatest calling to be like God. In another sense this desire is the most terrible sin man can commit.
It is therefore clear that unless the Lord himself reveals to us in what ways we should become like Him - unless He clearly limits and defines it - we run the danger of transgressing all kinds of blasphemous limits. But, of course, the Lord did not leave us in the dark. To His Old Testament people He gave His law, which is an expression of His perfect character. And for His New Testament church he supplemented His law, refined it, and rounded it off perfectly in the person, teaching and example of the Word who became flesh (Jn 1:18; 14:9; Heb 1:3). By His life Christ demonstrated here on earth, and in a body like ours, what a godly life of obedience looks like. The will of God could not have been shown to us more clearly.
3. The fact that the apostle prays here for God to work in the lives of the Ephesians should not mislead us into an attitude of passiveness.
We must pray, as the apostle is doing here. This is, after all, what this passage teaches us. Let us never forget: the Lord's enabling work in us, on the one hand, and our own responsibility on the other, are not in conflict.
How then should we live in order to grow in conformity to the image of Christ - so that we can be "filled to the measure of all the fulness of God"? Such prominence is given to the call to sanctification in the New Testament that we could give dozens of different replies to the question, without once contradicting ourselves. Nevertheless, Paul's teaching on the fruit of the Spirit in Gl 5 is both fundamental and practical.
• We are like Jesus to the extent that the nine Spirit-given virtues in Gl 5:22 find expression in our lives. But this does not happen automatically. Reborn believers also have to do with ever-present sinful desires. We are incapable of producing the fruit of the Spirit in our own strength, least of all for any length of time. That does not mean, however, that the battle to live a life of holiness is doomed to failure. Not in the least! When a person is regenerated the Lord not only gives him or her a new heart with His commandments engraved on it, but also the Holy Spirit as a permanent Helper. The Lord therefore makes me willing to carry out His will (by giving me a new heart); and He enables me to do it (through the power of the Spirit) (Ph 2:13).
But, if I am to bear this fruit, I need to have the right attitude towards both the flesh and the Spirit.
• The correct way of dealing with the flesh is described in v 24: Those who belong to Christ have crucified their sinful nature with all its passions. To crucify something is to execute it. It is the strongest possible way of distancing yourself from it, of finally turning your back on it. The image speaks volumes. The correct attitude towards the flesh is to be totally merciless. In ancient times only criminals who were guilty of the most heinous crimes were crucified - those who deserved no mercy.
This negative aspect of sanctification was referred to as mortification by the old Puritans.
Mortification is final. Nobody has ever come down from the cross. A true Christian refuses to look back. He is not prepared to reconsider his decision. It is final.
Mortification is painful. There has never been a worse form of execution than crucifixion. The battle between flesh and Spirit is no joke. It is very real.
Mortification is a lifelong process. Crucifixion was a slow death. It sometimes took days. We have to take up our cross daily, right up to the end.
One of the main reasons why we have such a long drawn out battle with some of our sins is because we have not really crucified them. We fool ourselves. We have secret sins, bosom buddies, with which we keep on flirting. Do you have such a persistent sin in your life? Perhaps you have found the real reason for it.
• The correct attitude towards the Spirit is described in two vital ways.
Firstly, we must allow ourselves to be led by Him (Gl 5:18). The verb is in the passive form. The emphasis is on what the Spirit does and what I should allow Him to do. Elsewhere the word "lead" is used to describe a shepherd leading his flock, or the wind driving a ship. I must therefore submit to the initiatives and guidance of the Spirit. I must take His demands on my heart seriously and obediently.
Secondly, we should "live by" (v.16) and "keep in step with" (v.25) the Spirit. To think that our only responsibility is to passively submit our lives to the control of the Holy Spirit would be a mistake. No, living in the fulness of the Spirit demands serious commitment and effort.
The word translated as "live by" in v.16 is the word normally translated as walk in the New Testament. But the word translated as "keep in step with" is a loaded term, emphasising a way of life in accordance with an example, a principle or a norm (Acts 21:24; Rm 4:12; Gl 6:16; Ph 3:16). Here in Gl 5 the Holy Spirit Himself is that norm. I must follow the road that He has determined.
But what does this mean in practice?
The close relationship between the Spirit and the Word indicated elsewhere (compare for instance Eph 5:18 and context with Col 3:16 and context) makes it quite clear that the way of the Spirit is also that of the Bible. A life lived in step with the Spirit is a life in harmony with the Spirit-inspired Word.
We should therefore not understand this to mean that we should live in obedience to certain subjective promptings of the Spirit. No, we are talking about principled obedience to God's Word. This has always been how the true church has interpreted this matter.
History has confirmed over and over again: dedicated obedience to the Word has always ennobled man; mysticism has always misled him.
CONCLUSION
Let us then "go on to maturity" (Hb 6:1). All of us who are in Christ are, after all, called upon to seriously pursue the fulness of God.
Nico van der Walt
EE23 - ISAIAH 58:13-14 : SUNDAY BLESSING
For the New Testament Christian, every Sunday is a commemoration of Christ's resurrection. The early church attached such importance to the resurrection that they usually gathered on the first day of the week for communal worship (1Cor 16:2; Acts 20:7) - rather than on the seventh day, as the Jews did in keeping with the Ten Commandments. This does not mean that they took the law into their own hands. Our Lord himself gave an indication that this is what should happen. On the first day He rose and appeared to His disciples (Jn 20:19,26). Also the Spirit was poured out on this day (Acts 2:1; Lev 23:15-16).
Moreover, the disciples began to call it the "day of the Lord" rather than the Sabbath. Quite clearly the apostles started leading the early church in this direction. John also finds it necessary to mention specifically that Jesus appeared to him on "the Lord's day" while he was praying (Rev 1:10).
Unless I am mistaken, there is an ever increasing carelessness - and this among people who call themselves Christians - towards Sunday and the importance of going to church. This sort of attitude is certainly a dishonour to God. That is why we need to think again about the way we keep the day of the Lord.
The first thing we must understand is that Sunday is a festive day. To lose sight of this is to lose something vital in the way we experience our faith. To make Sunday into a day of long faces and do's and don'ts would be a tragedy. And if our going to church becomes a duty and even a pain, something is seriously wrong somewhere.
C.H. Spurgeon said to his congregation: "I know that many of you live by your Sabbaths. You step over the intervening space from Lord's-day to Lord's-day, as if the Lord has made a ladder of Sabbaths for you to climb to heaven by ... You have clapped your hands for very joy when redeeming grace and dying love have been the theme, and infinite, sovereign, changeless mercy has been the subject of discourse" (The Full Harvest, p.290).
ISAIAH 58
Isaiah 58:13-14 sheds light in a most wonderful way on our subject, pointing out the importance, but also the preciousness of the Lord's day.
In that chapter the prophet exposes the hypocrisy of the nation. They live in sin, but are overly pious when it comes to their religion. Quite clearly this hypocrisy manifested itself most clearly on the Sabbath. The Lord addresses this aspect in verses 13-14. If they desire to experience the privileges and joys of the Sabbath to the full, they need to comply with certain conditions.
Conditions (v13)
First of all a preliminary observation. Take note that there is no question here of mere ceremony. No, it has everything to do with the attitude of our hearts. Every New Testament Christian can therefore fully identify with it.
❏ Verse 13a tells us for what purpose the day was instituted and thus also what it was not intended for. The point made by the Hebrew text is this: refrain from using the day that I have sanctified for Myself, for your own pleasure. It is the Lord's day. It is not about your enjoyment and interests.
❏ Verse 13b demands that we show the right attitude of heart in respect of the day that the Lord has sanctified for Himself. Two things are mentioned:
• You must delight in the day. You must appreciate it. It must be your joy.
• The Lord has set the day aside for Himself. Therefore you must honour and respect it.
❏ Verse 13c underlines the practical implications of the above principles for our daily lives. Three things are specifically mentioned:
• Sunday is not just another day of the week. It must have a character of its own. Do not do the same as you do on the other six days. You must "rest" from your worldly responsibilities and pleasures.
• Do not utilise the day in your own interests or simply for your own pleasure. It is a day to be devoted to the Lord and His things.
• Even our conversations should honour the Lord. The Hebrew text simply states that we should not speak our own words. It implies a measure of self-restraint that keeps one from idle talk and chatter. Rather our conversation should be uplifting and glorifying to the Lord.
Promises (v.14)
There is a threefold promise and an assurance.
❏ You will find joy in the Lord. You will ever more clearly see the beauty and glory revealed in His attributes and works. You will all the more appreciate His greatness, goodness and holiness. And you will respond thereto in true gratitude and loving faithfulness. This is really about deep and joyful fellowship between the Lord and His people.
❏ The Lord will cause you to ride on the heights of the land. The expression has its origin in Dt 32:13, the song of Moses. It alludes to the victory over their enemies that the Lord grants to His people. New Testament equivalents would be the statement that those in Christ are more than conquerors (Rm 8:37), and the fact that they sit with Him in heaven - in a position of authority over Satan, the world and the flesh (Eph 2:6).
Do you see that faithfully keeping the Lord's day is a powerful means of grace?
❏ You will feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The expression in the Old Testament alludes to the covenant nation's inheritance of the land of Canaan (Ps 105:8-11), and more particularly to prosperity in that country (Ps 144:12-15). The promise therefore has to do with the way salvation is experienced in practice. In New Testament language one could say that it has to do with the privileges and joys that the Lord promises to His disciples.
❏ These promises, if we comply with the conditions, are as firm as the mountains: "The mouth of the Lord has spoken" (v14). Obedience to the Lord will certainly bring fellowship with the Lord, victory over sin and the joy of salvation.
SOME IMPLICATIONS
1. New Testament teaching should determine our interpretation of the fourth commandment.
The Lord Jesus and His disciples allowed themselves more freedom with respect to the Sabbath day than the Jewish religious leaders could tolerate. But we should understand that the scribes in no way represented the true spirit of the Old Testament. Their beliefs were formed by the Mishnah, a summary of Jewish oral traditions and customs since the exile, in which the rabbis tried to spell out the practical implications of the law in the finest detail. In the process they often went to ridiculous extremes. In their interpretation of the law about the Sabbath, for example, 39 different types of work were identified. So, for instance, the making of one stitch or the writing of one letter was allowed, but two were regarded as work and therefore not allowed. Even lighting or extinguishing a fire was regarded as a contravention of the commandment.
Jesus on the other hand, by His actions and through His teaching, taught people the true meaning of the law - of which He said "not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen" would be abolished in this dispensation (Mt 5:17-20). We may therefore assume that He was the living personification of everything that Is 58 teaches.
2. Let us therefore guard against two errors.
Firstly, to use the Lord's day in our own interest or for self-gratification is an ever present temptation.
Secondly, getting entangled in a host of do's and don'ts - which kills the festive character of the day.
3. Let us fill the Lord's day with that for which it was intended.
It is a day of rest. If we truly keep the other component of the commandment, namely to work conscientiously for six days of the week, we are sure to experience, week after week, this opportunity to recharge our batteries as a gift of grace from our heavenly Father. But then again it is not about loafing and useless idleness. We are concerned here with constructive recuperation. I have not only left behind me a tiring week, there is a week of hard work ahead of me.
It is a day of worship. What a blessing to have enough time to spend peacefully in our inner room or meet the Lord with beloved brothers and sisters - without the hustle and bustle of the week!
It is a day for good works. Most Christians are so busy during the week that they scarcely have the time for Christian service and ministry. Let us, like Jesus, devote ourselves to good works on this day.
4. So, if necessary, let us apply ourselves to the reformation of our Sundays.
The responsibility to consider this matter thoroughly and then to exercise strong leadership rests squarely on the shoulders of parents, and especially on the heads of households.
Think again about things such as undertaking long trips on Sundays, the Sunday papers, TV, sport, shopping, secular music - and huge meals which take up the time of housewives and leave the family in a state of total stupor for hours.
Take firm decisions about family attendance of church services. Take your children with you - they must learn to keep the Lord's day. Leave them at home in front of the TV or internet, and you will have some bitter fruit to pick in time to come!
Do I hear someone say that I am now also guilty of legalism? Certainly not! What we are talking about here is the attitude of our hearts. Self-discipline coming from a devout heart for the right reasons is not for one moment in conflict with the principle of Christian freedom - on the contrary!
5. Let us jealously treasure the Lord's day.
It is such a wonderful gift from our heavenly Father that we should do everything within our power to preserve it against the demands of the sinful flesh and a world that hates God.
Therefore, always keep Isa 58:13-14 in mind. Pay heed to the conditions in v 13 for receiving the blessing of the Lord and greet the realisation of the promises in v14 with excited expectation.
And remember the resurrection of our Lord. Embrace its joyful implications! This is how the early Christians greeted each other on a Lord's day morning: "The Lord has risen, He has risen indeed!"
Nico van der Walt
Moreover, the disciples began to call it the "day of the Lord" rather than the Sabbath. Quite clearly the apostles started leading the early church in this direction. John also finds it necessary to mention specifically that Jesus appeared to him on "the Lord's day" while he was praying (Rev 1:10).
Unless I am mistaken, there is an ever increasing carelessness - and this among people who call themselves Christians - towards Sunday and the importance of going to church. This sort of attitude is certainly a dishonour to God. That is why we need to think again about the way we keep the day of the Lord.
The first thing we must understand is that Sunday is a festive day. To lose sight of this is to lose something vital in the way we experience our faith. To make Sunday into a day of long faces and do's and don'ts would be a tragedy. And if our going to church becomes a duty and even a pain, something is seriously wrong somewhere.
C.H. Spurgeon said to his congregation: "I know that many of you live by your Sabbaths. You step over the intervening space from Lord's-day to Lord's-day, as if the Lord has made a ladder of Sabbaths for you to climb to heaven by ... You have clapped your hands for very joy when redeeming grace and dying love have been the theme, and infinite, sovereign, changeless mercy has been the subject of discourse" (The Full Harvest, p.290).
ISAIAH 58
Isaiah 58:13-14 sheds light in a most wonderful way on our subject, pointing out the importance, but also the preciousness of the Lord's day.
In that chapter the prophet exposes the hypocrisy of the nation. They live in sin, but are overly pious when it comes to their religion. Quite clearly this hypocrisy manifested itself most clearly on the Sabbath. The Lord addresses this aspect in verses 13-14. If they desire to experience the privileges and joys of the Sabbath to the full, they need to comply with certain conditions.
Conditions (v13)
First of all a preliminary observation. Take note that there is no question here of mere ceremony. No, it has everything to do with the attitude of our hearts. Every New Testament Christian can therefore fully identify with it.
❏ Verse 13a tells us for what purpose the day was instituted and thus also what it was not intended for. The point made by the Hebrew text is this: refrain from using the day that I have sanctified for Myself, for your own pleasure. It is the Lord's day. It is not about your enjoyment and interests.
❏ Verse 13b demands that we show the right attitude of heart in respect of the day that the Lord has sanctified for Himself. Two things are mentioned:
• You must delight in the day. You must appreciate it. It must be your joy.
• The Lord has set the day aside for Himself. Therefore you must honour and respect it.
❏ Verse 13c underlines the practical implications of the above principles for our daily lives. Three things are specifically mentioned:
• Sunday is not just another day of the week. It must have a character of its own. Do not do the same as you do on the other six days. You must "rest" from your worldly responsibilities and pleasures.
• Do not utilise the day in your own interests or simply for your own pleasure. It is a day to be devoted to the Lord and His things.
• Even our conversations should honour the Lord. The Hebrew text simply states that we should not speak our own words. It implies a measure of self-restraint that keeps one from idle talk and chatter. Rather our conversation should be uplifting and glorifying to the Lord.
Promises (v.14)
There is a threefold promise and an assurance.
❏ You will find joy in the Lord. You will ever more clearly see the beauty and glory revealed in His attributes and works. You will all the more appreciate His greatness, goodness and holiness. And you will respond thereto in true gratitude and loving faithfulness. This is really about deep and joyful fellowship between the Lord and His people.
❏ The Lord will cause you to ride on the heights of the land. The expression has its origin in Dt 32:13, the song of Moses. It alludes to the victory over their enemies that the Lord grants to His people. New Testament equivalents would be the statement that those in Christ are more than conquerors (Rm 8:37), and the fact that they sit with Him in heaven - in a position of authority over Satan, the world and the flesh (Eph 2:6).
Do you see that faithfully keeping the Lord's day is a powerful means of grace?
❏ You will feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The expression in the Old Testament alludes to the covenant nation's inheritance of the land of Canaan (Ps 105:8-11), and more particularly to prosperity in that country (Ps 144:12-15). The promise therefore has to do with the way salvation is experienced in practice. In New Testament language one could say that it has to do with the privileges and joys that the Lord promises to His disciples.
❏ These promises, if we comply with the conditions, are as firm as the mountains: "The mouth of the Lord has spoken" (v14). Obedience to the Lord will certainly bring fellowship with the Lord, victory over sin and the joy of salvation.
SOME IMPLICATIONS
1. New Testament teaching should determine our interpretation of the fourth commandment.
The Lord Jesus and His disciples allowed themselves more freedom with respect to the Sabbath day than the Jewish religious leaders could tolerate. But we should understand that the scribes in no way represented the true spirit of the Old Testament. Their beliefs were formed by the Mishnah, a summary of Jewish oral traditions and customs since the exile, in which the rabbis tried to spell out the practical implications of the law in the finest detail. In the process they often went to ridiculous extremes. In their interpretation of the law about the Sabbath, for example, 39 different types of work were identified. So, for instance, the making of one stitch or the writing of one letter was allowed, but two were regarded as work and therefore not allowed. Even lighting or extinguishing a fire was regarded as a contravention of the commandment.
Jesus on the other hand, by His actions and through His teaching, taught people the true meaning of the law - of which He said "not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen" would be abolished in this dispensation (Mt 5:17-20). We may therefore assume that He was the living personification of everything that Is 58 teaches.
2. Let us therefore guard against two errors.
Firstly, to use the Lord's day in our own interest or for self-gratification is an ever present temptation.
Secondly, getting entangled in a host of do's and don'ts - which kills the festive character of the day.
3. Let us fill the Lord's day with that for which it was intended.
It is a day of rest. If we truly keep the other component of the commandment, namely to work conscientiously for six days of the week, we are sure to experience, week after week, this opportunity to recharge our batteries as a gift of grace from our heavenly Father. But then again it is not about loafing and useless idleness. We are concerned here with constructive recuperation. I have not only left behind me a tiring week, there is a week of hard work ahead of me.
It is a day of worship. What a blessing to have enough time to spend peacefully in our inner room or meet the Lord with beloved brothers and sisters - without the hustle and bustle of the week!
It is a day for good works. Most Christians are so busy during the week that they scarcely have the time for Christian service and ministry. Let us, like Jesus, devote ourselves to good works on this day.
4. So, if necessary, let us apply ourselves to the reformation of our Sundays.
The responsibility to consider this matter thoroughly and then to exercise strong leadership rests squarely on the shoulders of parents, and especially on the heads of households.
Think again about things such as undertaking long trips on Sundays, the Sunday papers, TV, sport, shopping, secular music - and huge meals which take up the time of housewives and leave the family in a state of total stupor for hours.
Take firm decisions about family attendance of church services. Take your children with you - they must learn to keep the Lord's day. Leave them at home in front of the TV or internet, and you will have some bitter fruit to pick in time to come!
Do I hear someone say that I am now also guilty of legalism? Certainly not! What we are talking about here is the attitude of our hearts. Self-discipline coming from a devout heart for the right reasons is not for one moment in conflict with the principle of Christian freedom - on the contrary!
5. Let us jealously treasure the Lord's day.
It is such a wonderful gift from our heavenly Father that we should do everything within our power to preserve it against the demands of the sinful flesh and a world that hates God.
Therefore, always keep Isa 58:13-14 in mind. Pay heed to the conditions in v 13 for receiving the blessing of the Lord and greet the realisation of the promises in v14 with excited expectation.
And remember the resurrection of our Lord. Embrace its joyful implications! This is how the early Christians greeted each other on a Lord's day morning: "The Lord has risen, He has risen indeed!"
Nico van der Walt
EE20 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [10]
We are looking here for the last time at the second part of this prayer - the part dealing with the way we understand and experience God's love for us.
We have seen that Paul uses two concepts in this prayer which at first sight appear to mean the same thing but are not really synonyms: to grasp (18) and to know (19). The first term has to do more with cognitive knowledge; the second with the way we experience it - in this case Christ's love.
Last time we looked in v.18 at those dimensions of Christ's love which we as human beings can more readily understand - its width, length, depth and height. We now look at v.19a, in which Paul prays that the Ephesians may experience Christ's love.
LOVE THAT SURPASSES ALL KNOWLEDGE
❏ It is necessary to emphasise again that Paul's prayer here is not that the Ephesians may have more love for the Lord. Of course he wants that, but this is not what he is praying for in this instance. What he is praying for is that they will grow in their understanding of God's love for them!
He knows that a person's love for Christ increases to the extent that he delights in Christ's love for him!
❏ The apostle makes a paradoxical statement. He wants the Ephesians - and therefore also us - to get to know something that surpasses all knowledge. He employs an interesting word (Gr. huperballo) which, translated literally, means "to throw right over." It is like Jonathan who shot an arrow over the head of David to warn him.
What the apostle is therefore trying to get across is that we will never be able to fully comprehend and experience Christ's love for us. There will always be more of it. But that should not stop us from pursuing it to an ever fuller extent.
We are therefore concerned here with progression in a process which never comes to an end - experiencing the love of Jesus.
CHRISTIANS ARE ALLOWED TO FEEL
❏ Many devout churchgoers hesitate when you start talking about Christian feelings and experience. Why are some of the Lord's people so wary of emotion when it comes to our relationship with God? There are mainly two reasons, it seems to me.
Some have an aversion to hearing people witness about intense spiritual experiences. This is so because it reveals to them that they themselves do not have a love-relationship with Christ. They might be very orthodox, but an orthodoxy which does not walk with the Lord is dead.
Others, on the other hand, recoil from Christian experience because of an overreaction to emotionalism - something which is unfortunately rampant in too many circles.
❏ The apostles teach us however to maintain a sensitive balance when it comes to emotions. No one can doubt that the New Testament insists on pure doctrine. But emotion also enjoys a prominent place. Just consider a few of the many incidences. They describe intense experiential faith, and most certainly in some cases intense emotion.
Jn 15:9-11: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love ... I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
Rm 14:17: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit..."
In Ephesians Paul calls on us not to live a life given to drunkenness and debauchery but rather to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which will bring its own joys - praise and hymns and mutual love (Eph 5:17-6:9).
Peter too understood: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy..." (1Pet 1:8).
It stands to reason that the early believers also experienced that which God's people in the Old Testament had known only too well. One example will suffice: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever" (Ps 73:25-26).
Throughout church history the lives of God's children have been characterized by profound experiences. We find this over and again in their biographies. And almost always it had to do in one way or another with the realisation of the unmerited and free grace of our Father in Christ!
We need only consider our own experience. Do you remember the time when you discovered the doctrine of sovereign grace - when you saw it against the backdrop of your total inability to meet God's standards? The wonder, the awe, the joy! And to this day, is it not so, hardly anything touches one more profoundly than feasting on this truth.
And this, more than anything else, gives birth to a reciprocal love in us for Him. Paul understands this, and therefore prays as he does.
HOW CAN I GROW IN MY APPRECIATION AND EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST'S LOVE FOR ME?
Firstly I need to understand that my expectation that the Lord must do something, on the one hand, and the acceptance of my responsibility, on the other, are not contradictory.
This is one of the most fundamental principles of the Christian life. God uses means, and I myself am his first instrument to bring about the answers to my prayers. It is I myself who must work out my salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in me to will and to act according to his good purpose (Phl 2:12-13).
Secondly, I need to grow in my insight into the perfect standards that God sets for man. I must get an in-depth understanding of his law.
How is this possible, you say? One wants to grow in one's understanding of his loving grace - not shudder with fear of his unattainable standards!
God deals with us in wonderful ways - so often quite paradoxical. This is how it works. To the extent to which I understand God's standards, to that extent do I appreciate how totally dependent I am on his saving grace - and to that extent his inexpressible love for me in Christ touches my heart.
Preaching the holy justice of God may totally discourage a non-believer (and the more this happens, the closer he gets to the Kingdom), but true believers grow in their understanding and experience of Christ's love for them - and therefore in their love for Him.
Thirdly, I need to remember that God reveals Himself to us through the means of grace.
The means of grace are the channels that God has instituted and is using to let his grace flow into our lives. There are more, but in the holy pursuit we are considering, prayer, Bible study and the preaching of the Word are the most important.
Without regular and persistent prayer we have no hope of advancing a single step towards getting to know God. And at the heart of our knowledge of God lies our understanding and experience of his love for us in Christ. Ask and keep on asking, even a thousand times per year, for the triune God to reveal Himself to you more and more - in Christ and through his Word. It pleases Him exceedingly when we hunger and thirst after Him. Truly, to know Him is our highest calling.
Bible study goes hand in hand with prayer, because it is in the Word where we find God's self-revelation. Trying to get to know Him by any other means would be an exercise in futility. It would soon leave me floundering without an anchor on a sea of subjectivism and mysticism. Without God's Word as basis and guideline, there is no certainty. In fact, I am bound to become totally misled, and very quickly too. Let us then make sure that the way we experience Christ is indeed Scriptural.
Today few things in the church are as underrated as preaching. This is in direct contrast with the teaching of the New Testament and the history of the church. The preaching of the Word has always played a vital role in the edification of God's children.
Take for instance the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers mentioned in Eph 4:11. Surely these are first and foremost preachers. And look what their ministries deposit in the lives of their hearers: "knowledge of the Son of God" (4:13) and growing up "into him who is the Head, that is, Christ" (4:15).
Do not rest, therefore, until you find a place where you can listen every Sunday to preaching that builds you up in the most holy faith. Just remember, real preaching is not made up of a few sentimental and moralistic stories, but is God-centred and Christ-focussed teaching of the Word - followed by the application of the text to the Christian's everyday life.
Fourthly, make sure that you live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit our prayers, our Bible reading and our preaching are lifeless.
Just remember that our quest to live full of the Spirit has two components. On the positive side we must pray for it ceaselessly. We have the wonderful mandate of our Lord Jesus Himself in the parable of the persistent friend in Lk 11:5-13. On the negative side it should be our earnest desire not to offend the Holy Spirit. Scripture gives us clear warnings. Sin grieves Him (Eph 4:30). And contempt for his work extinguishes his fire (1Ts 5:19).
Fifthly, seek the Lord himself, not just the truth about Him.
Embrace this truth with both arms: God wants to reveal Himself to you and walk with you. See how central this is in his Old Testament promises about the Messianic dispensation (Hos 2:18-19; Jer 31:31-34). And be assured that there is nothing that pleases Him more than revealing to you his loving grace in Christ.
Make God personally the object of your quest. The Giver, not just his gifts! Can there be a greater insult to anybody, than being interested in him just for what you can get out of him?
Sixthly, persist in a lifelong search after the knowledge of God in the face of Christ.
There is no terminus on this road. There is always something more. In fact, the search for and acquiring of the knowledge of God - and accordingly a deeper experience of the love of Christ - is one of the main ingredients of a Christian life which never gets boring.
THE HIGHEST AMBITION
Let us close with a single call from the prophet Hosea: "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth" (6:3, ESV).
Nico van der Walt
We have seen that Paul uses two concepts in this prayer which at first sight appear to mean the same thing but are not really synonyms: to grasp (18) and to know (19). The first term has to do more with cognitive knowledge; the second with the way we experience it - in this case Christ's love.
Last time we looked in v.18 at those dimensions of Christ's love which we as human beings can more readily understand - its width, length, depth and height. We now look at v.19a, in which Paul prays that the Ephesians may experience Christ's love.
LOVE THAT SURPASSES ALL KNOWLEDGE
❏ It is necessary to emphasise again that Paul's prayer here is not that the Ephesians may have more love for the Lord. Of course he wants that, but this is not what he is praying for in this instance. What he is praying for is that they will grow in their understanding of God's love for them!
He knows that a person's love for Christ increases to the extent that he delights in Christ's love for him!
❏ The apostle makes a paradoxical statement. He wants the Ephesians - and therefore also us - to get to know something that surpasses all knowledge. He employs an interesting word (Gr. huperballo) which, translated literally, means "to throw right over." It is like Jonathan who shot an arrow over the head of David to warn him.
What the apostle is therefore trying to get across is that we will never be able to fully comprehend and experience Christ's love for us. There will always be more of it. But that should not stop us from pursuing it to an ever fuller extent.
We are therefore concerned here with progression in a process which never comes to an end - experiencing the love of Jesus.
CHRISTIANS ARE ALLOWED TO FEEL
❏ Many devout churchgoers hesitate when you start talking about Christian feelings and experience. Why are some of the Lord's people so wary of emotion when it comes to our relationship with God? There are mainly two reasons, it seems to me.
Some have an aversion to hearing people witness about intense spiritual experiences. This is so because it reveals to them that they themselves do not have a love-relationship with Christ. They might be very orthodox, but an orthodoxy which does not walk with the Lord is dead.
Others, on the other hand, recoil from Christian experience because of an overreaction to emotionalism - something which is unfortunately rampant in too many circles.
❏ The apostles teach us however to maintain a sensitive balance when it comes to emotions. No one can doubt that the New Testament insists on pure doctrine. But emotion also enjoys a prominent place. Just consider a few of the many incidences. They describe intense experiential faith, and most certainly in some cases intense emotion.
Jn 15:9-11: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love ... I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
Rm 14:17: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit..."
In Ephesians Paul calls on us not to live a life given to drunkenness and debauchery but rather to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which will bring its own joys - praise and hymns and mutual love (Eph 5:17-6:9).
Peter too understood: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy..." (1Pet 1:8).
It stands to reason that the early believers also experienced that which God's people in the Old Testament had known only too well. One example will suffice: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever" (Ps 73:25-26).
Throughout church history the lives of God's children have been characterized by profound experiences. We find this over and again in their biographies. And almost always it had to do in one way or another with the realisation of the unmerited and free grace of our Father in Christ!
We need only consider our own experience. Do you remember the time when you discovered the doctrine of sovereign grace - when you saw it against the backdrop of your total inability to meet God's standards? The wonder, the awe, the joy! And to this day, is it not so, hardly anything touches one more profoundly than feasting on this truth.
And this, more than anything else, gives birth to a reciprocal love in us for Him. Paul understands this, and therefore prays as he does.
HOW CAN I GROW IN MY APPRECIATION AND EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST'S LOVE FOR ME?
Firstly I need to understand that my expectation that the Lord must do something, on the one hand, and the acceptance of my responsibility, on the other, are not contradictory.
This is one of the most fundamental principles of the Christian life. God uses means, and I myself am his first instrument to bring about the answers to my prayers. It is I myself who must work out my salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in me to will and to act according to his good purpose (Phl 2:12-13).
Secondly, I need to grow in my insight into the perfect standards that God sets for man. I must get an in-depth understanding of his law.
How is this possible, you say? One wants to grow in one's understanding of his loving grace - not shudder with fear of his unattainable standards!
God deals with us in wonderful ways - so often quite paradoxical. This is how it works. To the extent to which I understand God's standards, to that extent do I appreciate how totally dependent I am on his saving grace - and to that extent his inexpressible love for me in Christ touches my heart.
Preaching the holy justice of God may totally discourage a non-believer (and the more this happens, the closer he gets to the Kingdom), but true believers grow in their understanding and experience of Christ's love for them - and therefore in their love for Him.
Thirdly, I need to remember that God reveals Himself to us through the means of grace.
The means of grace are the channels that God has instituted and is using to let his grace flow into our lives. There are more, but in the holy pursuit we are considering, prayer, Bible study and the preaching of the Word are the most important.
Without regular and persistent prayer we have no hope of advancing a single step towards getting to know God. And at the heart of our knowledge of God lies our understanding and experience of his love for us in Christ. Ask and keep on asking, even a thousand times per year, for the triune God to reveal Himself to you more and more - in Christ and through his Word. It pleases Him exceedingly when we hunger and thirst after Him. Truly, to know Him is our highest calling.
Bible study goes hand in hand with prayer, because it is in the Word where we find God's self-revelation. Trying to get to know Him by any other means would be an exercise in futility. It would soon leave me floundering without an anchor on a sea of subjectivism and mysticism. Without God's Word as basis and guideline, there is no certainty. In fact, I am bound to become totally misled, and very quickly too. Let us then make sure that the way we experience Christ is indeed Scriptural.
Today few things in the church are as underrated as preaching. This is in direct contrast with the teaching of the New Testament and the history of the church. The preaching of the Word has always played a vital role in the edification of God's children.
Take for instance the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers mentioned in Eph 4:11. Surely these are first and foremost preachers. And look what their ministries deposit in the lives of their hearers: "knowledge of the Son of God" (4:13) and growing up "into him who is the Head, that is, Christ" (4:15).
Do not rest, therefore, until you find a place where you can listen every Sunday to preaching that builds you up in the most holy faith. Just remember, real preaching is not made up of a few sentimental and moralistic stories, but is God-centred and Christ-focussed teaching of the Word - followed by the application of the text to the Christian's everyday life.
Fourthly, make sure that you live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit our prayers, our Bible reading and our preaching are lifeless.
Just remember that our quest to live full of the Spirit has two components. On the positive side we must pray for it ceaselessly. We have the wonderful mandate of our Lord Jesus Himself in the parable of the persistent friend in Lk 11:5-13. On the negative side it should be our earnest desire not to offend the Holy Spirit. Scripture gives us clear warnings. Sin grieves Him (Eph 4:30). And contempt for his work extinguishes his fire (1Ts 5:19).
Fifthly, seek the Lord himself, not just the truth about Him.
Embrace this truth with both arms: God wants to reveal Himself to you and walk with you. See how central this is in his Old Testament promises about the Messianic dispensation (Hos 2:18-19; Jer 31:31-34). And be assured that there is nothing that pleases Him more than revealing to you his loving grace in Christ.
Make God personally the object of your quest. The Giver, not just his gifts! Can there be a greater insult to anybody, than being interested in him just for what you can get out of him?
Sixthly, persist in a lifelong search after the knowledge of God in the face of Christ.
There is no terminus on this road. There is always something more. In fact, the search for and acquiring of the knowledge of God - and accordingly a deeper experience of the love of Christ - is one of the main ingredients of a Christian life which never gets boring.
THE HIGHEST AMBITION
Let us close with a single call from the prophet Hosea: "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth" (6:3, ESV).
Nico van der Walt
EE17 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [9]
We are still looking at the second petition of this prayer in Eph 3. Last time we considered the two concepts to grasp and to know. We saw that the former verb had to do primarily with mental insight into a truth, and the latter more with experiencing it.
We now take a look in v.18 at what it is that Paul wishes the Ephesians - and therefore also us - to understand more fully. His prayer is that they should keep on growing in their understanding of the wonders of Christ's love for them.
THE DIMENSIONS OF CHRIST'S LOVE
It is the apostle's prayer that the Ephesians may grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is. They need to grow in their knowledge of the multi-dimensional character of this love. Of course, the apostle realises that nobody can fully grasp it (the next verse does indeed say that it surpasses knowledge). But this should not prevent us from pleading with the Lord for more and more insight, and a deeper experience.
The width of Christ's love
We are concerned here with the extent of Christ's love, something to which the New Testament attaches great importance. It is certainly a non-negotiable principle. Think of Jesus' great command that disciples should be made "of all nations". Think of Col 3:11: "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all". Moreover the book of Revelation rejoices in the fact that God's people in the hereafter will be made up of people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 14:6; 21:24-26).
Let us never forget, Christ is the universal Redeemer and King. He has loved ones worldwide! That is why one and all can identify with Him: miserable lepers in India; American billionaires in Los Angeles; illiterate pigmies in Central Africa; Nobel prize-winners at Harvard and Princeton; doll-playing girls in Chili; old men in wheelchairs in Japan; merino farmers of Carnarvon; slender members of London's Royal Ballet.
• Because the Lord's love is so wide, the gospel is to be preached to all nations before the advent of Christ. Surely, we must harness the technological explosion to spread the gospel and to build up the church. If the sovereign God could use Nebuchadnezzar 2500 years ago for the furthering of his plan, why not Bill Gates in these times?
• The width of Christ's love makes special demands of his church. In view of the great diversity within the worldwide church it is of the utmost importance that we recognise, understand and hold on to the absolutes - the foundation stones - of our faith. This was never truer than in today's global village. Otherwise we stand in danger of falling into one of two traps: Either to create our own unholy exclusivism which elevates aspects of secondary importance to acid tests for purity of faith. Or we get lost in a religious world of immeasurable diversity and soon become so myopic that we embrace all manner of heresies propagated by the false church.
The length of Christ's love
Probably Paul is referring here to the eternal and timeless love of Christ.
Do we sufficiently appreciate the fact that the love of the Lord Jesus on the cross was the basis for the salvation of every single person who has been saved since the fall? Old Testament believers were justified by a faith which looked forward to the promised Lamb of God; we are saved by a faith which looks back to Him. Do we appreciate that his love did not dry up after Calvary, but that we are even now being kept by Christ's High Priestly intercession? And have we embraced the fact that there will never come a time in all eternity that we will be able to cope without it?
Is Rm 8:35-39 written on your heart? "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship ... danger or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life ... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Things may be going well for you now, but the time may come very soon when you will need to cling desperately to these words about the love of Christ - if only on your deathbed. Paul also knows it, hence this prayer.
• If you are one of those whom the Father entrusted to the Son (Jn 6:37, 39; 10:29; 17:2, 6, 9, 24), do you know when it is that our Lord Jesus Christ started loving you? From before the creation of the earth! When the three Persons of the Trinity entered into the covenant of salvation in order to glorify themselves through the salvation of sinners, our names were entered in the book of life, the book of the Lamb (Rev 13:8; 17:8). Jeremiah was told, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3).
You need to understand this very clearly: God did not start loving you only when you said "Yes" to Him. No, you bent your knees and your neck to Him because He first loved you (1Jn 4:19).
Many of us can testify of the radical effects this truth has upon a person's life once something of its full implications dawns upon him or her. Paul also knows it, hence this prayer.
The depth of Christ's love
Some interpret this as meaning that no sinner can sink so low that Christ's love is incapable of saving him or her. This is true of course, but I think Paul is thinking here more of the price that Christ had to pay for our redemption.
According to Phil 2:5-11 the depth of Christ's love for us came to expression in two ways. Firstly He did not consider equality with God something to be held on to, but for our sakes made Himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant (6-7). Secondly, he humbled Himself to suffer scorn and torture for the sake of our salvation (8).
• How can we ever begin to understand the full extent of the Son's sacrifice when He became man? The One who had been above time since all eternity, the One who created time, became subject to all of time's limitations. The Unchangeable became changeable. The Creator and Sustainer of all became dependent. The Omnipotent became weak. The Immortal came to die. The Heir and Lord of the universe became a servant!
When John writes that the Word became "flesh" (Jn 1:14), he is not merely saying that the Word became a human being or that He took on the body of a human being. The Greek word he uses is almost too shocking, too crude to be applied to the eternal Son of God. It literally means that He became meat, indicating humanness in its weakness, its dependence and its mortality. The Creator of heaven and earth entered the physical, mundane world of ordinary mortals, in fact, became one of them!
In Rm 8:3 Paul makes a shocking statement which takes him to the brink of blasphemy. He says that God sent his Son "in the likeness of sinful man". The apostle could definitely have put it more mildly, but he wants to drive a point home. He wants to emphasise the fact that Jesus Christ became a human being in the fullest sense of the word. His identification and solidarity with us was absolute. He became as close to sinful man as possible - without becoming a sinner himself. Like the writer of the Hebrew letter says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Hb 4:15).
What Paul prays for here is for the Ephesians to understand more and more of Christ's love - so that it would change them in their innermost being.
• What shall we say about Christ's suffering? The humiliation of becoming human and being human! Gethsemane! The cross!
As penal substitute He took upon Himself the sins of millions. He became sin for them (2Cor 5:21). He bore God's wrath against every sin of each of his loved ones for whom He assumed responsibility before creation. How little do we understand his exclamation of utter loneliness, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34).
Enough said. But let us often and prayerfully contemplate this. The Holy Spirit will certainly enlighten us. This is what Paul is praying for.
The height of Christ's love
Here Paul is probably thinking of the wonders of our inheritance in Christ - the heights to which His salvation takes us. We see that in both our present privileges and our eternal glory.
• In 1Sam 2:8 we read, "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honour ... " Is this not how millions experience it? Nothing lifts us like the truth of the gospel, biblical disciplines and the rule of Christ. Even the plainest of Christians who are solidly anchored in the love of Christ can comfortably associate with the nobility.
This is because Rom 8:16-17 has become a reality in our lives. Literally the Greek language says that the Spirit testifies in us that we are co-heirs with Christ, because we are co-sufferers with Him, with the result that we will be co-glorified with Him.
Concerning our current inheritance in Christ we could say much - but space does not permit.
With regard to our eternal salvation a single quotation will suffice: "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever" (Rev 22:3-5).
CONCLUSION
Most of us, when we pray, tend to plead that our love for Christ may grow. And of course there is nothing wrong with that - on the contrary! But Paul has insight which many of us lack. He knows something that you and I should learn in the here and now, something of immensely practical value: my love for Christ grows to the extent that I delight in his love for me!
When you see a person who denies him or herself and follows Christ with uncompromising love and dedication, you see someone who knows more than the average of Christ's love for sinners.
Nico van der Walt
We now take a look in v.18 at what it is that Paul wishes the Ephesians - and therefore also us - to understand more fully. His prayer is that they should keep on growing in their understanding of the wonders of Christ's love for them.
THE DIMENSIONS OF CHRIST'S LOVE
It is the apostle's prayer that the Ephesians may grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is. They need to grow in their knowledge of the multi-dimensional character of this love. Of course, the apostle realises that nobody can fully grasp it (the next verse does indeed say that it surpasses knowledge). But this should not prevent us from pleading with the Lord for more and more insight, and a deeper experience.
The width of Christ's love
We are concerned here with the extent of Christ's love, something to which the New Testament attaches great importance. It is certainly a non-negotiable principle. Think of Jesus' great command that disciples should be made "of all nations". Think of Col 3:11: "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all". Moreover the book of Revelation rejoices in the fact that God's people in the hereafter will be made up of people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 14:6; 21:24-26).
Let us never forget, Christ is the universal Redeemer and King. He has loved ones worldwide! That is why one and all can identify with Him: miserable lepers in India; American billionaires in Los Angeles; illiterate pigmies in Central Africa; Nobel prize-winners at Harvard and Princeton; doll-playing girls in Chili; old men in wheelchairs in Japan; merino farmers of Carnarvon; slender members of London's Royal Ballet.
• Because the Lord's love is so wide, the gospel is to be preached to all nations before the advent of Christ. Surely, we must harness the technological explosion to spread the gospel and to build up the church. If the sovereign God could use Nebuchadnezzar 2500 years ago for the furthering of his plan, why not Bill Gates in these times?
• The width of Christ's love makes special demands of his church. In view of the great diversity within the worldwide church it is of the utmost importance that we recognise, understand and hold on to the absolutes - the foundation stones - of our faith. This was never truer than in today's global village. Otherwise we stand in danger of falling into one of two traps: Either to create our own unholy exclusivism which elevates aspects of secondary importance to acid tests for purity of faith. Or we get lost in a religious world of immeasurable diversity and soon become so myopic that we embrace all manner of heresies propagated by the false church.
The length of Christ's love
Probably Paul is referring here to the eternal and timeless love of Christ.
Do we sufficiently appreciate the fact that the love of the Lord Jesus on the cross was the basis for the salvation of every single person who has been saved since the fall? Old Testament believers were justified by a faith which looked forward to the promised Lamb of God; we are saved by a faith which looks back to Him. Do we appreciate that his love did not dry up after Calvary, but that we are even now being kept by Christ's High Priestly intercession? And have we embraced the fact that there will never come a time in all eternity that we will be able to cope without it?
Is Rm 8:35-39 written on your heart? "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship ... danger or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life ... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Things may be going well for you now, but the time may come very soon when you will need to cling desperately to these words about the love of Christ - if only on your deathbed. Paul also knows it, hence this prayer.
• If you are one of those whom the Father entrusted to the Son (Jn 6:37, 39; 10:29; 17:2, 6, 9, 24), do you know when it is that our Lord Jesus Christ started loving you? From before the creation of the earth! When the three Persons of the Trinity entered into the covenant of salvation in order to glorify themselves through the salvation of sinners, our names were entered in the book of life, the book of the Lamb (Rev 13:8; 17:8). Jeremiah was told, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3).
You need to understand this very clearly: God did not start loving you only when you said "Yes" to Him. No, you bent your knees and your neck to Him because He first loved you (1Jn 4:19).
Many of us can testify of the radical effects this truth has upon a person's life once something of its full implications dawns upon him or her. Paul also knows it, hence this prayer.
The depth of Christ's love
Some interpret this as meaning that no sinner can sink so low that Christ's love is incapable of saving him or her. This is true of course, but I think Paul is thinking here more of the price that Christ had to pay for our redemption.
According to Phil 2:5-11 the depth of Christ's love for us came to expression in two ways. Firstly He did not consider equality with God something to be held on to, but for our sakes made Himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant (6-7). Secondly, he humbled Himself to suffer scorn and torture for the sake of our salvation (8).
• How can we ever begin to understand the full extent of the Son's sacrifice when He became man? The One who had been above time since all eternity, the One who created time, became subject to all of time's limitations. The Unchangeable became changeable. The Creator and Sustainer of all became dependent. The Omnipotent became weak. The Immortal came to die. The Heir and Lord of the universe became a servant!
When John writes that the Word became "flesh" (Jn 1:14), he is not merely saying that the Word became a human being or that He took on the body of a human being. The Greek word he uses is almost too shocking, too crude to be applied to the eternal Son of God. It literally means that He became meat, indicating humanness in its weakness, its dependence and its mortality. The Creator of heaven and earth entered the physical, mundane world of ordinary mortals, in fact, became one of them!
In Rm 8:3 Paul makes a shocking statement which takes him to the brink of blasphemy. He says that God sent his Son "in the likeness of sinful man". The apostle could definitely have put it more mildly, but he wants to drive a point home. He wants to emphasise the fact that Jesus Christ became a human being in the fullest sense of the word. His identification and solidarity with us was absolute. He became as close to sinful man as possible - without becoming a sinner himself. Like the writer of the Hebrew letter says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Hb 4:15).
What Paul prays for here is for the Ephesians to understand more and more of Christ's love - so that it would change them in their innermost being.
• What shall we say about Christ's suffering? The humiliation of becoming human and being human! Gethsemane! The cross!
As penal substitute He took upon Himself the sins of millions. He became sin for them (2Cor 5:21). He bore God's wrath against every sin of each of his loved ones for whom He assumed responsibility before creation. How little do we understand his exclamation of utter loneliness, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34).
Enough said. But let us often and prayerfully contemplate this. The Holy Spirit will certainly enlighten us. This is what Paul is praying for.
The height of Christ's love
Here Paul is probably thinking of the wonders of our inheritance in Christ - the heights to which His salvation takes us. We see that in both our present privileges and our eternal glory.
• In 1Sam 2:8 we read, "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honour ... " Is this not how millions experience it? Nothing lifts us like the truth of the gospel, biblical disciplines and the rule of Christ. Even the plainest of Christians who are solidly anchored in the love of Christ can comfortably associate with the nobility.
This is because Rom 8:16-17 has become a reality in our lives. Literally the Greek language says that the Spirit testifies in us that we are co-heirs with Christ, because we are co-sufferers with Him, with the result that we will be co-glorified with Him.
Concerning our current inheritance in Christ we could say much - but space does not permit.
With regard to our eternal salvation a single quotation will suffice: "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever" (Rev 22:3-5).
CONCLUSION
Most of us, when we pray, tend to plead that our love for Christ may grow. And of course there is nothing wrong with that - on the contrary! But Paul has insight which many of us lack. He knows something that you and I should learn in the here and now, something of immensely practical value: my love for Christ grows to the extent that I delight in his love for me!
When you see a person who denies him or herself and follows Christ with uncompromising love and dedication, you see someone who knows more than the average of Christ's love for sinners.
Nico van der Walt
EE16 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [8]
WE STARTED LAST TIME with the second petition and established that the phrase being rooted and established in love is actually just a bridge between the two petitions, although it can correctly be regarded as part of the second. We now continue with the second petition.
Paul's prayer is that the Ephesians - if the loving indwelling of Christ has wrought a rootedness and soundness in their lives and they show the concomitant signs of fruit bearing and steadfastness - will be able to grasp and to know. We will look at a later stage at what it is that he wants them to understand and to know. Today we consider the two concepts "grasp" and "know".
TO GRASP
❏ The word that Paul uses here (the Greek word katalambano) and the form that he employs (Aorist Medium Infinitive) means to lay hold of something in order to make it your own and to claim it for yourself.
Let us look at three other places where it is used, in order to get a clearer understanding.
1 Cor 9:24(b):" Run in such a way as to get the prize". The literal meaning of the sentence is that we should run the Christian race in such a manner that we might grasp the reward that Christ has for his children, lay hold of it and make it our own.
Mk 9:18: We read of a demon that seized a child.
Jn 8:3-4: The Pharisees and Scribes have caught a woman in adultery. Here the verb indicates to us that they not only saw her committing the crime, but laid hold of her and dragged her to Jesus.
❏ Accordingly the apostle prays in our text that the Ephesians will be able to lay hold of with their minds, get a grip on, and make their own, how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is
Acts 10:34 Peter says with reference to his vision of the sheet, “I now realise (Gr. katalambano) ... that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation..." Can you believe it! He must surely have heard this from Jesus Himself. In fact, he himself preached it on the day of Pentecost when he assured the crowd with great certainty that the promise of the Holy Spirit is not only for those Jews who are listening to him, but also to "all who are far off" (Acts 2:39). This expression was used to denote the Gentiles, from as far back as Isaiah (43:6-7; 49:1, 12; 57:19). Paul also specifically describes the Gentiles in this way (Eph 2:13, 17).
So what is really happening here in Acts 10? Peter realises for the first time that God's plan of salvation actually does include the Gentiles. In the past he would have said, "Yes, yes, of course..." But now the truth has hit him like a bolt of lightening and he will never forget it.
❏ In the light of the foregoing we can now understand what it is that Paul is praying for here: It is his heartfelt wish that the Ephesians may come to a full understanding of the extent and depth of Christ's love for them - in what He has done and still does and forever will do.
They must come to know Him as God's great Prophet - that He is the culmination and summation of God's self-revelation to mankind. They must understand that his teaching, his commands and his example are the perfect explanation of God's law.
They must come to know him as God's great Priest who has brought the Old Testament sacrifial system to perfect culmination when He sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God. They must understand that He is the interpretation and fulfilment of the faith and religious practices of the previous centuries.
They must come to know Him as God's great King who subjects all his enemies and will rule forever as the Prince of Peace. They must understand that as sovereign ruler, He governs over the most minute details of their lives.
Their insight into these things must keep on growing in depth and in scope. These things must become the passion of their lives - permanently, and life-changing! They must be fascinated by these truths, and must have a passion to proclaim them.
❏ Do I hear an objection? You say that if we read further we will find that in the prayer Paul's concern is with knowledge of Jesus Christ's love and not all the other things mentioned above. Let us not be short-sighted. Does Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King do anything which is not an expression of his love? Or to put it differently, we can reduce everything that He is for us and does for us to one single expression: his love!
❏ This brings us to the inevitable question: Why is it so important to Paul that the Ephesians should understand so deeply and fully who and what Christ is? The answer is simple. It is because he himself has experienced the overpowering effect of that which he is praying for on their behalf. And every one of us who has experienced but a fraction of this knows that we are overpowered by a desire that many others should also see what we see.
Why? Have you ever stood at the Victoria Falls or watched a Karoo sunset? Do you remember how you longed every time to share the experience with a loved one? That is how it is with love. You want those whom you love to share your feelings. Paul is driven here by his love for the Ephesians.
But there is an even more important reason. His passion that Christ should be glorified burns day and night like a fire in Paul's breast. He finds it unbearable that people should profess to be Christians without appreciating the Lord Jesus for whom and what He is. No, with his whole being he desires that a pleasant fragrance of glorifying worship should rise heavenwards daily from more and more lives. Innumerable people to the ends of the earth must worship, trust, love, serve and proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
TO KNOW
❏ The word that the apostle uses here (Gr. ginosko) is loaded with meaning. Whereas the previous word implies mental insight, ginosko has to do with relationships and experience.
To the question, "Do you know Mr Mandela?", most of us would have to reply in the negative, although we probably all know quite a lot about him and may have read his voluminous biography. But unless we have a personal relationship with him, we have to answer "No!" But it is for such a personal relationship with Christ that Paul is praying here.
❏ How do I experience a relationship with Jesus Christ? My fellowship with Him (and the Father and the Holy Spirit, because the three Persons of the Trinity never operate separately from each other) comes to expression in at least two different ways:
Firstly I will recognise in faith his loving involvement in every aspect of my life, acknowledge it thankfully and praise Him for it. I will therefore look in faith at my life through the eyes of the Word and see his intimate involvement with me in every circumstance and detail of my life.
Secondly, I will devote myself to Christ in trusting faith and serve Him all my life with love and in thankful obedience. I will try, in all integrity, to apply in practice the full implications of his calling. What we are talking about here is a response to Christ's saving initiatives, his ongoing loving faithfulness and his sovereign rule over me that direct my entire life.
Luther said, " Religion and discipleship are a matter of personal pronouns". This is beautifully illustrated by the life of David, especially as exemplified in the psalms. We see for instance David writing in Ps 139 about God's divine characteristics, such as his omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. But he does not do so in abstract terms as might be expected, but as he personally experienced them. The name of the Lord is mentioned 6 times, while personal pronouns referring to Him occur approximately 30 times. And to himself David refers about 50 times. In David's deepest religious experiences there are really only two persons involved: the Lord and David himself. That is why he does not speak of "He", but of "You"; and not of "people", but of "I".
TO SUMMARISE
❏ Paul prays here for two types of knowledge:
He prays for a more rational and objective insight into the wonders of Christ's love. He prays for an understanding of the Scriptural revelation about the Son, for a grasp of the teaching about Christ.
He also prays for a subjective experience of this love leading to a radical and practical application of the implications thereof in the life of the individual.
Two words summarise it: understanding and experiencing!
❏ Can you see how closely related these two types of knowledge of Christ are with his love? The knowledge and the love are like Siamese twins.
On the one hand, without a proper understanding of the person and work of Christ, we lapse into a subjective, even mystical pre-occupation with experience. This results more often than not in blasphemous emotionalism and self-deceit. We start believing all sorts of things that are unscriptural and untrue. No, we need not fear emotion per se, but it should always be founded upon a true understanding of God's Word. That is why Paul prays for a proper understanding of Christ's love.
On the other hand, without a practical and emotional experiencing of our faith, we will soon lapse into a cold intellectualism, and a conceited hyper orthodoxy. That is why Paul prays for knowledge that is not just cerebral.
❏ In pursuing these two types of knowledge of Christ - understanding and experiencing - there are a few things we should always keep in mind:
One, our growth in this knowledge is only possible by the grace of God. That is why Paul prays for this growth and does not simply instruct the Ephesians to grow in it. And if we pray in earnest, we can confidently expect to receive it increasingly, because nothing pleases the Father more than his Son being glorified in the lives of his children.
Two, it is the Holy Spirit that brings this to fruition in our lives. Let us never fail to acknowledge Him.
Three, the Lord reveals Himself only to those of humble, childlike and deeply dependent faith (Mt 11:25-30). The proud know-all does not stand a chance, nor does the choosy.
Four, the knowledge of the Lord is not for casual and insincere seekers. It is something we must pursue in a purposeful and persistent manner. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Hos 6:3; Jer 29:13).
❏ In conclusion, here is a Biblical principle we should always keep in mind:
The Bible never accepts that a learner knows a truth unless it controls his life. And more than anything else, this applies to the knowledge of the Lord and his love.
Nico van der Walt
Paul's prayer is that the Ephesians - if the loving indwelling of Christ has wrought a rootedness and soundness in their lives and they show the concomitant signs of fruit bearing and steadfastness - will be able to grasp and to know. We will look at a later stage at what it is that he wants them to understand and to know. Today we consider the two concepts "grasp" and "know".
TO GRASP
❏ The word that Paul uses here (the Greek word katalambano) and the form that he employs (Aorist Medium Infinitive) means to lay hold of something in order to make it your own and to claim it for yourself.
Let us look at three other places where it is used, in order to get a clearer understanding.
1 Cor 9:24(b):" Run in such a way as to get the prize". The literal meaning of the sentence is that we should run the Christian race in such a manner that we might grasp the reward that Christ has for his children, lay hold of it and make it our own.
Mk 9:18: We read of a demon that seized a child.
Jn 8:3-4: The Pharisees and Scribes have caught a woman in adultery. Here the verb indicates to us that they not only saw her committing the crime, but laid hold of her and dragged her to Jesus.
❏ Accordingly the apostle prays in our text that the Ephesians will be able to lay hold of with their minds, get a grip on, and make their own, how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is
Acts 10:34 Peter says with reference to his vision of the sheet, “I now realise (Gr. katalambano) ... that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation..." Can you believe it! He must surely have heard this from Jesus Himself. In fact, he himself preached it on the day of Pentecost when he assured the crowd with great certainty that the promise of the Holy Spirit is not only for those Jews who are listening to him, but also to "all who are far off" (Acts 2:39). This expression was used to denote the Gentiles, from as far back as Isaiah (43:6-7; 49:1, 12; 57:19). Paul also specifically describes the Gentiles in this way (Eph 2:13, 17).
So what is really happening here in Acts 10? Peter realises for the first time that God's plan of salvation actually does include the Gentiles. In the past he would have said, "Yes, yes, of course..." But now the truth has hit him like a bolt of lightening and he will never forget it.
❏ In the light of the foregoing we can now understand what it is that Paul is praying for here: It is his heartfelt wish that the Ephesians may come to a full understanding of the extent and depth of Christ's love for them - in what He has done and still does and forever will do.
They must come to know Him as God's great Prophet - that He is the culmination and summation of God's self-revelation to mankind. They must understand that his teaching, his commands and his example are the perfect explanation of God's law.
They must come to know him as God's great Priest who has brought the Old Testament sacrifial system to perfect culmination when He sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God. They must understand that He is the interpretation and fulfilment of the faith and religious practices of the previous centuries.
They must come to know Him as God's great King who subjects all his enemies and will rule forever as the Prince of Peace. They must understand that as sovereign ruler, He governs over the most minute details of their lives.
Their insight into these things must keep on growing in depth and in scope. These things must become the passion of their lives - permanently, and life-changing! They must be fascinated by these truths, and must have a passion to proclaim them.
❏ Do I hear an objection? You say that if we read further we will find that in the prayer Paul's concern is with knowledge of Jesus Christ's love and not all the other things mentioned above. Let us not be short-sighted. Does Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King do anything which is not an expression of his love? Or to put it differently, we can reduce everything that He is for us and does for us to one single expression: his love!
❏ This brings us to the inevitable question: Why is it so important to Paul that the Ephesians should understand so deeply and fully who and what Christ is? The answer is simple. It is because he himself has experienced the overpowering effect of that which he is praying for on their behalf. And every one of us who has experienced but a fraction of this knows that we are overpowered by a desire that many others should also see what we see.
Why? Have you ever stood at the Victoria Falls or watched a Karoo sunset? Do you remember how you longed every time to share the experience with a loved one? That is how it is with love. You want those whom you love to share your feelings. Paul is driven here by his love for the Ephesians.
But there is an even more important reason. His passion that Christ should be glorified burns day and night like a fire in Paul's breast. He finds it unbearable that people should profess to be Christians without appreciating the Lord Jesus for whom and what He is. No, with his whole being he desires that a pleasant fragrance of glorifying worship should rise heavenwards daily from more and more lives. Innumerable people to the ends of the earth must worship, trust, love, serve and proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
TO KNOW
❏ The word that the apostle uses here (Gr. ginosko) is loaded with meaning. Whereas the previous word implies mental insight, ginosko has to do with relationships and experience.
To the question, "Do you know Mr Mandela?", most of us would have to reply in the negative, although we probably all know quite a lot about him and may have read his voluminous biography. But unless we have a personal relationship with him, we have to answer "No!" But it is for such a personal relationship with Christ that Paul is praying here.
❏ How do I experience a relationship with Jesus Christ? My fellowship with Him (and the Father and the Holy Spirit, because the three Persons of the Trinity never operate separately from each other) comes to expression in at least two different ways:
Firstly I will recognise in faith his loving involvement in every aspect of my life, acknowledge it thankfully and praise Him for it. I will therefore look in faith at my life through the eyes of the Word and see his intimate involvement with me in every circumstance and detail of my life.
Secondly, I will devote myself to Christ in trusting faith and serve Him all my life with love and in thankful obedience. I will try, in all integrity, to apply in practice the full implications of his calling. What we are talking about here is a response to Christ's saving initiatives, his ongoing loving faithfulness and his sovereign rule over me that direct my entire life.
Luther said, " Religion and discipleship are a matter of personal pronouns". This is beautifully illustrated by the life of David, especially as exemplified in the psalms. We see for instance David writing in Ps 139 about God's divine characteristics, such as his omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. But he does not do so in abstract terms as might be expected, but as he personally experienced them. The name of the Lord is mentioned 6 times, while personal pronouns referring to Him occur approximately 30 times. And to himself David refers about 50 times. In David's deepest religious experiences there are really only two persons involved: the Lord and David himself. That is why he does not speak of "He", but of "You"; and not of "people", but of "I".
TO SUMMARISE
❏ Paul prays here for two types of knowledge:
He prays for a more rational and objective insight into the wonders of Christ's love. He prays for an understanding of the Scriptural revelation about the Son, for a grasp of the teaching about Christ.
He also prays for a subjective experience of this love leading to a radical and practical application of the implications thereof in the life of the individual.
Two words summarise it: understanding and experiencing!
❏ Can you see how closely related these two types of knowledge of Christ are with his love? The knowledge and the love are like Siamese twins.
On the one hand, without a proper understanding of the person and work of Christ, we lapse into a subjective, even mystical pre-occupation with experience. This results more often than not in blasphemous emotionalism and self-deceit. We start believing all sorts of things that are unscriptural and untrue. No, we need not fear emotion per se, but it should always be founded upon a true understanding of God's Word. That is why Paul prays for a proper understanding of Christ's love.
On the other hand, without a practical and emotional experiencing of our faith, we will soon lapse into a cold intellectualism, and a conceited hyper orthodoxy. That is why Paul prays for knowledge that is not just cerebral.
❏ In pursuing these two types of knowledge of Christ - understanding and experiencing - there are a few things we should always keep in mind:
One, our growth in this knowledge is only possible by the grace of God. That is why Paul prays for this growth and does not simply instruct the Ephesians to grow in it. And if we pray in earnest, we can confidently expect to receive it increasingly, because nothing pleases the Father more than his Son being glorified in the lives of his children.
Two, it is the Holy Spirit that brings this to fruition in our lives. Let us never fail to acknowledge Him.
Three, the Lord reveals Himself only to those of humble, childlike and deeply dependent faith (Mt 11:25-30). The proud know-all does not stand a chance, nor does the choosy.
Four, the knowledge of the Lord is not for casual and insincere seekers. It is something we must pursue in a purposeful and persistent manner. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Hos 6:3; Jer 29:13).
❏ In conclusion, here is a Biblical principle we should always keep in mind:
The Bible never accepts that a learner knows a truth unless it controls his life. And more than anything else, this applies to the knowledge of the Lord and his love.
Nico van der Walt
EE15 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [7]
Today we are looking at Ef 3:17b: the thought of being rooted and established in love.
A FEW TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS
❏ A comparison of the various translations reveals that this phrase is sometimes taken as part of the first petition and sometimes as part of the second (NIV, NASB). The Greek allows both interpretations, but I do regard the second as the better one. In other words: "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (NIV).
❏ In the Greek the words "rooted" and "established" are in the same form (perfect passive participle), which helps us understand the prayer.
• Firstly, being rooted and established is the result of the first petition being answered. The Ephesians will be rooted and established to the extent that they experience the strengthening in their inner being through the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ.
• Secondly, the fact that they are rooted and established "in love", confirms our understanding of the text in the previous discussion - that the indwelling of Christ in the first instance has to do with the love that Christians have for our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Thirdly, the fact that they are rooted and established in love will be the primary cause of the Ephesians having the power to "grasp" and to "know" (which we will look at later on).
• Fourthly, we need to note the progression in the prayer - the one petition leads to the next. Our text forms the bridge between the two petitions.
LOVE CAUSES ONE TO BE ANCHORED
Why does the apostle specifically use the two words "rooted" and "established"?
❏ The word "rooted" alludes to a tree that is anchored in the earth, drawing life-giving sap from the depths with which to bear fruit.
• In Gal 5:6 the apostle's words are most significant: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love". Even if the apostle refers here to love for one's neighbour, love for the Lord is undoubtedly in the first instance the driving force behind the Christian's good works. Christian love for one's neighbour, and love for the Lord, always go hand in hand.
In this context it has to do with the heresy of the Judaists who insisted on circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation. No, says Paul, ceremonies will never secure salvation. The only condition is faith - but, of course, it is a specific sort of faith. It is faith which results in good works (1Cor 13:1-3; James 2:14-26). And this immediately leads to the question: What constitutes good works? We find the answer in the letter to the Galatians: good works are that which arise out of love. In other words, works that are aimed at obeying, pleasing and glorifying our Lord, because of our love for Him.
• This is exactly what Paul has in mind in this prayer. If the hearts of the Ephesians are filled to overflowing with love for Jesus, the church will become like a tree that bears fruit in a thousand ways, over and over again, to the glory of God.
❏ The word "grounded" alludes to a building standing on a firm foundation. It therefore indicates stability, constancy and permanence.
The apostle knows that nothing whatsoever can be so lifechanging as a loving relationship with the Lord. It brings inner strength, security, stability and resolution.
• Hardly anything can bring such dishonour to the name of the Lord, do as much harm to his church, or mean as pathetically little to his kingdom, as church members who are fickle and unreliable. They come with a different story about God's guidance almost daily, they give in under the least challenge to their faith, and one can in no way depend on them.
There is an apt description of such a person in James 1:6-8: " ... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does". What is this person's problem? He or she is a doubter or, says James, an unbeliever.
• Christ does not live in a faithless heart (v.17) - which leads to further instability in the life of the person concerned. He then finds himself in a negative spiral, which, if it lasts long enough, ends in a nosedive that leaves him in complete apostasy. No, what Paul is praying for here is exactly the opposite process: a positive upwards spiral, from glory to glory, strength to strength.
• The problem with such unstable people is that they usually build their faith on feelings, which is exactly the opposite of how it should be. Our faith should be grounded in the fundamental promises and principles of the Word. There will still be feelings and emotions, but now encapsulated in assurance and steadfastness.
CONCLUSION
To the extent that people experience the indwelling of Christ in their lives - to the extent therefore that a love for Jesus Christ burns in their hearts - to that extent will both the individual and the church bear fruit to the glory of God, and experience security, rootedness, stability and constancy in Christ.
Anyone with a minimum of insight into the ways of the Lord with his beloved church, will understand that this conclusion lies at the heart of what the true church is. In a certain sense all the other things are secondary. And yet so many churches are strangers to this sine qua non of being a true church. May the Lord preserve us from such ignorance!
A FEW PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
1. Even the most profound and spiritual revelations in Scripture, like this prayer, has practical and life-changing implications.
So-called theory and practice are never set in contrast in the Bible. The first part of the New Testament epistles (the so-called indicative part), which deals with God's great acts of redemption in Christ and the secrets of the new dispensation, is invariably followed by a more practical second part (the so-called imperative section). And the second part is always based on the first: because God is as He is described in the first part, and because He did what He did in Christ, therefore, and for that very reason, this is how Christians must live.
A one-sided emphasis on the indicatives in the Word, while ignoring the imperatives, leads to Pharasaism, hypocrisy and self-deception. And accentuation of the imperatives, independent of the indicatives, results in legalism and moralism.
Let us never shrink from the deep indicative truths in the New Testament. They were included, through the work of the Holy Spirit for the very purpose of broadening our knowledge of God and building up our faith. What is required in the first place is not intellect, but enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. Remember for whom the New Testament was written! Many of the converts at the time were illiterate and uneducated slaves.
2. Bearing fruit is not optional.
Therefore we may never be satisfied with anything less than a burning love for Christ in our hearts - hence the importance of this prayer.
In the first 8 verses of Jn 15 Jesus also talks of fruit bearing. There too He stresses the close relationship between an intimate loving relationship with Him, and bearing fruit to the glory of God.
But there is something else that we should not overlook. In these few verses in John he warns us twice about the danger of being rejected: One of the reasons being the absence of fruit bearing in a person's life (v.2), and the other the absence of true fellowship with Him (v. 6). These two causes are not chosen at random as reasons for rejection. They are intimately related. If one is absent, you may be sure that the other is also lacking.
To have Christ in one's heart is to have deep roots - which will inevitably lead to fruit-bearing, time and time again. Do not rest, therefore, if the flame of love for Christ burns low in your heart!
3. It may take a long time before one can start bearing fruit, but those with an unquenchable love for the Lord are able to wait year after year – in fact, they can hardly do anything else.
When Paul describes the attributes of love, he starts off with the statement that it is patient (1Cor 13:4). One tends to glance over this without really considering the full implications of it. But to say that love is patient, is to say that it does not become discouraged. It will persist, patiently, year after year.
It reminds one of Jacob who, after having worked for the hand of Lea for seven years, worked a further seven years to get Rachel, "but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her" (Gn 29:20).
Perhaps no missionary ever accomplished more than William Carey (1761-1834) in India. Although a man of many special talents, he ascribed the huge amount of fruit that he brought forth for the Kingdom to his ability to persevere. "I can plod", he used to say.
4. Few things beautify the gospel and glorify Christ more than Christians who are rooted and established in their love for God.
The fallen world has never been known for constancy and firmness of principle. And, of course, our post-modern world is now more relativistic, undependable and inconsistent than ever before.
It is not easy for a Christian to live in such a world, but it does afford us the opportunity to let our light shine all the stronger with our steadfastness, our inner strength, the firmness of our beliefs and our stable lifestyle. We do, after all, understand the world around us. We can face one and all squarely. We know what we believe and on whom we believe. We know why and for what we live. We know where we are going. We are anchored!
Christians in whose hearts Christ dwells are oak trees, not lightweights that can be pushed over easily. They are not washed about by just any wave of teaching.
And they (in fact, only they) make excellent martyrs when this is demanded of them for the sake of God's glory.
Nico van der Walt
A FEW TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS
❏ A comparison of the various translations reveals that this phrase is sometimes taken as part of the first petition and sometimes as part of the second (NIV, NASB). The Greek allows both interpretations, but I do regard the second as the better one. In other words: "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (NIV).
❏ In the Greek the words "rooted" and "established" are in the same form (perfect passive participle), which helps us understand the prayer.
• Firstly, being rooted and established is the result of the first petition being answered. The Ephesians will be rooted and established to the extent that they experience the strengthening in their inner being through the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ.
• Secondly, the fact that they are rooted and established "in love", confirms our understanding of the text in the previous discussion - that the indwelling of Christ in the first instance has to do with the love that Christians have for our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Thirdly, the fact that they are rooted and established in love will be the primary cause of the Ephesians having the power to "grasp" and to "know" (which we will look at later on).
• Fourthly, we need to note the progression in the prayer - the one petition leads to the next. Our text forms the bridge between the two petitions.
LOVE CAUSES ONE TO BE ANCHORED
Why does the apostle specifically use the two words "rooted" and "established"?
❏ The word "rooted" alludes to a tree that is anchored in the earth, drawing life-giving sap from the depths with which to bear fruit.
• In Gal 5:6 the apostle's words are most significant: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love". Even if the apostle refers here to love for one's neighbour, love for the Lord is undoubtedly in the first instance the driving force behind the Christian's good works. Christian love for one's neighbour, and love for the Lord, always go hand in hand.
In this context it has to do with the heresy of the Judaists who insisted on circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation. No, says Paul, ceremonies will never secure salvation. The only condition is faith - but, of course, it is a specific sort of faith. It is faith which results in good works (1Cor 13:1-3; James 2:14-26). And this immediately leads to the question: What constitutes good works? We find the answer in the letter to the Galatians: good works are that which arise out of love. In other words, works that are aimed at obeying, pleasing and glorifying our Lord, because of our love for Him.
• This is exactly what Paul has in mind in this prayer. If the hearts of the Ephesians are filled to overflowing with love for Jesus, the church will become like a tree that bears fruit in a thousand ways, over and over again, to the glory of God.
❏ The word "grounded" alludes to a building standing on a firm foundation. It therefore indicates stability, constancy and permanence.
The apostle knows that nothing whatsoever can be so lifechanging as a loving relationship with the Lord. It brings inner strength, security, stability and resolution.
• Hardly anything can bring such dishonour to the name of the Lord, do as much harm to his church, or mean as pathetically little to his kingdom, as church members who are fickle and unreliable. They come with a different story about God's guidance almost daily, they give in under the least challenge to their faith, and one can in no way depend on them.
There is an apt description of such a person in James 1:6-8: " ... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does". What is this person's problem? He or she is a doubter or, says James, an unbeliever.
• Christ does not live in a faithless heart (v.17) - which leads to further instability in the life of the person concerned. He then finds himself in a negative spiral, which, if it lasts long enough, ends in a nosedive that leaves him in complete apostasy. No, what Paul is praying for here is exactly the opposite process: a positive upwards spiral, from glory to glory, strength to strength.
• The problem with such unstable people is that they usually build their faith on feelings, which is exactly the opposite of how it should be. Our faith should be grounded in the fundamental promises and principles of the Word. There will still be feelings and emotions, but now encapsulated in assurance and steadfastness.
CONCLUSION
To the extent that people experience the indwelling of Christ in their lives - to the extent therefore that a love for Jesus Christ burns in their hearts - to that extent will both the individual and the church bear fruit to the glory of God, and experience security, rootedness, stability and constancy in Christ.
Anyone with a minimum of insight into the ways of the Lord with his beloved church, will understand that this conclusion lies at the heart of what the true church is. In a certain sense all the other things are secondary. And yet so many churches are strangers to this sine qua non of being a true church. May the Lord preserve us from such ignorance!
A FEW PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
1. Even the most profound and spiritual revelations in Scripture, like this prayer, has practical and life-changing implications.
So-called theory and practice are never set in contrast in the Bible. The first part of the New Testament epistles (the so-called indicative part), which deals with God's great acts of redemption in Christ and the secrets of the new dispensation, is invariably followed by a more practical second part (the so-called imperative section). And the second part is always based on the first: because God is as He is described in the first part, and because He did what He did in Christ, therefore, and for that very reason, this is how Christians must live.
A one-sided emphasis on the indicatives in the Word, while ignoring the imperatives, leads to Pharasaism, hypocrisy and self-deception. And accentuation of the imperatives, independent of the indicatives, results in legalism and moralism.
Let us never shrink from the deep indicative truths in the New Testament. They were included, through the work of the Holy Spirit for the very purpose of broadening our knowledge of God and building up our faith. What is required in the first place is not intellect, but enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. Remember for whom the New Testament was written! Many of the converts at the time were illiterate and uneducated slaves.
2. Bearing fruit is not optional.
Therefore we may never be satisfied with anything less than a burning love for Christ in our hearts - hence the importance of this prayer.
In the first 8 verses of Jn 15 Jesus also talks of fruit bearing. There too He stresses the close relationship between an intimate loving relationship with Him, and bearing fruit to the glory of God.
But there is something else that we should not overlook. In these few verses in John he warns us twice about the danger of being rejected: One of the reasons being the absence of fruit bearing in a person's life (v.2), and the other the absence of true fellowship with Him (v. 6). These two causes are not chosen at random as reasons for rejection. They are intimately related. If one is absent, you may be sure that the other is also lacking.
To have Christ in one's heart is to have deep roots - which will inevitably lead to fruit-bearing, time and time again. Do not rest, therefore, if the flame of love for Christ burns low in your heart!
3. It may take a long time before one can start bearing fruit, but those with an unquenchable love for the Lord are able to wait year after year – in fact, they can hardly do anything else.
When Paul describes the attributes of love, he starts off with the statement that it is patient (1Cor 13:4). One tends to glance over this without really considering the full implications of it. But to say that love is patient, is to say that it does not become discouraged. It will persist, patiently, year after year.
It reminds one of Jacob who, after having worked for the hand of Lea for seven years, worked a further seven years to get Rachel, "but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her" (Gn 29:20).
Perhaps no missionary ever accomplished more than William Carey (1761-1834) in India. Although a man of many special talents, he ascribed the huge amount of fruit that he brought forth for the Kingdom to his ability to persevere. "I can plod", he used to say.
4. Few things beautify the gospel and glorify Christ more than Christians who are rooted and established in their love for God.
The fallen world has never been known for constancy and firmness of principle. And, of course, our post-modern world is now more relativistic, undependable and inconsistent than ever before.
It is not easy for a Christian to live in such a world, but it does afford us the opportunity to let our light shine all the stronger with our steadfastness, our inner strength, the firmness of our beliefs and our stable lifestyle. We do, after all, understand the world around us. We can face one and all squarely. We know what we believe and on whom we believe. We know why and for what we live. We know where we are going. We are anchored!
Christians in whose hearts Christ dwells are oak trees, not lightweights that can be pushed over easily. They are not washed about by just any wave of teaching.
And they (in fact, only they) make excellent martyrs when this is demanded of them for the sake of God's glory.
Nico van der Walt
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