Ephesians 3:11-13 Freedom and Confidence

Freedom and Confidence

Eph 3:11-13

According to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

God has an eternal purpose. What do you think that purpose is? For those who think God is a vengeful, powerful being, life is only terror and fear but no joy and love. For those who think God wants us to just have a good time, life is a party and they have no fear of eternal death. Both philosophies are destructive and fail to understand the great balance God has put into place when He designed the universe and created man.

There is a fine balance in the purposes of God. God created everything and when it was created, it was good. Why has it seemingly become such a mess. First of all, when God created people, He gave them a free will. The were totally free from manipulation, coercion or control. Man has allowed society to run out of control and in the process brought destruction to the beautiful world as God created it. God also declared that when man would sin that there was the consequence of death for disobedience and sin. Initially God allowed animal sacrifices to be used in place of man dying for his own sin.

Second, God knew that people would take their freedom to the point of destruction so he created a way for people to renew their relationship with Him and gave them a guidebook to direct their lives if they would so choose.

Third, the way the God chose to forgive people for destroying the relationship with Him was to offer His only Son as a substitute for the animal sacrifices and ultimately for our own death. Thus we could be forgiven and be able to live in the wonderful place which God was preparing for everyone who accepted the substitute of Jesus for his or her disobedience. There is still eternal separation from God and a place of eternal punishment for those who refuse to acknowledge the substitutionary death of Jesus for their forgiveness. What a wise and wonderful God we have. Unfortunately many people do not want to believe that God will actually punish people nor do they believe in Jesus as our substitute. Are you one of those people? Your eternal destiny hinges on your attitudes and actions which you have in this life here on earth. God does not tell us about second chances after our death. Besides our life is so much more fulfilling and wonderful if we follow this wonderful guidebook which we call the Holy Bible.

When we believe that Jesus forgives us and becomes our substitute we say that he is our saviour. Certainly he has saved us from destruction and another mystery which God has created starts up. We are united with Christ in his death (Romans 6) and thus we some how become identified with and bonded to Jesus Christ. This is why Paul says in different writings we are “in Christ” We have identified with Jesus and he has take us in as a part of his body, the church.

I love verse 12. Paul writes, “ In him and though faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. ” What are the barriers to communication with God? I think sin is the greatest barrier. We do not feel worthy when there is sin in our life and since God is so righteous, pure and holy, we feel that we are not good enough to ask God for his blessings and his presence in our lives. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God on His throne. When we are in Christ we are actually there with him sitting on the throne in glory. If we recognize that being in Christ we have all the power, wisdom and strength of God with us, we would of course then be able to use it for God’s glory. As soon as we try to use it for our own purposes and not God’s purpose, we will alienate ourselves from God. If your boss gave you a million dollars to build him a house and then you went off and built yourself a house with half his money so that you only use $500,000 on his house and spent $500,000 on a house for yourself, what do you think the boss would say? That is what God would think if we would misuse the blessings and gifts he offers to us. What kind of a steward are you?

If we use the gifts he has given us through the power of the spirit for his glory, we will find that God will increase our blessing and enlarge our faith. When we see God at work, doing miracles with supernatural power though us, then we need to bring glory to God. One small act of faith expands our belief that God will be able to do something just a little bigger. A builder does not start out building a 100 story building if he never has any experience in building. Most builders, work on a small building and then gradually though experience, and wise planning build bigger and nicer buildings. Much of the church lives in a desert because they do not understand that they can tap into a stream of water which runs 10 feet below the surface if they would but dig down a little and find it. It would water the desert and turn it into an oasis for the world to come and flourish because there is no end of resources when we are tapped properly into God’s unlimited underground river.

Believers should be seeing with spiritual eyes what a wonderful and almighty powerful God we have. When we understand the unlimited resources which are available to us, we will move deeper and deeper in our relationship to the source of all strength and power as we are filled with power and spiritual goodness. We can become stronger and stronger as we exercise the faith we have in Christ Jesus. Like a tree that finally finds an underground stream will continue to grow even in the dryest of years so we need to find that source of spiritual power which transforms our lives and the lives of others. We have a walnut tree in our front yard. Someone gave it to us shortly after we built our house. It was about 3 feet tall at the time. I do not think it grew even 3 inches that first year. After 5 years it might have grown a foot. About three years ago it grew about 5 feet, 2 years ago it grew 7 more feet and last year it think it grew about 10 feet so that it is nearly 30 feet high now. I think that it began to grow a couple years ago because for 8 years it was growing under the ground and finally found a source of strength and life underground which would allow it to shoot up above ground. So it is with our spiritual life. We need to get the roots down deep into the Bible so that as we exercise our faith and use the spiritual gifts which God has given us we will be able to do great and mighty things for our wonderful God.

When I see the power of God at work in my life and through me I can exercise my faith to the next level. If I would sit back and do nothing however, I would soon become discouraged and probably shrink in my pea size faith. God wants us to have a watermelon size faith not a pea size faith.

Paul found himself in prison as a result of telling others about Jesus. He does not want the believers in Ephesus to get discouraged thinking that if God is not able to keep a spiritual giant like Paul from being imprisoned what can they expect from God? Paul is not discouraged by his time in prison but is making the best of it by writing down his thoughts for them to read. We today have a copy of those thoughts and a source of strength and encouragement. Paul saw the best in every circumstance and wanted to exploit every challenge that came his way.

How do we respond to difficult times in our lives. Are we easily discouraged or can we make the best of it and find ways to use the times of adversity to enlarge our faith? God never send difficulties into our lives that are too difficult for us to handle but allows challenges in our life to build us up and strength our relationship with Him. Are we making the most of the situation or are we becoming discouraged and bitter because things are not going so easily as we think they should. Reach out to God and ask Him to show you how you should change so that the difficulties you are facing will make you a better Christian and enlarge your faith.

If you are praying the Prayer of Jabez, (1 Chronicles 4:10) Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” God will answer to expand our borders and give us experiences which will stretch us to the limit but will also be a great blessing and faith builder. The stronger our faith becomes the more that we can accomplish for the kingdom of God. Paul realized his authority in Christ, who is sitting at the right hand of God, speaking with the Father about our needs. He had boldness and freedom in bringing his concerns to God because he had faith that God would answer his prayers and bless him. We can have that same freedom and confidence that Paul had as we grow closer to Christ in our relationship to Him and grow in faith when we see God at work in the world around us.

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April 14, 2002