Month: February 2020

I have an inheritance in heaven

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Ephesians 1:11

So far in Ephesians 1 we have discovered several spiritual blessings God has given to believers who are “in Christ.” Believers have been chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven in Christ (1:4-7). Today we discover that believers “in Him” have been assigned by God to receive “an inheritance” which was decided beforehand (“predestined”) by God “according to the counsel of His will” (1:11). This verse is not saying that people are predestined by God to be saved or unsaved. It is saying that those who are “in” Christ by faith are predestined to obtain an inheritance from the Lord.

What does this “inheritance” include for all believers in Jesus (cf. Rom. 8:17a)? As children of God we will inherit our glorified resurrection bodies (I Cor. 15:35-58) that are like Jesus’ glorified resurrection body (cf. Philippians 3:21). All believers will also inherit a home on the New Earth (John 14:1-3; Rev. 21-22). This inheritance will make any earthly inheritance look like garbage compared to it.

But the Bible teaches that there is another inheritance that is only possible for those who “suffer with” Christ (Rom. 8:17b). They are referred to as  “joint heirs with Christ” (8:17b) which includes ruling with Him in His coming Kingdom (cf. Mark 10:27-30; 2 Timothy 2:12). The book of Hebrews tells us that the Son of God is the Heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2) which includes ruling over all the nations (Hebrews 1:4-14; Psalm 2:6-9). Since mankind lost his dominion over all of creation at the Fall (Hebrews 2:6-8; cf. Genesis 3:1-6), Christ will fulfill mankind’s destiny when He returns to earth and brings all creation under His rule (1 Cor. 15:27-28; Hebrews 1:8-13). Christ had to suffer and die for mankind because He would bring “many sons to glory” and be the Captain “of their salvation …through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:9-10). Before Jesus could lead His “many sons” to glory, He had to be made “perfect” for this role “through sufferings.” Since His brethren would have to suffer, He would have to as well in order to give them the kind of help they would need (cf. Hebrews 2:18; 4:14-16).

As a Firstborn (Ruling) Son (Romans 8:29), Jesus “learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Since Christ’s pathway to rulership was through suffering, so our pathway to ruling with Him includes suffering.

The joint heirship mentioned in Romans 8:17b is not common to all Christians, but only to those who “suffer with Christ.” To suffer with Christ means you suffer for doing what honors Him, not for what dishonors Him. For example, suffering with Christ does not refer to the suffering one incurs for robbing a bank, lying, or living an immoral life. To suffer with Christ would be like a former Muslim whose faith in Christ and bold witness for Him leads to the loss of his life. It may also include being ostracized at your work because of your commitment to Christ.

You could avoid this type of suffering by being a secret believer or disciple (cf. John 9:22; 12:42; 19:38). For example, the former Muslim could keep his relationship with Christ a secret to avoid physical death. Or you could hide your faith in Christ from your co-workers to avoid their disapproval. You may think this option is better than the pain of suffering with Christ.

But the apostle Paul would disagree with that conclusion. He writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). No amount of suffering with Christ now can outweigh the glory which shall be revealed in us when we receive the reward of ruling with Him in His coming Kingdom. God assures us that our suffering with Christ will be worth the glorious rewards He will give when He returns for His own.  

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the incredible inheritance I will enjoy when I go to heaven and receive my new glorified resurrection body which will never get tired nor experience sin or death. Thank You that my home in heaven will be free of pain, sadness, shadows, suffering, and death. But what excites me the most about my inheritance is that I will be face to face with You, Lord Jesus. Forgive me for focusing more on what You will give me instead of focusing on You. You are more than enough for me. Please enable me to faithfully serve You now so I may bring more glory to You throughout eternity with the rewards You give to believers who remain faithful to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I am totally forgiven in Christ

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7

When I believed in Christ, I received “the forgiveness of sins” (cf. Acts 10:43). I want you to think about this for a moment. When Christ died for our sins, how many of them were still future? (Pause). All of them! When Jesus died for us nearly 2,000 years ago, we were not even born yet. So all of our sins in His mind were still future. At the cross, God took every sin that you or I would ever commit and placed them all on Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus paid the penalty for all of our sins so we could be totally forgiven the moment we believed in Christ (Colossians 2:13). Forgiveness means God has removed the barrier of all our sins so we can now enjoy closeness with God.

On what basis did God forgive all our sins? The Bible says, His forgiveness was “according to the riches of His grace.” God’s “grace” refers to His undeserved kindness. The word “riches” (ploutos) refers to an abundance or wealth of grace. We can never exhaust God supply of grace towards us. None of us deserve to be forgiven by God. God did this on the basis of His grace towards us, not our goodness or religious efforts. Since His forgiveness is based on His grace, we can stop punishing ourselves or trying to earn His forgiveness when we do sin.

I can remember when I was a young Christian really struggling with guilt and shame after I sinned. I would try to pray more and read my Bible more, thinking I could some how earn God’s forgiveness. But this kind of response is insulting to God. It’s like I was saying to Jesus, “Your death on the cross was not enough to pay the full penalty for my sins. I need to help You pay for all of my sins.” As I grew in my knowledge and application of God’s Word, I began to realize that Jesus paid it all for me! There was nothing more for me to do but accept or believe His full payment for all my sins.

What this means is that we can never lose our relationship with our heavenly Father. Just as we are born into our earthly families and can never cease to be our parents’ child no matter what we do, so too, when we are born into God’s family, we can never cease to be His child no matter how we live. We can sin as God’s child without ever ceasing to be His child. But our sin will break that closeness with God just as disobeying our parents breaks our closeness with them. Thanks be to Jesus Christ that that closeness to God can be restored on the basis of our own confession of sin (I John 1:9) and the realization that Christ has paid in full the penalty for that sin which otherwise would condemn us (John 19:30).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You so much for paying the full price for all of my sins when You died in my place on the cross so I can enjoy complete and total forgiveness for all of my sins! Because my forgiveness in Christ is complete, I no longer need to work to earn Your forgiveness. I can now rest in Your finished work on the cross to have peace with God forever! This truth is life changing for me! I now want to live for You as a way of saying, “Thank You for my total forgiveness!” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I am redeemed in Christ

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7

When I believed in Christ, He “redeemed” or “purchased” me “through His blood.” This word for “redeemed” (apolutrōsis) is very important. At the time of the writing of the New Testament, it meant to go to the market place and buy a slave who is in trouble and then set the slave free. This is what Jesus did for us when He shed “His blood” on the cross.  He came to the market place where we have been slaves to sin.  And He paid the price or ransom for all our sins with “His blood” and set us free.

Before I placed my faith in Christ alone for salvation, I was enslaved to my sin. But the moment I believed in Jesus, I was taken off the slave market of sin so that I am now free to obey the Lord and not be enslaved to sin. The Holy Spirit, Who lives inside me, can empower me to say “no” to sin and “yes” to Christ (Romans 8:11-13). But if I do sin, the Holy Spirit will convict me so I can confess my sin to God and be restored to closeness with Him (I John 1:9).

Have you ever lost hope trying to overcome a sinful habit? You have tried and tried to break this habit, and you may be successful for a few weeks or months, but then you relapse? What God is telling us is that Christ has broken sin’s power in our lives by paying the full penalty for all our sins. Sin is no longer our master. Jesus Christ is now our Master and He wants to come alongside of us to enable us to get victory over sin.

One of the main reasons we may continue to sin in a particular area is because we believe the lie that says, “You cannot change because you are still a sinner who always sins.” But listen to the voice of truth. God says, “You can change through My Son, Jesus Christ, Who redeemed or purchased you off the slave market of sin so you are no longer enslaved to sin. You are now free to obey Me and live for Me.” Sin is no longer our master after we believe in Christ alone for salvation. Jesus is now our Master and He not only gives us the command to live holy lives, He also gives us the power to do so.

Let me illustrate the meaning of redemption. I read a story today about a father and son who worked for months to build a toy sailboat. Every night when he came home from work, the man and his boy would disappear into the garage for hours. When the boat was finished they stood back to admire the results. The wooden hull was painted bright red and it was trimmed with gleaming white sails. When it was finished the boy went to a nearby river for the boat’s trial run. The father had tied a string to its stern to keep it from sailing too far. The boat performed beautifully, but the string broke and the sailboat drifted out of sight. Attempts to find it were fruitless.

A few weeks later, as the boy was walking home from school he passed a store and was amazed to see his sailboat in the window. He ran inside to claim the boat, telling the owner he lost the boat. The store owner said, “You may have it back — for $50.” The boy was stunned at how much it would cost him to regain his boat, but since it was so precious to him he quickly set about earning the money to buy it back. Later he joyfully walked into the toy store and handed the owner $50 in exchange for his sailboat. It was the happiest day of his life. As he left the store he held the boat up to the sunlight. Its colors gleamed as though newly painted. “I made you, but I lost you,” he said. “Now I’ve bought you back.

God made you and me, but He lost us through our sin which separates us from Him. But God came to earth and bought us back by shedding His own blood on the cross. We now belong to the Lord Jesus and He is our Master. Let’s thank Him by living for Him!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the full price for my sins with Your shed blood so I am now released from enslavement to sin. Because of my redemption in You, You are now my Master and I am Your slave. You not only give me the command not to sin, but You also can give me the power to obey it. Please use the Holy Spirit to apply this truth to my heart and mind so that obedience to Your Word becomes normal and natural to my Christian life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I am totally accepted by God

I AM TOTALLY ACCEPTED BY GOD

“To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:6

When I was a teenager, I did some pretty crazy and daring things to try to gain the acceptance of my peers. Even though their acceptance may have been gained for a time, it was only temporary. It would soon fade and I would be back where I started. Does this sound familiar to you?

Let’s face it, human acceptance is often conditional and temporary. We accept those who accept us or are like us. But it is difficult to accept those who are different from us or who may reject us.

God’s acceptance of us is neither conditional or temporary. We learn in Ephesians 1:6 that God totally “accepted” us because we are placed or baptized “in the Beloved” Son of God, Jesus Christ, the moment we believe in Him (Galatians 3:26-27). And because Christ has received us and He is fully accepted by God the Father, we are fully accepted by God, too. Hence, when God looks at us it is as if He is looking at His Son.

My acceptance before God was bestowed upon me by God’s “grace” or undeserved favor through Jesus Christ. The Greek word for “grace” (charis) can have the meaning of “leaning toward someone to share benefits with him.” God pursued me with His grace through Jesus Christ Who paid the full penalty for my sins when He died in my place on the cross (John 19:30) so God the Father can now fully accept me, having no grounds to condemn me (Romans 8:31-34).  I do not need to change a thing about myself for God to accept me. My acceptance by God is not based on what I do, but on being in the Beloved as a result of trusting in Him as my Savior.

Think about the implications of this truth for a moment. When I believe in Christ alone for everlasting life, I am accepted by God in the Beloved. No matter what I have done or not done, I am accepted in the Beloved. Although I may commit a terrible sin, I am still accepted in Christ. If I spend more time in jail than I spend in church, I remain accepted in the Beloved. If I fall away from the Lord and die out of fellowship with Him, I continue to be accepted in Christ.

Since I am totally accepted by God through Jesus Christ apart from any merit of my own, I no longer need to try to earn the acceptance of others. I am free to be the person God made me to be by His grace. Being accepted in Christ does not motivate me to live like the devil, it motivates me to live for the One who provided my acceptance through His death on the cross.

Prayer: I praise You Lord God for leaning towards me to extend Your grace to me through the Lord Jesus Christ so that I am now totally accepted by You as a result of trusting in Jesus. Your acceptance of me gives me security that no human being can take away from me. I can now come to You with my deepest darkest secrets knowing that You will still accept me in the Beloved. I can share my greatest fears with You, being confident that You will not turn away from me. No matter what I have done or will do I am fully received by You, God, because You fully received Jesus’ finished work on the cross as sufficient payment for all my sins. I honor You, Lord, for granting me this great privilege. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I am adopted by God

I AM ADOPTED BY GOD

“Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Ephesians 1:5

Have you ever felt you did not belong to anyone? That you were all alone? You do not have to be an orphan to feel this way.

If you do not have a sense of belonging, look no further. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 1:5 that God offers a way to meet our need to belong. The word “predestined” means God determined beforehand that all who would believe in Christ alone for salvation would be adopted into God’s family. God did this “according to the good pleasure of His will.” Just as parents are thrilled to be able to adopt a boy or girl into their family, so too, it made God very happy to mark me out beforehand to be adopted into His family. I brought God much pleasure when He decided to adopt me. That is how special I am to God!

At the time that the apostle Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, adopted children in Rome had all the rights and privileges of a natural born child in the new family and completely lost all their rights in their old family. In the eyes of the law, the adopted person was a new person. So new that all the debts and obligations connected with the previous family were abolished as if they never existed.

When I believed in Christ, I was adopted into God’s family where I can now enjoy all the rights and privileges that God’s only Son possesses. All my sin debt has been cancelled as if it never existed! And I now have many new brothers and sisters in Christ who love me and whom I can love. I now belong to God and His family forever.

Prayer: Father God, I praise You for planning my adoption into Your family through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for revealing how special I am to You – I brought You much pleasure when You chose to adopt me. And now I have all the rights and privileges that Your only Son possesses. Thank You that I now have a family that loves me for who I am, not for what I do or don’t do. I belong to You and all my brothers and sisters in Christ. This makes me so happy! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I am chosen by God

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Ephesians 1:4

The phrase “in Him” is used 120 times in the New Testament and refers to how God sees us in Christ. The Bible tells us that before the world was made (“before the foundation of the world”), God “chose us … that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephes. 1:4).

Many people in the world feel unwanted and unloved. I can remember dreading recess in elementary school when we would play baseball. We had two captains who would choose their teams. I wasn’t that good at baseball so I was one of the last to be chosen. That is such a yucky feeling to not be wanted whether it has to do with being on a sports team, in a circle of friends, or even in a marriage.

But God tells Christians that He has always wanted to be in a relationship with them. He planned His relationship with them before the world began. He selected us to be covered by Jesus’ “love” so that God sees us positionally as “holy and without blame before Him.” Therefore we do not need to seek to be wanted by others because we were wanted by the most important Person in the universe – our Creator God!

When couples get engaged, they often wait at least a year before they get married. Why? Because they want to have enough time to plan and prepare for such an important event. God’s relationship with us was so important to Him that He began planning it before the world was ever made.

Do you ever have doubts that you are important to God? Let God’s Word silence your doubts. You are so important to God that He began planning His relationship with you before the world was ever created.

Prayer: Father God, help me to see myself through Your eyes as extremely wanted and loved by You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. His love covers me so You see me as completely holy and without blame. Please help me to live out my position in Christ by living a holy and blameless life before Him. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Facing the storms in our lives

“9 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’” John 6:19-20

After Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people (John 6:1-14), He sent His disciples in a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (cf. Matthew 14:22). The disciples started rowing across the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum, but they stayed close to shore, because they were going to pick up Jesus along the way. But it was not working out that way. John tells us, “Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing” (6:18). A strong northwesterly wind began to blow, driving them farther and farther south, so much so, that they lost sight of shore and the possibility of picking up Jesus.

Matthew is very graphic in describing the storm (cf. Matthew 14:24). The storm was raging. The wind was against them. The waves were immense. The sea was engulfing their boat and threatening their lives. Although these fishermen had experienced storms before, their experience probably taught them that you don’t go out on the lake in this kind of weather!

Imagine how the disciples must have felt. Here they were trying to cross the sea just like Jesus told them to do, but the storm prevented them from fulfilling Christ’s command. They were exerting themselves to the max against the winds and the waves, yet they were unable to make any headway. They must have felt alone. After all, Jesus had sent them out here. Did He somehow forget all about them? Didn’t Jesus care about the fact that they could lose their lives in this storm? What was going on?

Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever wanted God to use you only to have your life become more difficult? You know what God wants you to do, but circumstances don’t allow you to do it? You try with all your might and strength to obey the Lord, but you can’t go where God wants you to go. You can’t do what God has told you to do. And you feel as though God has betrayed you. Like He has played some mean trick on you and set you up for failure. Why does this happen? Why do people who want to be used by God find themselves facing more problems? Problems too big to overcome in their own strength. Because God is trying to teach us about His plan. His plan cannot be carried out without His power. As long as we keep trying to do the will of God in our own strength, we will fail.

The disciples battled this raging storm through the long hours of the night. Mark says they were “straining at rowing” (Mark 6:48). By 3 a.m. they had rowed “about three or four miles” with about two miles to go (6:19a). Even though these men were exhausted, they faithfully kept trying to row across the Sea. And when they looked over their shoulders, they were “afraid” or literally they were “terrified” to see a ghostlike form walking on the water toward them (6:19b). These men were expecting to die, and they thought the angel of death was coming to take them. But this was no ghost. This was Jesus walking across those waves. And He was using those immense waves as pavement for His feet. The sea that had impeded the disciples’ movement, was no obstacle for Christ, and all that they feared brought no fear to Jesus.

Above the raging storm the disciples heard a familiar voice bring a word of comfort. “It is I; do not be afraid” (6:20).  When Jesus says, “It is I” He identifies Himself as “I AM” (cf. Exodus 3:13-14) in the Greet text (egō eimi). The verb translated “do not be afraid” (phobeisthe) is a present imperative and means “Stop being afraid.” What Jesus is saying is, “That which scares the living daylights out of you, this strange form walking across the stormy sea, doing what is absolutely impossible for men to do, that is Me – the Eternal God! And the very waves that are over your heads I already have under My feet. I am in control of these events, therefore there is no need for you to fear. Simply trust Me to take you where you could never take yourself.”

Jesus silences our fears with His Word. And there is tremendous power in the Word of God. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:6, 9). The same voice that spoke this universe into existence out of nothing, can also calm our fears in the midst of the storms of life. This same voice can give us the power to overcome problems that we could never overcome in our own strength.

Life is filled with fierce storms. Where do you turn when you just discover your son is a practicing homosexual… your mate is talking separation or divorce… you’ve lost your job and it’s your own fault… your parent is an alcoholic… your spouse is having an affair… you flunk your entrance exam or you messed up the interview… your faith is persecuted? Where are you going to turn when the storms of life batter your soul? The disciples turned to Jesus.

“Then they willingly received Him into the boat” (6:21a). Recognizing His voice, the disciples want to receive Christ aboard their boat. Zane Hodges points out that the New King James inaccurately translates the Greek phrase as “They were willing to receive Him into the boat.” Instead he notes that it literally means, “They wanted to receive Him into the boat.” The moment the disciples recognize Jesus, based on His word, they want to receive Him into their boat.

Then a second miracle took place. “And immediately the boat was at the land where they were going” (6:21b). The moment the disciples wanted Jesus in their boat, “immediately” the boat was at the land to which they were going. Nothing is said about Jesus stepping onto the boat. Matthew says the wind stopped (Matthew 14:32). There was peace on that lake and in the disciples’ hearts. The boat traveled the two remaining miles in an instant as Christ brought them safely to their destination.

There is a message here for non-Christians. Like the disciples, many people work hard to get to their final destination. They think that getting to heaven is based upon their own efforts and works. Like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, they are not willing to come to Jesus to have life (cf. John 5:39-40). If they were willing to believe, they would recognize who Jesus was (the Christ) and then, immediately, they would have been safe in His family forever (John 1:12; 6:37)! Their destiny would have been assured by none other than Jesus Himself. In the discourse to follow (6:22-58), Jesus will not only stress His eternal sufficiency as the Bread of Life, but He will also emphasize the believer’s absolute certainty of reaching a safe destination. Jesus will “raise him up at the last day” (6:40).

There is also a message here for Christians. Some of us may face some very frightening circumstances in our lives in the months ahead. Disease, disappointment, death, an accident, desertion or divorce, loss of religious freedom, or even persecution may take their terrible toll on our lives. We may all find ourselves in a sea of trouble like these disciples. But what Jesus is saying to the disciples (and to us) is, “That which frightens you, that very thing which scares you, is Me. I am coming to you in and through that circumstance, so you don’t need to be afraid. I am in charge of it. I have chosen it for you, therefore you do not need to be afraid. Simply trust Me to do through you what you could never do on your own; and if you do that, you will experience My peace.”

Whatever storm you are facing, are you willing to permit Jesus to come to you in that storm? Are you willing to ask Him, “Lord Jesus, what do You want to say to me in this storm?” His answer may surprise you and it can calm the raging storm inside of you.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You promise that I will face storms or tribulation in this world (John 16:33). I may face tremendous toil and trouble, heartbreak and heartache, and yet in the midst of it, Lord, You have promised to be there, and You can come through the darkest night and over the most troubled waters into the boat of my life. May the eyes of my faith be fixed upon You, Lord. Instead of trying, may I start trusting in the One who is in charge of the storm. Help me to be still so I can hear Your voice say to me, “It is I; Do not be afraid.” You are in control of my past, present, and future. Thank You for calming my fears and replacing my storm-tossed feelings with Your powerful presence. Your voice is enough to calm my storms. You, my Lord, are more than enough. In Jesus’ name. Amen.