February 25, 2024

“You were taught…to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4.24)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

The challenge found in verse 4.25 to recognize that as believers were are all of one body requires a rethinking of who and whose we are as well as what and what we are to do. Verse 25, for me, stands in the middle of this section of Paul’s teaching. That makes it the pivot point for understanding the whole lesson of verses 20-32. So, I am reflecting backwards from twenty-five back to twenty. Each verse should begin with “And you were taught….” It was normal and natural that the Gentiles were not familiar with the lessons of “how to live” as followers of Christ. Some of the teachings may have sounded reasonable and familiar in their own Gentile context. However, left in that context, the true “end result” would never be reached. Without the authentic orientation of the gospel of Jesus as the Christ, all work that could be deemed good would be limited in its effect. In other words, it would not bring a person to the saving grace of God possible through Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, it is with this orientation of being “one in Christ” that we can consider the “one” being the right relationship of the spiritual head, which is Christ, to the spiritual body, which is the Church. Oh, that we could have that orientation in the world today. Such desire for the celebration of diversity as the ultimate goal of “knowing yourself” leaves out the “oneness” which is required to understand and receive salvation which leads to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. While there is no threat to celebrate the diversity which is visible among the people of the world, the threat comes with the desire to remain individualized. What is the threat of individualization? It would be, I propose, the reality of marginalization.

Pushing others to the edge in order to highlight the centric view of self breeds selfishness and brokenness. Ultimately, marginalization offers no good advantage for individuals nor communities. The only thing such realities have in common is their lack of cohesion beyond the fact of “no one is truly the same.” While that may work for snowflakes, as no two are alike, it ignores the basic fundamentals is similarity: water and cold. A snowflake cannot exist one without the other. Thus Paul leads to the point of being one body though made up of many members with the fundamental similarity of righteousness and holiness. Just as Adam and Eve were created in the image of God and to reflect His glory in their createdness as well as their creativeness, so are the new believers created in the image of Christ in the createdness (born again in spirit and in truth) as in their creativeness (righteous works which stand far apart from works righteousness.) Understanding that amid our diversity and unique selves we are made same and similar through Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Our “heart, mind, body and soul” are uniquely imaged and fashioned to reflect the whole of who we are intended to be.

And who are we intended to be? We are intended to be “children of God.” As “children of God” we recognize God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Following the lead of Isaiah’s prophecy, the word of God given to him to instruct all of Israel, “God the Wonderful Counselor, God the Mighty God, God the Everlasting Father and God the Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders rest the weight of the governance of humankind.” While there are many facets, there is only one spiritual reality. Our best understanding of ourselves comes in the right relationship between each child and his or her creator: God. In other words, understanding “who we are” is best defined by “whose we are.” You can see by that definition the problem the world has when it defines itself by “who and what” each person is given to: desires, knowledge, ideologies, whims, passions, etc. When the baseline is “exchangeable,” so to is one’s identity. Without the connection to the truth of life which is God, life becomes muddled and chaotic. Ultimately, without that connection, then light becomes dark and truth becomes a lie.

As mighty ones of God in Jesus Christ, we must remind ourselves and others, as well as be reminded by others and they are by us, of our true self. Jesus gave up His life so that we might gain it for ourselves. It is not a reworking of the old life as if we are “new and improved.” No, it is His life as it was lived on earth reflective of how He lives in Heaven. Is it not for this we pray as we share the words of “The Lord’s Prayer”? I daresay “it is” and if it is not, then we need to review that which we have been taught and discover where the variance began and needs to end.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.