May 3, 2015
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hymn 294 - Around the throne of God in heaven
Prayer
We have been talking about Christian Blessings. They are big words with big meanings. So far we’ve talked about forgiveness, justification, and redemption. When we take the Lord as our Saviour our sins are forgiven. We won’t have to pay the price. We are justified; accounted righteous, and made fit for heaven. We are also redeemed. He bought us back when we were far away from Him. He paid the price to bring us back.
Today we are going to talk about the word reconciliation. It means to be reconciled. It’s definition comes from the financial area. If you have a bank account you receive a statement telling you what is happening in your account. You’ll check to see if it matches up with your record of what happened. You are reconciling you account. Reconciliation is two things in agreement. It brings us into a relationship with God.
Colossians 1:13-21, 2:9
As Christians, we are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. We receive this and redemption, and forgiveness, all through the Son of His love, Jesus.
God is invisible, but He has made Himself visible through His Son and through us. He is the creator of everything visible and invisible. He was, before all things; He was there at creation. And He should have first place. He is the Head of the body.
There is a reconciliation that is going to take place. God will come in His kingdom and everything will be in harmony with Him.
It says that they were alienated and enemies. What does that mean? We all know the story of Adam and Eve. They thought that God wasn’t good to them and that He was their enemy, and so they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The enmity condition started there. It’s the same thing for us. We think God isn’t good to us, and that He’s our enemy. God is not the enemy of man. Man is the enemy of God. God didn’t have to be reconciled: we did. We were off track and needed reconciliation.
The Lord had saved them. By the confessing of sin, they, and we, can be forgiven, justified, redeemed, and brought into agreement with God. This is all shown in the story of the prodigal son. At the end of the story, we see that the father and son are reconciled with each other, and that they are enjoying communion with one another.
When we take the Lord as our Saviour we are reconciled to Him. We no longer see Him as our enemy. We know Him and know He is on our side.
Ephesians 1
Why did Paul write the book of Ephesians? Of course, the Lord put it on his heart and inspired the words. It’s not a corrective book, though, for it seems like the Ephesians were going on well in the Lord. The book is characterized by the words, “in Christ”, and it sets forth some marvelous truth; notably, that Christ is in God’s presence, and that we are there in Christ. If it isn’t the loftiest position given to the Christian, then it’s pretty close; and this heavenly position should affect our earthly walk.
God can see us on our pathway down here, but in Ephesians we learn that he also sees us in Christ, without our sin and weakness. In this first chapter we see God doing His will for His glory, and He is the One that has put us in this position. It’s not something that we would ask for. We may have asked for forgiveness, but not to be seated in heavenly places!
We also find different positions of the Christian life throughout Ephesians. In chapter 2 we are seated in the heavenlies. This affects our walk, which we find in chapters 4 and 5. Finally, in chapter 6, we must learn to stand. Walking before standing may seem backwards, but learning to sit in the enjoyment of our position helps us in our walking and standing. That’s why the first half of this book has to do with the position of the Christian, and the last half has to do with our practice.
Chapter 1 starts with, “Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.” Before the Damascus Road, though, he would have been “Saul, an enemy of Jesus Christ.” Thankfully, by God’s will he was brought into the fold.
We understand that Paul’s audience in Ephesus was mostly Gentile. The letter was addressed specifically to the saints in Ephesus, but there is also a rich portion for all “the faithful in Christ Jesus.” We must understand that if we aren’t in the right state, we can’t receive truth. Therefore, we need to be faithful. Do we know more truth than we live up to? May the Lord give us grace to not only know, but to live and practice the truth. That’s why our position comes before our practice.
Paul sent grace and peace to this assembly. You wouldn’t get that in the Old Testament, you’d get the law. As we said, Paul was writing to mostly Gentiles here. Amazingly—for them and us—the source of this grace and peace wasn’t just God, but “God our Father”, and the channel was the Lord Jesus Christ. He brought us grace and truth, and here we have grace and peace, with a book full of truth. Grace isn’t something that we can earn, it was a gift. If it weren’t for grace, though, none of us would be here; and it’s only through grace that any of us continue in the right path.
Paul always sent grace and peace to an assembly, but added mercy when writing to an individual. An assembly wouldn’t need mercy, whereas an individual would.
Hymn 13 — Grace! ‘Tis a charming sound
Prayer