The Most Important Commandments (Part 2): Loving God Wholeheartedly

 

The Most Important Commandments (Part 2): Loving God Wholeheartedly 

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:28-31)

 

Everyone may know that God is the Sovereign Creator.  As they believe God has given them their life and surely know there is only one chance to live, some may live how they want without their belief and knowledge about God except in the forgiveness of God.  In the other words, they live their lives according to their natural desire, and only when desperate situations and bad outcomes happen, they run to God, asking for His forgiveness.  Afterwards, they return back living their lives how they want.

As God has created everyone with His unconditional love, our response should be loving Him back wholeheartedly.  However, as He is invisible, loving Him wholeheartedly is challenging.  Therefore, it is recommended to love Him wholeheartedly, based on the goodness and faithfulness of God.  This does not mean that we should love Him to get benefits, regardless of what we do.  Instead, it means we should love Him because of His goodness and faithfulness.  God illustrated these in number of ways.  For example, He used Moses to deliver the Israelites out from the enslavement in Egypt, and God also used him to feed them with bread and water (Exodus 14:1-31, 16:1-17:6).

According to Jeremiah 32:17-19 and Romans 11:33-36, God is the Sovereign Creator, who can do anything anytime with His unfailing love.  Besides all of us have been created by God, one of the most radical goodness of God is Jesus’ sacrifice to offer us eternal life in Him (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10).  This means that we can have eternal life, even on the earth, by accepting and believing in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and do whatever the Spirit of God calls us to do (Romans 10:9-10; Galatians 6:7-10).  Furthermore, He has given believers the right to become God’s children because of their acceptance of Him (John 1:12-13).  Although we know we are not perfect in our own eyes and by worldly standards, God see us as perfect creations because we have been made into righteousness of God by the blood of Christ, and He has been always ready to do more (Colossians 1:21-23; Romans 1:16-17; c.f. Ephesians 3:14-21).  What Jesus asks of us in return is to love God wholeheartedly as the first priority (Mark 12:30).  Out of our love for Him, we can do good works in Christ God has already prepared for us to do (c.f. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; c.f. Ephesians 2:8-10).

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 13 and Ephesians 2:1-10, and ask yourself these questions: “How devotedly I have done anything in Christ? How to make loving God as our first priority and do things for God’s Kingdom Glory out of our entire devotion?”

The Most Important Commandments (Part 1): The Lord is One

The Most Important Commandments (Part 1): The Lord is One

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:28-31)

 

Many people believe there is more than one God, so they worship whoever they want.  In ancient times, people even made a statue of someone or something, and they worshipped it.  Nowadays, some people claim to be God in the flesh, so they encourage others to worship them, telling them there would be no more sickness, suffering and death if they worship whoever claims to be God.  Nonetheless, human idol is also known as god.  Human idol is something that centres someone wholly like money or fame, or something that people find addicting like addictive games.  There is also “god” level in some games, which can be reached if people are expert at them that they rarely lose.  I believe “god” level comes from the fact that God is omniscient, who is the most powerful and can do anything.

However, the truth about God is that there is only one God.  God is the Creator of everything and everyone, and heavenly Father to those who are willing to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour (Genesis 1:1-31; 2:1-24; John 1:1-51).  God is also the very jealous God, who wants our love and loyalty in entire devotion, because He has created everyone to be in His image and does not want anyone to perish at the end of our physical lives (Exodus 20:3-11).  Instead, God desires us to have and taste eternal life through faith in Christ on earth, so that when Jesus returns to the earth again, we can head to the Kingdom of Heaven with Him in our spiritual bodies (John 3:16-18; Philippians 3:7-21; 2 Peter 3:8-14). 

We can taste the eternal life by having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ by knowing Him and God continually after accepting Him as our Lord and saviour (John 17:3).  Through knowing Jesus, God reveals Himself to us and we can know Him too with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus represents God in the flesh, and is mediator between humanity and God (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). To put this simply, God and Jesus are so united that they are considered as One.  As God’s presence dwelled in temples, and people had to carry these everywhere to be with Him in ancient times (c.f. Exodus 40:34-38).  However, due to Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection, humans have become God’s living temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22).  God’s presence has become accessible and available to everyone anytime and anywhere. 

Meditate on Exodus 20:3-7 and ponder this question: “Have I placed something over God, and how do I place God over it?”

Fixing Eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3)!!

 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

 

Although Jesus Christ has cleansed the sins of the whole world, especially those who accepted Him as their Lord & Saviour, through His sacrifice, what is the point of Christianity if it is so easy to live our lives according to our own ways and forget about the belief of Christianity entirely?  Is Christianity really worth it?  As the Sovereign Creator God, our heavenly Father, has loved us so much from the beginning, can we just live our lives according to our own ways and surrender our lives to Him before physical death to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

Yes, the belief of Christianity is worth of our whole lives.  Hence, we cannot just live our own lives according to our own ways until the end of our physical lives and surrender our lives to God wholeheartedly to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Surrendering our whole lives to God wholeheartedly and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour offers us a citizenship of heaven.  Nonetheless, Christianity is far beyond getting a ticket to heaven.  As a Christian is Jesus’ devoted follower, they have an intimate relationship with Him.  It becomes their true identity that Jesus’ followers are to imitate Him in everything they do.  In fact, all people have been created to be in God’s image, and Jesus Christ is His perfect image as He is actually God in the human form (c.f Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 8:29-30).

To follow and imitate Jesus properly, God has given believers the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-27; 16:7-15).  The Holy Spirit is the gateway of our spirit to God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 2).  Although listening to the Holy Spirit and obeying Him is challenging that we want to give up sometimes, we have to persevere our life in Christ until the end.  Eternal life in Him is far better than worldly life in long term run.  People can experience their earthly life for a limited time, whereas they can experience their eternal life in Christ for eternity.  They even can experience it in part on earth by focusing on Him and God’s Kingdom Glory and making these as our first priorities.  Therefore, when we want to give up our eternal life in Christ, let us all remember that it is worth it in the long run (1 Corinthians 9:24-25; Philippians 3:7-14; Hebrews 12:1-2).  It is good to do good deeds for God’s Kingdom Glory, but God firstly cares about our faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; cf. Hebrews 11:6). Through faith in Him, we can know and believe God, because Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:1-18; 14:1-14).

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, and ask yourself this question: “What and how can I run the life of faith with, even in the midst of unknown and unexpected obstacles?”

Heartset & Mindset on Heaven (Colossians 3:1-4)

 Heartset & Mindset on Heaven

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

What is the point of being a follower of Jesus if we are to disregard all earthly things and sacrifice our lives all day long, regardless of having eternal life in Him, until Jesus comes?  What if circumstances get too challenging and complicated that we just want to give up of being a follower of Jesus and live normal ways of our lives?  After being Jesus’ follower for some time, can we commit suicide and then, go to heaven?

First of all, we mustn’t commit suicide after being Jesus’ follower for some time and we are ready to go to heaven, even when our life situations get too challenging and complicated.  Yes, life gets tougher and tougher, especially when we become followers of Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 14:26-33).  Nonetheless, when we become His followers we get enormous benefits.  Firstly, we are able to have an everlasting relationship with the Triune God—God as our heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit as our ultimate helper (John 1:9-13; 14:15-28; 16:7-15).  With this relationship, we also get eternal life citizenship (John 3:16-18; Romans 6:23; Titus 3:3-8).  Secondly, we join God’s family.  The easiest way to join it is belonging to a church.  The church is gathering and worshipping place of all believers, who represent the body of Christ, as each of them is a member of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

Furthermore, since earthly things are temporary, earthly satisfaction is temporary too.  This means our searches to try and get our satisfaction filled will never end.  For example, my current earthly satisfaction is getting LED lights to make my room beautiful. My father allowed me to use his card details to purchase the one I really have wanted as my birthday present, and I purchased other four LED lights, with my card details, to go along with it. They look awesome when I turn them on at night.  Nonetheless, I want more to put LED lights somewhere else, even though I don’t have anywhere to put them because my room is small.

Although earthly things are temporary, heavenly things are eternal (Matthew 6:19-20).  Heavenly things are centred on the presence of Jesus Christ and eternal home He has prepared for His followers.  This does not mean that we should disregard all earthly things and solely focused on heavenly things.  As we live in the earth physically, but our citizenship has changed to heaven from the earth, we are to consider heavenly things exceedingly more valuable than earthly things.  Hence, we have to let the Holy Spirit to transform us to set our hearts and minds to align our priorities from earthly ones to heavenly ones, such as believing in Jesus and doing everything for God’s kingdom glory instead of ourselves (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 6:7-10; Colossians 3:23-24).  The guarantee of these is that we will be transformed from earthly bodies to spiritual and glorious bodies when Jesus comes, and we will be taken up to the Kingdom of Heaven with him (Philippians 3:7-14, 18-21; Colossians 3:3-4).

Meditate on the sanctification, holiness process, of our lives as we follow Jesus (1 Peter 1:13-21), and ask yourself this question: “As I have been raised to new life with Christ through accepting Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour, and through baptism, how can I set apart from the world, even though I live in the world, and be holy in everything I do with my mindset on the presence of Christ and eternal heavenly home?"

Faithful hope of the Triune God (Lamentations 3:22-26)!!

 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” 

The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:22-26)

According to the circumstances, many may project God who He is in their minds.  For example, when situations exactly go their way, people may believe God is a genie in the bottle and praise Him wholeheartedly with gratefulness.  However, when circumstances don’t turn out what they expect them to be, they may think and feel that God has forsaken them.  Overall, people may depend on God in their entire devotion according to their situations and live their lives without God in their non-desperate situations.

 

The truth is that God has loved all humans from the beginning, regardless of their misdeeds.  God’s abundant love upon them is unconditional and constant (Lamentations 3:22-23).  Otherwise, He wouldn’t create them and give them free will, or would create people and not give them free will, because God already knows they will rebel at some point.  God also wouldn’t send Jesus Christ, His only beloved Son, to be atonement of their sins.  Although His heart breaks when misdeeds happen, it does not mean that God has forsaken people.  He is waiting for them to repent and come to Him (2 Peter 3:8-9).  As He is faithful to His abundant love upon all humans, they have to choose between coming to Jesus Christ and having their right to be called as God’s children, or not coming to Him and doing and solving things on their own strength.

 

Coming to Jesus and believing in Him wholeheartedly by accepting Him as their Lord and Saviour lets people receive eternal life, even in physical lives.  Becoming God’s children and accepting God’s help are not the signs of weakness, but of true strength.  As God has created all people in His image, these reveal who they really are and acknowledge God is their heavenly Father and Creator. Hence, those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and have followed Him should keep holding to their hope in the Triune God—God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit—even if life becomes challenging with reminders of His faithfulness (Isaiah 40:28-31). It’s in the challenging times, we can test our faith, and if we feel our faith is weak, we should keep asking God to increase our faith and pray for His wisdom to navigate our lives in godly ways (James 1:2-8).

 

Meditate on God’s faithfulness (Psalm 36:5-9) and hope (1 Peter 1:3-9), and ask yourself this question: “How can I increase my hope and faithfulness in the Triune God?”

Eternal Life (John 11:25-26)!!

 “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Many non-believers believe all good and perfect people go to heaven or born again into another earthly life when they die, so they work very hard to be perfect ones.  They also may believe one-off acceptance to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour is one-way ticket to the Kingdom of heaven, so they may accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour according to their good timing or accept Him as their Lord and Saviour in the very last minute of their physical death.  Overall, humans believe they are to enjoy their earthly life abundantly.

Yes, we are to enjoy our earthly life abundantly until the end, as Jesus has said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  However, He also has proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).  Furthermore, John 3:16-18 has stated,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Jesus didn’t come into the earth to offer all people one-way ticket to the Kingdom of heaven.  Yes, He is the only truthful way to heaven, as God sent His only beloved Son into the world to be crucified on the cross as an atonement of our sins (Hebrews 2:14-15).  However, Jesus’ sacrifice also allows us to start new lives in Him, starting new lives through faith in Jesus, which includes eternal life (Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17).  This means we can experience eternal life in part, even in physical lives on earth, by accepting and believing in Him as our Lord and Saviour and doing whatever God has called us to do with the guidance of His Spirit (Titus 2:11-14).  For example, as I became a true follower of Jesus in the late 2011, I have accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour since then.  After two years, God has given me the writing gift to spread the good news of Christ.  Therefore, I wrote devotionals over 5 years, articles for a several years, and started to write devotionals again from a couple of weeks ago.  Nonetheless, God desires us to be in relationship with Jesus, so we can know and have a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus (John 14:6-7; 17:3). 

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

When Jesus was put to death on the cross, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:50-51).  God’s presence dwelt inside of the temple, where high priests only could go in and offer sacrifices to God for their people’s sins once a year, but since the temple’s curtain was torn, God’s presence became available to everybody anytime and there is no need to bring sins to high priests anymore.  Jesus Christ became the ultimate high priest (Hebrews 9:6-15; 10:1-18).  Not only Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the Kingdom of heaven, but He also went there to prepare places for His followers (John 14:1-6).  When humans accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they receive their citizenship of heaven, as eternal life is God’s free gift to those who follow Jesus and do His will wholeheartedly (Romans 5:6-21).

Meditate on Titus 3:3-8 and Romans 6:23, and ask yourself this question: “As God’s free gift is eternal life through faith in Jesus and Jesus’ followers receive their citizenship of heaven, how shall we have our eternal lives to full potential?”

Springing Up!!

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

How many of us like the past things, such as good and awarding experiences?  I don’t know about you, but I do.  I graduated the Bachelor of Applied Theology on May 24^th, 2025.  It is so crucial to get the knowledge of God as much as possible, so I wanted to go on doing Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Theology and then, Master of Applied Theology, if possible.  I even posted what I will write about in my thesis on Facebook before the graduation. Although assessments were challenging, I loved digging deep to Scriptures and theology through scholarly sources.  Biblical and theological studies deepen my relationship with the Triune God through faith in Jesus.  However, as my Grade Point Average score is low, it has not been possible to further my studies in Carey Graduate School, which includes Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Theology and Master of Applied Theology.  Nonetheless, I am glad that I also took ‘Introduction to Christian Leadership,’ the micro-credential paper, even after the Bachelor of Applied Theology.  Besides studies, I love Carey community because it is one of the communities of Jesus-centredness.

The context of Isaiah 43:18-19 is that Isaiah prophesises God’s mighty power in comparison with His redemption of Israel by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, where they were held as captives (c.f. Exodus 13:17-14:31).  As God desired Israel to believe and trust in Him entirely, He wants them to forget His former redemption to them.  This does not mean they should literally forget it and not to inscribe on records of God’s works for their future generations.  Of course, they should note His former miracle for them, but what God meant is He has more miracles to show His faithfulness to Israel, instead of just former one. Although the Israelites were not perfect, they were God’s children.

As God has created all of us, we are His children as long as we believe in Jesus Christ (John 1:9-13).  Although Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as an atonement of our sins is the greatest story in the history, God wants us not to dwell on it and His past miraculous works upon us forever.  Instead, these are the reminders of His faithfulness upon us and God desires us to move forward through faith in Jesus (Philippians 3:10-14).

In my case, I love Carey Baptist College so much and wanted to stay over there forever.  However, I guess God has closed doors on me to do postgraduate studies and it is time to put my faith into practice that I can be a Christian author.  Hence, I believe improving my devotional-writing to the point that I can contact publishers and get ready to publish 1-year devotional booklet publicly, instead of just online, is my first step of becoming a Christian author.  Although I cannot go into Carey Graduate School to study further after my Bachelor, I firmly believe God is not done with me yet and trust His plan for me, even though I cannot see it completely yet.  In fact, His knowledge and wisdom are unsearchable (Romans 11:33-36).  It is up to us whether we believe and trust Him through faith in Jesus entirely or not, regardless of the level of our belief and trust (Hebrews 11:1, 6).  This is what following Jesus and trusting God means.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Meditate on Jeremiah 29:11-13 and 2 Corinthians 5:17, and ask yourself this question: “Am I only relying on God’s past works/miracles through faith in Christ, and if so, how I can move forward with Him?”

The Seal of the Spirit of Truth!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” – Ephesians 1:3-14

Don’t we want to know the truth about everything? I often read or heard that many people seek the truth about whatever it is they are looking for. One main reason for this probably is all lies lead to misconceptions. I knew this but I guess I was not a fan of truth. Well, I was but not keen to research everything as researching takes time. Before I learned that researching is vital for becoming a teacher, I used my own theology that I received from the Holy Spirit to write devotionals. The Spirit always has been prompting me to write devotionals so that I have decided to become a Christian writer someday. The reason I write devotionals for others is to encourage them spiritually. If I am an encourager of the word of God, I believe I am a Bible teacher, practically. I noticed that researching is so crucial for the Bible teachers because commentaries, which are like study book for God’s word, are full of gathered thoughts of many theologians and we know two or more persons are better than one. After knowing what commentaries are and a couple of semesters at Carey Baptist College, I started to love commentaries. I literally want to buy all different kinds of commentaries as they are precise for teaching God’s word to people. Right now, I am a premium member of Tecarta Bible which allows people to access many commentaries/study bibles, etc.

The reason that Apostle Paul calls the gospel of Jesus Christ as the message of truth is because of the sealing of the Holy Spirit. When a person put a seal onto something, it illustrates how genuine the person is. In other words, a seal is a guaranteeing mark. Our minds are not strong to comprehend the truth of God so we need the Holy Spirit, who is also known as God’s Spirit, as we read the word of God. A commentator says, “The conviction that believers have in the truth of the Word of God does not come from themselves but from the Spirit, who gives their consciences assurance and takes away all doubt.” God did not pour His Spirit into us so that we can be satisfied with our own desires. He poured His Spirit into us and for us to be able to understand His Word. While ago, I was highly addicted to a game that I thought God was breathing on me through His Spirit. Although there are other reasons that I deleted that game, this had to be one of the crucial reasons that I deleted the game.

However, Paul also calls the gospel of Christ as the gospel of salvation.  The gospel brings salvation to people through God’s power and through the Spirit, they are being made righteous (Romans 1:16-17). It is also the Spirit, who renews their minds to obey Him. (Romans 12:1-2). We don’t have to strive really hard to listen to God and obey Him but just have the willingness to obey Him as God opens our hearts through His Spirit. As we are reconciled to God through the Spirit, the Holy Spirit guarantees our future inheritance, which is eternal life in Him (Romans 8:9-13). Although my mind is limited, I really need to remember God’s Spirit has been put into me to understand His Word and so that my desires could be transformed into God’s. After all, all of us have been created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).

Meditate on Romans 8:1-17 and the whole passage of John 14 and ask yourself these questions: “Am I truly sealed with the Holy Spirit? If so, how can I prove this?”

Hope on Becoming for the Praise of Jesus' Glory!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. – Ephesians 1:3-12 NIV

According to Google, the definition of ‘hope’ is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.” In other words, hope is similar to the definition of ‘dream.’ Dream is “a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.” My examples of hope are that since I manage my money now, I hope I can flat soon with those who love to do life and faith together. I also hope I’m able to save up my money and go to South Korea and New York to visit my family or even to a country like Australia, where my friends are. With hope and dream, most of us strive to make a particular thing a reality and this produces an expectation that one’s life will be fulfiled.

However, there is another meaning of ‘hope.’ According to the theological dictionary, Christian hope is based on “God’s covenant faithfulness and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as known by the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.”  One of God’s promises for them is to spend with Him eternally in His Kingdom. Due to this hope, believers in Christ live for “the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12). Living for the glory of Jesus provides righteousness of God’s people (Colossians 3:1-4). Therefore, Christian hope is a living hope that allows believers to focus on reality about God’s faithfulness rather than just wishful thinking. 1 Peter 1:3-5 reads,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

As mentioned above, the main part of God’s plan for believers is that they may receive the eternal inheritance through their faith in Christ. According to Romans 6:23, eternal life is God’s free gift to them, regardless of what they have done or will do in the future. Let us hold firm of this eternal inheritance and live for the glory of God so that He may be glorified through us!

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 15 and think how you can be for the praise of Jesus’ glory.

The Ultimate Will of God!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” – Ephesians 1:3-10 NIV

A long time ago, I thought that evangelism is the only way we can participate in the mission of God since I thought the main part of the Great Commission from Jesus Christ is just to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). I think I got a gift of encouraging others spiritually, so I thought I could do both. According to the theological dictionary, ‘evangelism’ is “The sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ through a variety of means.” However, I also learnt that, in order to evangelise, I should not use theological words at all as non-believers cannot understand them. My mentor told me that I have a gift of teaching. After a short while, I realised that she is right and I have more enthusiasm for it. One of my closest friends also taught me that I cannot evangelise and teach at the same time as my writing does not flow if I do both. Nonetheless, the mission of God includes teaching as well (Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 4:11-13). However, I am willing to learn about evangelism as I desire that gift as well. The main reason for this is that my number one wish is that everybody would be reconciled to God and others (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

As God has been tremendously merciful to all of us, God desperately wants us to be united with Him and others through Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:1-11). More than that, He desires to have the entire universe since He has created everything. In other words, God’s wish is to restore everything in the way it was in the beginning by gathering all things in Christ (Colossians 1:15-20). Since Jesus is complete God and human, He is the head of all creation, whether it is in heaven or on earth. The way how Jesus Christ can be unified with us is by the Holy Spirit. A commentary reads,

He [Christ] unites humanity to Spirit and places the Spirit in humanity. Being Himself made the fountainhead of the Spirit, Christ gives the Spirit to be the head of humanity. Thus, through the Son [Christ] by the Spirit we ourselves now see and hear and speak.

God’s Spirit is the source that establishes Christ as the mediator between God and man. Therefore, He had to send the Spirit down to those who are willing to believe that Jesus is the Lord and Saviour when He is seated at the right hand of God in heavenly realms, in order for us to be unified with God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 states that things of God have been revealed to believers by His Spirit.

Meditate on the whole passage of 1 Corinthians 2 and think of the ways the Spirit of God has been revealed to you.