"With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Ephesians 1:8b-10
We had an interesting discussion a few weeks ago in our small group Bible study regarding the events recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a., the Old Testament), and whether or not we ought to view them from a prophetic perspective. Obviously, some of the Hebrew Scriptures are prophetic in nature. Isaiah comes to mind, as well as Daniel - all of the "prophetic" books, in fact. But we were studying Genesis, and the story of Noah and the flood and the ark and all of that messiness.
Some of us in the group suggested that there are profound prophetic meanings behind the whole story; the ark representing Jesus, while Noah and his family represent the church, as an example of one way of looking at it, and that the entire reason God chose to do things the way he did and then see to it that Moses included that story in the scriptures was to point the way to Christ. Others in the group insisted that we shouldn't try to apply things we know now to things that happened back then, and the proper way to study these stories is to take them at face value and try to learn the lessons that God intended for those who lived through it at the time.
So which is it? Lessons learned or prophetic messages? I know the answer. The answer is both.
But one of our fellow small groupians asked me this question after I made the point of saying that I believed that the ark was a "type" of Christ. He asked me, "But did Noah think that?" Well, no, I don't think Noah thought of the ark as pointing to Christ and his church. Maybe, I guess, but probably not. But this is my whole point regarding today's scripture.
Things like Christ and his church, the grace of God lavished on us through his (only begotten) son, the redemption of the entire world through faith in Jesus; these are all mysteries that were unknown to people in Old Testament times. Oh, I think that they understood that a savior was coming, but they had no idea how it was going to all work out. It was a mystery, the mystery of God's will, the plan that he had before the foundations of the earth, the mystery that he made known to us in Christ "in all wisdom and insight."
So no, I don't believe that Noah really understood that the ark he was building might represent the grace of God that will carry those who enter in by faith through to life after death. It was a mystery that was yet to be revealed. But now God has made known the mystery of his will to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
I mean, do you ever why God does things the way he does? I mean, if God could create the universe, if he could make it rain and flood so much that the waters covered the entire world, you'd think he could have saved old Noah without that big boat. But no, God had a reason for doing things the way he did, and I believe it was to help us see how he redeems those in whom he finds favor, a.k.a., gives grace. (Uh, that would be us.) We have to get into the boat!
And why did he do all of this? What is the purpose of his plan? Well it says why right there! "To bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." God had a plan from the very beginning, and that was to provide a way through the flood, a way to reconcile us to himself through Jesus Christ, so that he can claim us as his adoptive family in Christ. It was a mystery that is now revealed in Jesus, is continually being revealed until the day of Christ, revealed in us and to us according to God's good pleasure, which to me means that he planned it this way because he wanted to do it this way, because he loves us and wants to prove that to us.
Father, thank you for the lessons you have taught us through the stories found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and thank you also for revealing the mysteries that lie underneath the stories, the mysteries that point to Christ and his church and your abundant love and overwhelming grace that you have lavished on us in Christ Jesus. Thank you for a way through the flood and thank you for allowing me to get in the boat and then shutting the door behind me.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
lavished
"...to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us." Ephesians 1:6-8a
Back when I was a wee tot and up until my teenage years, my family would gather with my grandmother, my aunt and uncle, all my cousins, and other a few other miscellaneous shirttail relations to celebrate Thanksgiving Day every year, usually at my aunt Helen's house. (Almost everyone I know who is close to my age has had an aunt Helen. Do you? I think maybe it's the law.) We would, of course, consume turkey and dressing, and there would always be mashed potatoes.
Mashed potatoes AND dressing! Did we really need both?? Do we now? Yes, I believe we do.
But one thing I always remember about those dinners, and indeed many of my Thanksgiving dinners even to this day, is the gravy. I would (and still do) enjoy ladling that rich, thick, light brown turkey gravy over the potatoes, dressing, turkey, any adjacent vegetables, and sometimes even the jello salad, although not on purpose. So, whenever I read the word "lavished" I think of that rich gravy at Thanksgiving dinner. I lavished the gravy on my plate, just as God, according to this verse, lavished His grace on us. He poured it out, covering us under a rich coat of thick, Godly grace. Without our covering of Godly Gravy, we were quite unpalatable to God, but once he has ladled a heaping helping of gooey gravy over us, once he has lavished us with His rich grace, His mouth waters for us.
Uh, I think I'd better let that analogy end there before I have God consuming us, which doesn't sound quite right - it's only an analogy, people! On the other hand, there's that passage from Revelation 3 where Jesus tells the church of Laodicea that he's going to spit them out of his mouth because they're lukewarm, the assumption being that if they were nice an hot, He would go ahead and eat them, which in that context seems like a good thing. So I don't know about that, but I do like the idea of his mouth watering when he sees us covered with His rich grace gravy!
Here's something I notice about this verse. It begins by saying that he adopted us as sons (according to the previous verse) "to the praise of the glory of His grace," and then says that we have redemption according to the riches of His grace. Glory of His grace...riches of His grace. Makes me wonder why Paul chose to make that distinction. Is there a difference? Is it simply literary license? I took a look at all the popular translations and they all seem to use the words "glory" and "riches" in one form or another in these verses, so evidently it isn't just a quirk of the NASB.
I suppose that the "glory of His grace" is something we witness when we see it at work. In other words, when we witness God's incredible grace at work in the world, bringing the world back to Him and working to restore all things through Christ, and how His grace works through His people to accomplish His will in the world, we're witnessing the glory of His grace. The "riches of His grace" is something that we experience when it's working in our own lives, when he lavishes his grace on us.
We can enjoy the glory of a nice turkey gravy, steaming hot in the gravy boat in the middle of the Thanksgiving dinner table, its aroma filling the air with spicy goodness, and we can even appreciate how good it looks poured out on someone else's plate. But in order to enjoy the richness of that gravy for ourselves, we have to ladle it over our own potatoes and take a good healthy bite, savoring the richness in our own mouths, our own bodies.
In the same way, we can appreciate the glory of God's grace when we see it at work, but in order to truly experience the riches of His grace for ourselves, we have to allow him to lavish it over us, covering us with it while it's piping hot, making us palatable to God, His mouth watering for us so that he doesn't have to spew us out, but that He'll savor us, enjoying us, longing for more of us, loving us through the covering of the blood of Christ, God's holy gravy.
Father, cover me daily with the rich, glorious gravy of your grace through Christ Jesus. Help me to always experience the riches of your grace and to appreciate the glory of your grace at work in this world. Help me to allow you to work your grace through my life for your sake, for your glory, to the riches of the glory of your grace. You might need a napkin.
Back when I was a wee tot and up until my teenage years, my family would gather with my grandmother, my aunt and uncle, all my cousins, and other a few other miscellaneous shirttail relations to celebrate Thanksgiving Day every year, usually at my aunt Helen's house. (Almost everyone I know who is close to my age has had an aunt Helen. Do you? I think maybe it's the law.) We would, of course, consume turkey and dressing, and there would always be mashed potatoes.
Mashed potatoes AND dressing! Did we really need both?? Do we now? Yes, I believe we do.
But one thing I always remember about those dinners, and indeed many of my Thanksgiving dinners even to this day, is the gravy. I would (and still do) enjoy ladling that rich, thick, light brown turkey gravy over the potatoes, dressing, turkey, any adjacent vegetables, and sometimes even the jello salad, although not on purpose. So, whenever I read the word "lavished" I think of that rich gravy at Thanksgiving dinner. I lavished the gravy on my plate, just as God, according to this verse, lavished His grace on us. He poured it out, covering us under a rich coat of thick, Godly grace. Without our covering of Godly Gravy, we were quite unpalatable to God, but once he has ladled a heaping helping of gooey gravy over us, once he has lavished us with His rich grace, His mouth waters for us.
Uh, I think I'd better let that analogy end there before I have God consuming us, which doesn't sound quite right - it's only an analogy, people! On the other hand, there's that passage from Revelation 3 where Jesus tells the church of Laodicea that he's going to spit them out of his mouth because they're lukewarm, the assumption being that if they were nice an hot, He would go ahead and eat them, which in that context seems like a good thing. So I don't know about that, but I do like the idea of his mouth watering when he sees us covered with His rich grace gravy!
Here's something I notice about this verse. It begins by saying that he adopted us as sons (according to the previous verse) "to the praise of the glory of His grace," and then says that we have redemption according to the riches of His grace. Glory of His grace...riches of His grace. Makes me wonder why Paul chose to make that distinction. Is there a difference? Is it simply literary license? I took a look at all the popular translations and they all seem to use the words "glory" and "riches" in one form or another in these verses, so evidently it isn't just a quirk of the NASB.
I suppose that the "glory of His grace" is something we witness when we see it at work. In other words, when we witness God's incredible grace at work in the world, bringing the world back to Him and working to restore all things through Christ, and how His grace works through His people to accomplish His will in the world, we're witnessing the glory of His grace. The "riches of His grace" is something that we experience when it's working in our own lives, when he lavishes his grace on us.
We can enjoy the glory of a nice turkey gravy, steaming hot in the gravy boat in the middle of the Thanksgiving dinner table, its aroma filling the air with spicy goodness, and we can even appreciate how good it looks poured out on someone else's plate. But in order to enjoy the richness of that gravy for ourselves, we have to ladle it over our own potatoes and take a good healthy bite, savoring the richness in our own mouths, our own bodies.
In the same way, we can appreciate the glory of God's grace when we see it at work, but in order to truly experience the riches of His grace for ourselves, we have to allow him to lavish it over us, covering us with it while it's piping hot, making us palatable to God, His mouth watering for us so that he doesn't have to spew us out, but that He'll savor us, enjoying us, longing for more of us, loving us through the covering of the blood of Christ, God's holy gravy.
Father, cover me daily with the rich, glorious gravy of your grace through Christ Jesus. Help me to always experience the riches of your grace and to appreciate the glory of your grace at work in this world. Help me to allow you to work your grace through my life for your sake, for your glory, to the riches of the glory of your grace. You might need a napkin.
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