From . . . To . . . Onwards

Scriptural Readings: Ephesians 1:3-6; Ephesians 3:16-20

Why do we say we have gone astray? At some point in time, we perfectly admit that we are not living what life should be. Why are we saying we are not living the proper way and there is something wrong? Does this mean to say we are on the perfect pathway and suddenly we lose track of it? Or are we still looking for the right path? Have we started asking the questions, is life worth living?

You might have asked questions like these before, and one way or the other, behind our minds, we are continually puzzled, looking for justification and fulfillment. We always have this inkling to know almost about everything. 

Ephesians 1:3-6

King James Version

V.3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:

V.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

V.5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

V.6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

New Living Translation Version

V.3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

V.4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

V.5  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

V.6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

A train moves only on its track. Engines operate on different kinds of fuels. It was the same thing when God designed us. God did not conceive us without a plan. As humans, we recognize that it is impossible to travel on a journey with no destination. And so God has given us a pathway that we should not leave. And this pathway is furnished with all spiritual blessings. Blessings just for us because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross in Calvary. We are to be children of God, and Him, our Father in heaven.

As we go through our lives, God has provided us with spiritual blessings to resist the things which the materialistic world enslaves and continues to blindfold us. We can gain them because God structured it Himself! Just like airplanes have made it possible to travel by air and ships to move on water.

The reality is not what the world currently shows us but what God can reveal about what is happening in the world for us. God wants to see the spiritual essence of what is happening around us. What happens is that our pride is always our cream of the crop. Lies are blinding us from these wonderful divine truths. We see the temporal, not the divine. We always welcome the earthly and make excuses for the sacred.

Ephesians 3:16-20

King James Version

V.16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

V.17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

V.18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

V.19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

V.20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

New Living Translation Version

V.16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 

V.17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

V.18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

V.19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

V.20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

From the beginning, God has already blessed our lives in our journeys and undertakings. This is a sealed promise of God. But for some, this amazing sacred life God gives us has become an option. They have chosen to live a life of their own, missing what God has already given them in their spiritual lives in the first place. When we become Christians, we have to believe and claim the promises God has given us. This power sets us up to live the Christ-life way onwards, not backward nor being worthless.

There might be things that cannot be changed or removed in our lives that will hurt us. Untoward things are unavoidable, but God created us to withstand storms in our lives. God guarantees us that we can take the beating. He has equipped us already to face life here on earth. Jesus Himself will dwell in us with the Holy Spirit. First, he will strengthen our inner man, our spirit with His Spirit. What happens next is that he will dwell or make His home in our hearts by faith, being rooted and grounded in love. These roots will grow down in God’s love, making and keeping us strong, enabling us to understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. What is now clear is through his mighty power at work within us can accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. We have to make a difference for the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and this is to remain a Christ-life way of living. Apart from Him, we are nothing.