A Long Walk Through... Ephesians: God's Intercepting Will
by Scott Hamilton on Tuesday, 9th January 2018
Where would Paul have been without Jesus, without grace and apart from the intecepting nature of the will of God. If Paul was here now he would tell you about the destructive nature of sin as it welled up in his heart and worked itself out in his life. That's what chapter 1 verse 1 describes.
Yet the one who approached Damascus intent on destroying the church became the Apostle with most missionary reach in favour of the church. Such is the intercepting nature of the will of God. Course of life radically altered by one encounter with Jesus. So as we start out this journey in the book of Ephesians at the same time as we start out in a New Year the question before us is this.
When you consider who Jesus is
and
When you consider what He has done
Is there everyday evidence that your life has been radically altered?
Into our thinking on this must come things like boldness, sacrifice, service and how we invest our time.
The clue is in how Paul describes those to whom he writes... the saints in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.
Saints... sanctified ones... those who are set apart by God for God. Prioritising His purposes. Hopes pinned on His plan. Saints means there is something different about you. How you speak. The way you act. What you do and don't do. What you watch and don't watch.
Faithful... those who have set their hearts on God at the expense of the world's fake gods. Being faithful is being unwilling to compromise our affection for Jesus on the altar of anything else.
Set apart rather than being set on why I want. Faithful instead of faithless and flighty. That is what the intercepting will of God does. It makes broken people like Paul and you and me into something befitting of someone made in His image.
Which brings us back to the question:
Is there everyday evidence that your life has been radically altered?