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Life is Really All About Jesus Every once in a while I am reminded that life is really all about Jesus. I know that its something that I keep before me all the time, but every so often Jesus reminds me that I’ve let too much of me sneak into my plans and purposes for life and that I have to reset and remember that it’s not about me—it’s all about Jesus. This week we’re starting a study in the book of Ephesians. In this book Paul is writing to a group of people he cares about deeply to get them to understand God on a deeper level. Isn’t that where we are?!?! Wanting to understand the mysteries of God on a deeper level? He begins by outlining that life really is all about Jesus. Our salvation is a precious gift of God the Father that He facilitated through Jesus, our hope is in Jesus, all of our spiritual blessings flow from the acts that Jesus Christ did on the cross, our adoption into the family of God is through Jesus, and all victory that we have in the heavenly realms come through the power of Jesus’ blood. If that isn’t a list of things that should call us to say that life is all about Jesus, then I don't know what I can say to convince you of that fact. In verses 7-8 he says, “The riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and Understanding.” Yeah, I need to be reminded that God’s grace is lavished upon us as riches of God. Not just a little bit of God’s blessings, but riches. Paul also talks about how God has chosen us to be His children. God had planned, from the foundation of the world, that He would redeem all of his people through Jesus Christ. The sacrifice that Christ offered on the cross was the one and only way that we can have freedom from sin. The Old Testament is all about Jesus too. Those who wanted to be right in God’s eyes were acting out of an obedience that was flowing from a relationship with Christ in the future. That future trust and hope in Christ came to its fullness after He died, rose, and opened the gates of Heaven. Now I’m not going to get into a debate about predestination vs. free will here. Both are clearly taught in Scripture: that God chooses us and that we choose God, so we’re not going to be able to solve an age-old quandary with a blog post. The important point to focus on is not whether or not God has predestined us or we choose God, but that we are counted among His children. What matters is that our name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Is He calling to you or are looking at Him as a choice that you need to choose? Either way, respond to Him and you will find life everlasting. Reject Him and you will be separated from Him for eternity. I join Paul in saying to you, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you make know him better.” Knowing about God isn’t enough. Knowing God is the goal. Only a few could personally know God the Father in the Old Testament, only a handful could know Jesus personally while He walked on the face of the earth, but each of us can know the Holy Spirit in a personal, intimate way because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Any of us who know about God without knowing Him through an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit are missing out on realizing our true purpose. God created us to know Him intimately. God created us to dwell in His presence here on earth and for all eternity. Anything else is settling for a life that we can manufacture, and that life is going to leave us wanting something more. - PJ |
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James E. Bogoniewski, Jr. |