After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of the Almighty God, God himself said to the disciples, those that followed Christ, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In Ephesians, Paul writes that God be blessed, the same God who blessed us, who chose us before the foundations of the world, the one who predestined us for adoption as sons, according to the purpose of his will. He writes that it is in Christ that he lavished that forgiveness on us and while he did it, he made his will clear to us according to his purpose in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things to him. Paul continues by explaining that we have an inheritance now, one that is by and from his will. He says that the Ephesians believed, were given the Spirit, and that the Spirit guarantees their inheritance until they acquire it. Later, Paul writes that we were dead, but God saved us, making us alive, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ.
Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘the righteous shall live by faith.”
This sounds a little different to me than it used to. I remember a time when I would read all of this and thank God that he saved me from the penalty of my excessive drinking, or thank him that he saved me from the penalty of my promiscuity. I would legitimately sit down the day after I did something absolutely in rebellion to God, and I would thank him for forgiving me, and the next day, I was back at work at my ‘cosmic treason’. These passages lead me to a different hope, a truer, stronger, more powerful hope.
If you look at the familiar great commission, you will see that there are three different realities there. First, all authority has been given to Christ. Second, there is the command to go, make, teach, baptize. Third, he is with us always until the end of the age. The first part of the commission is a past reality so confounding in it’s depth and yet, like the Gospel, enlightening in it’s simplicity. On one hand, his authority is so vast and encompassing, that we really can’t understand it. We fail just trying to control our lives, let alone the universe and everything in it. On the other hand, every stress, every struggle, and every need that we could even think of, Christ has the authority to do something about. Our guilt, our shame, and our sins all fall into this category. A comforting thought indeed and for him to command us to go, to teach, to baptize, to spread his name and his glory knowing that He has all authority makes it that much better, that much more exciting. That now, his past accomplishments now have a present reality that we get to be a part of. That second point, where God tells us to go, that present reality is only possible by his authority and in that present reality, we have a hope, a pointing towards a future reality that is also guaranteed by His authority.
In Ephesians, Paul elaborates even more. We have been saved from our trespasses, and that is finished, that is a concrete past reality that is a gift of God, given to us in Christ. Not only that, but he made us alive by giving that forgiveness to us, he raised us up with him. If he made us alive, it can only be so that we live and if he seated us up in the heavenly places in Christ, it can only be so that we are still with him that we a functioning in that life by Christ, in Christ, for Christ. And continuing the thought, all of this is only so that in the coming ages God might show the immeasurable riches of his grace. We are saved in the past from the penalty of our sins, making us no longer dead, but alive, living in the present by the Spirit of God inside of us being saved from the power of sin in our lives, and we will be saved from the presence of sin in the future. We have a hope in the gospel for the future and that future is his future, his purpose, his will, that all things be united to him. He has been working out this plan of restoration since before the beginning of time, when he chose us, and he created man, man fell as part of the plan, and God chose a people. He changed the dynamic of that people in Christ, and now we are that people, all who follow Christ, and he has given us the very Spirit of God, that raised Christ from the dead, making us partners with Him in his plan of restoration. He is working out that plan all day, every day, all over the world using his people by his Spirit, preparing us and the world for his return when he will make everything right.
We are His workmanship, created (as well as recreated) in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good works that He prepared beforehand for us to walk in. We are the Body of Christ, the Church, God’s people that he set apart before the world, covenanted in Abraham, through David, in Christ. He gives us his Spirit to live now as that body, to do the things he has for us to do, for the end of uniting things to himself, to spread his name and his glory, making him known to the world.
We are no longer imperfect Christians that are just forgiven, but we are being made new as well, by the power of God, for his purposes, for his works that he has for us to do. God made the world, humans not only rebelled against him but are responsible for the ruining of the world. God loves us though, and he is making us right again, as well as the world, in his plan for restoration. God is restoring the world. That is the good news, God is, God is restoring the world, God is restoring us, God is forgiving, recreating, growing, loving, blessing, and renewing everyone and His perfect world is coming. If you have heard this before, good, if you haven’t, good, if I don’t make any sense because there is so much more, good; as the title indicates, this is part 1 of infinite. I am not sure the story of God restoring the world and making his glory known can be fully elaborated upon. God is infinite, his glory is infinite, and his perfect plan is not fully known to us, you try to explain it.
Just remember, saved from the penalty, being saved from the power of sin in your life right now, and will, one day, be saved from the presence of sin, all by the power of God, and all for the purposes of God. It is the power of God for salvation, from faith for faith, by way of living by faith. To God be all the glory, for he is the only one worthy. Worship him, trust him, he loves.
