in Him

For the past few years, our little church has been reading through the Bible in chronological order. We took the outline put together by the Blue Letter Bible that schedules the whole reading for a year. I think it took us almost 3 years to make it through the first time... and this time through is taking even longer! I have to tell you, though--it is a wonderful study, and you're invited to join us. We meet in the tiny white building across from the salebarn in Green Forest. Breakfast and coffee at about 10:15, then the study right after. Come sit around the table with us. Eat, talk, laugh, cry, and truly study God's Word.

Right now, we are starting Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I was reading through the first three chapters this morning in preparation for our study this weekend. When Pop introduced the letter Sunday, he asked us to read and take note of how many times Paul wrote about things being "in Christ." Just in the first few verses, you can see why he pointed it out. If you look at verses 3-14, the focus is almost entirely on Jesus and what He does.

That's become somewhat of a foreign concept in today's world. More and more, it seems like we see faith as something that's all about us--what do I feel? What do I believe? What do I think is true? What does God do for me? How will faith make my life better? Or on a different level (and stepping on my own toes here), what do I do to earn God's favor? How do I keep proving that I deserve what God has given me? How do I prove myself?

Paul started his letter by addressing "those trusting in Messiah." The thing is, though, that's where the idea of what the people were doing stopped. He immediately switched gears:

~Blessed be God... who has blessed us in Messiah
~He chose us... in love
~He predestined us... through Messiah
~to the praise of His grace with which He favored us
~In Him we have redemption
~His grace... that He lavished on us
~He made known... His will
~His good pleasure... that He planned
~He will bring all things together in the Messiah
~In Him we were chosen
~He keeps working out His plan
~We are for His praise
~In Him we are sealed
~He is the guarantee of our inheritance

 I'm an incredibly independent person. Sometimes that's a strength, like when I needed to fix fence by myself after Nathan had surgery or when I had to trust that I could figure out how to pull a kid when a goat was having a difficult labor. But like all our personality traits, strengths can easily be our weaknesses. When my independence becomes a weakness, it means that I get it in my head that everything happening in life depends on me and my ability to do all the things. That can become how I view faith, as well. In those times, I start telling myself that God's love and favor depend on what I can do to please Him. If I fail, His love for me will fail. If I'm not doing enough to further His kingdom, it must mean that I'm not good enough for Him. If I don't live up to my end of the bargain, He won't either.

But here, Paul was reminding the Ephesians of something incredibly important, incredibly simple, and yet incredibly hard for me to cling onto--

It isn't my faith or my actions that matter to my salvation. It is simply Him.

All of my striving, all of my best effort, all of my accomplishments? They aren't worth anything. I can't move myself a single step closer to the throne of the King of Glory. I can't make myself worth any more to Him. I can't make myself look better, make myself worth loving, make Him think more of me.

The only reason I know that I will spend eternity with my Creator? Because He chose me. He looked down on me in the middle of all my mess--the ugly stuff I keep hidden from the world--and He said that I was worth dying for. He didn't weigh all my good and bad, then make a decision based on which there was more of. He simply loved me. Despite all the times I've failed Him or hurt Him, He loved me.

His mercy.
His grace.
His love.

Not me.

There's a song by Tauren Wells with this line in the chorus:

"It's hard truth and ridiculous grace
To be known fully known and loved by You"

How true is that? It is hard knowing that God knows me fully--all the hidden ugly stuff, too--and yet loves me so much that He chose to die in my place. What kind of ridiculous grace is that?