Saturday, June 20, 2009
Ephesians 1:22-23 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
WITH EYES WIDE OPEN: THE MYSTERY OF HIS LOVE
Though I skipped a couple very powerful and very important verses to get here, still I had to leave you with this last and final verse of chapter one. Remember that Paul has throughout this chapter described the careful planning of God the Father in the creation of the Church. Furthermore He rejoices in the sacrificial carrying out of that plan by the Son, and takes great comfort in the Holy Spirit's work of sealing us in the calling of God the Father. Now he finishes with this great mystery of that Church which God has built and sealed as His own. To this Church, to these people, Jesus, the true God who fills all things, says, "I am incomplete without you."
Being an American I can hardly hear these words without thinking of a movie in which the ultimate triumph of the emotional bond of its characters was expressed in the proclamation, "you complete me." Now, although man's love with all its lust, selfishness, and sin can never compare to the glory of Christ's love for his Church, still the very thing that man reaches for and thinks to attain in marriage, Jesus Christ gives completely to His Church, saying, "You are my inheritance. You are my bride. You are my fullness!" And all this when we hated Him, despised Him, and crucified Him.
Throughout this chapter of Ephesians Paul describes God's actions in bringing into existence the Church. Never once is any action of any man, other than the God-man, considered or brought into the equation. But through His own will, His own power, and His own actions, God creates, sanctifies, and gathers the whole Christian Church. And having accomplished this He says to her, "You are the perfection of beauty."--while we stand there like a dirty, aged hooker, shocked in speechless amazement that God should consider us worthy of any love at all much less such words of praise and beauty.
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1).
