For the longest time, I’ve wanted to
reclaim the word “meditation” from Eastern religions like Buddhism. The Bible,
particularly the Psalms, has a lot of references
to meditation, although the meaning is very different from what people like
Buddhists are talking about. They’re referring to emptying your mind as the
main goal; the Bible wants us to empty our mind of the daily concerns and
worries, not for its own sake, but so that we can fill it with something else.
Take a few moments and contemplate--without any interruption—some glorious
Biblical truth, such as God’s sovereignty over everything, or what Jesus went
through for me, or his multiple mercies he shows me every day. The problem is
that we’ve let others take over a thoroughly biblical word, and it’s a lost art
among modern Christians, at least American ones.
It’s the same principle with the
word “enlightenment.” Adherents of eastern religions use this term to represent
attaining some higher plain of existence and understanding. Again, this is seen
as an end in itself. As we’ll see, the Bible passage today has something to say
about this.
Today’s passage is a prayer that
Paul made regularly for the Ephesians. He thanked the Father for the progress
they’d made in faith and love. You might notice that the book of Ephesians is
much more positive than others he wrote (particularly 1 Corinthians), and one of
the reasons is that apparently the church in Ephesus was doing—on the whole—pretty
well, at least at this point in time (the Lord Jesus had a more mixed
view of them a few years later). But even if they were the best church in
the world, they weren’t perfect, since there's no perfection this side of
Glory. And that means there’s always room for improvement.
Then he moves to the heart of his
prayer. This is an open “secret” to the
Christian life, one which the Bible brings up repeatedly but a lot of believers
miss: The battle to become more like Christ begins and ends in your thought
life, particularly how you perceive things. Everything springs from
that. If you perceive and think about things correctly, that will (eventually) overflow
into your words and actions. That’s why Paul, in the very beginning of his “practical”
section of Romans (chapters 12-16) starts with the command
to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This is the rock-bottom
foundation of becoming like Christ: changing your thinking to match his,
looking
at things and people the way he sees them. Everything you do and say will flow out of that.
He starts by
praying that the Father would give us more and more of the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, so that we would know Christ better (both
head-knowledge and relationship-knowledge). All
of us need this. No matter where we are in our walk with Christ, we can always
love him and obey him and please him better.
Then we come to the part I want to
focus on. This is where our perceptions are so important. Paul prayed that the
eyes of their hearts might be enlightened (there’s that word), so that they
might know (better) 1) the hope that he’s called us to (the incredibly glorious
inheritance we have in Christ) and 2) his “incomparably great power for us who
believe.”
The rest of the passage is describing
this power that he references. This power
·
Is for every believer. Not that we
control it for our own selfish purposes. But this power is that which protects
us, provides for us, saves us, sets us apart, makes us holy, etc. If the Enemy
wants to harm us, this power is something with which he must contend.
·
Is the same which he exerted when he raised Jesus
from the dead. Meditate
on that just for a moment. Think of
the power that God Almighty exerted when he shattered the hold that Death had
on our Savior. The earthquake on earth around the tomb was nothing compared to
the quakes in Heaven and Hell. And this this is the same power that resides
within you to overcome the Enemy and
anything that life or death throws at you.
·
Is the same power and authority which he exerted
when he seated Christ at his right hand. In vs. 22, Paul asserts that at
the ascension the Father placed all things under the feet of his Son.
Everything. Seen and unseen. All names and powers and authorities and dominions,
from the tin pot dictator to the greatest spiritual forces in Heaven and Hell.
They’re all under his feet.
·
Is for the church. Why did I make
this a separate point from the 1st one? Because there’s a difference
in saying that this power is for the benefit of each individual believer and
saying that this power is for the benefit of the universal Church. Yes, he
deals with us as individuals, but we are each a part of his Body. And this
power--which he used when he was raised from the dead and which he now exerts at
the right hand of the Father--is the power that he exerts on behalf of his
Bride. And woe to him who even thinks about harming her. As God
said of his people in days of old, he says of us now:
“Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye.”
This is what Paul wants you to
understand better. He wants you to be able to see—with the eyes of faith—both our
inheritance and the One who’s fighting for us. When you gain this perspective,
everything else will fall into place. And you can rejoice.
Lord Jesus, I’m repeating Paul’s prayer
for myself. I ask for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know
you better. I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened, in order that
I may know the hope to which you've called me, the riches of your glorious
inheritance in your holy people, and your incomparably great power for me. By
your grace, help me to tap into that unimaginable power, so that I can serve and
obey you as you deserve.
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