God Chose Us, We Didn’t Choose God:

I remember back when I was kid in school at recess, when we would line up against the fence and the teachers would choose two captains. Then the captains would choose who they wanted to be on their kickball team.   You would stand there and hope you were not chosen last because being chosen last meant that no one wanted you on their team to begin with.  But here in Ephesians chapter one verse 4 Paul tells us; “long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”  Let us think about this for just I minute, what are we saying here?  God chose us, we didn’t choose God?  Many times people like to believe that they choose God, that the church was created by man to honor God.  No, it’s the other way around.  This is a wonderful truth of the gospel, but it also means we need to stop patting ourselves on the back and saying look I chose to follow God.  Before you chose to follow God, God chose you.  God chose everyone to come and be a part of His family. 

Let us try to understand what this means for us, according the J. Vernon McGee it means: ” “According as” is a connective which modifies the preceding statement in verse three. The spiritual blessings which you and I are given are in accord with the divine will. All is done in perfect unison with God’s purpose. This world and this universe will operate according to the plan and purpose of Almighty God. “According as” looks back to the three-in-one blessing of the last verse. There are actually and ought to be three ins in verse three. There is, first of all, “in all spiritual blessings,” which are then wrapped “in the heavenlies,” and finally put in the larger package of “in Christ.” The whole thought is: Open your gift and see what God has done for you, and then move out in faith and lay hold of it and live today on the high plane to which God has brought you. He’s made you a son and blessed you with all spiritual blessings. We need to live like that in the world today.  The source of all our blessings is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He carries our mind back to eternity past to make us realize that salvation is altogether of God and not at all of ourselves. You and I are not the originators or the promoters or the consummators of our salvation. God did it all.”^[1]

Let’s try to break this down into two categories, the first being personal salvation, God chose to save each and every one of us.  His Son dyeing on a cross, then defeating death three days later.  That means all of the things we do after accepting the love of God, we do to bring Him honor and glory.  All the things we have, we are to realize it is because God has chosen us to receive them for His glory.  Many don’t like to hear that because they want  to do what they want to do and live how they want to live without being told what to do.  While others like to believe all they have is because they worked hard and it is theirs to keep.  For we read in Colossians 1:9-11, “ So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.  We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light.  For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. God has purchased our freedom with his blood^* and has forgiven all our sins”

Second part of being chosen is, the church as a whole, God has chosen His Church to be the body, for which we come together and worship Him.  We like to think that we have chosen the church but it is God who chose the church.  Notice how McGee describes the church, “Now all this was according to His plan. God the Father planned the church, God the Son paid for the church, and God the Holy Spirit protects the church.”  God chose us to be His church, that means you and me, we are His church no matter how big our small the church is, it is His.  We as the church need to be in prayer for the Glory of God to be seen through us, we need to pray that God will grow His Church and we need to know that God hears our prayers and is answering them.  John tells us in 1^st John 5:13, “¹³ I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. ¹⁵ And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for.”

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^[1]McGee, J. V. 1997, c1981. Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson: Nashville

What Is In It for Me?

One of my favorite T.V. shows is Yard Crashers, where the host goes to a local Lowes or Menards and finds an un-expecting person to redo their yard for free.  The question that is always asked is what is in it for me, and what do I have do?  When they are told it’s free that all they have to do is find some friends to help, they then ask what the catch is?  I believe many wonder the same about Christianity and the church.  They wonder what’s in it for me and what do I have to have do?  This is the same question that Peter asked Christ in Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” Christ answered Peter with words “, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ^And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. ^But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”  Paul also answers these questions in his letter to the Ephesians as well.  As we study it throughout the entire letter Paul is explaining what it looks like to be a follower of Christ, what it takes and how we receive God’s grace.  In the first 14 verses Paul tells us what we receive from following God, He lays it all out for us.

Paul’s answer is basically the same as  Christ’s but goes a little more in-depth, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ^having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ^to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”(Eph 1:3-6) Take note here that the answer of what is in it for us is not here on earth, both Christ and Paul tell us it is in heaven, it is not found in riches or marital things here on earth.  Also how do we receive this? We receive it through the Grace of God. It is not because of anything we have done, it is because we have chosen to follow Christ accept Christ as our master.  But because we have chosen this Paul tells us that we then are adopted as the children of God.  But why has God chosen to adopt us. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ^having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ^to the praise of the glory of His grace.”  Because we are bring praise to His name through His Grace.

But Paul doesn’t end it there listen to what else Paul has to tell us.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace^ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ^having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ^ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. ^In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ^that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.  In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ^who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”(Eph 1:7-14)

Did you notice all that we receive if we come and give our lives to Christ, we receive redemption of our sins, we are adopted into the family of God, we are given the Holy Sprite who comes and lives in us guiding and directing us.  What was the cost for all this, the blood of Christ our God and savior who hung on a cross.  What does it cost me though, you ask? The cost is believing and giving your life to God.  Then, we praise God for the grace He has shown us, I underlined every time Paul talks about praising God because we need to do the same.  We need to praise God all the time for the grace that He has shown us.  

Why Ephesians?

Why did Paul choose to write this letter to the Church in Ephesus?  Because He wanted to encourage them, remind them of their faith in Christ, and that the church is united under Christ.  When we say church we think of many things, some think it is a building, others think of it as a business, some think of as a safety net, while others think of a place to go to be encouraged.  I believe that we have forgotten what it means to be the Church, we have twisted it into what we want it to be.  We like it to be about us and making us feel good, when I was getting into ministry one of my co-workers told me this, “Scott make sure you don’t preach on sin and stuff like that, people need to be encouraged and know that God loves them no matter what they do.”  I don’t remember how I responded after picking up my jaw from the floor.  But I believe this is how many people feel.  We have forgotten that the church as whole is the Body of Christ that we are to come together and give Glory to God.   We have been too focused on looking at what we want out of God and not focused on what God wants out of us.

We read about the church of Ephesus in Revelations chapter two where it says; “Write this letter to the angel of^* the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:  “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.  But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!  Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.  But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the immoral Nicolaitans, just as I do.  “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.”  Notice God praises the church for many things but then He says in verse four, “But I have this complaint.”  What is this complaint? It is simple they do not love God as they once did.  You see God wants us to love Him over all other things, the church in Ephesus was more in-love with their deeds then they were with God.  They fell out of love with God and in-love with themselves. 

I remember when I first got real with God, man was I on fire, I changed my major, changed Schools for that matter.  God begin to work in me and I lived a different life then I had lived before.  Then somehow unbeknownst to me, I begin to focus on other things, I became a pastor got married life continued on.  I became focused on succeeding as a pastor I read church growth books and one day I found myself praying like this, “look at all I have done and sacrificed.”  The day I heard those words I mean really heard them I felt true shame.  That was the day I realized I fell out love with God and fell in love with myself.  Since then I have realized that it not books, or gimmicks or even people that grow churches but it is God Himself who grows the church where people are coming to glorify His name.  I’m praying that I may glorify God in all I do.  As we study the book of Ephesians we are going to learn how to glorify God, how we are to live for God and to honor God, I hope that in the next few months we are all going to grow stronger in God and see God truly glorifying Himself in our lives.  

I’ll Give Anything, but That

Back when I was I was younger, Meatloaf came out with a hit song called I will Do Anything For Love But I won’t doThat.  He sang about how much he would do for the love of his life but He wouldn’t do that, no one seems to know what “that” is.  But we as Christians seem to do the same thing, we say I’ll do anything to experience God, but I won’t do that.  We love to go around and talk about how we are willing to do whatever God asks but then we say well all, but that.  I read a story about the Knights Templar, when they were baptized they would hold there sword up in the air so that it was not submerge under water.  This was symbolic in saying “God you have every part of my life, but what I do out on the battlefield is not yours.  You cannot have control of my sword.”  We in many ways do the same, what are you unwilling to give up in life for God, is it your computer, your children, the television or movies you watch?  In Luke Chapter nine we read a conversation that Christ has with a couple of men; “He said to another person, “Come, be my disciple”. The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” Jesus replied, “Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead.^* Your duty is to go and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God.”  Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”(59-62)    

Both of these sound like good sound reasons, one man wants to bury his dad,  but Christ tells him no, now is the time to follow, not later.  Why did Christ seem so cold hearted? Because this man’s father was not dead or close to death.  He wanted to wait to follow Christ, he was putting his family before God.  The other man just wanted to say goodbye to his family and friends once again Christ tells him no, you must follow me now.  Once again this seemed pretty reasonable, a simple goodbye, just a few minutes and we are on our way, right? Wrong this is where knowing the culture of this time comes in, when one went and said goodbye that meant several parties are going to be thrown, this could take up to a month.  But notice both men called Christ “Lord” the same as a slave would call their master.  But neither truly treated Christ as their master, instead they treated Him more as consulate, then their Lord. Larry Osborn points this out. ” Now, a consultant is someone whose wisdom we highly value and listen to, but at the end of the day, we make the final decision. That’s why they’re called consultants. Here’s the problem: God doesn’t do consulting. Never has. Never will. He does God. When we treat him as a consultant, he simply stops showing up for the meetings.”

Did you notice the phrase Christ used with the man wanting to go and say goodbye to his family?  He said, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”  What Christ is saying is that you cannot follow God and hold on to your own wants or sins.  Some of you have seen in the movies, where they are plowing with a horse and the old time plow, which took a lot of work, the person working that plow had to be focused on what they were doing.  They couldn’t take one hand off the plow and look back, no they had to keep both hands on the plow and look forward.  In 1^st Kings 19:19-21 we read about Elijah calling Elisha to be his successor.  “So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field with a team of oxen. There were eleven teams of oxen ahead of him, and he was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and walked away again. Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back! But consider what I have done to you.”  Elisha then returned to his oxen, killed them, and used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the other plowmen, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.”  When Elijah finds Elisha he finds him plowing and probably notices the twelve oxen, that was a sign of great wealth.  He might have thought I’m not to sure this guy is going to want to leave his life of wealth.  But did you notice that not only did Elisha leave his wealth, he got rid of it all, so that he could put His focus on God.

Kyle Idleman reminds us that Jesus is wanting us to follow Him with all of our heart and soul and energy; “When you accept the invitation of Jesus to follow him, you are not just saying that he is a top priority in your life; you are making him the only priority in your life. He desperately wants you, but he won’t share you. He will settle for nothing less than your undivided attention and complete commitment. He wants you to invest in him more than you invest in your stock portfolio. He wants you to surrender to him more of your time and talent than the office gets out of you. He wants you to expel more joy and energy in worshiping him than you do watching the big game.”

Idleman, Kyle (2011-06-07). Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus (p. 204). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Idleman, Kyle (2011-06-07). Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus (p. 180). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.