Ephesians 3: 12
Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
I thought we might hangout in Ephesians 3 a bit more. We all know that the Apostle Paul had a revelation of Christ. Part of what makes the letter to the Ephesians so special is how on display that revelation is. Paul wrote this from prison. I often think that Paul’s imprisonment was for our good. Rather than travelling around setting up churches and speaking, he was forced to convey his thoughts via letter. What Satan meant for bad, God turned for good. It is, Romans 8: 28; lemons for lemonade. Anyway . . .
I see so much of the Apostle John’s revelation in Paul. Paul continued John’s revelation of God with us. He certainly understood about living our lives with and through both the Christ and the Father. In today’s passage, we can see how the life of faith in Christ and our life intertwined with him leads us to a bold and dynamic, full faith relationship lived in the very presence of the Father. Hallelujah! Because of Jesus, and equally importantly, because of our faith in him, we now have confident access to the Holy Presence of God.
The Passion Translation reads thus, “[W]e have boldness through him, and free access as kings before the Father because of our complete confidence in Christ’s faithfulness.” In reading this, one can feel Paul’s complete confidence in the person of Jesus as well as his faith, i.e. full belief, in the faithfulness and completeness of the Christ. He knew that our presence with the King is fully assured in Christ. Paul doesn’t have to humble himself with ridiculous gestures because his eyes are full of the magnificence of Jesus. To even talk about our worthiness, or lack thereof, is almost sinful. It is to take the focus off of Jesus and put it on ourselves. Absurd! It is he who is worthy and because he is so glorious and his faithfulness to the Father so profound, we can walk boldly into the throne room without a qualm. My big brother is the king of kings and I go with him. Who is going to be looking at me with Jesus in the room anyway? But, where he goes, I am always welcome.
If your heart doesn’t almost burst with love for this brother who is prince and king, you just need to see through Paul’s revelatory eyes more. When you see through Paul’s revelation, the glory of Christ so covers you that you shine as he does. Jesus gets on you. His glory shines all about and the Father is overjoyed at your presence. Jesus is the reason for the season, but we are the reason for the Christ. It’s crazy, but we are the reason there is a Christmas. Father sent Jesus down here to get us so that we could hang out in the throne room, no longer to be separated by sin, doubt and worldly distractions. The light has come and filled the room and all who love him are invited to the party, daily. It is a place of great joy and you are always accepted.
Go to Him, child. Go to the Father. Go sit upon His lap and gaze upon the face of love. Listen to the music. Sing aloud and with great joy. Glory to the world indeed, for the Christ has come and in his wake is laughter, singing and confident access to the King. Glory to God and I’ll see you in the throne room.
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