9 Feb, 2020 – Berlin Immanuel Church concluded the study of Ephesians chapter 1 one this Sunday. The series ended with exalting Christ who is the center of God’s work of salvation. Knowing Christ is central to our experience of God’s love, grace and power. The more we know Him the richer and deeper our life will be since all that God gave us was given in Christ Jesus.
It is through Him that God fills everything in every way. The reality of God’s work in us and the history is displayed and anchored by the works of Christ who died for our sins and was raised from the dead to be seated at the right hand of God and become the head of the Church. The Father has given the Son a place of the greatest glory, honor, authority and power – Ephesians 1:21 – and placed all things under his feet – vs 22. He has done this for us, for the sake of the Church which is His body – vs 22. He died, so that our sinful nature may die with Him and He was raised so that we might be raised with Him as a new creation, filled with glory and honor – Ephesians 2:4-6.
We must be humbled and remember always what a great honor it is to be a Christian. We were raised with Christ and seated with Him who is at the right hand of God! We are the fruit of God’s work in Christ, who is restoring the men into His image. Although His Kingdom is not here fully yet and we live in a sinful world, and we ourselves are filled with weaknesses, we don’t become passive in doing good, we don’t become bitter, but live with hope. Hope that comes from knowing Christ. Because even though we do not yet see everything in subjection to the Lord, we are not yet enjoying the glory of the sons of God in this world, but we now see Christ who was raised already, who was exalted above all things, who had all things place under his feet already. And so we live now with hope that we have in Christ, in this world, knowing that all authority has already been given to Him and that He is always with us, because we were united with Him in His body, we continue to testify to God’s great love in Christ – Matthew 28:18-20.