Ephesians 3
1-6
Paul again establishes the idea that the current Apostles and Prophets have new revelation from God. What is that new revelation?
7-13
Paul says that he is the Apostle, or "the one sent", to the Gentiles (non-Jews). His job is to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and that this is available to all, Jew and Gentile alike.
What does verse 10 mean?
Verse 12 establishes the tone for our relationship with God, since it is not based on pleasing God with our works.
14-21
It is difficult for us to give up our way of giving out and receiving love. We give love to those who earn or deserve love and we with hold love from those who have not earned it. Our love is often shallow waxing and waning as we expereince the waxing and waning love of those around us. Our acceptance by others can be an unstable and stormy ocean, deep acceptance one moment and utter rejection the next. God's love IS NOT like that. It does not wax and wane. It is steady and constant.
Read 14-21. Is this how you experience God's love? Are you trying to impress God with your works? Are you drowning in guilt that your works are not impressive enough? If so why?
We may feel like we have to earn the love of people in our life. Should we ditch that point of view altogether or does life demand two different kinds of love?
posted by Emerging Kurt @ Sunday, August 05, 2007
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'm empowered by Eph 3 (among other passages) to believe that God called and qualified Paul for the work he had planned. Satan wants us to belive that we are not good enough for God to use. At the time of his conversion, Saul's "works" were among the some of the worst of his time that we know of. What was it that God saw in Saul that made God find him worthy of becoming Paul as we know him. I think nothing. He was unworthy by all accounts.
It wasn't that his works made him worthy. Neither do our works make us worhty but God's grace.
Another Paul authored passage comes to mind anytime you think of love. 1 Cor 13 comes to mind. I'm intrigued by the third verse:
3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing
Why does he says "I gain nothing"?
When I read this I'm challenged to believe that perhaps God in his infinite creativity has created a realm where love given benefits not the reciever as greatly as the giver. A realm where anything given (ie service, ministry, love, faith, hope, kindness) can be purposed for the benefit of the reciever but can't be altogether abstained from by the giver. A realm where the greatest gifts ARE free.
If I'm convicted of anything by this passage it is that I've imagined a finite supply of a resource (love) that God has given me infinitely.
Sometimes I wonder if this is what God saw in Paul, a man that would try to dispense the fullness of the gifts he himself recieved. It costs us nothing to love but as Paul writes without it we gain nothing. Maybe the "love of people" that we should be trying to earn is the love we give people.
I agree. We were just talking about a couple tonight who decided to have a mustang gt convertible instead of kids. That is so twisted it is hard to get my mind around. Its so hard to get someone who has bought into the lies what they are giving up in love and in the joy of giving and the joy of sacrificing when they choose another path, be it materialism or earning favor.
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