For this reason...
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Today we’re kicking off an extended series of Casket Empty. This week we will be making our final orders, so please if you haven’t yet ordered a timeline, do so. Our first focus will be on CASKET, and it’s an acronym for the Old Testament:
C - Creation
A - Abraham
S - Sinai
K - Kings
E - Exile
T - Temple
The second part of the acronym CASKET EMPTY is EMPTY and describes the New Testament:
E - Expectation
M - Messiah
P - Pentecost
T - Teaching
Y - Yet-to-come
When I was in college one of my professors was adamant that whether we were believers or not that we should all read the Bible - especially the Old Testament and the Gospels. His claim was that if we didn’t we would miss out on a lot of background stories alluded to throughout literature.
But the Bible is more than that. The Bible is not just a collection of stories, it gives us history.
History = His Story
History = His Story
And that is why we are going to be doing this series. Most of us here are fairly familiar with our Bibles, that is clear in our conversations. But we can all use a refresher.
My primary reason for doing this series is not because we need a refresher, but it is central to my role as your pastor. That role is to continue to encourage you in your walk with our Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
For this reason...
For this reason...
“For this reason...” Paul begins our passage and it is a recurring phrase in this letter. As he opens his letter he writes to the Ephesians,
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
He goes on in v. 11
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
I’m sort of going down a bit of a rabbit hole here, but I promise I’ll resurface. Remember we’re looking for the reason Paul has here - and he begins the next verse, vs. 15 with those very words. “For this reason...”
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
I apologize for the long excerpts there, but that last one is one sentence! And as you read it, it sounds a lot like what we read in chapter 3. But what is the specific reason of “For this reason…? It is summed up in one word. Grace!
Paul in chapter 2 v. 8& 9 writes:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
As Paul writes, we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked (2:1) following the course of this world, …we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind.
And then there is a great turn of events in 2:4
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
The truth is God is at work in us. And as God is at work, God has been at work, and God will be at work in us. If we believe God was, is, and shall be at work - what is that work, and how does that connect back to the Old Testament. THAT is exactly what we are going to be exploring as we look at the CASKET portion of our studies.
God has been at work from the beginning. We see it in the narrative of Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And the way that we understand those first four words in the English determine how we understand the entirety of Scripture.
Wherever you are in your understanding of Scripture, wherever you are in your faith journey, wherever you are in your knowledge of Scripture, I hope that you will join us for this series.
Here are somethings that we will be offering during the coming months while we journey through this series.
Every Sunday morning during the series, I will be preaching on some aspect of the CASKET EMPTY acronym, beginning next week with C - Creation.
After Next Sunday, beginning Sept. 29th, I will be here early on Sundays for a time of discussion where we can explore answers to your questions together.
Wednesday nights our Bible Study will also be exploring the sermon.
There is also the possibility of other groups if there is interest. Perhaps a lunch time group meeting either for a brown bag lunch here at someone’s home, or wherever. Perhaps you’d be interested in hosting/moderating such a group. If so, please let me know.
The prayer that Paul says he prays is such a deep prayer, and it is my prayer for you. In fact it is one of the central calls of what I see as my role as your pastor.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
More than anything I desire for you to come to live in Christ to the fullest, for what purpose? Paul gives it in the following verses:
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Leading people in their walk with Christ is central to the way I see myself responding to the Great Commission of makeing disciples.
And of course that great benediction that I use and adapted form most Sundays:
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
This is the reason.
AMEN