Lent Day Eighteen
“Made for each other”
Ephesians 1:3-10 The Passion Translation
3 Everything heaven contains has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!
4 And he chose us to be his very own, joining us to himself even before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us as one with Christ from the beginning, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.
5 For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children,
6 so that his tremendous grace that cascades over us would bring him glory—for the same love he has for his Beloved One, Jesus, he has for us!
7 Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of salvation by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace.
8 This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us and flooding into every part of our being, releasing within us all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.
9 And through the revelation of the Anointed One, he unveiled his secret desires to us—the hidden mystery of his long-range plan, which he was delighted to implement from the very beginning of time.
10 And this detailed plan will reign supreme through every period of time until the fulfillment of all the ages finally reaches its climax—when God makes all things new in all of heaven and earth through Jesus Christ.
When I finally got together with my wife, a close friend remarked, “You two were always meant to be together…you were made for each other!” To be honest, I don’t think it was a view either of us shared at the time.
The Bible is far from sentimental about love. Everything about it points back to Genesis and the foundation of the world. But it also tells us that Christ is Love and he has always been our destiny. It was always God’s purpose we would be united with him forever through his son.
This longing relationship wasn’t immediately obvious to me as a young Christian, so I found Paul’s words to the believers in Ephesus a massive revelation.
Paul starts his ebullient epistle declaring the praises of God and celebrates togetherness in him. His words are an enthusiastic outburst of praise and adoration spilling freely from his pen into the laps of an eagerly waiting community.
The opening of Paul’s letter has been called a ‘magnificent gateway’. It has been described as ‘a kaleidoscope of dazzling lights and shifting colours’ and a ‘rhapsodic adoration comparable to the overture of an opera’. You get the picture. Paul wants to blow our minds with how much God loves us and how this perfect impossible love holds an eternal purpose to bring all creation together through the risen Christ.
We have been blessed with every possible blessing. Before the world was formed, we were loved. Before we were conceived, we were loved. It is nothing short of epic!
How importance this is to hear in this season when our world has perhaps never felt so divided or suspicious of each other’s intentions. We undoubtedly live in an age of brilliant technological minds, and it is an age where the creative imagination has no bounds.
But it also has the power to self-destruct. Henri Nouwen, in his book, The Wounded Healer, spoke of the risk of ‘historical dislocation – the break in the sense of connection’. Paul could see that without love the body of Christ was at risk of fracturing, unless it could see how the historic purpose of love, together with unity, holds the key to a hope that doesn’t just comfort but conquers.
Andrew Stewart-Darling
Andrew Stewart-Darling has spent nearly thirty years in pastoral ministry with Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland and the Church of England whilst simultaneously pursuing a successful career in marketing and advertising. Andrew and his family now live in Guildford.