12 Jan, 2020 – Berlin Immanuel Church continued in the series on Ephesians in chapter 1 verses 18-19. The danger for a believer is forgetting the importance of God’s calling and the hope of his kingdom. Paul’s prayer might seem disconnected from our daily lives, from the issues of this world.
Talking about the Kingdom of God might seem not really relevant, and we would rather hear of the things we can do to bring change in our life and the society. If we feel that the apostle is simply repeating things he already said before and we can just skip over these, we should check our hearts and correct our attitude. If the promise of God doesn’t come to us as relevant and in fact the most urgent and important thing we should be looking at, then perhaps we are like the disciples in Mark 8 who need to be rebuked for having eyes, but failing to see, having ears and failing to hear because our hearts are hardened to the riches of the glory of God’s Kingdom. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 rebukes the believers who live in ignorance of what God is doing, who live believing in God but live as if there was no resurrection, no inheritance of the saints, no power of God toward those who believe. The Christian faith is not blind, it is not ignorant. The Christian faith is of the knowledge, of seeking, knocking and asking.
If we truly believe that God predestined us for his Kingdom, we must open our eyes and look at the things the apostles are so determined to keep reminding us of tirelessly – 2 Peter 1:2-16. We must make every effort to confirm this calling and hope – 2 Pt 1:10-11. We must remember the great and precious promise God gave us and participate in it now – 2 Pt 1:3-4. The great power of God is at work in those who believe and obey, to bring the reality of the future hope into our life today in increasing measure – 2 Pt 1:5-8. In the history of Christianity, it is those whose hope of the Kingdom was strong that did the most practical things and brought great blessings to this world, founding schools in places with no education, founding hospitals to care for the sick and charities to comfort the poor. If we look at the glory and beauty of the Kingdom, we will be moved with compassion and love to serve those around us and bring the reality of the Kingdom in the world today. But if we don’t put the hope of God’s Kingdom in the center of our life, we will end up creating our own lifeless idols to serve, our own futile hopes and dreams to live for, being ignorant of the kind of life God made us for – Jeremiah 32:32-36.
But if we open our eyes and see God’s heart who finds joy in doing us good and works to fulfill the everlasting covenant he gave us in Christ, we can truly live as God’s holy people, giving glory to him and being united with him in heart and action – Jer 32:37-41.