Monday, August 19, 2013
A Little Different Than You May Have Thought
Mark Roberts on Ephesians 1:18
That just makes me sad.
Are we really so self centered that we are disappointed that we are wholly God's? In a world that seems to want to do little more than sit on its behind and collect public payments, what could be better than being God's where He will supply richly.
I cannot help but reflect that we really have become, as the serpent said in Genesis, "like God." We expect God to pay homage to us, not the other way around. I recently heard a story about someone in their 30's still living with their parents that complained when the parents decided to start charging rent. What incredibly ungrateful creatures we are. What incredibly self-centered creatures we are. I am honestly dumb-struck here.
God owes us nothing and yet He has given us everything, and we have the unmitigated gall to try and renegotiate the terms.
God, please save us from ourselves.
hubris pride thanksgiving
But the actual language of verse 18 points to another interpretation, one that seems, at first, to be less wonderful than what we expected, but turns out to be even more glorious after all. The Greek phrase under consideration reads very literally, "[that you may know] what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the holy ones" (1:18). Now, "his inheritance" could mean, "the inheritance we will receive from God." But the more natural interpretation of the language would be "the inheritance he will receive." And what is this inheritance? Us! You and I and all of God's people are his inheritance. What we learned in verse 11 about being God's inheritance is reiterated in verse 18. Paul prays that we know God, and, in particular, that we know we are God's own inheritance.Mark then goes on to describe why we should not be disappointed that instead of getting something, we ARE the something.
That just makes me sad.
Are we really so self centered that we are disappointed that we are wholly God's? In a world that seems to want to do little more than sit on its behind and collect public payments, what could be better than being God's where He will supply richly.
I cannot help but reflect that we really have become, as the serpent said in Genesis, "like God." We expect God to pay homage to us, not the other way around. I recently heard a story about someone in their 30's still living with their parents that complained when the parents decided to start charging rent. What incredibly ungrateful creatures we are. What incredibly self-centered creatures we are. I am honestly dumb-struck here.
God owes us nothing and yet He has given us everything, and we have the unmitigated gall to try and renegotiate the terms.
God, please save us from ourselves.
hubris pride thanksgiving
