Proverbs 8:35, ‘For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from the Lord’
Our destination is to become into the likeness of Jesus Christ and during our journey, as in a train journey, somewhere in our path, when we get down on some platform, our gracious Lord is getting us back to the train, to the right place, into the train to reach our destination. Thank God for the body of Christ, for all the exhortations we receive and the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the Word, which helps us to find life and obtain favor from the Lord.
Ephesians 4:15, ‘but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,’
By the truth that we are receiving and entrusted to all of us by the Word and through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him. As a Church, we all need to grow up and experience the amazing ways in which God is leading us and through this life, in this world, we need to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we go through many situations which are discouraging but never, at any time, we should not lose hope or go away or shrink away!
Apostle Paul was writing to Ephesian Christians in chapters 1-3 is about our ‘Foundation’ – What God has done for us in Christ Jesus and in chapters 4-6 is about the ‘Superstructure’ – what we need to do in our lives over here on earth! God had done mighty things for us and led us so far and He did through Christ. We need to know how we are growing up, in the body of Christ in Doha. It is not an individual growth but a collective growth, as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. God had used the body of Christ in amazing ways for God’s glory. We thank and Praise God for this.
Ephesians 1:4, ‘just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him’
He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, as a body of Christ, to be holy and blameless before Him. It is not to become holy and blameless before men but before God.
V5, ‘In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will’,
This is His will for us! In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself! – This is God’s will for us.
Paul is writing this to the saints in Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.
V1, ‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:’
A saint is a person whose life is set apart to the Lord. We need to be faithful and make sure our Superstructure is built on the right foundation, on Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11, ‘For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ’.
Jesus Christ is our foundation and we have to be very careful about how we build our Superstructure. He is the foundation of our lives, He chose us, before the foundation of the world! This is same for all the brethren in the body of Christ – The foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given us brothers and sisters and Elders, in the body of Christ and He is leading us for His glory. They are leading us and guiding us to live the life of Jesus in our lives. Thank God for the
Ephesians 4:1, ‘Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called’,
God called us, before the foundation of the world but we need to be careful that we walk in a manner worthy of our calling, building on the foundation, Jesus Christ. Paul is saying that he is a prisoner of the Lord by the way which he is working as per the will of God.
V2, V3, ‘with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’
We need to be humble, gentle, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace! We need to speak out in truth and in love. Check whether the love is growing in us or not! There is one body, one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling!
V4 – V6, ‘There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all’.
When we are called, there is ‘hope’ attached to it! We see the hope of our lives in,
Romans 8:24, ‘For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?’
1 John 3:2,3 ‘Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure’.
We did not see Him but we have tasted His glory through the Holy Spirit, given to us. We will see Him when He is going to come. Then we will be like Him. This is the hope in us!
Romans 8:24,25, NLT, ‘We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)’
We have this hope in us and we are waiting patiently that we will be delivered in our soul, because there are areas in our lives where we face anxiety, different areas where do not come to terms with and there are areas which are un-Christ likeness – This is the reality of our lives! But we are waiting patiently for which God had planned for us. We put our trust in Him, waiting patiently! We need to wait patiently and have endurance to have the likeness of Christ, in our lives.
V26, ‘In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;’
We need to cry and groan inside our hearts to God, having a longing to have the life of Jesus in us. We do not know how to pray but the Holy Spirit helps us to pray!
Romans 7:17, ‘For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.’
V20, ‘But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me’.
Nothing good dwells in this flesh, so we need to have this groanings in our hearts that ‘we need to be cleansed’! So, the Spirit prays with long groanings in our hearts. Let us cry out to the Lord and have an endurance and patience until He returns.
Romans 8:27, ‘and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God’.
Never lose hope in our lives!
Hebrews 11:1, ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’.
The groanings in our heart to be like Jesus, every day in our lives, this cry is the proof that we have hope! Faith is the assurance of things hoped for! Any time, we are carried away from this hope, we find ourselves, backsliding! Faith is the conviction of things not seen! As a body of Christ, we all need to have this groanings in our hearts to be like Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit, then we can together grow in Christ!
Ephesians 4:11 -12,’And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;’
There are Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers in the body of Christ, equipping the saints for work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ! Our Elders want to see the growth in us, as a body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11, ‘But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills’
There is one Spirit, to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Work out our gifts and be careful to build on the foundation, Jesus Christ, not through the flesh, lest it will be destroyed.
Romans 12:4, ‘For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another’.
We have several functions in the body of Christ, each of us are one body in Christ and individually members one of another. Thank God for the encouragements we receive from each one of them. Let us not shrink away from this hope but each day be renewed by this hope that we have in Jesus Christ, to be like Him!
We see in the life of Abraham, he saw everything and he was given a promise of a son, but he went ahead and produced Ishmael, so through this flesh, if we do not wait on the Lord, we would be producing Ishmaels in our lives! When Abraham was impotent, when he submitted himself to the Lord, then God gave him Isaac. Let us submit ourselves to the Lord, knowing we are impotent, cannot do anything on our own! This is the way, God is leading our Church, where we submit and depend on Him fully, not individually but also together as body of Christ, and rely on Him, then God’s work is being done for His glory!
Ephesians 3:11-13, ‘This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory’.
V14, ‘For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen’.
God loved us, so much so it should never be a difficulty, to love our fellow brethren. We can measure God’s love here that He is loving us with all our weaknesses and unChrist-like nature! In the body of Christ, there are many brethren, maybe we are not able to love all of them – through this situation, God is teaching us and showing us the love of Christ! The length with one brother, the breadth with another brother, the height with other brother and the depth with another brother – like this, we are able to know the love of Christ through our brothers and sisters. We are not able to know the love of Christ but only when we see the length, breadth, height and depth of the love of Christ, then only we can experience the fulness of God. God is enlarging our hearts and pouring out His love in us, towards the brothers and sisters, loving them with all their weaknesses and their short-comings! God is showing us His love through our brothers and sisters. Thank God for His love! He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. He is filling us with His power and giving us the foretaste of Heaven in our lives!
Hebrews 3:12-13, ‘Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin’.
Let us have the unity of Spirit, encouraging one another, day after day, as long as it is still called, ‘Today’, so none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin! When God is speaking to us, let us not have hardened hearts
V14, ‘For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end’
Let us hold fast, the beginning of our assurance, our hope, firm until the end, so, we can become partakers of Christ! We thank God for the Word, the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ who are leading us every day to grow up in Him, to the likeness of Christ. Thank God for His Word.
