convergence of divine wills

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Ephesians 1:11-12 (JDV)

Ephesians 1:11 In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan1 of the one who achieves2 everything in agreement with the purpose3 of his preference,

Ephesians 1:12 so that we who were first to put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory.

convergence of divine wills

When we talk about the will of God, it can get a bit confusing. One of the reasons for this is that we are not very specific when we use the term. Sometimes we mean what God prefers – his preference (θέλημα). Sometimes we mean what he has planned to occur – his plan (πρόθεσις). Other times we mean the ultimate purpose (βουλή) for which he has predestined us and planned our destiny.

Paul uses all three words for will in verse 11. His point is that God’s ultimate plan (πρόθεσις) has brought him and his missionary team to that point of time and that place so that they could reach the Ephesians for Christ. What God wants to happen (θέλημα) is for the Ephesians to believe the gospel, so that his ultimate glory that he purposed (βουλή) will occur.

Lord, you have reached us with your gospel, so we know we are part of your plan. Help us to do what you want now, so that our lives bring you glory forever.

1πρόθεσις

2ἐνεργέω

3βουλή

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universe reboot

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Ephesians 1:7-10 (JDV)

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our violations,1 according to the riches of his favor

Ephesians 1:8 that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of his preference, according to his good intention that he determined2 to do in Christ

Ephesians 1:10 as a commission3 for the right season4 – to bring everything together in Christ, both things in the sky5 and things on the land6 in him.

universe reboot

It seems that Paul is using sacrifice terminology here, but there are a few new twists. Most obviously, the blood being poured out is Christ’s blood, because only his death atones for our sins and redeems us. But notice also that the blood and forgiveness and favor is being poured out on us, not the altar. God is performing the sacrifice on our behalf. This is the gospel in Old Testament terms. Everyone in Christ benefits from this sacrifice.

God brought everything together by this one act of favor. He rebooted the universe at Calvary, and we are the beneficiaries of that caring act.

1παράπτωμα

2προτίθημι

3οἰκονομία

4καιρός

5οὐρανός

6γῆ

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the One Cared About

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Ephesians 1:3-6 (JDV)

Ephesians 1:3 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be applauded,1 who has endorsed2 us with every spiritual endorsement3 in the sky realms4 in Christ

Ephesians 1:4 when5 he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be devoted and blameless in care6 before him.

Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good intention7 of his preference,

Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of his glorious favor that he lavished on us in the One Cared About.8

the One Cared About

There is a tendency to see the message of Ephesians as being all about us – a treatise on the Christian church. We – the church – are endorsed, chosen, predestined to be adopted. It is true that there is a lot of ecclesiology in this letter, but Paul makes it very clear in this early section that everything we are or have ambition to be is all because of Jesus Christ. We are endorsed in Christ. We are chosen in him to be blameless before him. We are predestined to be adopted through Jesus Christ. He is the One Cared About. Everything God did or does for us is because of his love for Christ.

Father, thank you for your divine love for your Son, which results in our present blessing and future hope.

1εὐλογητός

2εὐλογέω

3εὐλογία

4ἐπουράνιος

5καθώς

6 ἀγάπη

7εὐδοκία

8ἀγαπάω

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preference and favor

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Ephesians 1:1-2 (JDV)

Ephesians 1:1 Paul, a missionary1 of Christ Jesus by God’s preference:2 To the faithful devotees3 in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

Ephesians 1:2 Favor4 to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

preference and favor

Paul emphasizes God’s sovereignty in this salutation. What mattered the most is not what Paul wanted, nor what the Ephesian Christians wanted, but what God preferred – who he chooses to favor.

We live in a generation that encourages us to go for what we want – to not be satisfied with someone else’s plans and purposes for us. We could choose to live our lives like that – living them to suit ourselves. Or, we could choose God’s favor and peace. That kind of life comes from yielding to God’s preference.

Lord, teach us to know and yield to your preference.

1ἀπόστολος

2θέλημα

3ἅγιος

4χάρις

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then you will know

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Joel 3:17-21 (JDV)

Joel 3:17 Then you will know that I am Yahveh your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and illegals1 will never overrun it again.

Joel 3:18 In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will issue from Yahveh’s house, watering the Valley of Acacias.

Joel 3:19 Egypt will become desolate, and Edom an open desert, because of the violence done to the people of Judah in whose land they shed innocent blood.

Joel 3:20 But Judah will be lived in forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

Joel 3:21 I will have avenged those who have been murdered, which I have not yet avenged, because Yahveh dwells in Zion.

then you will know

Joel had prophesied that his nation would be overrun by illegals committing violent acts upon its people. But his last words give hope that the Lord will end that reign of oppression and murder. The bloodshed will be avenged, and then the nation will know that he is Yahveh.

Thankfully we do not all experience that kind of violent oppression. But we can all experience the kind of deliverance Joel prophesied. We have to be willing to trust God to deliver us in his timing.

How can we know that God is going to rescue us? We will know when it happens. Until then, we have to believe that God is who he says he is in the Bible, and trust him to rescue us eventually. That is biblical faith.

1זָר

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wrong team

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Joel 3:12-16 (JDV)

Joel 3:12 Let the nations be roused and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, because there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

Joel 3:13 Swing the sickle because the harvest is ripe. Come and trample the grapes because the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because the wickedness of the nations is substantial.

Joel 3:14 Uproars,1 uproars in the valley of decision! You see, the day of Yahveh is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will cease their shining.

Joel 3:16 Yahveh will roar from Zion and make his voice heard from Jerusalem; sky and land will shake. But Yahveh will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the Israelites.

wrong team

I don’t watch a lot of sports, but if I do watch a game, it is usually because someone I know is on the team. If I know no one on either team, I find it hard to root for anyone, because if I did back a team, I would want it to be the winning team.

When the leaders of the nations surrounding Joel’s nation looked for strength and encouragement, they prayed to the sun and moon and stars – they sought out idols representing the sky above them and the land beneath them. Now, Yahveh speaks out through his prophet to these idolatrous nations. He tells them that those light bearers are all going to grow dark, and the sky and land will reverberate when Yahveh roars in anger. They will have no stronghold left. Yahveh himself will be a refuge and stronghold for his people, but the nations who relied on lesser gods will discover that they backed the wrong team.

Lord, our trust is in you.

1המוֹן

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the coming big one

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Joel 3:9-11 (JDV)

Joel 3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: Commit to war; rouse the warriors; let all the men of war muster and go up!

Joel 3:10 Form your plows into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.”

Joel 3:11 Hurry, all you surrounding nations; gather yourselves. Bring down your warriors there, Yahveh.

the coming big one

War is a terrible thing, but it is also inevitable in this case. The nations who will have invaded and decimated Joel’s nation will see their days on the battlefield as well. Those who lived by the sword had better be prepared to die by the sword, and no one will be exempt.

Joel’s words also suggest that great battle at the end of the age. The element of hurry suggests a significant event that rouses all the nations to gather themselves quickly for an assault on the Holy Land. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zephaniah speak of this battle as well. John calls it “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” and says it will happen at a place called “Armageddon.”1

In Joel’s context, his words were meant as encouragement for a plundered people who anticipate being devastated by foreign nations. He encouraged them to keep in mind that one of these wars will result in the big one, the one that changes everything. God will not allow injustice to reign permanently.

Thank you Lord for the peace you will bring by your coming judgment.

1Isa. 13:3; Ezek. 38:15-16; Zeph. 3:8; Rev. 16:14-16.

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the true score

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Joel 3:4-8 (JDV)

Joel 3:4 And also: what are you to me – Tyre, Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia? Are you getting retaliation1 or trying to get even with me? I will quickly bring retaliation on your heads.

Joel 3:5 You see, you took my silver and gold and carried my finest treasures to your temples.

Joel 3:6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks to remove them far from their own territory.

Joel 3:7 Watch, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them; I will bring retaliation on your heads.

Joel 3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation, because Yahveh has spoken.

the true score

Every evil empire who has ever invaded another land has claimed some excuse for doing so. No doubt Tyre and Sidon and the Philistines had claimed that they deserved to dominate Joel’s nation in retaliation for being dominated after the Israelite conquest. But the God of all justice will only tolerate such excuses for a time. He will set things right. He will reverse their course.

What injustice have you experienced? God knows the true score. He may have reasons for allowing what you have experienced, but he also has plans for rescuing you out of it. Trust him.

Lord, we know you know the true score. We are choosing to trust you to make things right.

1גְּמוּל

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all lives matter

Posted on August 20, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Joel 3:1-3 (JDV)

Joel 3:1 Watch, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

Joel 3:2 I will gather all the nations and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there because of my people, my inheritance Israel. The nations have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided up my land.

Joel 3:3 They cast lots for my people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.

all lives matter

Joel looks ahead to a bleak future when his nation will be scattered, and young lives will be ripped from their homeland and traded like loose change as if their hopes and dreams did not matter.

The prophet gives his nation a truth to sustain them during these dark generations. That truth is that this long period of injustice will come to an end, and those nations who do this will be held accountable. There will be judgment. They might think that the lives of these boys and girls do not matter. They do. All lives matter to our creator, and he will hold accountable those who exploit and destroy them.

Father of all, show us how to respect the lives that matter to you – all lives.

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everyone with skin

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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Joel 2:28-32 (JDV)

Joel 2:28 After this I will pour out my Breath on everyone with skin;1 then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.

Joel 2:29 I will even pour out my Breath on the male and female slaves in those days.

Joel 2:30 I will display wonders in the sky and on the land: blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

Joel 2:31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of Yahveh comes.

Joel 2:32 Then everyone who calls on the name of Yahveh will be saved, because there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as Yahveh promised, among the survivors Yahveh calls.

everyone with skin

Joel is describing the great revival movement which began in Jerusalem among a group of Jews in the 1st century of the common era. The event which coincided with the celebration of Jewish Pentecost led to a new inclusiveness. The powerful creative life giving Breath of Almighty God was no longer just to come upon a few faithful men. He was poured out on everyone with skin. The rescue this outpouring signified was to reach the sons and daughters of Judaism (crossing gender barriers), spill over to the male and female slaves (crossing social barriers), and then spill out onto the Gentiles (crossing ethnic barriers). The miracles which accompanied this amazing event would continue to mark this new thing God was doing.

It hasn’t always been easy for us Christians to figure that out. We are still prone to show favoritism to one ethnic group, one age group, or one social status, or one sex. It grieves our God when we do that. He wants to reach everyone with skin, and he has no problem animating and empowering Jews and Gentiles, young and old, professionals and manual laborers, men and women.

Lord, purge us of the traditionalism that wants to dominate people whom you have liberated and empowered.

1בָּשָׂר

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