“I Believe – Salvation”

Scripture: Isaiah 52:7-10; Acts 4:7-12; Romans 1:16-17

"For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human."

As much as people may say and surmise about Jesus’ coming to earth, his sole and divine purpose was to prepare the way for your and my salvation. There were, of course, many aspects to that preparation – his teaching about the truth of God’s way, his teaching of what scripture had really been telling us about life, to bring healing for our physical ailments and even raising some from death, offering his example of what a Godly life was all about, accepting suffering, lies and humiliation without seeking retribution, and taking our sin into his sinless life and destroying it at Calvary. And when he was laid to rest in a tomb, even that would became part of our preparation for eternity – that the ways and lies of this world don’t have to be the final word on our life, just as death could never be the last word for him - all because trust and faith in God will overcome everything of earth.

Sin has broken our relationship with God, and yet, by the grace of Jesus Christ, he has not only repaired our brokenness, but has reunited humanity with our Almighty God. The prophets had proclaimed the truth of this way, and had encouraged Israel to prepare their lives to receive Messiah. But for them, Messiah was supposed be powerful, royal, authoritative, revered, a warrior king, a savior for the people, and they would be sorely disappointed with Jesus.

They were waiting for Messiah’s day with false expectations!

Read Isaiah 52:7-10

Messiah would restore holiness and glory to the nation, and their enemies would not only bow down to them, but they would get a taste of their own oppressive nature. And the promise of that redemption, the good news of the Lord, will be shouted from the mountaintops, and will be heard throughout all the nations.

And this good news? How good is it? It is a promise of peace for the nation, a heavenly greeting to the people, and a declaration of salvation for all who will be faithful to the God of Zion. And in Isaiah 40:1-2, we discover two more attributes of the Savior – that his gifts will include comfort and tenderness – neither of which seem to fit the “warrior motif” of Israel’s expectation of Messiah. But as that passage continues, the people are told that they need to prepare for the Lord’s coming, that their current existence is inadequate as a welcome for God. (Isaiah 40:3-5) But ready or not, the presence of the Lord will arrive, and those who haven’t taken the prophet’s words seriously, will know the fullness of sorrow and despair. (Matthew 25:1-13)

So when the messenger proclaims “Prepare”, we need to listen, for the significance of the call is that great joy is on its way, that redemption will become a reality, that there will be no one who will miss this incredible event, but that only those who prepare will be able to truly rejoice.

Read Acts 4:7-12

In the previous chapter, Peter and John are sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with a crowd at the temple, and while they are doing that, they encounter a crippled beggar. The man was seeking alms, but instead, the disciples offered something that was even better – healing in the name of Jesus. (Acts 3:1-10) And this, along with their sharing of the good news of Jesus, brought about their arrest and subsequent questioning before the high priest.

And the first question that is directed toward the two is, essentially, “By what authority do you have the right to be feeding folks this ‘dribble’?” The Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, was made up of the elite of Israel’s society – priests, elders, and the most highly educated men of the nation – all of whom should have known Isaiah’s call to faithfulness, but they neither knew, nor had prepared to know, Messiah! And the proof is that they also didn’t know the authority who had been the power behind the crippled man’s healing!

And Peter and John hold nothing back in responding to the accusation – the power and authority that was working in and through them is none other than the power of God, none other than the authority of Jesus Christ. And they make the connection between the physical healing that had occurred, and the salvation that even Isaiah spoke of, and these are both received through faith in the Son of God.

Peter and John, two common fishermen who had been called by Jesus to learn the ways of faith, were standing before the intellectual elite of Israel, who, by the way, had the power to charge them with blasphemy. But secular authority has never had anywhere near the wisdom, or vision, or ability of God, but for some reason, they never give up trying to convince us that they do.

And the disciples cut right to the core of the issue – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” The Holy Spirit was working in mighty ways through Peter, when he tells the learned men that even though they tried to end the message that Jesus was bringing to the world, God raised him out of earth’s tomb and into heaven’s glorious life. And by the power of the Spirit, Peter never hesitated to share the full truth of Christ with those who had yet to know him for who he is.

Isaiah’s message regarding Messiah was ignored by most of Israel. The witness of Peter and John was as foreign and strange to the Sanhedrin as the prophets’ had been to the people. And yet, all of the naysayers, and all of the doubters, and all of the deniers of God’s promise have never been able to bring an end to the message of Christ-given life.

Read Romans 1:16-17

Isaiah believed in the prophecy that he shared with the people of earth, and he never hesitated to proclaim it loudly.
Peter and John believed in the testimony that they lived out so powerfully, and there was nothing that could get in the way of their ministry.
And Paul – who had been one of the most dedicated persecutors of the church – had come to know the grace and truth of Christ, too.

And as each of these Godly men accepted the Lord’s call, as each one allowed divine truth to work through their lives, as each let the Spirit of God teach them and change them from who they had once been, into the men who the Lord wanted them to be, and as God led them to places that they would never have chosen on their own, they became powerful believers who were totally committed to the truth of the Anointed One of God.

And they would never be reluctant to follow the Lord, and would never be ashamed of the message they had been called to share with the people of earth. The routine lives that they once had lived were now lives that stood in stark contrast to the world’s standards. And why weren’t they worried about how secular authority might react to the message that each of them was bringing to light?

Because they were walking in the light of their Almighty God, and that meant that righteous power and divine authority rested on them. The good news of Jesus Christ is eternal, and whether it was being spoken through Isaiah’s voice in the 7th century BC, or the voices of Peter, John or Paul in the 1st century AD, or the voices of the church of today – the truth of God is still the truth for each and every person on the face of the earth. And whoever will leave the world behind, and follow the Way of the Lord, will have the power and authority of God at their disposal, and will know the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Each of us is being called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who are still mired in the darkness of this place, and we have been given the opportunity to introduce them to the hope and life and salvation that comes simply through faith in our Savior.

Now that is something to not only believe in, but to grasp with our entire life!

"I Believe - God from God"

Scripture: John 8:12-20

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father

Jesus never missed an opportunity to teach. The previous 11 verses are John’s account of Jesus teaching lessons to both the Pharisees and the woman who was caught in adultery. The teachers of the law learned that trapping Jesus with their brand of law wasn’t so easy, and the woman learned that Jesus wasn’t the voice of condemnation like the Pharisees were – she discovered that he was the God of truth and forgiveness!

And his lessons were always a surprise. The expected answer was supposed to be in line with the Law of Moses, but God’s answers were always offered in the light of eternal truth. And the two almost never coincided.

Read John 8:12

This is the second of Jesus’ 7 “I am” sayings – “I AM the Light of the world”. Since the first Day of Creation, God’s Light has played a vital function for the people of earth. Just as on that First Day, this isn’t the kind of light that we see with our eyes – it is the Light that reveals God’s truth for our lives! That First Light would be the Lord’s Glory and not the sun (that would be the 4th Day! (Genesis 1:14-19), and it firmly established the difference between God’s presence and the darkness that would constantly surround his truth, and that darkness would soon begin to grow within the hearts of the people.

His glory is all about a divine desire for our lives – the Lord’s gift, his way, his revealing of the spiritual gloom that we encounter every day. Darkness – the absence of glory, the absence of Godly truth, the absence of God’s gifts – has been pushed back, and Genesis 1:3 tells us that the Lord separated the Light from the darkness – his Truth from the lies of earth – and they can never be blended together.

And our verse for today reminds us that Jesus not only brings God’s Light to our lives, but he IS God’s Light. Everything that Jesus has ever taught, everything that Jesus has ever done, everything that Jesus has ever promised for those who believe, is Godly truth, and it will never fail to bring illumination and revelation to our questioning, to our seeking hearts.

Read John 8:13-18

In Jewish Law, a person could never testify on their own behalf. In John 5:32-42, Jesus tells the Pharisees that there are two others who testify to his truth – John the Baptist, and the Father by his inspiration and by the scriptures. But even though the teachers of the Law study the written word extensively, and know what the prophets have told them, they still hold back when it comes to accepting Christ’s corrective teaching for themselves.

And while Jesus’ teaching is absolutely valid all by itself, and reveals all divine truth regarding him, there had been many testimonies by the prophets. Isaiah 9:6-7 spoke of the Christ’s glory and authority. Isaiah 7:13-17 offered the nation signs of Messiah’s coming. Deuteronomy 18:14-19 speaks of the Prophet’s authority, and the consequences for anyone who does not listen to him. Psalm 22:6-7 proclaim the rejection of Messiah, and verses 16-18 outline Christ’s crucifixion. And the testimonies continue in many instances throughout the Old Testament, and beginning with the Baptist, affirmations of just who Jesus is continue to this day – after all, isn’t that the responsibility of the Church, to continue to testify to the truth of Jesus Christ? And the world still hesitates to believe all that has been said, and all that has come to be, as proof.

But when it comes right down to every word regarding God, the words we receive from Jesus are the only ones that can truly be believed and trusted – after all, he is the only one who has ever seen the Father. So when he says that he came from the Father, and that Father has given him every word to share with us, and that he is God’s Light, and that he is divine Truth for the people of earth, he is to be trusted completely.

Over and over, the Lord affirms the fact that God’s way, and earth’s ways, are totally different, and he cites the judgment that the Pharisees offer. They judge others routinely, while the Lord judges no one. In John 3:17, we read that Christ came without any condemnation for sinners – his only purpose was to save. And when he does judge, it is upon the things we do, and not us per se. The truth is that the testimony that is offered simply through the things we do and say has been sufficient to render us all guilty! And the Pharisees, by their refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah, have sealed their own guilt.

One day there will be a judgment on us, and isn’t it interesting that our lives will be the very ones who will testify against us? Without Jesus, our lives will proclaim us guilty, but with Jesus, we will be found to be forgiven and innocent. We won’t need to say a single word, and the Accuser – Satan himself – will try to make our hearing difficult, but the Judge will shut him down! Our sin will become a thing of the past, and our joy will be made complete when heavenly Authority orders that we be clothed in glory. (Zechariah 3:1-9)

Read John 8:19-20

And by their question, they reveal the fact that they don’t really know the Father, and that is also the proof that they don’t know Jesus. The problem is that in our limited intellect, we don’t have the capacity to understand, or even recognize God at work in our lives. We are beings of flesh, while God is a Being of Spirit, and as Isaiah 55:8-9 testifies, we receive confirmation that, indeed, we can’t imagine why or who or how God is by our own means.

God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God. We have a Savior who did everything necessary to ensure that we can live in eternity with him. And while that is of vital interest to each of us, he didn’t let that be the final word for our life in him. He came to fulfill the law, to make it complete and truthful, to help us understand which commandments were his, and which came from Moses and his followers (Matthew 5:17); to make us worthy of his grace and glory (Matthew 26:26-28; Acts 5:41); and to make our Almighty God known to each of us.

Throughout the Old Testament, God is made apparent to the children of Israel, but never in a way that he could be recognized again. He was in the pillars of cloud and fire that led the people through the wilderness for 40 years (Exodus 13:21-22). Moses was given a brief and limited view of God (Exodus 33:17-23), but only of the Lord’s back. So Jesus came as a flesh and blood human, so that we could see him, and so we could come to know him, and by knowing him, we could know, and recognize, God and his way.

And why might this be important for us? It’s all about the relationship. Our God is a personal Lord – from the moment of his creation of humanity, God was personal with his created. He breathed life into us (Genesis 2:7), and he walked through the Garden looking for the man and woman. (Genesis 3:8-9) And why would the Lord go to such great lengths to make himself known to us, if he didn’t want a personal relationship with us?

The Light of the world, the Revealer of all that is true, wants us to know him intimately, and in the relationship that he has created, we will know the love that defines God in nature, in power, in creation, and in promise. This is why Nicodemus was told that he needed to be born again in Christ – and that is why we do, too. Our relationship with the darkness of this world can only be broken when we accept the newness that Jesus offers us on behalf of our Almighty and Triune God.

Rejoice that God is God, that he is ours, and that, but faith in Christ, we are his. And if Jesus wasn’t God, how could any of this be true?

"I Believe - Suffered, Crucified, and Living"

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

"For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end."

Until now, our creed has been one of praise and glory raised up to our Almighty God. We proclaim his power and majesty. We remember that he is the Creator of all things, whether we understand what that is all about, or not. We rejoice in Christ’s eternal existence, his being God from God, Light from Light, God incarnate, our Salvation.

But now, the words change from celebrating the Lord’s majesty, wonder and awe, into ones of suffering, and rejection, and death! For ages, civilizations have known of godly visits to earth, so Christ’s coming isn’t all that difficult to imagine. But gods, in general, only experience opposition from other gods, and because of the perceived power that they possess, they never have to worry about challenges from humanity.

But Jesus – he was different than all the others. He didn’t just come to earth in the guise of a human – he came as a human. The gods of earth were proven to be nothing by his presence, but there was one other – a dark one - who would try to depose him. But since he wasn’t able to make any headway against Jesus, he began to work through the humans who came into his life.
What kind of God could be tormented by humans? Where was the demonstration of his power? Why didn’t he end it, once and for all, right then and there? This has been the question that people have asked for centuries, and only a few would ever be satisfied with the answers.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Paul wasn’t making these questions up – they were the ones he was hearing every day of his ministry. Israel knew the stories surrounding the Lord’s teaching, healings, and suffering, and over time, the gentiles began to hear them, too. And they understood very well the dichotomy surrounding the hatred and distrust that had been shown to Jesus. Was he truly a God or not? And if he was, why didn’t he do something about the animosity that was directed toward him? And if he can’t, why should they even consider following his way?

The answers were fairly simple – hatred had been directed at Jesus because he had been overturning Jewish religious traditions, some of which had stood for over a thousand years. But the traditions had been leading the people away from their great Jehovah, not closer, and the Lord came to restore truth to faith. All of the authority and respect that the religious leaders had in those days, and in ours for some, was based in the laws of secular faith that they had so rigorously developed and zealously protected through the years. And they felt betrayed by Jesus.

And that “dark opposer” worked within their arrogance and pride and fear, and they, too, began to take a stand against the Truth and Light and Promise of God. But their hatred, and their scheming, only paved the way for Christ’s mission of ultimate sacrifice on behalf of all people. The plan of earthly authority, to take the life of Jesus to achieve their own goals of self-preservation, could never prevail against heavenly authority, but the plan of God, to give the life of Jesus to gain the divine goal of salvation for the people of earth, could only succeed, and only in glorious ways.

The darkness of Death can never win when we allow God to be at work in our lives.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Death is one of those false “gods” who can never defeat the Life that comes through our true God. While earthly authority believed that they could use Christ’s death to secure their purpose and position, preserving earthly ways has never been in the divine plan.

But since death came through the sins of humanity, the healing must also come through human penalty and sacrifice. But since earthly sacrifice could never be a permanent solution to earthly sin, God came, as a man, to become the eternal solution to our death. And Jesus would be the first to know the glory of resurrection from finality into eternity. And not only is death conquered, but all who oppose the salvation of God will also discover how limited and ineffective, and personally destructive, their “god of self” truly is.

But until the day of eternity appears, until the day of Christ’s return to earth, hatred and persecution and disbelief and false teaching, and yes, death, will still try to come against Christ’s new life, but their failure has already been assured.

This is the hope of Christ. It is ours by faith in Jesus Christ; it is ours through our receiving redeeming grace – the Godly gift that comes to us in his sacrificial blood; it is ours by trusting in his word and way. And in the receiving of his salvation, we are also called to share his hope with those who have yet to know the truth of Jesus for themselves.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:29-34

And then there’s that issue of the resurrection. Doubters still hesitate to believe – after all, it doesn’t make much sense in an earthly and human context. It contradicts all physical laws of science, and so far, only one person has ever experienced this all-perfecting of life and the overturning of death. And admittedly, without faith in God, believing is quite a stretch!

But without a bodily resurrection, first for Jesus, and one day for all who call him Lord, how can any of the rest of Christ’s promises be valid? Without resurrection, our creed must end in death – “he suffered death and was buried.” Period. No glory, no hope, no heaven, no judgment, no Holy Spirit, no forgiveness, no Church, no Life – basically, we are left with a worthless faith - without resurrection, Christ is nothing more than a charlatan!

If we believe anything about Christ’s mission and teaching and salvation for earth, we have to believe totally. A partial faith is no faith; a limited faith is a hollow faith; a faith that has an ending is a useless faith and does nothing for us.

The Church exists because of the hope and promise of resurrection. The resurrection occurred because of the faithful service of Jesus. And Christ’s incarnation to the flesh came about through a merger of God’s eternal plan and the faithful acceptance of a human couple who weren’t even married – yet! And our salvation exists simply because we believe and rejoice in all that Jesus did and taught and won for us.

So what are we, the Church, supposed to do about the death that can be overturned by faith? First, we believe in it and rejoice in it and worship in it and be the Church in it, and second, we share its glory with others so that they, too, can become part of Christ’s holy Church, and when they come seeking answers to those questions that have existed for centuries, and continue to burden our human brothers and sisters, we look to the Holy Spirit to give us the fullness of Christ’s truth.

And the Holy Spirit? What about him? Next week!

"I Believe - Fully God, Fully Man"

Scripture: John 1:14-19

The question that has haunted humanity throughout the centuries is this – just who is this Jesus? And quite honestly, there are many today who continue to search for the same answer. So who is Jesus?

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.

Nicene Creed

It would seem that there is a lot more about Jesus than what makes sense to most folks. People tend to want things straight forward, concise, and clear. Jesus is anything but that! The Nicene Creed emphasizes that fact that Jesus is Lord and God, but John’s gospel stresses an additional truth, that while Jesus is God, He is also a real live human in the flesh. And we read that He is the Son of both.

Read John 1:14

Sonship implies more than just a presence. Jesus has more than a connection to both heaven and earth – He has a relationship with both, and in that, all of the beings, throughout heaven and earth, also have a relationship with Him. And the opening verse of our passage for today gives us a hint to the importance of this truth – “The Word became flesh”. This process is known as “Incarnation”, and Merriam-Webster tells us that this is “the union of divinity with humanity”. In Jesus’ incarnation, He has become the uniting of God with humanity. And when we add the thought that Jesus is the Word of God, we realize that He is not only God and Man for us, but He is the Truth and Promise and Love and Message of God for every single person of earth.

Jesus brings the full truth of God for our lives, not only as a divine Being, but as a human Being. We are to relate to Him, we are to identify with Him, we are to be comfortable with Him, we need to know that we can talk with Him. We have been told that the Lord left glory behind so He could come to earth for our redemption. But John reminds us that not only did He come so that the people of earth could see Him, but that we might also see and experience His glory!

He didn’t come as a glorified One, but as One of us. He didn’t come to reign over us, but to live as One of us. He didn’t come to shame us, but to bless us, and love us, and teach us, and to make a way for us to shed the condemnation for our sinfulness. Jesus submitted Himself to our needs.

And the grace of Christ? It is revealed to all by faith, through His loving kindness, by His forgiving nature, by the mercy He has shown to us, by the gift of salvation that He completed at Calvary. This wasn’t God’s “Plan B”, prepared in the event that humanity failed to learn initially – it was God at work, on our behalf, from before time began. Grace is given that we might grow within the image of God that came to us at creation. Grace is given that we might become more like our Glorious God.

Jesus, in His humanity, reveals the fullness of our Loving and Almighty God.

Read John 1:15-19

John’s gospel reminds us that even while both Jesus and John the Baptist were still in their mothers’ wombs, Jesus was known to the Baptist. (Luke 1:39-45) John’s testimony is that Jesus is eternal. And even though the Lord would be born into this world after John was, he had existed far before John did, and this is one indication that the greatness of Christ exceeded anything or anyone he had ever known.
It makes you wonder, though, why people today are so reluctant and hesitant to know the Lord for themselves! If an unborn child can recognize and accept the Lord of salvation, why can’t we? I guess that will have to remain a mystery until the day Christ returns!

As John continues in his proclamation of Jesus, he relates the Law of Moses to the first grace that came to us from God, but that the arrival of Jesus would clarify and refine all that the Law had taught us. “Grace upon grace”, if you will, and that which Jesus brings exceeds that which Moses received. For Israel, salvation had always rested in the Law and how well they followed it, but with Christ’s arrival, following the Law as a means to eternal life became obsolete, and is fulfilled by the truth of the Law of God – the intention of Moses’ call to climb Mount Sinai. The Creed tells us that Jesus came down from heaven to fulfill God’s Law, and to be our salvation and the only way to eternity.

And now we can know God by knowing Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus brings a relationship, not only in Himself, but with the Almighty in total. God from God. Light from Light. True God from true God. One Being with the Father – not separate, not different, not individual, but One together. Now we know, and now we can have a relationship unlike any other.

And in that relationship, we can ask anything of Jesus, and it will be ours.

John 14:8-14 – Jesus and the Father are one, and in that oneness, and when we become one with them, we are enabled to do all that is required of us. And whatever we ask for in the precious name of Jesus, it will be given.

John 15:15-16 – By faith in Christ, we learn all that we need to know about God and what we are called to be and do. And in that, we can bear eternal fruit for the glory of the Almighty.

And in our belief and trust in the one “true God from true God”, we come to the Lord today to seek His blessing of healing. Whatever we ask for in the glorious name of Jesus, will be given.

(At this point in our service, we held a healing service for all who are in need.)

"I Believe - Unity in Trinity"

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. The Nicene Creed

The creed, our statement of faith, begins with words of unity and power – One God, One Father, Almighty and the Source of all that there is. There are numerous faith expressions throughout the world, and even though many of them, but not all, express a faith in some type of god, Christians believe that there is only one. Of course, a god is, in the most basic of understandings, one who is followed and obeyed. With that definition, a god might be our job, our commitment to some worldly means, a human concept, or any of the other many false god’s of earth.

But the Christian faith believes and proclaims that none of these others have any authority, any power, any hold on us, any wisdom, any purpose or any other greatness, except for what we grant them. But our Almighty God is described as “omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent” – three interesting words that describe our God as 1) all powerful and invincible, 2) all knowing and all wise, and 3) present throughout time and in all places simultaneously. Other god’s are bound by the ways of earth, but our God is unbounded by anything we can imagine or contrive.

But one other important aspect of the God we worship is that all who call Him Lord are to be united together in their faithful allegiance to Him, just as He is united within Himself.

Read Ephesians 4:1-6

Christians are being called – not just encouraged, mind you, but called – to live a life that is worthy of the name “Christian’. It’s interesting to note that the term “call” is far more than just an invitation to the Christian way of life. It means that we now carry the name Christian, simply because of our faith in Jesus Christ, and that in accepting that name, we have the obligation to live our life as Jesus lived His. We don’t accept the way, we accept the Lord, and in that, we take on the obligation to follow Him. Now it’s true that none of us is able to live the Lord’s life perfectly, but we still must be committed to do our very best, and to strive to do better each and every day.

This life is laid out in verse 2 of our text where we read that it includes being “humble”, “gentle”, “patient”, “bearing” each other, or being fruitful with each other, and loving. And we aren’t to live these attributes in the way the people of earth do, but in the way that Jesus did. And that must be, first and foremost, demonstrated through our unity as the Church.

Paul tells us that this unity must be “of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. In Galatians 5:22-26 we read of the Fruit of the Spirit, and included as #3 in that list is “peace”. It means that even in our differences and disagreements, we are to maintain a sense of unity and harmony with others.

And Paul is very specific in his treatment of unity – he writes that unity must be all pervasive in our lives, and he offers quite a list to lend emphasis to his point.
One Lord – one redeemer, one savior, and we confess that there is no other.
One faith – not allegiance to the gods of earth, but the God who we know through Jesus Christ.
One baptism – dedication and commitment, and only to Christ.
One God and Father of all – one - not many, not our choice – the one and only God.
Over all, through all, in all – united in the only one who is.

Read Ephesians 4:7-10

So what is the purpose of Christ’s grace? It means that we receive as Jesus knows our needs and abilities to experience His grace. It isn’t by our desire, it isn’t by our deserving, it isn’t by our earning – it is by God’s will. We don’t receive more than we can handle or more than we can use – it is granted by God’s wisdom and love. Remember Jesus’ parable of the Talents? In Matthew 25:14-30, one servant received 5 talents to care for, one received 2, and the third 1 – not because the Lord was encouraging discrimination or favoritism, but because He knew what each was capable of handling. And the servant who received one talent refused to use it to grow more for his master, and he lost everything because of his rejection of “the call” and responsibility he had received. The Lord knows us that well, and expects that much from each of us.

The quotation regarding the Lord’s ascension and leading is from Psalm 68:18, and may be a reference to his leading captive Israel out of Egypt and into a higher and grander life. I think that Paul’s purpose for including this reference may be that, for us, he came down from heaven to be our salvation, just as He was the Rescuer for Israel. Again, all offered, all encompassing, in unity.

But how does this relate to the divine unity that is offered to each of us? Back in Genesis 1:26-30, we read that we were created in God’s own image – we are His children by creation. And any loving Father will always be looking out for the good of His offspring. We are one with Him, just as every human father is always related to his children, regardless of what either one may do to hurt, or even denounce, the other. God never breaks the covenantal relationship that has been set in place for us, and He never will – that is the power of heavenly love that came down for all.

Read Ephesians 4:11-13

Romans 12:4-8, and 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 both speak about spiritual gifts, but this Ephesians passage speaks about who receives those gifts and how they are to be used. This is the calling placed on all who receive God’s great gifts from above, and it speaks to the gifts that are referenced in verse 7. The point is that when we come to Christ in faith, we all receive Godly gifts, and each is to be used to further the kingdom, and not to further ourselves. This is to be our service to the Lord, which in and of itself, is our acknowledgement and contribution toward God’s unity. Regardless of whether we are Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, (Galatians 3:25-29), all who come to Christ by faith become one in Him, and receive divine gifts for service in His name.

Paul tells us that we grow with these gifts, and that is how we mature in faith. Faith can never be complacent, it can never be contented, it can never be completed, and we can never be satisfied that our faith and service is sufficient. He writes that God’s gifts are intended to prepare us for service in the name of Jesus, that it might bring about growth in the Body of Christ, that we might become more knowledgeable of Christ and His ways, that we, and the Body, might move toward true maturity as the Church.

Read Ephesians 4:14-16

We are being warned against living a less than mature faith. Paul wants us to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Rock that our faith is built upon, and that other teachings will never have that stability. False teachers lead us away from Christ’s truth, and Paul’s offer of earthly storms as an image of the world’s lies is right on. They can be misleading and distracting, just as the storm was for Peter when he attempted to walk to Jesus through his storm (Matthew 14:22-33).

The world’s call may seem to be Christ-like, but it is anything but. It’s the world’s neon that attracts us – it’s bright and colorful and even looks like God’s truth, but it is nothing more than a destructive and hateful way of life, and we lose a step in faith every time we listen to worldly lies.

Paul says that instead of listening and responding to the world’s ways, we should be speaking Christ’s truth as mature followers, growing stronger and more faithful and more enthused every time we do. And this is where the connection comes into play.

We usually think of God when we talk about the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. John Wesley even preached a sermon "On The Trinity", But there is another “trinity” that we need to be aware of – that which consists of God, the Church, and the world. When we surrender our life to Jesus Christ and the call that is placed on us, the relationship that the Lord has intended for us begins to produce spiritual fruit. The unity that comes to us by faith leads us to growing in that “bond of peace” that we read of earlier. And together with the Holy Spirit and the rest of the Church, we reach out into the world to share the Gospel message with all who will listen.
This is an important part of our relationship, and it is the only purpose of the Church – to encourage and support each other in spreading the gospel, through Godly unity, to all who have yet to believe! Each of us may be carrying the message to different people, and may be sharing it in unique ways, but the message itself must never change. That is a requirement of our Godly call – that it is Christ’s way that we proclaim, and not our own or someone else’s.

Do we truly believe in God? Do we follow His life and teaching? Do we understand that the only reason that we live together as the Church is because the Father is Father of all? Do we understand that in our oneness, and while we receive varied gifts from the Holy Spirit, we are to use them for a common purpose – that of our personal growth and faithful maturity, and from there, to be about building up the church for Jesus Christ?

We are an integral part of God’s Holy Plan, but do we truly live it?