Walking Worthy: Awareness, Knowledge and Trust
Ephesians 1:3-23
Theme: Walking worthy of our vocation in Christ begins with an awareness, an awakening to God’s cosmic plan in Christ and our place in that plan. When we fully comprehend our place in this “mystery of his will” then we will be on our way to disciplining our minds and bodies to operate within this plan.
Introduction:
God is re-creating the human family. There are powers and principalities operating in this world under which we used to operate. Greed, division, selfishness, hate, violence. But God has now revealed a new way to live, a way that glorifies his name and places us in a position to live to our potential. We can be assured that we were chosen by God to be a part of this plan and that he will go with us as we alter our lives to walk according to his plan. This come through grace and our participation in the work of the church. This is the vocation to which we have been called to walk worthy of. But how can we be assured of this chosen-ness?
Illustration: Remember those days in elementary school and junior high when the PE teacher would have two exceptionally athletic kids choose teams. They would each start with the jocks, picking less and less able athletes in turn. Finally, those last remaining souls, their heads hung low in shame and feelings of worthlessness, were chosen only because the PE coach required it. Otherwise, no one wanted them on the team. They were slow, uncoordinated or mentally challenged. I remember seeing this process unfold and, in my own adolescent way, felt like the whole process was unhealthy and damaging.But as I read Paul I imagine a line of people stretching before God and God looking up and down the line and choosing based not on status, wealth, or even intellect or raw talent. Instead he chooses “according to the good pleasure of his will.” And we find that his good pleasure is to accept us as his children “unto the adoption of Jesus Christ” (v. 5). God looks at us and says, “Be my children,” regardless of our past or present condition. In life we have all felt what it is like to be at the end of the pickings. We all have moments when we feel inadequate, not up to the task, left out or even unwanted. But, “to the praise of the glory of [God’s] grace,” Jesus, because of his act of love and sacrifice on the cross, “hath made us accepted in the beloved” (v. 6).
We can be assured that we were chosen by God to be a part of this plan and that he will go with us as we alter our lives to walk according to his plan. Christ “because of his resurrection and exaltation is far superior to any competing spiritual powers that could threaten his predominance.” (AGT, 382).
Four Spiritual Blessings
As proof of our chosen-ness and to empower us as we commit ourselves to walk worthy of our vocation, God, through his grace, has given us four spiritual blessings.
In the heavenly realms – what is in Heaven is now being done on earth in the fullness of time through those in Christ. They are “not subject to the uncertainty of earthly life.” (Ewell, 1022).
Redemption (v. 7) – first God had to reunite the lost, to heal the broken, to position them to be his people on earth. This accomplished through Christ. Jesus’ sacrificial, innocent death for our sake led to the forgiveness of our sins.
Revelation of God’s plan (v. 9) – We now know what God is up to in the world, “the mystery of his will.” That he might “gather together in one all things in Christ, which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him (v. 10)”. Paul believed that Christians would “one day share in his risen glory” when these things take place (AGT, 383). In fact, in a way, we have already been raised in Christ, says Paul (v. 2.6)
Inheritance (v. 11) – We will enjoy the fruits off the kingdom of God when it comes in its fullness. Predestined to live in a new heaven and earth in which all powers and principalities come under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Holy Spirit (v. 13) – A promise, earnest payment from God
Notes:
Actemeier, Paul; Green, Joel; Thompson, Marianne Meye, (AGT), Introducing the New
Testament: Its Literature and Theology, Eerdmans, 2001.
Ewell, Walter A., Baker Commentary on the Bible, Baker Books, 1989.
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