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.