IS GOD A FRIEND?

Bible, in many places, through various lives, events and parables, talks about maintaining a strong relationship with God. However, this article is a chronological probe into the origin and development of God-Man relationship.  

First thing first, when God created Adam, ironically and initially Eve wasn’t there (BTW, I thoroughly accept woman as God's creation equal to man in all respect; no offence of inequality here). This tells us something vital to cognize in the Edenic scenario. God wanted to have a relationship with Adam and this relationship was to be so concentrated only between God and Adam that even the idea of woman's creation was not conceived in the first place. This was the primary purpose of man's creation, I suppose, that God desired to be with man (an ultimate free creature not as robot, with the capacity to choose to relate with God deliberately) in a relationship, with no interruption whatsoever. subsequently, we find another creature formed as man needed or desire (Genesis 2: 20 b. But for Adam there was no help found to meet him ERV) and sin followed in the form of disobedience. Eventually, the relationship with God was lost. And in order to restore the relationship God with all His mercy made multiple attempts and ended up developing: King-subject relationship and Father-Son relationship. 

Let’s look at them little more closely and find whether God was really able to restore the way He intended the relationship to be initially with man. 

1. KING-SUBJECT RELATIONSHIP

KING; this is how people in the Old Testament saw God. They never understood the Edenic relationship which God wanted them to have. They saw God as high, most powerful, sovereign King of whom everyone is subject and has to obey Him without any failure. Right from the call of Abraham till the advent of Christ we find man understood God in relation to His Kingship. And, if anyone want to see, this portrayal of God happens to appear throughout Old Testament. This was not the kind relationship which God initially planned for man because this kind of relationship has its drawbacks and limitations. When you see someone as your king; fear and demanded-respect follows. Everything becomes mandatory and eventually formality. Though this relationship was not as Edenic but something to be appreciated about this relationship was that it was far better than the after-fall animosity between the two. 

2. FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP

Later, in the New Testament, we see Jesus, God Himself, coming in the form of man, calling himself Son of God. This introducing of the ‘Son-Father relationship’ grew as ulcer in hearts of Pharisees and Sadducees. They could not comprehend God being father and having children, in result Jesus had huge opposition so that the theologians have today. And Jesus, making condition worse, offered everyone to believe and become the sons and the daughters of God. (John 1) Unbearable, as it appeared to all the Jewish community. Because they cant imagine God having children. 

Father-son relationship again has many limitations. This relationship can't be compared with the relationship God intended for man. This could be seen in every family.  All are not comfortable and free to share everything with their father or mother. As far as need is concerned being sons and daughters, one can approach to father but if it something confidential, more sinister or anything we all know as children, we tried our best to hide it from our father. And may be in childhood it was close relation but as we grew it became less intimate or got limited to need-fulfilment. Simply say, we were not as comfortable as could have been in some other relationship. 

This was again not as Edenic but came with more improvements then the Old Testament King-subject relationship. 

3. FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP 

Now after a while, we see Jesus, again, bringing final improvement in the relationship and called man friend (John15). 

This is the culmination or the zenith of all relationship. Where you come to a place where you can call God your friend. And as we know and experience every day of our life that friendship is the only relationship which has no boundaries and confidentiality between the people who are relation on this bound relationship. 

Nothing to hide, nothing to feel shame about, no confidentiality, no fear of being disclosed, no fear of being punished, no feeling of loneliness.

This epitome of relationship match precisely to the Edenic relation that God had initially planned. God never meant His people to see or regard Him as King, father or whatever but only an intimate related being which only falls in relationship of friendship. Evan to Abraham God called friend.

Now some may argue HUSBAND-WIFE relationship to be the BEST but we should understand this relationship is apparently symbolic not practical (Paul talks about it to believers who were in disunity, not willing to submit to the authority. So Paul portrayed Jesus, symbolically, as the bride for all to submit themselves to Him as wives to husbands; and also in Revelation, Jesus is presented as lamb, who would marry His bride, to fill the readers with hope amidst hopeless and turmoil).

However, this relation of friendship to be actualized, requires a huge amount of maturity from the side of the one who want to establish it. Anyone newly converted would require a lot/less of time to come to this place, which solely depends on passion which one has to get intimated with God in the relation.  

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LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF RUTH

Once the city called Bethlehem encountered a great famine. Now, Naomi who was Elimelech's wife suggested whole family to go elsewhere to save their life. They arrived a place called Moab. Which appeared to them as a place to escape famine that had sacked their region. It was spring time when Ruth and Orpah stood on the road leading from Moab, east of the Dead Sea, to Bethlehem in Judea. Naomi their Jewish mother-in-law bade them farewell. She was destitute, her husband and two sons deceased. The boys’ wives were Moabites, foreigners to the people of Israel.

Naomi had nothing to offer them, and suggested they return to their mother’s house, until they could find new husbands. When the girls protested, and said they would follow her, Naomi knew that they could not find acceptance unless they became believers in the One True God of Israel. Ruth made her confession of faith in Jehovah God, but her sister Orpah decided to stay, and turned back.

However, in the time as such this, anyone who is in his/her sanity would chose to do the same. Though the place Bethlehem meant 'house of bread' but at this point, ironically, it had become bread-less. Do as they came there, they had not even settled now and Elimelech passed away. Sooner two sons were also dead for some reason. Now only mother in law, Naomi and two daughter in laws are left, Orpah and Ruth. So being a good mother in law Naomi suggested her daughter in laws to return back to their homelands and start a new life because there were still young. Listing this, Orpah kissed Naomi and made her way towards her home. And Ruth did something remarkable by choosing not to return. And there we learn three spiritual lessons from her life.

1. RETURN ALWAYS SEEMS ATTRACTIVE 

When Naomi advised Ruth to return, it's easy to assume why Oprah immediately plan to leave. Because return is always attractive. If she returns, she can marry again, start a new life, and have a new household. It may have appeared irresistible for a while but regardless of its attraction Ruth chose to not to return. What do we learn from her? We all have come to believe in Jesus from different background and walk of life.  In times, our heart may ask us or tempt us to return to old life style, sometimes sinful life. In our spiritual walk also we may see many attractive features keep coming in our mind and heart as we live in this world. But let's say no to such attractiveness. In OT we can find a Classic example of Israelites, who, while walking through the way of wilderness, found Egypt attractive and nagged their leader to lead them back to old place. 

2. RETURN ALWAYS SEEMS ACCEPTABLE 

Not only attractive but also seems acceptable. Acceptability has to do with the people around us who souls decide whether something is right or wrong. We find Ruth, while taking this crucial decision, she was along with two people there, Naomi and Oprah. And what they did and talked can make anyone to think that return at that point was pretty acceptable. Everyone around her was there to encourage her to go back. Sometimes we find ourselves in present society that everyone is compelling us to return, leave our faith, leave holy life and go back to old worldly lifestyle. And we see people at of us life Oprah, going back to old lifestyle. Many Christians are backsliding from the faith. Again Israelites come to my mind, almost everyone, except leaders, planned to return. Socially it was acceptable to return to old life, Egypt, very few or no one to encourage to move forward. What we do in the situation as such this? 

3. RETURN ALWAYS SEEMS ACCESSIBLE 

Not only attractive and acceptable but also it appeared accessible. Accessibility has much to do with easiness or availability to access what one wants at particular time. For Ruth it was not difficult to deny the proposal. She did not have to put effort to return. Returning was far more accessible and easier for her when compared to her stay back in Moab.  For many of us, who are really living a Christian life, know this fact that living a true Christian life is not that easy instead living a worldly life is easy and always accessible to anyone interested in backsliding. For Israelites, again, it always an open door to go back. Nobody army to stop them except Moses, only person interested in moving forward but he was also reluctant in times. So it was fairly accessible for them, Ruth and Israelites, as it for us today. 

Present world is ever increasing in its attractiveness towards godless life, always accepting and endorsing unbiblical way of life, always making debouched lifestyle easily accessible. Finally, let's not fall alongside Oprah by returning back to our old lives, though it was ok for her at that time, but stay firm in our commitment towards Christ to follow Him and Him alone. Return will always be attractive, acceptable and accessible. 

God bless you as you choose not to RETURN to OLD WAYS !!! 

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Learning Ephesians: Two Kingdoms

Text: Ephesians 5:5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 

Paul, while discussion about the children of light in this chapter, very well establishes the distinction between Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, differently put, kingdom of light and kingdom of darkness.

And the partaker of the kingdom of God is non another than the child of God, in this chapter, however, it is children of light. While we talk about the kingdom of God and its inhabiting community, we also need to understand its counter part, which is the kingdom of darkness.

Paul starts this chapter with a humble request to all its readers to follow God by walking in love and holiness. (Verse 1-3)

As it's quite apparent today, it was also the same in the days of Paul that all who come to church or profess themselves to be believers, when closely examined with the God-given parameters in scriptures, were/are not committed or born again Christians.

Let's have a look at these kingdoms in their contrariety.

1. THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS 

Before we look at the kingdom of God we must first understand what is kingdom of darkness. Without having the knowledge of the kingdom darkness, no one can be more passionate and persistent to move towards kingdom of God.
Therefore, keeping this in mind, Paul here clearly sidelines such community of people who would not inherit the kingdom of God. And the list of the acts of such people are as follows:

-Fornicator
-Unholy
-Covetous 
-Idolater

According verse 6 we come to know that there were false teachers who were misleading believers by teaching them false doctrines. One among such false teachings was to incorporating sinful  worldly patterns while being a partaker of the body of Christ. So make sure you don't fall in this group by any means.

2. THE KINGDOM OF LIGHT 

Paul used a beautiful contrasting metaphor to relate with the believers in Christ; children of light, who were once children of darkness. And again the list of the acts of children of light, as earlier we saw in previous point, is as follows;

-Goodness 
-Righteousness
-Truthfulness

These words don't need exposition they are as simple as they appear. We are very familiar with those terms and not very difficult to imply them in our day today life.
Remember what Paul says in verse 9 These are the fruit of light, grown inside of them who choose to walk in the light.

After having known the reality of two kingdoms, which postmodern man denies, let's decide where we gonna end up as death knocks at the door of physical life, which is of course temporal leading towards eternal life either in kingdom of hell or kingdom of heaven.

You may have had confusion until now to find out out how to get into either of these, but thank God for Paul who artistically, in his letter to Ephesians, highlights acts that would lead to either of these two kingdoms.

In verse 15, Scripture says let's not walk as fools but walk as wise. Since the days are evil, think carefully where you are headed. Please take time to read through the whole chapter, if possible whole book.


God bless you as you choose to walk towards the kingdom of heaven !!!!

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Learning Ephesians: four Shifts in Perspectives

The letter to the Ephesians is one of the most encouraging and instructive books in the Bible. The Book of Ephesians is home to some of the Bible's greatest promises and deepest spiritual insights. Apart from the Epistle to the Romans, few who have studied Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians would challenge the statement that it is the “Rolls Royce of the epistles.” F. F. Bruce, noted New Testament scholar, calls Ephesians “the quintessence of Paulinism.” C. H. Dodd called Ephesians “the crown of Paulinism.” According to William Hendriksen, Ephesians has been called “the divinest composition of man, the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of the Christian faith, full to the brim with thoughts and doctrines sublime and momentous.

Hetty Green was known as America's greatest miser. She managed an inherited fortune so shrewdly that she was also considered the greatest woman financier in the world. In 1916 she died leaving an estate that was worth nearly 100 million dollars. Yet she would eat cold oatmeal because she didn't want to spend the money to heat the water. Her son eventually lost his leg from a relatively minor injury because she took him to a number of free medical clinics instead of calling for a doctor. When it comes to spiritual blessing many Christian do the same mistake as Hetty Green. This letter tells us what riches we have in Christ. However, here in this meditation we shall look at the four shifts in our perspectives, that Paul wants us to make in this crucial end times. 

1. FROM SUFFERING TOWARDS SERVING 

    (Ministerial Aspect)

“Your most agonizing moment of pain is the founding stone of a Barnabas in you”
We must not forget the context of the epistle, the first century was the era of great persecution and suffering. And this letter of Paul reminds us of the significance of serving amidst of suffering that every mature believer is called to do. Many great writers of the world take off and go to some multi-star hotels or resort where they find a sea view of some other aesthetic scenarios to make their mind active for producing some of the finest writings. Unlike many of us Paul didn’t wait for the comfortable situations to give or write a theological discourse. He himself was in a prison, which is, of course, not a desirable place for anyone, from where he wrote this masterpiece; queen of epistles. He foresaw the great apostasy that would rise as we know now that the persecution in the Asia Minor encroached, and encouraged believers to come in unity to stand firm amidst such crisis.

2 Corinthians 1:4-54 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 

It’s his suffering, which shaped him in becoming an encourager to the suffering ones.

So when God works in you through the hour of suffering, its not limited to you alone but the results of your suffering is far-reaching to the people you will be ministering in future. 

2 Corinthians 6:8- 108 through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine; 9as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed;10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

You can’t encourage someone unless you have walked on the path that they are in. you can’t help the one with your sympathy unless you have experience God’s sympathy. You can’t empathize the broken unless you have been broken and made whole by God.

This to me seems a answer to an age old question “Thorn of Paul” God kept the thorn up there in Paul’s flesh to make him a first aid to others wound and which is to this day remains a first aid to all spiritually sick.

Anni Johnson Flint

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, 

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase; 

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy, 

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance, 

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, 

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, 

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in JesusHe giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Anni wrote this with her swollen fingers while she, herself was in the sore bed unbearable.
You can’t be a source of living water unless you have a source being poured unto you. You can’t become the source of encouragement unless you have been encouraged.

As we look about, it is undeniably problematic to find much cause for positivity in this world in which we live. Our environment is slowly being poisoned, the ozone layer is vanishing, viruses like AIDS, Ebola and ZIKA are on the verge of destroying the population of some nations, our economy is wavering, politicians are corrupt, and government is not able to solve the evils facing it. There is room for hope, for confidence, for joy, but it is not in the world around us, it is in the God whom Paul served, the God of whom he writes, whom he worships, and to whom he prays in Ephesians. The truths of this great epistle can transform your life, and the God of this epistle can give you faith, hope, love and above all a capacity amidst suffering to serve others with God’s heart.

2. FROM PAIN & PROSPERITY TOWARDS PRAYER &  PRAISES (Spiritual Aspect)

This letter contains prayers and praises more than other letters of Paul put together. Comparing all other epistles that Paul wrote, this epistle contains most of Paul’s prayer and the praises. 
Now one has all right to question Paul saying, "Come on Paul you are already appear to be very scarce with this tiny piece of letter which has 6 small chapters and adding two long prayer besides many words of praises is little too much odd for a writer of your credential." 
We may also end up asking this question if only if we underestimate the value of prayer and praises in Christian life. This also tells about the attitude towards God when we are in moments of pain or pleasure. As we saw earlier that Paul was in prison. Now Paul, by doing this himself, sets an example for the church at Ephesians that you are going to go through the such calamity in the imminent future remember to praise God.

Philippians 4:66 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Paul is not preaching or teaching in Ephesians as much as he is praying and praising God for who He is and what He has done, as evidenced in the person and work of Jesus Christ and in the gospel. After a brief greeting in verses 1 and 2, Paul’s first words in Ephesians begin,

 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …” The character of Ephesians, and especially the first three chapters, is one of praise toward God. 

Christian history has rich track of influential hymns and songs of all time. Most importantly, if one tries finding the reason behind those masterpieces of all compositions; its nothing but the hour of Praising-Praying God amidst own excruciating pain and sorrow alongside God-given joy and peace in those moments. There are times in our life when no amount of human words; though be it relatives' or outsiders' (preachers or counsellors), can never heal our wounded agonising heart but only praising God for who He is regardless of what He has done or not done or will do in future and praying with hope for the same, can and will pacify and conciliate a aching soul.      

We also need to understand flip side of the coin. The city of Ephesians was known for its economic and entrepreneurial achievements; means people here were quite affluent. Therefore, one can easily assume that the Church at Ephesus must have had a community of people within its boundaries who belonged to this elite segment of society of the city, as do our churches today incorporate. So its not as much pain and poverty that moves people away from God as much prosperity does. As poignantly stated by Chesterton, 

“Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain; Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure (prosperity).”  ― G.K. Chesterton

   
Men form the beginning has this tendency to question God during pain and dessert Him during prosperity. 
As seen in Proverbs 30:8-9;

"Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD? Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God."

Let's be able to balance between these two extreme by remaining a worshipper and prayer warrior in both aspect of life; pain and prosperity. We see both of these pictures in this letter; Paul who is in pain praising and praying God and hopefully some believers who are in prosperity after receiving this letter must have praised and prayed God, as Paul is asking them to do so.   

The first three chapters are addressed to God as much as to men, with the reader being given the privilege of overhearing Paul’s response to God in both praise and prayer, and then having the opportunity to join with him. This tells us the significance of praise and prayer in the painful and pleasurable moments of our life. 

3. FROM KNOWLEDGE OF GOD TOWARDS KNOWING GOD (Practical Aspect)

One would hardly think that another epistle was needed to further teach the Ephesian saints. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul was here for more than three years just teaching and having dialogues with believers. As you read and study the Epistle to the Ephesians it becomes increasingly evident that it is not a teaching document. Paul writes to those who have been well taught. He uses terms with very precise theological meanings, terms like “chose” (1:4), “predestined” (1:5), “redemption” (1:7), and “sealed” (1:13). Yet Paul neither defines, develops, or defends these theological concepts, he simply declares them. He calls these truths to the attention of his readers, knowing that they understand what he means by them.
Paul now gives them practical instructions on how they are to live a life worthy of the calling they have received. 

Broadly speaking, this part of the letter falls into four parts:

1. Living a Christian life in the local church (4:1-16).
2. Living a Christian life in the world (4:17-5:21).
3. Living a Christian life in the home (5:22-6:9).
4. Living a Christian life in spiritual World (6:10-20).

All these armour are not enlisted to become an aid to cerebral knowledge of any believers but these armours are to help them live their brand new Christian life in spiritual realm and cope up with day today's challenges they happen to encounter. And this is how believers not only experience God they once knew rationally as powerful, as protecting and as providing as Bible or theological literature depict but also be able to demonstrate the same before others.     

Through this letters Paul communicates to the readers to know God with your experience and by acting on the God-given principles (like praying, praising, uniting, loving, believing and experiencing peace of God). This is very important for the student if theology to maintain a balance life; rational and empirical. For all these years you may have had accumulated the knowledge of God but might have fail to know God personally. Remember Paul’s prayer for Spiritual Wisdom, which is something more or additional to the theological information available in the literature. 

4. FROM EARTHLY THINKING TOWARDS ETERNAL THINKING (Eternal Aspect)

Faith in Jesus Christ, often spoken of as being born again (see John 3:3), brings about a far-reaching change. If salvation brings one from “death” to “life,” from the “kingdom of darkness” to the “kingdom of light,” then one would suppose that conversion would likewise bring about a massive change in the way we look at our present life on this earth.
Ephesians 1:33 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
1:4-20 there are 15 blessings for the believers; let's have a look at those in contrast to worldly riches.

1. Understanding of our heavenly riches- so that the worldly     riches

2. Understanding the magnitude of heavenly riches- so that     the finitude of worldly riches

3. Understanding the fullness of heavenly riches- so that           emptiness of worldly riches

4. Understanding the guarantee of heavenly riches- so that       the uncertainty of worldly riches

5. Understanding the basis of heavenly riches- so that               the baselessness of worldly riches.

Many Christians fail to recognise and differentiate between the two separate concepts; Earthly and Eternal. This in effect, forms all of our life's meaning and priority. A lot of believers fail to prioritise eternal perspectives over earthly. Because the process prioritising has all to do with the value that particular entity holds for a particular individual. Paul in Ephesians ardently portrays and reminds  us about the significant value eternity has over earthly. Let's, as we keep learning form this rich letter, change our perspective from earthly to eternal and not doing that by loosing something precious as many would tell you, but doing that with the whole conscious and knowledge of attaining something more significant more  valuable more beneficial than the earthly riches. Ironically, this can never be fathomed by a natural man, who craves for earthly materialistic life and after having attain all of those material things finds them meaningless as Solomon tells us. 

Ephesians is the highway of a revelation, shifting our perspective from that of a citizen of this world to that of a citizen of heaven.  
So becoming a Christian necessitates us to think not so much in physical terms, but in spiritual terms, not so much in earthly terms as heavenly terms. That is to think beyond time and space you see but space that heavenly and time that is eternal. No epistle penned by the Apostle Paul is so compelling in the change of thinking it challenges us to adopt.

Since we live in a physical world, it is quite imperative to develop a physical perspective. Human run for food, shelter and cloth, sometimes it is possible to ignore what we are meant to think as Christians. Because we are in this world our spiritual centre of gravity is too low, too human, too temporal, too material, too earthly and too self-centred. Ephesians is written to help us in changing our centre of gravity from earthly to heavenly. With a cosmic scope of this epistle, Paul writes to change our thinking, to see earthly attractions in the light of heavenly realities, time in the light of eternity, and the spiritual life as a struggle a spiritual warfare, not merely with human opponents, but with a host of heavenly forces.




God Bless You!!!!



Further Reading and Sources:

http://www.gracepointfamily.com/Websites/gracepointfamily/images/Sermon_Series/2013/ephesians_banner.jpg

Charles Hodge, Ephesians, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1964.

Walter Liefield, Ephesians, Leicester: IVP, 1997.

Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s Study Ephesians, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2005.

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Learning Ephesians: four Shifts in Perspectives

The letter to the Ephesians is one of the most encouraging and instructive books in the Bible. The Book of Ephesians is home to some of the Bible's greatest promises and deepest spiritual insights. Apart from the Epistle to the Romans, few who have studied Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians would challenge the statement that it is the “Rolls Royce of the epistles.” F. F. Bruce, noted New Testament scholar, calls Ephesians “the quintessence of Paulinism.” C. H. Dodd called Ephesians “the crown of Paulinism.” According to William Hendriksen, Ephesians has been called “the divinest composition of man, the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of the Christian faith, full to the brim with thoughts and doctrines sublime and momentous.

Hetty Green was known as America's greatest miser. She managed an inherited fortune so shrewdly that she was also considered the greatest woman financier in the world. In 1916 she died leaving an estate that was worth nearly 100 million dollars. Yet she would eat cold oatmeal because she didn't want to spend the money to heat the water. Her son eventually lost his leg from a relatively minor injury because she took him to a number of free medical clinics instead of calling for a doctor. When it comes to spiritual blessing many Christian do the same mistake as Hetty Green. This letter tells us what riches we have in Christ. However, here in this meditation we shall look at the four shifts in our perspectives, that Paul wants us to make in this crucial end times. 

1. FROM SUFFERING TOWARDS SERVING 

    (Ministerial Aspect)

“Your most agonizing moment of pain is the founding stone of a Barnabas in you”
We must not forget the context of the epistle, the first century was the era of great persecution and suffering. And this letter of Paul reminds us of the significance of serving amidst of suffering that every mature believer is called to do. Many great writers of the world take off and go to some multi-star hotels or resort where they find a sea view of some other aesthetic scenarios to make their mind active for producing some of the finest writings. Unlike many of us Paul didn’t wait for the comfortable situations to give or write a theological discourse. He himself was in a prison, which is, of course, not a desirable place for anyone, from where he wrote this masterpiece; queen of epistles. He foresaw the great apostasy that would rise as we know now that the persecution in the Asia Minor encroached, and encouraged believers to come in unity to stand firm amidst such crisis.

2 Corinthians 1:4-54 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 

It’s his suffering, which shaped him in becoming an encourager to the suffering ones.

So when God works in you through the hour of suffering, its not limited to you alone but the results of your suffering is far-reaching to the people you will be ministering in future. 

2 Corinthians 6:8- 108 through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine; 9as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed;10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

You can’t encourage someone unless you have walked on the path that they are in. you can’t help the one with your sympathy unless you have experience God’s sympathy. You can’t empathize the broken unless you have been broken and made whole by God.

This to me seems a answer to an age old question “Thorn of Paul” God kept the thorn up there in Paul’s flesh to make him a first aid to others wound and which is to this day remains a first aid to all spiritually sick.

Anni Johnson Flint

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, 

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase; 

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy, 

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance, 

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, 

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, 

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in JesusHe giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Anni wrote this with her swollen fingers while she, herself was in the sore bed unbearable.
You can’t be a source of living water unless you have a source being poured unto you. You can’t become the source of encouragement unless you have been encouraged.

As we look about, it is undeniably problematic to find much cause for positivity in this world in which we live. Our environment is slowly being poisoned, the ozone layer is vanishing, viruses like AIDS, Ebola and ZIKA are on the verge of destroying the population of some nations, our economy is wavering, politicians are corrupt, and government is not able to solve the evils facing it. There is room for hope, for confidence, for joy, but it is not in the world around us, it is in the God whom Paul served, the God of whom he writes, whom he worships, and to whom he prays in Ephesians. The truths of this great epistle can transform your life, and the God of this epistle can give you faith, hope, love and above all a capacity amidst suffering to serve others with God’s heart.

2. FROM PAIN & PROSPERITY TOWARDS PRAYER &                 PRAISES (Spiritual Aspect)

This letter contains prayers and praises more than other letters of Paul put together. Comparing all other epistles that Paul wrote, this epistle contains most of Paul’s prayer and the praises. 
Now one has all right to question Paul saying, "Come on Paul you are already appear to be very scarce with this tiny piece of letter which has 6 small chapters and adding two long prayer besides many words of praises is little too much odd for a writer of your credential." 
We may also end up asking this question if only if we underestimate the value of prayer and praises in Christian life. This also tells about the attitude towards God when we are in moments of pain or pleasure. As we saw earlier that Paul was in prison. Now Paul, by doing this himself, sets an example for the church at Ephesians that you are going to go through the such calamity in the imminent future remember to praise God.

Philippians 4:66 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Paul is not preaching or teaching in Ephesians as much as he is praying and praising God for who He is and what He has done, as evidenced in the person and work of Jesus Christ and in the gospel. After a brief greeting in verses 1 and 2, Paul’s first words in Ephesians begin,

 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …” The character of Ephesians, and especially the first three chapters, is one of praise toward God. 

Christian history has rich track of influential hymns and songs of all time. Most importantly, if one tries finding the reason behind those masterpieces of all compositions; its nothing but the hour of Praising-Praying God amidst own excruciating pain and sorrow alongside God-given joy and peace in those moments. There are times in our life when no amount of human words; though be it relatives' or outsiders' (preachers or counsellors), can never heal our wounded agonising heart but only praising God for who He is regardless of what He has done or not done or will do in future and praying with hope for the same, can and will pacify and conciliate a aching soul.      

We also need to understand flip side of the coin. The city of Ephesians was known for its economic and entrepreneurial achievements; means people here were quite affluent. Therefore, one can easily assume that the Church at Ephesus must have had a community of people within its boundaries who belonged to this elite segment of society of the city, as do our churches today incorporate. So its not as much pain and poverty that moves people away from God as much prosperity does. As poignantly stated by Chesterton, 

“Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain; Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure (prosperity).”  ― G.K. Chesterton

   
Men form the beginning has this tendency to question God during pain and dessert Him during prosperity. 
As seen in Proverbs 30:8-9;

"Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD? Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God."

Let's be able to balance between these two extreme by remaining a worshipper and prayer warrior in both aspect of life; pain and prosperity. We see both of these pictures in this letter; Paul who is in pain praising and praying God and hopefully some believers who are in prosperity after receiving this letter must have praised and prayed God, as Paul is asking them to do so.   

The first three chapters are addressed to God as much as to men, with the reader being given the privilege of overhearing Paul’s response to God in both praise and prayer, and then having the opportunity to join with him. This tells us the significance of praise and prayer in the painful and pleasurable moments of our life. 

3. FROM KNOWLEDGE OF GOD TOWARDS KNOWING               GOD  (Practical Aspect)

One would hardly think that another epistle was needed to further teach the Ephesian saints. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul was here for more than three years just teaching and having dialogues with believers. As you read and study the Epistle to the Ephesians it becomes increasingly evident that it is not a teaching document. Paul writes to those who have been well taught. He uses terms with very precise theological meanings, terms like “chose” (1:4), “predestined” (1:5), “redemption” (1:7), and “sealed” (1:13). Yet Paul neither defines, develops, or defends these theological concepts, he simply declares them. He calls these truths to the attention of his readers, knowing that they understand what he means by them.
Paul now gives them practical instructions on how they are to live a life worthy of the calling they have received. 

Broadly speaking, this part of the letter falls into four parts:

1. Living a Christian life in the local church (4:1-16).
2. Living a Christian life in the world (4:17-5:21).
3. Living a Christian life in the home (5:22-6:9).
4. Living a Christian life in spiritual World (6:10-20).

All these armour are not enlisted to become an aid to cerebral knowledge of any believers but these armours are to help them live their brand new Christian life in spiritual realm and cope up with day today's challenges they happen to encounter. And this is how believers not only experience God they once knew rationally as powerful, as protecting and as providing as Bible or theological literature depict but also be able to demonstrate the same before others.     

Through this letters Paul communicates to the readers to know God with your experience and by acting on the God-given principles (like praying, praising, uniting, loving, believing and experiencing peace of God). This is very important for the student if theology to maintain a balance life; rational and empirical. For all these years you may have had accumulated the knowledge of God but might have fail to know God personally. Remember Paul’s prayer for Spiritual Wisdom, which is something more or additional to the theological information available in the literature. 

4. FROM EARTHLY THINKING TOWARDS ETERNAL                   THINKING (Eternal Aspect)

Faith in Jesus Christ, often spoken of as being born again (see John 3:3), brings about a far-reaching change. If salvation brings one from “death” to “life,” from the “kingdom of darkness” to the “kingdom of light,” then one would suppose that conversion would likewise bring about a massive change in the way we look at our present life on this earth.
Ephesians 1:33 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
1:4-20 there are 15 blessings for the believers; let's have a look at those in contrast to worldly riches.

1. Understanding of our heavenly riches- so that the worldly     riches

2. Understanding the magnitude of heavenly riches- so that     the finitude of worldly riches

3. Understanding the fullness of heavenly riches- so that           emptiness of worldly riches

4. Understanding the guarantee of heavenly riches- so that       the uncertainty of worldly riches

5. Understanding the basis of heavenly riches- so that               the baselessness of worldly riches.

Many Christians fail to recognise and differentiate between the two separate concepts; Earthly and Eternal. This in effect, forms all of our life's meaning and priority. A lot of believers fail to prioritise eternal perspectives over earthly. Because the process prioritising has all to do with the value that particular entity holds for a particular individual. Paul in Ephesians ardently portrays and reminds  us about the significant value eternity has over earthly. Let's, as we keep learning form this rich letter, change our perspective from earthly to eternal and not doing that by loosing something precious as many would tell you, but doing that with the whole conscious and knowledge of attaining something more significant more  valuable more beneficial than the earthly riches. Ironically, this can never be fathomed by a natural man, who craves for earthly materialistic life and after having attain all of those material things finds them meaningless as Solomon tells us. 

Ephesians is the highway of a revelation, shifting our perspective from that of a citizen of this world to that of a citizen of heaven.  
So becoming a Christian necessitates us to think not so much in physical terms, but in spiritual terms, not so much in earthly terms as heavenly terms. That is to think beyond time and space you see but space that heavenly and time that is eternal. No epistle penned by the Apostle Paul is so compelling in the change of thinking it challenges us to adopt.

Since we live in a physical world, it is quite imperative to develop a physical perspective. Human run for food, shelter and cloth, sometimes it is possible to ignore what we are meant to think as Christians. Because we are in this world our spiritual centre of gravity is too low, too human, too temporal, too material, too earthly and too self-centred. Ephesians is written to help us in changing our centre of gravity from earthly to heavenly. With a cosmic scope of this epistle, Paul writes to change our thinking, to see earthly attractions in the light of heavenly realities, time in the light of eternity, and the spiritual life as a struggle a spiritual warfare, not merely with human opponents, but with a host of heavenly forces.


God Bless You!!!!



Further Reading and Sources:

http://www.gracepointfamily.com/Websites/gracepointfamily/images/Sermon_Series/2013/ephesians_banner.jpg

Charles Hodge, Ephesians, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1964.

Walter Liefield, Ephesians, Leicester: IVP, 1997.

Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s Study Ephesians, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2005.

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