Ephesians 4.1-10 (6)
Pray Psalm 27.11-13.
Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Sing Psalm 27.11-13.
(St. Denio: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise)
LORD, teach us; LORD, lead us because of our foes!
Hear, LORD, when we plead for release from their woes.
Had we not believed all Your goodness to see,
our heart sorely grieved and in turmoil would be.
Read Ephesians 4.1-10; meditate on verse 10.
Focus on the words “fill” and “all things”.
Preparation
1. Why did Christ ascend “far above the heavens”?
2. What is He working to fill? With what?
Meditation
Exalted in glory, ruling all things by His Word of power, Jesus intends to fill all things with Himself (Eph. 1.22, 23). I can think of no more compelling or clarifying way of envisioning my life than this, that in all the moments of my life, whatever I am doing, thinking, feeling, saying, or contemplating, Jesus might be the substance of it all, filling all things in my life with Himself. Here is what that might look like:
Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Yes, the LORD will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway. Psalm 85.9-13
We must so pray and live that more of Jesus and less of us might be evident in and through us in all things at all times, that Jesus may be known in us and glorified in us, and that we may decrease into nothingness, making room for Him to be all in all in us. Do we want this? If we do, then we only want what Jesus does. If we do not, then as professing Christians, we have a problem.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1.1).
Beyond and before all creation, further out, further under, further around, God existed.
And that is where God is. That is what Jesus is filling up with Himself. Everywhere. “Exceedingly abundantly above all”, yes, than we can ask or think, but also above everything that we know about anywhere,
somewhere, everywhere—above and beyond all “wheres”.
Sixty-four years ago, the first man to go into outer space, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian man, a Christian, supposedly said, “I went up to space, but I did not encounter God.” But as it turns out, he never said that, as those words were put in his mouth by the atheistic leadership of the Soviet Union for whom he flew. However, the leaderships’ thinking sounds a lot like something the Pharisees came up with; as we recall, their genius rebuttal after Jesus’ resurrection was: “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept’” (Matt. 28.13). While you slept? What? That just begs so many questions. But I digress.
Even to look for God in the created space of the heavens is to think too small. Yes, God the Father certainly fills all in all; but He does not dwell within human parameters. Only the Holy Spirit, and of course the angels, traverse in this realm. And we are so grateful and thankful for that Gift of wisdom, and holy protection.
The Bible says that Jesus “ascended far above the heavens” (Eph. 4.10) and from there fills all things with Himself.
“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands;
The LORD is among them…in the Holy Place…
To Him Who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds.
O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He Who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God!” (Ps. 68.17, 33-35).
Above all powers, Above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Above all kingdoms, Above all thrones
Above all wonders the word has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth
(Baloche and LeBlanc, 1995)
“For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods” (1 Chron. 16.25).
“Exalted in glory, ruling all things by His Word of power, Jesus intends to fill all things with Himself.”
Reflection
1. How can you see that Jesus is at work within you, filling you with Himself?
2. What are some ways that He is working through you to fill your Personal Mission Field with Himself?
3. Why is Jesus filling all things with Himself?
When we hear of the ascension of Christ, it instantly strikes our minds that he is removed to a great distance from us; and so he actually is, with respect to his body and human presence. But Paul reminds us, that, while he is removed from us in bodily presence, he fills all things by the power of his Spirit. Wherever the right hand of God, which embraces heaven and earth, is displayed, Christ is spiritually present by his boundless power… John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Ephesians 4.10
Pray Psalm 27.14.
Wait on the Lord in prayer, seeking His face and quietly saying, “Lord Jesus Christ, fill all my life with Your goodness today” as you think about the day ahead. Use this as a “breathing prayer”—drawing your breath in to the comma, praying the rest as you exhale—throughout the day.
Sing Psalm 27.14.
(St. Denio: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise)
Wait, wait on the LORD; persevere in His grace.
Hold fast to His Word; seek His radiant face.
Be strong, set your heart to abide in His Word;
His grace He imparts; therefore, wait on the LORD.
T. M. and Susie MooreIf you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we begin to look at what the Scriptures say about justice. This week in our Read Moore podcast we wrap up our readings from the book, To Know Jesus. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
