April 26, 2024
Bible Studies for Life, April 19
Assoc. professor of Christian Studies
Truett-McConnell College
Many Christ-followers attempt to live segmented lives. They have their spiritual life, their work life, their family life, their hobby life, and so on. This segmented life brings frustration and disappointment. It is impossible to know the fullness of His peace if He is relished to only a portion of our lives.
Perhaps you have heard the expression, “He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.” The truth is we are to honor Him and live for Him through every area of our life.
Paul spent three years in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. He is writing to them and to us to emphasize the blessings we have in Christ and the position we have as the body of Christ.
Ephesians 1:7-10
Paul reminds us of our blessed redemption through the blood of Jesus according to the riches of His grace. Paul celebrates this common experience of grace to all followers of Christ. We identify with mankind in our sin (all have sinned) and we identify with our fellow followers of Christ in the forgiveness of our sin through the grace of God.
The truth of all things finding unity in Christ is expanded in Colossians 1:16-20: “In Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth ... all things were created by Him and for Him ... and in Him all things consist. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, and ... by Him to reconcile all things to Himself ... whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
In the creation He created all things “good.” However, as sin entered the world creation also needed Jesus to bring unity. In the blood of Jesus that unity will be restored in the “fullness of time” to the created in heaven and on the earth, the seen and unseen. The unity of all things is found in Jesus.
Ephesians 1:18-21
Paul desires for us to see beyond the visible, with the “eyes of our heart” that are opened to the great “hope” that is ours in the awesome redemption we receive through Christ.
We can find confidence in His might that Jesus is at the right hand of God in the true holy of holies. He is more powerful that any ruler or leader on earth then and now. Our “hope” is secured by His power and everything is subject to Him.
Chris Anderson, pastor of Chattahoochee Baptist Church in White County, Georgia, said that the most Googled word on the Internet is “hope.” There are 1,970,000,000 sites dealing with hope that come up when you Google “hope” on the Internet.
There is a hopelessness in our culture. People are looking for a hope. For those of us in Christ, our hope is secure in Him. This hope is more than a wish, or maybe, it is a certain hope in the perfect power.
Ephesians 1:22-23
The body of Christ is a metaphor used by the Holy Spirit to help us understand the unity that is in Christ and the fact that while we are the “body of Christ” He is the “head” of that body. Paul responds on this metaphor in I Corinthians 12 and Romans 12.
I love this analogy. The head instructs the body. When there is a problem with the body, we say that person has a physical challenge.
There is often a spiritual challenge in the body of Christ, the Church. I see churches where there is disunity – parts of the body attacking other parts of the body, parts of the body that simply do not function, and other parts of the body that are missing. This explains why the church is often a poor representation of Christ to a watching world.
Have you ever had part of your body go to sleep while you were awake? I remember a time my leg went to sleep in a meeting and I was called to go to the podium to lead in prayer. I drug my sleeping leg to the podium and the congregation was concerned for me. During my prayer my leg awoke and I was able to walk off the podium normally. I have seen churches with sleeping body parts that need to be awakened to the purpose of the body of Christ.
The answer: Jesus is interceding for us before the Father. He is exalted above all things. He prayed for our unity in John 17 and according to Hebrews 7:25 and 9:24 and 1 John 2:1 He is our advocate before the Father, interceding on our behalf now. When we deal with our sin properly through confession in Christ, we are positioned properly in Christ and there is unity in the body.
Walk – What is your “hope” and why are you confident in the source of that hope? Does it line up with Scripture?
Run – What part of the body are you? Are you a productive part of the body? How can you assist the church that you are a part of to be a better representation of Christ to a watching world? Talk with your pastor and ask him how you can assist. Go to a hurting part of the body and offer encouragement and help.
Soar – Make a list of people in your circles that seem to be hopeless. Pray through the list and ask God to give you the opportunity to witness to the unsaved on your list; they are truly hopeless without Christ. Ask God to give you the opportunity to encourage people on your list who are in the body of Christ, but have lost “heart sight” of their hope in Christ.
Many Christ-followers attempt to live segmented lives. They have their spiritual life, their work life, their family life, their hobby life, and so on. This segmented life brings frustration and disappointment. It is impossible to know the fullness of His peace if He is relished to only a portion of our lives.
Perhaps you have heard the expression, “He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.” The truth is we are to honor Him and live for Him through every area of our life.
Paul spent three years in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. He is writing to them and to us to emphasize the blessings we have in Christ and the position we have as the body of Christ.
