Ephesians: Preface to Power

January 18, 2009

Ephesians 1:1-4

Exordium: God is high on His Church and wants her to know it. He devoted a whole letter of His Word to His church, the Letter to the Ephesians, and He does much more.

That makes this part of the Bible so very important. This letter is the “Queen” of all Paul’s writing, the greatest and most relevant of all His words. Some have called it the greatest piece of writing in all history. It was John Calvin’s favorite portion of the Word of God. It is the most majestic portrait in God’s Word of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a love letter beginning and ending with love. It is written not only to the people of an ancient city in another day, but to all churches everywhere, and to us as a part of the body of Christ.

It is not an evangelistic tract as such, though indirectly it points people to salvation in Christ, rather it is written to God’s own people – His Church.

So helpful to us, because in it we find out who we are and how much we matter. This is where our power comes from – knowing who we are. So we call this letter a “Preface to Power”. It is preparing us to be people who have powerful Christian lives.

I heard of one couple who when putting their son to bed, would remind him of his potential and who he really is.  “Jack, you are Superman, Power Ranger, Buzz Lightyear, my Rescue Hero, Lightning McQueen, my cowboy, my baseball player.” Jack just lies there with a big smile on his face. He is discovering he is valuable; He is going to do great things in life.
One evening they came home late and there was no time to do what they normally do at bedtime. She tucked him in and prayed with him and went down stairs, only to hear a faint cry from the three year old.  “Mommy, Mommy.” “What’s wrong, Jack?” “You forgot to tell me who I am.”
God doesn’t forget to tell us who we are. We are His people, His bride, His temple, His body, His jewels, His glory.

I.    WE CAN TELL HOW IMPORTANT WE ARE BY THE LEADER
GOD ASSIGNS TO US
Perhaps that is why Paul puts his own name first.  He claims his authority as an Apostle by the will of God for their sake, so they will know how much God values them.
For their sake, God brought them out of darkness into the light and made him an Apostle to the Gentiles for them.

God gave them the greatest intellect of the day, one who had studied under the foremost theologian of Judaism, Gamaliel. (Acts 22:3) One who could speak and write Greek exactly and expressively, so the Spirit could use him.

All the while he is humble and lowly saying that he is “less than the least of all saints”. He is not unwilling to suffer but gladly bears the marks of the Lord Jesus upon His body as badges of honor. God gave to them the very first Christian missionary, who tasted all the trials and difficulties of missionary life for the Master and was faithful to the end.

II.    GOD CALLS US “SAINTS” – A GREAT TITLE
The title belongs to all who have professed Christ and are members of the Church. He calls them faithful, not because they always prove themselves to be reliable, but because they possess faith, perhaps only as a grain of mustard seed, but they have faith. Like the coach who calls his team “winners” with a record of 7 and 0 or he calls “Speedy”, the boy who is the slowest on the team.

The First Worshippers: Shepherds and Wise Men

January 4, 2009

Matthew 2:1-12 and Luke 2: 8-20

Exordium: The flower is set in a garland of leaves to set it off and accent its beauty. So Adam was surrounded by lovely trees and pools of water and luscious food – to highlight the fact that he was the first man made in the image of God.

Explication: And Jesus Christ, the second Adam, was not born isolated and  alone but God circled Him with a garland of people, events, and miracles to highlight His coming into the world.  His advent must be marked, surrounded, celebrated and believed always.

Today, Epiphany, we celebrate the garland God has put around His coming. As far back as St. Augustine in the fourth century AD the church has helped this day to be a festive one, and thanked God for its meaning. Let us explore together some of the meaning of these happenings which garlanded the birth of our Saviour.

I.    THE GARLAND WAS GOD SURROUNDING THE CHILD WITH SIGNIFICANCE

The Wise Men from the East: they represent intelligence, science, learning, and a Gentile view point. They were Zoroastrians who had developed a spiritual monotheism and a purer ethics than were found in the other heathen religions.

As astrologers they studied the stars to understand the world. They knew that God had placed the stars far above man’s reach in the sky – and set them in the majesty and mystery of the heavens.

Astrology in its searching is an expression of mans’ need. They had learned some things through the teaching of Daniel. For example that a star was to come out of Jacob and signal the advent of a spiritual leader. They saw that star, brilliant and beckoning to them, and they followed it across the deserts. God did not put the manger in the same town where they were. They were brought a distance to show the homage that the new born Saviour deserved.
The star led them as far as Jerusalem and then by the guidance of the Scriptures they began their journey toward Bethlehem by faith in the Word of God as it is found in the prophecy of Micah. The Scribes in Jerusalem had cited these to them.

Christmas from Heaven’s Point of View

Christmas Eve, 2008

Revelation 12

Exordium: Here we are looking at Christmas from the other side of the manger, from the perspective of Christ.  How does it look from heaven’s point of view?

Explication: The Bible contains two passages that help us here:
Hebrews 10: 5-10 tells of the attitude with which Jesus entered the world, attitudes of submission and obedience to the Father. Jesus said, “Lo, come to do your will.”
In Revelation chapter 12, He unfolds to John the spiritual side of the struggle that culminated in the birth of our Lord. It will help us to look at Christmas from their perspectives to understand all that is involved in this wondrous night –Christmas Eve.
We focus on Revelation 12 now and Hebrews 10 later.

I.    WE LEARN ABOUT THE GREAT STRUGGLE

The woman is one side of the conflict. The woman is the Church in the Old Testament and the New. She is the people of God. From Heaven’s point of view she is radiant with beauty, fair and lovely as a bride. She is clothed with the sun, the moon is under her feet, and she wears a garland of twelve stars. Could this be the ecliptic, that group of constellations that encircle the heavens and comprise the zodiac? At any rate, Her essential beauty is seen here.

How different is our view. We see the problems, the divisions, the wounds of the Church of God, but God sees her beauty as a bride adorned for her husband.

And the woman is with child, just as Virgo in the constellation is pregnant. The child is about to be born. It is Christmas Eve; this is the Christ-Child.

The dragon is her antagonist, her mortal enemy.  He is ferocious, fiery and red. His seven heads point to his great knowledge. His ten horns speak of his great power.  His seven crowns tell us of his thirst for authority. This is Satan the great deceiver, the father of lies, that old serpent. He stands before the woman to devour the child as soon as he is born.

Here is the great struggle- It goes all the way back to the creation. After Adam and Eve’s fall God put a curse on the serpent saying.  “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. And he shall bruise our head, and you will bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)