Word of Salvation – October 2015

 

A Divine Cosmic Transition Plan

Text: Ephesians 1 – by Rev. Pieter Tuit

 

Congregation of Jesus Christ, the church’s feast days are over. In this past church year we have celebrated Advent, Christmas, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day and two Sundays ago Pentecost. There are no special feast days anymore until we start with a new cycle with Advent 2014.

However, it is good to remember that just because the feast days are over, this does not mean that the reality of these feast days is not with us anymore. Your life, my life, our church’s life, the life of our nation, the life of our world, is right now impacted by the fact that there was a Christmas, A Good Friday, an Easter Sunday, an Ascension of Christ, and a Pentecost.

I know one would not think so if you watch the news on line or on tv. One would not think so if you read what is happening in Iraq right now, the continuing unrest in Syria, the budget challenges the government faces at present, the Netherland beating Spain and Australia in the soccer world cup. One would not think so walking down the streets of Ulverstone and Penguin and seeing people go about their daily business.

It is also possible, though I hope not, that all these feast days and the Biblical reality behind them has made absolutely no difference in our lives this past week. In other words we would feel, be and do just the same if Christ as not been born, died, was resurrected and that the Holy Spirit was not poured out.

It is also possible, and hopefully very likely, since I am preaching this message to most of you who are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that all these feast days have and continue to make a difference in who you are, what you do, and the outlook you have on life.

This is the message of Ephesians one that the impact of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and the Ascension as well as Pentecost continues to impact the life of the world and in a very special sense our lives as Christians and as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I preached on Ephesians one about four years ago. The title of my message was DO YOU KNOW HOW RICH YOU ARE. In this message I emphasized the spiritual riches we, as believers, have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul almost trips over his own words when he talks about how God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, and how he has chosen us in love to be holy and blameless sin his sight, how he has adopted us as his sons and daughters, how we have redemption through Christ’s blood, and the forgiveness of our sins and how all this has been lavished on us by a generous heavenly Father with all wisdom and understanding.

In verse nine Paul talks about God making known to us the mystery of his will which is to bring all things in heaven and on earth, together, under one head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul comes back to this in verses 15-23. There he talks about the mighty power at work in the resurrection and the ascension of Christ who now sits at the right hand of God and that God placed all things under Christ and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church.

This was what Ascension Day was all about. Christ ascending to the throne of power and authority in heaven. A number of countries in Europe have seen new kings ascended the throne. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated her throne so that Willem Alexander, her son, could ascent. The same thing happened in. This past week King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicated after 47 years on the throne, and his son took his place. And Charles continues to wait.

Most churches do not do much with Ascension Day which can be called Christ’s coronation day. Yet it is an important and very significant event in the history of redemption. It was an event that continues to impact the history of the world and also our lives. At his ascension, the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect God-man, the second Adam entered into the presence of his Father and took his place as the new king and head of the human race. This meant that from now on everything Christ did would have cosmic scope. Before that Christ was limited and could only be in one place and at one time.

Christ’s ascension meant that from now on he can be available to anyone and at any time. He could truly say I will never leave you, nor forsake you. He continues to do all the things he did when he was on earth but now he can do it having access to anyone in any place and all at once.

The Heidelberg Catechism uses the word benefit when it asks a question about Christ’s ascension. In L.D 18 we read,” First Christ pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of the Father. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven- a guarantee that Christ our head will take us, his members, to himself in heaven. Third he sends his Spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the Spirit’s power we make the goal of our lives, not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.

At the centre of what Christ does is the gathering and building of his church. For this reason the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. The Heidelberg catechism, summarizing Scripture, reminds us here that Christ builds his church through his word and Holy Spirit.

Christ is king over his church. Believers, members of his church are his subjects. He directs and fills his church with the Holy Spirit and his gifts. But he does more than that. Christ not only rules over the church. No, he also, as Ephesians one reminds us, rules over every power an authority in this world. And to be clear he does this, for the church. He does this through his Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ, as the ascended Lord, is ruling over, and controlling all of history toward its final goal. This final goal will be the complete redemption of all of God’s people, and the renewal of the whole world. This final goal will be a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more suffering, evil, sorrow, death or pain. This is why Christ is directing, what Keller calls, a cosmic transition plan, a plan that will result in a new heaven and a new earth. Christ does this through the preaching of the gospel and the renewing work of His Holy Spirit in the hearts of his people and making sure that everything that happens in this word is for the benefit of his people.

All this has important implications for our lives here, right now in the world, and right where we are. It means that our risen and ascended King who occupies the throne of heaven is available to us anywhere and at any time. If we want to see the Queen of England we will need to go to London, to Buckingham Palace where it is very unlikely that you will get an appointment.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords appointment book is always open. He is always available for loving communication and fellowship. This we do through prayer. This we do through our worship.

The great church father from the fifth century Augustine could not have said it better when he wrote,” You ascended from before our eyes and we turned back grieving , only to find you in our hearts. Because of his finished work, and because of his ascension Christ can now put his heart into our hearts.” Let me repeat this statement.” You ascended from before our eyes and we turned back grieving, only to find you in our hearts. Christ can now put his heart into our hearts”

The closest we can get to an earthly king or queen is to have a photograph in our home. The king of the universe does a lot better than that. He makes our hearts his home through his Holy Spirit. Through his Holy Spirit he makes our hearts his throne and our bodies his temple. In Romans five Paul speaks about the love of God being poured out into our hearts. This Jesus, who is in us and for us, also intercedes for us before his heavenly Father. In him we have that advocate that we heard about in an earlier message.

Our King therefore is extremely personal. He is as close as close can get. He is also supremely powerful. Again as Ephesians one reminds us he controls everything for his church. Let me repeat this again. He controls everything for his church. The church is the apple of God’s eye. The church is at the centre of God’s attention. Yes, as I preached two Sundays ago in Penguin in the evening the church is there for the world. At the same time our text reminds us that the world is there also for the church.

The word for almost gets lost in the many words that the apostle Paul uses in chapter one. At the same time it is a very significant word. Christ has authority and dominion over everything for the church and therefore for you, for me right where you are and right in the midst of the circumstances you find yourselves in right now.

Keller reminds us here that the one who died on the cross and who sits at the right hand of God, the Father is also the executive director of history. And this executive director of history directs everything for the sake of his church. This means that whatever happens, happens ultimately for us. This means Christ is also the executive director of each one of our histories.

It is almost impossible to wrap our midst and our hearts around this thought. But we are at the centre of it all. And in a Biblical sense we can say, with all humility, that it is all about us. Jesus is in heaven for our good.

It is here that Ephesians one connects with that other great text in Romans 8:28. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Now it is important to understand this text well.

Paul is not saying ere that every bad thing that happens to you is actually good or that every cloud has a silver living. Paul is not writing sentimental greeting cards. Paul is writing serious theology here, theology that gives a strong foundation to our lives when we face disaster, illness, breakdown and what else.

Paul though is saying that from the vantage point of eternity, looking back on all of history, it will be clear that even the genuinely bad things that happened in our lives were incorporated and used by God-so that in the end they only accomplished the opposite of what they intended. By faith and in trust we will learn to understand that evil things ultimately bring about more glory and good than if they had not happened.

In the Old Testament Joseph understood something of this difficult but still great and wonderful truth. He said to his brothers who did such great evil to him, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” We see something similar with Job. God gave Satan permission to attack Job. However, the result was that Satan’s action has helped millions of people over the centuries to be faithful to God under suffering. This was certainly not what Satan intended. He wanted Job to curse God and die. However, in the end, Job and many, many other remained faithful to God, to the greater glory of God.

The best example though how God brings good out of evil is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Many forces railed against him in order to crush him. Yet through this God worked out the redemption of his people and the ultimate defeat of sin and evil, including the forces that railed against the Lord Jesus.

Because Christ is on the throne, because he rules everything for the sake of the church we may believe that everything in our lives, the big and the small things, including the very difficult and very unpleasant things work out for our good.

Now this does not mean that we have no responsibility. For example if we live an unhealthy life style we can count on getting sick. God will hold us to account. If I am a businessman and be slack in looking for business opportunities I cannot say it must be God’s will that I am going broke. He will bring something good out of this. If I am unfaithful to my marriage vows and there is a painful breakdown I cannot comfort myself with the thought that God will make something good out of the mess I have made. If I am unemployed and do nothing to make myself more employable or look for work I cannot say that Jesus is doing that. If I do not study for a test I cannot say that God made me fail and he will make something good out of a failing grade. No God holds us accountable for who we are, what we do and how we obey his Word.

In the same way God holds the whole world, and everyone in it accountable for every deed done and for every word spoken. At the same time what people may intend for evil God will turn this eventually into good for his people, for his church. The church therefore may go through difficult times. It may even suffer persecution, martyrdom and death. However what the church cannot do is lose. Because Christ rules everything for the church, the church will eventually win. We will eventually win. And no world cup soccer victory can be compared with Christ’s victory over sin death and evil.

This means that a Christian does not have to be anxious. This means that the Christian can be at peace. This means a Christian can relax. God is in control and all things will work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

We can be at peace and we do not have to be anxious because the one who died for us, the one who still has the nail marks in his hands, is also the one who is in control of everything. And he controls everything for our good. He controls even the bad things that are happening to us for our good. He is therefore truly the light of the world which is the overall theme of our messages this year.

He who is the light of the world is also the ruler of the world. He who promises us light is the one who brings light even when life around us is filled with darkness of all kinds.

Stephen, the first Christian martyr understood this. In Acts seven we read how he was stoned for preaching the gospel. As the stones were hitting is bruised body Stephen has a vision. He saw the heavens opened and he saw the Son of man, Jesus, the light of the world standing at the right hand of God. This impacted Stephen so much that his face shone like that of an angel.

Stephen understood that the one who died for him was now interceding for him before the throne of judgment. Therefore he did not have to care about the accusations made against him. This is why he could take the stones breaking his painful body. The verdict of the earthly court did not matter because he knew that because of the Jesus whom he loved there was for him no condemnation in the heavenly court. His enemies thought he was unclean. Stephen knew that in Gods eyes and because of Jesus he was pure, he was holy.

This is why Stephen was also able to forgive his executioners He prayed,” Lord do not hold this sin against them.” Stephen truly understood the meaning of Christ’s ascension and the significance of the rule of Christ at the right hand of the Father.

You know what challenges you will face the coming days and weeks. Some of you may be going through difficult and even painful times. Yes, you are perhaps expecting that things will get worse and not better. Remember that Jesus, the light of the world is sitting on the throne, that history is really and basically his story. Remember that because Jesus is the light of the world and because you believe in him you have the light also. You walk in the light of his love mercy, comfort and grace. And because of this you can be at peace, you do not have to be anxious even in the midst of unanswered questions. It is enough to know that everything will be ok. It is enough for you to know that the One who has the answers loves you and cares for you deeply. Amen!