Mar 27
I didn’t know
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power
to us-ward …
When I opened the door I suddenly realized I had been making
a mistake for years. Oh, nothing unscriptural, just ignorance on my part. I cannot remember how many times I have
traveled to Fort Wayne, IN and stayed for a week of genealogy research. But I have done it for years.
A motel company we use has two motels in Ft. Wayne; one
called south and the other north. We always stayed in the south one, because we
were comfortable there and knew the roads and area. But in preparing for the
trip we are on as I write this, we saw some photos of the North unit and
decided to give it a try.
Oh my! For the same
price we used to pay for a nice room, we stayed in a
suite. The kitchen was a separate room, with a huge counter on one side, a full
stove with oven, microwave, dishwasher, and a full size refrigerator with freezer. The
bedroom was a separate space as well. The rest of the very large room was sort
of divided between the entrance area with closet and the living room with sofa,
overstuffed chair, TV, coffee table, etc. The study area with a large desk was
in between the entrance and the living room. While everything was not divided
into actual rooms with doors, it served the same purpose as a five room suite.
And for the same price that we used to pay for a single room with an efficiency
kitchen in one end and a bed in the other end.
It was beyond anything we had thought we would get in our price range. Oh, we
were comfortable in the South motel, only because we did not imagine anything
better. The north motel was there all the time. We passed it by because we did
not know what we were missing.
OK. By now you are wondering if I am writing a guide to
traveling and selecting motels, so I will get to the spiritual application.
Perhaps you were born again several years ago and have
settled down into a comfortable level of Christianity. I think that is what
most of us do. We grow in our faith until we are comfortable, understand the
basics, and do the kind of Christian things our culture expects of us. Our
friends think we are nice people, the preacher doesn’t point at us when talking
about bad people, and spiritually we are comfortable. But it is because we are unaware of what we could be enjoying in Christ.
Even as I was comfortable in the south motel because I could
not imagine anything better for the price, I believe we miss out on some of God’s
greatest blessings because we can’t imagine how much more God has for us. The book
of Ephesians is a book that explains how rich we are in Christ.
in heavenly places in Christ:
What are these “…all spiritual blessings?”
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he
hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Redemption, forgiveness, riches of His grace, abounded
toward us!
Ps 130:7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD
there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might
shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in
his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus
Ro 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the
offence might
abound. But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound:
Paul understood how rich we are because we have been
redeemed, forgiven, sanctified, made joint heirs with Christ, given a new
nature, and seated in the heavenlies.
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he
might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus.
There is not space to list all the aspects of our riches. So
let me just finish with one from our title verse.
Paul knew the great power of God. He encourages us to use
it. He explains it with different words for power.
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding
greatness of his power
to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power,
The first word power is <dunamis> the root word for
dynamite and dynamo. Dynamite makes things move. Dynamoes are power producing
machines that change one kind of power into another form of power. Here Paul is emphasizing the power to make
things happen, make things move, even things thought unmovable…like dynamite in a
mountain.
Then the second word power, “…the working of his mighty power,”
is from the Greek <ischus> Which talks of might and strength. I like to
think of that as the kind of strength that is unmovable. God gives us power to
make things happen and strength to not be moved. I am not a Greek student, but
that makes sense to me.
So the question for us today is, will we stay in what is
comfortable and miss what is magnificent? Will our riches in Christ remain unused, even
unknown to us? Let us live like children of the king and not as spiritual
paupers in his courts.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do
exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think,…,
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