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The Ephesian Connection
...to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
Jesus was born a Jew, a descendant of Abraham and of the house of David. Though He was sent by His Father to be their promised Messiah, as a nation they failed to recognize Him. Obviously, He could have come in such dynamic majesty that all would have immediately embraced Him. But God’s ways are not our ways. Jesus came in lowliness and humility. And many simply did not perceive this to be a measure of greatness, as something worthy of honor. But God was not surprised. He had foreknown what Israel’s response would be. He also foreknew those within Israel who would recognize and receive Jesus as their destined Messiah. And God’s intent was that this faithful remnant would be to the praise of His glory.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
God gave this Jewish remnant who chose to receive Jesus as their Messiah the right to become His children (Greek, TEKNON – born ones). When they were born of His Spirit, they came into a Father-child relationship with Him. As John indicated, their spiritual birth was not based on the will of man, the desires of the flesh, or what blood (natural lineage) they were from, but on the will of God. The basis for anyone’s entry into God’s family whether Jew or Gentile is totally supernatural. This was contrary to what most Israelis expected. Generally, they considered themselves secure in the purpose of God because they were the seed of Abraham. After all, the promises had been made to Abraham and his descendants. All the families of the earth would be blessed through him. So, the attitude of many seemed to be – “How can we miss it? God needs us to fulfill His word to Abraham.” So, God sent John the Baptist to strike a blow at such thinking.
Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
John warned them to not seek security in being natural descendants of Abraham. Only God Himself can be the true refuge for His people. If He wanted to, the Lord could have taken stones lying on the ground and created a people who would obey Him. But His heart longed to see the fruit of repentant hearts. His people were the trees of the Lord, planted by God Himself (Psalm 92:12 - 15, Isaiah 61:3, Matthew 7:16 - 20). And He was laying the axe to the root of ethnicity as the foundation for eternal success. In effect, John said, “No longer find your identity solely in being descendants of Abraham. Cease thinking that you are secure in the purpose of God simply because you can trace your lineage back to him. Rather, turn with sincere hearts to the living God and bear the spiritual fruit He seeks. From this day on you must bear godly fruit or the fires of judgment await you.” Unsurprisingly, John became rather unpopular with the religious leaders of his day.
What John confronted in the Pharisees is the same basic problem that God’s prophets have faced in every generation. The prophetic burden has always been to turn God’s people back to Him with a whole heart that He might be to them their total sufficiency. Today, many in the Church find security and identity in being Baptists, Methodists, or Catholics. Others find it in being nondenominational. And then many gravitate around words like Charismatic, Evangelical, or Fundamentalist. But if we would repent of any such identity confidence, we would find a greater appreciation of our common root.
...being rooted and grounded in love.
Once we recognize our common root (the eternal love of God expressed in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension), then we will more clearly understand our unique identity as His people. Only then will we stop focusing on our differences, stop seeing each other as enemies, and start doing battle with one voice against the forces of darkness.
God foreknew a Jewish remnant, a company of people of the natural lineage of Abraham who would come forth to the praise of His glory. Peter, James, John, Paul and many other Jewish men and women were mightily used of God in the initial impact of the gospel on earth. They were the remnant who expressed the praise of His glory. And what a powerful demonstration of His glory it was. Jews from every nation under heaven were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost as He poured out His Spirit and through Peter initiated the Church’s proclamation of the gospel to the whole earth. That Jewish remnant was His front-line strike force. And He intended that through them the gospel would go to all nations.
But God’s people did not fully understand His purpose in blessing them. Many Jewish believers seemed to think that God intended to simply renew the nation of Israel. So, when Peter went to Cornelius’ house and preached to the Gentiles there, the church leaders in Jerusalem became upset with him (Acts 11:1 - 3). But this contact was central in the purpose of God. Heaven was commissioning the Jewish remnant to take the good news of salvation to all men, to every nation.
God has always had a remnant people. Men like Jeremiah, Elijah, and Daniel were always to be found in Israel even when most of the nation was backsliding. Today, it is no different. As the Lord prepares the Church for His return, He is looking for His remnant, those who are rooted in Him and love Him with all their hearts. These are days of holy visitation. He is pouring His Spirit upon the Church today just as He did on the Jewish remnant in Acts Chapter Two. However, as He restores His Church, extending the borders of His kingdom, we must understand His purpose in blessing us. He is not pouring out His Spirit on us simply for our own benefit. He has a plan, a strategy. He is headed somewhere. It is so easy for His people to become stale, dry, and corporately arthritic. When that happens, God begins to lay an axe to the root of whatever we are finding our security and identity in. He looks for those who will bear the fruit of repentance and follow Him with a whole heart. It is through this process that He then extends His Kingdom. Let us be counted among Heaven’s remnant today having our security and identity in Him.
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