"Beloved Son, Beloved Savior"

"Beloved Son, Beloved Savior"

   

     God's intentions - His "eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" - forever flow with the current of His beloved Son and our beloved Savior (Ephesians 3:11).  He works to "gather together in One all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven and which are in earth, even in Him" (Ephesians 1:10).

    What this means and how this will work out in eternal history remains to be fully unveiled.  What it means and how it works in our hearts is clear, at least in the most basic sense.  We must join our Heavenly Father in His Christ-centered and circumferenced emphasis.

    "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:6-9).

    If anything other than the person and work of the Lord Jesus forms our primary focus of life, doctrine, and practice, we can be sure that distraction rather than devotion leads us astray.  This does not mean that we always think, speak, or act accordingly.  It does mean that as a matter of principle, we have realized and established that through Christ, God created all things, by Christ all things consist, and to Christ, all preeminence must be directed (Colossians 1:16-18).   Again, any other or lesser focus means that we swim against the current of God's reality and eternal purpose.  Our own purpose of life will thus be askew, and no possibility of genuine peace in our hearts and minds will ensue.  "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

   As Paul wrote, God "rooted" us in the Lord Jesus.  We are also to be "built up in Him."  Our Heavenly Father works all things to fulfill this purpose in our lives.  To the degree we realize and devote ourselves to His emphasis will be the degree to which we walk in "the light of life" that illuminates God's working and must also enlighten our response (John 8:12).  Christ only.  Christ always.  Christ forever.  This forms the reality of our Father's intentions.  It must form our response also as a matter of principle that will more and more empower our practice of devotion to the glory of the Beloved Son and our Beloved Savior.

"The gospel of God, which He had promised afore by His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

 (Romans 1:1-3)

Weekly Memory Verse

    If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit"(Galatians 5:25).