Tuesday: We Are the Church of the Living God

Why is it both important and exciting to be part of God’s church? Ephesians 3:1-21.

We are encouraged when we hear church members say positive things about the church. However, the most enthusiastic among us falls short of Paul’s exuberant testimony in Ephesians 3:1-21 about the church.

Image © Jim Gerlitz at Goodsalt.com

Paul starts a report of his prayers for believers in Ephesus (Ephesians 3:1; compare Ephesians 1:15-23, NKJV) but breaks off to discuss God’s creation of the church (Ephesians 3:2-13), and then completes his prayer report (Ephesians 3:14-21). Along the way we come to understand important things about God’s “plan” or “mystery”:

In eternity, God conceives of “the mystery” or “the plan” about the church (Ephesians 3:3-5, Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:11).
Through the life and death of Jesus, that long-hidden plan is “accomplished” (Ephesians 3:11, NKJV; compare Ephesians 2:11-22).
By revelation, Paul learns “the mystery” of the church and the astonishing fact that Gentiles are to be full partners in it (Ephesians 3:3-6).
Paul participates in spreading this good news as preacher to the Gentiles of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8-9).
With many won to Christ, the church, composed as it is of both Jews and Gentiles, displays “the manifold wisdom of God” to “the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10, NKJV), announcing their coming doom (compare Ephesians 6:10-20). The plan to unite all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10) is underway, and their time is short.

This understanding of the church motivates Paul to pray for believers. Why not imagine him praying the heartfelt prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21 about you? Why not imagine him praying that you will be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19) and participate fully in the amazing, unfolding mystery of a unified church?

What are the kinds of barriers between believers in our church that, in light of what Paul has written, should not be there? What can you do to help remove them?

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The really important message that Paul is writing about in Ephesians 3 is that the notion of church is very Christ-centred. And because it is Christ-centred it is not the property of the Jews but is composed of everyone who wants a relationship with Jesus. The big issue the early church had to deal with was that many had expected Gentile converts to become "One of us!" Unity required conformity according to them, and that included Jewish circumcision and other ceremonial laws.

Paul preached that unity was in Christ, not conformity. And that idea got up the noses of at least some of the early Jewish Christians. History reveals that the hard-liners hung on to the idea that Christianity was rebranded Jewishness up until the destruction of Jerusalem.

We, Seventh-day Adventists sometimes get into the "My brand of Christianity is better than your brand" argument, where we spend a lot of time justifying our beliefs. Atheists look on those sorts of arguments with much amusement and make remarks about the evolution of religious thought. Perhaps the big message for Seventh-day Adventists is that we need to ensure that our version of the Gospel is Christ-centred. If that is the powerhouse of our witnessing then the argument is no longer a "mine is better than yours" but rather an opportunity to point to Jesus.

Listen to Paul as he described the relationship:

that out of his glorious, unlimited resources, he will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit. 17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; 18-19 and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself. Eph 3:16-19 TLB

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Comments

Tuesday: We Are the Church of the Living God — 7 Comments

Maurice Ashton on September 25, 2023 at 4:50 pm said:

The really important message that Paul is writing about in Ephesians 3 is that the notion of church is very Christ-centred. And because it is Christ-centred it is not the property of the Jews but is composed of everyone who wants a relationship with Jesus. The big issue the early church had to deal with was that many had expected Gentile converts to become "One of us!" Unity required conformity according to them, and that included Jewish circumcision and other ceremonial laws.

Paul preached that unity was in Christ, not conformity. And that idea got up the noses of at least some of the early Jewish Christians. History reveals that the hard-liners hung on to the idea that Christianity was rebranded Jewishness up until the destruction of Jerusalem.

We, Seventh-day Adventists sometimes get into the "My brand of Christianity is better than your brand" argument, where we spend a lot of time justifying our beliefs. Atheists look on those sorts of arguments with much amusement and make remarks about the evolution of religious thought. Perhaps the big message for Seventh-day Adventists is that we need to ensure that our version of the Gospel is Christ-centred. If that is the powerhouse of our witnessing then the argument is no longer a "mine is better than yours" but rather an opportunity to point to Jesus.

Listen to Paul as he described the relationship:

that out of his glorious, unlimited resources, he will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit. 17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; 18-19 and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself. Eph 3:16-19 TLB

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- Michael Z on September 26, 2023 at 7:19 am said:
  
  I believe Maurice that what you are saying is true, but there is a lot of “Christ centered preaching” that is doing away with God’s law. I believe one of the great challenges our church has faced has been to be Christ centered while showing how that uplifts God’s law without becoming legalistic in the process, and on the other hand being Christ centered while not allowing God’s law to become diluted. We certainly need The Lord to save us from ourselves as we need Him to “show forth the praises of Him Who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2:9.
  
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JC Zielak on September 26, 2023 at 3:04 am said:

"Now to Him who can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20)

Isn't that amazing? The truth about what Love is? Don't you like it when someone superexceeed your expectations? So trust in Love, trust in God, which is Love, and He will give you much more than you can ever think or ask for! He is the alpha and the omega; He knows you even before birth! And Love died for you! God is a God Who can die for you just because He loves you! One can say, "What kind of God is this? Who dies?" Jesus, God, faced death because of you and me. So today is the day to decide that Love can find THE way for all your crossroads!

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Maria Lindo on September 26, 2023 at 5:46 am said:

If we as Christians will reveal and practically live out Christ’s goodness, His mercy, His justice, and His love, then the world would want to “come taste and see”. May we live as if we are partakers, members, co-heirs, and children of the living God.

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Pete Villarreal on September 26, 2023 at 6:49 am said:

I would go on to say that these are some "Barriers," that exist in our Seventh Day Adventist Church that keep Non Seventh Day Adventists from joining our Church: 1. Our stand against the use of Jewelry, 2. Our stand regarding "Adornment." 3. Our stand regarding "Music for Worship." 4. our stand regarding the eating of animal protein for our diet. 5. Our stand regarding some of our interpretations of "Prophecy." etc. and etc.

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Brigitte Humphery on September 26, 2023 at 10:50 am said:

Ellen White in the ‘Great Controversy’ depicted this battle in which humanity is caught up in to be a spiritual battle for the supremacy of rulership over the heart and mind of man. There is only One through and in Whom all things in this earth can be united in – its Creator, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is He who developed the blueprint for the existence of all life on earth.

The rebellion of powers in heavenly places caused this spiritual separation between heaven and earth. The resulting spiritual darkness led man to follow a different path then the one designed for him. But ‘the plan to unite again all things in CHRIST was already in place. Lucifer did not stand a chance to change its outcome.

There is no other ‘place/state’ in which believers can find spiritual unity in than through the Holy Spirit. If the church is not united in Him, what would our unity be based on? Being contrite and humble in heart, loving our heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shows that the Holy Spirit is at work in us.
Now is the time to come to terms with letting go of all that binds us to our old nature and become fully born-again in the Spirit of God - to love one another as He has loved us. Matt.22:37.

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- Pete Villarreal on September 27, 2023 at 5:38 am said:
  
  Amen for "The Golden Rule,": Love to God and Love to our neighbor. And this love to God is shown by what we do with our talents and Spiritual Gifts and also our "Tithe." And our love to our neighbor is shown to others by how we share our money our food and also our Spiritual Gifts with them too.
  
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