Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Greetings, dear people.
Beautiful morning again. And the starry and moonlit morning that met me before daylight when I did my little walk from the house to the studio was spectacular. How can one not feel very small at the spectacle of such infinite space? How can one not worship?
I need to rush again. I have a 10am appointment with a naturopath in Portland…besides a million other things to do. So I hope you will have a great day while I’m taking on mine.
Be blessed. Keep looking up.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Try counting the number of times the expression “in Christ” (or its equivalent) appears in this brief reading. In this New International Version, I tally 11 times. Study notes in my Bible also indicate that this expression appears 36 times in this letter to the Ephesians, and 160 times in all of Paul’s writings. If repetition implies importance, I think we have something very important here. The core message of it is quite in harmony with the general New Testament presentation of the Gospel. What’s the main idea? It is both simple and profound. It is the TRUTH that ONLY IN CHRIST do we know and gain the blessings and benefits of God’s incredible plan of salvation. So let’s review this bottom line of the Gospel once again: CHRIST IS NOT JUST A PLAN FOR ACCESSING GOD, HE IS THE PLAN. And we can be sure that Jesus’ awesome claim in John 14:6 is no understatement at all: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I admit that this is a theme we have dealt with often in these readings. But I think we cannot touch on it too often. I hope you agree.
Please note that the counterpart to being “in Christ” is to be “in Adam”—or a continued bondage to the old natural sin nature. We could list lots of Bible references that present this idea, but at least consider 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” The old status of being “in Adam” is characterized by disobedience, sin, ignorance, lethargy, guilt, fear, and death. But the new life of being “in Christ” is characterized by new power to live in victory over sin, life in the Spirit, righteousness, love, peace, and eternal life. Wow! What a contrast! Let’s be reminded that it all boils down to a matter of CHOICE.