You may have seen this picture before.
I think I’ve even used it in a sermon before, because it’s such a relatable concept.
The illustration is meant to cause us to think about what motivates us to do things. Are you motivated by the stick, the threat of punishment, or are you motivated by the carrot, the promise of a reward? And are either of these really how we ought to live our lives?
I think many people have the wrong idea about why we, as Christians, serve God. In fact, I think even a lot of Christians have the wrong idea about it. Serving God is not about trying to appease God. That was the motivation in many of the religions centuries ago when people would sacrifice their children.
Here’s a picture of me with Amber, Cory, and Emily, and Abby’s parents, climbing the steps of an altar in Dzibilchaltún, Mexico. At the top of the altar, you could see a firepit that was used for child sacrifices. They thought that they needed to make the gods happy with them, and they thought that the only way they could do that was by throwing their babies into the fire.
And the Bible actually addresses this practice in at least two ways. The first is in the story of Abraham, when he nearly sacrificed his son Isaac to God, but was spared from it at the last moment, and we learned that God didn’t desire the death of his son. He desired Abraham’s faith.
But the second was in the valley of Gehenna, which the Bible often uses as an illustration of hell. In the Old Testament, this valley was called the Ben Hinnom Valley, and it was where even Israelites would sacrifice their children to foreign gods, as it says in Jeremiah 19:
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought. Therefore, look, the days are coming—this is the Lord’s declaration—when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley. I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who intend to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land. (Jeremiah 19:5-7)
So, under threat of punishment, the Israelites were told to repent, or else they would receive the same repercussions as their children. They were warned: turn or burn!
So do we serve God merely to escape hell, or do we have a much different motivation? In other words, does God show His power merely so that we would fear Him, or so that we would be in awe of Him, and therefore praise Him for His mighty acts both in history and even in our own lives?
Ephesians 1:20-23.
He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens— far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. (Ephesians 1:20-23)
Father, You’re worthy of all praise. You have all power, and we’re in awe of how You’ve shown Your power through Jesus. Help us to live according to Your power as we rest in Jesus. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
If you didn’t know, we have a great food pantry here in Nokomis. Once a month, they give out a great big box of food to each family who needs it. And it’s completely free to those who can benefit from it, so it’s a great ministry! But imagine someone robbing food from the food pantry, which they could have gotten for free.
That’s what happened to a food pantry in Claremont, California. Outside of the hours of operation, someone broke in, took all of the food, leaving only a few less desirable items in the freezer, and even those items went to waste because they left the freezer door open. In all, the thief or thieves stole about $20,000 worth of food and office equipment.
One of the founders of the food pantry was interviewed about the incident, and he said:
“Who steals from a food bank? We would have given them help if they just asked.” -Larry Kapchinsky, co-founder of KidCare International
It’s interesting how many of us often blame God for all sorts of reasons, whether we feel judged by God, or because of our circumstances in life, while God is waiting for all of us with open arms, and He would certainly have given us help if only we would ask Him.
The clearest demonstration of this, of course, is Jesus, who demonstrated God’s love for us by dying on the cross for our sins.
So far in the letter of Ephesians, we’ve seen how incredibly blessed we are in Jesus, and we’ve looked at a prayer thanking God for how He opens our eyes in Christ. Last week, that prayer concluded by reminding us of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power. Our passage today mentions just two things that God did in His power through Jesus, and I think both of these are huge reasons for us to give thanks for Jesus.
First, it says that God exercised His power in Christ by raising Him from the dead.
It seems like we’ve lost some of the wonder about Christ’s resurrection today. When we hear about things like near-death experiences, and even books written about children who go to heaven and return to tell about it which sometimes turn out to be lies, we might begin to grow a little apathetic or even skeptical about the story of Jesus’s resurrection. But even if all of those other stories were true, the thing that makes Jesus’s story different is that Jesus rose on the third day. This wasn’t Jesus on the operating table, and the doctors didn’t know if He would pull through or not, and they shocked His heart to make it beat again. No, this was Jesus executed on a cross, dead and in the tomb, and it wasn’t until the third day later that God raised Him up by His power.
We’ll talk more about this in two weeks, on Easter, but for now, I just want us to consider how the resurrection of Jesus is what all of Christianity hinges on. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:
if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:14)
So to prove that our faith in Jesus is real, and that our hope of eternal life is real, God raised Jesus from the dead, proving that He’s the Son of God who has the authority to forgive our sins. That’s power!
Second, our passage this morning says that God exercised His power in seating Jesus at His right hand in the heavens. This further displays the authority that Jesus has. Jesus is the Son of God, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father. After Jesus died on the cross, He rose from the grave, and ascended to heaven, and in doing so, He was moved from the place of humiliation to the place of exaltation because Jesus is truly worthy of all praise.
In this life, we seem to always be searching for people to praise. We look up to our heroes of the past until we find out that they weren’t perfect either. We put people on a pedestal, whether politicians or other public figures, putting our hope in them to fix our nation. We even praise our favorite actors and athletes, which is appropriately referred to as celebrity worship. But none of these people are truly worthy of our praise.
But Jesus is seated in the heavens, far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given. He is our God, and He rules over all things forever, both in this age and in the one to come.
The word translated “age” in this passage is the Greek word ???? which is sometimes translated “eternity,” but literally means “an unspecified length of time.” In his work An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, John of Damascus, writing around 700 AD, wrote this about the word:
It must then be understood that the word age (aion) has various meanings, for it denotes many things. The life of each man is called an age…a period of a thousand years is called an age…the whole course of the present life is called an age: also the future life, the immortal life after the resurrection, is spoken of as an age… -John of Damascus
In other words, if you ever feel like certain moments of life are just dragging on for an eternity, you’re right. Every period of our lives, as well the whole of our lives is an age, what may seem like an eternity, and of course there is an age to come, and over all of these ages, Jesus is Lord.
Whether we recognize it or not, Jesus rules over all things. Even when it doesn’t appear like He’s ruling, because we observe that Satan is ruling this present world, even then Jesus is on His throne, and He will assure that all things work for the good, because God is good. And in the end, He will make all things new.
And that includes us. Verse 22.
And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. (Ephesians 1:22-23)
Since Jesus is Lord of all, of course He’s Lord over us, the Church. But according to this passage and many other places in the New Testament, Jesus also has a very special relationship with the Church. So while Jesus rules over all things in general, the earth, the heavens, the universe, even over hell, having everything subjected under His feet, Jesus rules over the Church in a very special way. He is the head of the Church, and we are His body.
The fact that Jesus is ruler of all is a huge benefit to us. It means that we can look to Him to provide us exactly what we need when we need it. It means that we can trust Him for the future. It means that we can rest in the truth that everything little thing is gonna be alright.
And it also means that we can look to Him even today for direction. He’s our Head. That means He’s the brains of this organization. We look to His Word for guidance and purpose. But even more than that, He truly moves our whole being.
I’m confident that every single one of you has a brain. Do you know how I know that? Because you were able to get out of bed, get yourself ready for the day, and somehow move all the way out of your home, navigating the streets to be here this morning.
I also know that you have a brain because you can interact with the world around you, and do things. You can speak, listen, express love, and even express judgment when you see injustice in the world. Our brains process all of the things that our various senses perceive, and our brains direct our bodies to do things in response to what we experience.
And for the same reasons, we know that even the people in life that you adamantly disagree with have brains. They do! You may not always understand how that could be possible, but they have a brain. They can still walk, and talk, and move their bodies.
And, of course, all of this would be impossible without a brain because if you didn’t have a brain, your body would be useless.
The Bible says that Jesus is the Head, and we are His body. In other words, He directs us to move, and live, and have our being. We exist to carry out His will, and we find our life as we carry out the will of Jesus.
Willam Barclay wrote in his Daily Study Bible:
Suppose a great doctor discovers a cure for cancer. Once that cure is found it is there. But before it can become available for everyone, it must be taken out to the world. Doctors and surgeons must know about it and be trained to use it. The cure is there but one man cannot take it out to all the world; a corps of doctors must be the agents whereby it arrives at all the world’s sufferers. That precisely is what the Church is to Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that all men and all nations can become one; but before that can happen they must know about Jesus Christ. And it is the task of the Church to bring that about. -William Barclay
So as the body of Christ, we, the Church, are to share Jesus with the world, inviting them to become part of the body of Christ. The whole world is infected with the disease of sin, but we have the cure! Jesus is the cure, so we are to share Jesus.
Paul ends verse 23 in our passage this morning with a great reminder and promise from God, that Jesus is the fullness who fills all things in every way.
In so many areas of life, there’s often a longing for things to be better. We can frequently wish for our circumstances to be better in areas such as health, finances, or our careers. We can wish for our relationships with others to improve, and many times there’s even just this brokenness in which we don’t even know what needs to change, but we long to be happy.
In so many areas, there’s an emptiness in life, and we just don’t know how it can be filled. But Paul says that Jesus Himself is the fullness who fills all things in every way.
William Barclay also wrote:
In order to understand what Paul means, let us go back to the basic thought of his letter. As it stands, this world is a complete disunity. There is disunity between Jew and Gentile, between Greek and barbarian; there is disunity between different men within the same nation; there is disunity within every man, for in every man the good strives with the evil; there is disunity between man and the beasts; and, above all, there is disunity between man and God. It was Paul’s thesis that Jesus died to bring all the discordant elements in this universe into one, to wipe out the separations, to reconcile man to man and to reconcile man to God. Jesus Christ was above all things God’s instrument of reconciliation. -William Barclay
In other words, just as Paul wrote in verse 10, God’s plan was:
to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him. (Ephesians 1:10)
If you long for that, to be satisfied in life, your longing can only ultimately be filled in Jesus. Rest in Him, and in His love for you.
And then, begin to serve God not to get anything from Him, but rejoicing because you get to be a part of the story in which God is reconciling all things together in Christ.
So, today, be reconciled to God.