I Haven’t Gotten Over That Truth

February 1, 2018

I Haven’t Gotten Over That Truth

So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

Ephesians 1:6

Read: Ephesians 1:4-10

Paul uses the phrase, in Christ more than fifty times in his letters. For Paul, to be in Christ, means that what is true for Jesus is true for us, the People of Christ. Jesus won a decisive victory over sin and death. Because we are in Christ, we too have won that victory. Paul writes, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4). Ponder that thought for a while. In Christ, you are holy and without fault in God’s eyes. How often do you meditate on this truth?

As I read today’s passage, I get a sense that writing this letter was an act of worship for Paul. Worship is the core of the Christian life. A fully-devoted follower of Jesus cannot stop telling, and retelling, with joy and wonder, the amazing story of what God has done in Christ Jesus, the Messiah. Paul relished the truth of what God has done for us in Christ, and was so enmeshed in his new life in Christ, he described his existence as, “For in Christ we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Garrison Keillor, the well-known writer and entertainer from A Prairie Home Companion and News from Lake Wobegon tells an autobiographical story about his extended family gathered for a Thanksgiving feast. He recalls the “hostess make the mistake of calling on Uncle John to pray. Everybody in the family knew that Uncle John couldn't pray without talking about the cross and crying. And if there is one thing that makes people nervous, it's listening to a grown man cry. Sure enough, Uncle John prayed, talked about the cross, and cried. Meanwhile, the rest of us shifted nervously from one foot to the other and longed for the prayer to end. All of us knew that Jesus died on the cross for us, but Uncle John had never gotten over it."

My Takeaway: Like Uncle John, the Apostle Paul never got over the wonder that God “is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (Ephesians 1:7). Like Keillor’s Uncle John, I haven’t gotten over that truth. Have you?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2018 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.