The Church: Great and Precous Promises

The Church that is given exceedingly, great and precious promises. The Church that has become partaker of the divine nature. And we’ve been learning that we who are the Church of Jesus Christ are this very special, glorious group of people. In fact, I’ve always said that outside of the Trinity, the Church is the hottest commodity in the universe. We are even elevated above the angels, so that the angels look at us to see the things they cannot comprehend. We have been purchased for God through the blood of Jesus, forgiven, accepted in the beloved.

We’ve become slaves and sons of God, forever his possession, sealed with his spirit, protected by divine love, sustained by divine providence, energised by divine power. We are priests, we are kings. We have been taught and led and ruled and loved and made alive and built up and blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ. We are thus, as we have seen, the possessors of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, as it reminds us in chapter 3 verse 8. We are rich because we are one with Jesus Christ. The great, almighty God of the universe has set his redeeming love upon us, has drawn us into his family, and proceeds to pour upon us the gracious gifts of his love, both now and forever, as chapter 2 verses 6 and 7 reminded us.

So we’re rich. As members of the Church, the body of Christ, the real Church, the Church of people united to Jesus Christ, we are the rich. Our resources are unlimited. We are more than conquerors, Paul says. That is, we don’t just conquer, we claim all the spoil in addition to it. Life, both in time and eternity, has a fantastic, thrilling meaning and an ultimate fulfilment that is beyond our wildest imagination. It’s a tremendous thing to realise, people, that because you’re a Christian, you are a part of God’s eternal plan. You are in the midst of an eternal purpose.

You have a potential that is unlimited and will be fulfilled throughout eternity. As I was thinking about that, and all of those great truths we’ve already seen in the first three chapters of Ephesians, I was reminded of the contrast between us and the rest of the world. Here we are so rich, here we are having so much, with such resources, such power, and such potential, to be loved of God, to be empowered by him, to be indwelt by him, to possess what we possess. What a contrast to the destitution, the spiritual poverty, the emptiness, the meaninglessness, the purposelessness of the life of people in the world.

It’s like Mrs Millay said one time, life must go on, I just can’t remember why. Or Arthur Miller and After the Fall, where one of the principles says to her husband, life is deteriorated to how many miles we get on our Volkswagen. We face a world of people who are destitute of divine resources, and thus they are destitute of purpose and meaning. And I guess maybe it focuses in clearly on Sunday. Here we all are. We have come apart from the destitute people. We who love the Lord Jesus Christ, we who are the rich, we who are the ones with resource, we who are the part of the divine plan, we who fit the whole marvellous miracle of the church.

Here we are, separated out from the destitution of our age and our world as they run around today, making meaning out of meaninglessness. Victor Frankel, the originator of logotherapy and a writer with some interesting insights, who endured some terrible trials in a concentration camp, has written a book called The Doctor and the Soul. He’s not a Christian, but he has some interesting things to say, and this is from that book. So that they will not notice the aimlessness of it. They are, at the same time, trying to run away from themselves, but in vain.

On Sunday, when the frantic pace pauses for 24 hours, all the aimlessness, meaninglessness, and the emptiness of their existence rises up before them once more. How interesting that Victor Frankel would observe the focus of meaninglessness that becomes apparent on Sunday. A world with no meaning becomes manifest when the world with meaning withdraws itself for that one day a week. What a privilege is ours, people, to be a part of the world with meaning, to be a part of the people that count, the people that matter, the people who have a place in the world, the people who have a part in the plan.

What a privilege. I look at my own life, and I’m so amazed that God chose me. Do you ever think like that? What an amazing thing. I mean, how did he ever see us as useful? It reminds me of the story of the old lady who was hired to sweep out the shavings in a studio, where a sculptor had been commissioned by the government to sculpt a large bust of Abraham Lincoln. And it was done, and the lady was hired to come in and sweep up all the shavings, and the man was just finishing as she arrived with her broom and her bucket and dustpan.

And she looked in amazement and she said, oh sir, she said, how did you know Mr Lincoln’s head was in that rock? And what a God is our God, who saw in the rock of our meaninglessness a potential for his own glory. Right? How did you know a servant of God was in that rock? What a wonder it is that God has been so gracious to choose us, that when we were without form and void, the Spirit of God moved upon us. And out of the void, the emptiness and nothingness sprang something significant, something meaningful, a creation of God no less than the world itself, a miracle of creation to be used for his glory.

How could God have seen in us something to be chiseled into the image of Jesus Christ, to be to his glory, and then to shower upon us as if it were eternal riches, as if he were taking the statue and gilding it with gold, the gold of his glorious kingdom? One of the great tasks of the Apostle Paul in the first three chapters of Ephesians is to present this great truth, that God has chiseled us out of the rock of meaninglessness, that God has made us into the image of Christ, and then he has poured upon us the pure gold guilt of his blessing.

That’s who we are. Marvelous reality. Thank you for joining us in this exploration of the church, great and precious promises. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].