And so we're off... learning to be Knights in this Kingdom. Called to wear the Armor of God.
We find this Armor of God in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians was a letter written to the church in Ephesus. According to the NIV Study Bible, "Ephesus was the most important city in western Asia Minor", in what is now Turkey. The book of Ephesians varies from some of Paul's other letters in that it is not written to correct or reprimand false teaching or wrong doing in the church in Ephesus. Rather it seems written to remind the Ephesus' church of their blessings and identity in Christ, Christ place in the world, and provide practical instructions on living this new life in Christ in the present reality of daily life.
Ephesians starts by reminding the church that they belong to Christ and this connecting/belonging to Christ brings them blessings and grace from the very throne room of God. Paul also spends time reminding the church that Christ is at the center of EVERYTHING and that EVERYTHING has been planned. In the very first chapter Paul states, "He showed us the mystery of his plan. It was in keeping with what he wanted to do. It was what he had planned through Christ. It will all come about when history has been completed. God will then bring together all things in heaven and on earth under one ruler. The ruler is Christ."
What encouragement! What joy! To know that this life is part of all that has come before and will come to be. That history is not an aimless strain of events propelled forward by man's forethought and actions. There is a plan. Not a Plan B, but a PLAN. And it will...someday be made complete. EVERYTHING. You. Me. Countries. Earth. Land. All will be brought to the place it should be. It reminds me of something else Paul said: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Of course, this doesn't mean that life works out just the way we want or had planned. But it does mean that we can be confident that God is in control and have seated His Son at His right hand, He will bring things together as they should be. Which means I do not have to worry or fret because His plan is always better than mine for He sees a thousand days ahead and knows what each act and each moment can affect in the generations to come.
Paul then spends time teaching the church that they are not a bunch of single cell units floating around, but are a single organism, a body. There is no Jew or non-Jew. No circumcised or non circumcised. Christ's grace and mercy and love and power and plan are available through him to all. And as such we should live as one, each having received the same "gift of grace" (4:7). Then begins instructions on how to treat each other and our neighbors.
The church is to think differently ("to be made new in your thinking"), to speak differently ("get rid of your lying", "don't let any evil talk come out of your mouths"). Change our heart attitudes ( do not let the sun go down while you are still angry", " get rid of all hard feelings, anger and rage", "put away every form of hatred") Act differently ("never steal again", "be kind and tender", "forgive"). And so it goes through the rest of Ephesians. Paul provides practical instructions on how to live with each other, regardless of the relationship: neighbor, husband, wife, children, parents, slaves, and masters.
And then Paul ends with his final instruction: Finally, let the Lord make you strong. Depend on his might power. Put on all of God's armor (6:10). Armor - protection against an invading army and protection against an advancing army. As Christians we are both to defend and advance the Kingdom of God. But we are not called to go it alone or unarmed.
And here Paul reminds us that we are not fighting "flesh and blood". Our battle is not with one another. Our battles is not with the "world". Our battle is not with the "unsaved". As Christians we would do well to remember that our battle is not with the homosexual, the pornographer, the thief, the liar or any other individual we want to label and define. It is with something bigger and far uglier than you or I or another individual that bears the image of God. "It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. it is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world." (6:12)
And how do we face these evil powers? By putting on all God's armor, "then you can stand firm against the devils' evil plans." (6:11) And this armor? It is truth, righteousness (not being right but standing made right through God's grace), good news of peace, faith, salvation, God's Word. It is not violent, but it is firm. It is not attacking others, but standing against that evil in its truest form.
It is contradictory to our way of thinking. But the Kingdom advances and defends through not rhetoric or a gospel that divides and alienates, but through those who follow Christ standing firm in the grace of Christ and acting from that grace in truth, in grace, in peace, in faith, in salvation, in knowledge, in prayer...in direct relationship with Christ.
In belonging to Christ. In being connected to Christ. Which brings us back to Chapter 1. We belong to Christ and everything - blessings, grace, faithfulness, kindness, family, mercy, unity, love - flows from that.
We would do well to follow Paul's admonitions to "put on all of God's armor". We find in Revelations that Ephesus would later be accused of having "lost their first love" (2:4) They are pushed to "Do the things you did at first." (2:5). Those first things? The Bible does not tell us, but perhaps it was the daily task of living in relation to Christ, living in love to one another, and daily putting on all of God's armor, thus defending and advancing the Kingdom for their First Love.
