Tuesday, October 2, 2018 – Ephesians 6:24

Grace to Those Who Love the Lord Jesus Christ, Pt. 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwR0nvQNxYg

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

www.facebook.com/GraceDoctrine

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.  

Eph 6:24, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.”

Paul closes with a statement about our personal relationship with Christ; we ought to love Him, i.e., be occupied with Him, on a daily basis.

As you know, in both the Old and New Testaments, we are commanded to love God with our all, Deut 6:5; Joshua 22:5; Mat 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke10:27.

Deut 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Joshua 22:5, “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Luke 10:27, “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself’.”

In our passage, Eph 6:24, the phrase, “those who love our Lord Jesus Christ,” is a Christological adaptation of the common expression “those who love God,” found in the OT. The OT promised God’s grace blessings motivated by His love to all who loved Him, Ex 20:6; Deut 5:10; 7:9; Neh 1:5; Dan 9:4; cf. 1 Kings 8:23.

Deut 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

1 Kings 8:23, “He said, ‘O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart’.”

Therefore, there was a promise of some kind of blessing in their lives by the love of God, when they expressed their love for Him. This same concept was carried over in the NT regarding the reciprocal love relationship we are to have with God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in Rom 8:28; 1 Cor 2:9; 8:3; James 1:12; 2:5.

Rom 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

1 Cor 2:9, “But just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him’.”

James 1:12, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

James 2:5, “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”

As such, we too, who are expressing our love for God towards Him during this Age of Grace, are blessed by God as a result. And, these promises also apply specifically to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, (i.e., are occupied with Christ consistently, experientially), as noted in our verse.

Throughout this book, Paul has referred to God’s love for believers, Eph 2:4, Christ’s love for them, Eph 3:19; 5:2, 25, believers’ love for one another, Eph 1:15; 4:2, believing husbands’ love for their wives, Eph 5:25, 28, 33, and believers’ love in general, Eph 1:4; 3:17; 4:15, 16; 5:2; 6:23. Yet, this is the only place where our love for Christ is made explicit. In this way, the letter closes with a stress on believers’ personal relationship and commitment to Christ. As such, it is important not only that we are aware of the objective benefits of the great salvation God has provided in Christ, but also that we have a subjective response to Him called, “MVA Love.” Our response of allegiance to our Lord Jesus Christ is that we actively express our love for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. And, as our passage indicates, when we do, the grace of God will be in our lives.

Love for Christ includes adoring admiration of His person, desire for His presence in our lives, zeal for His glory, and devotion to His service. It does not need to be ecstatic, but it must control us.

So, this last sentence speaks yet again of our union with Christ but in terms of our occupation and love for Him. We have already been told in previous passages about the mystery that lies behind and above; the Purpose, the Grace, the quickening Power, the Sealing, and the Presence. But here we are asked:

“Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ?”

“Is He your joy and crown?”

“Do you rejoice in His glory?”

“Do you delight in His Name?”

“Do you cherish His will?”

“Do you look for His appearing?”

“Is He to you as Bridegroom to Bride,”

“Is He, this wonderful Being in your life here and now, dear to you?”

“Is He cherished, as the ‘Object of your first desire, so that His holy Presence sways your inmost being?”

Because we have received new life through Jesus Christ by grace through faith alone, we are to live out that new life of love by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we yield to His transforming grace, we can be assured that the Spirit will do everything necessary to help us wrap up well. Then we will be able to say the same words Paul said when he wrote his final words to Timothy, at that time the pastor of the church in Ephesus, in 2 Tim 4:7-8,“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

If you have all the good of Christianity but are without love, it would be like a “gold setting from which the diamond has dropped out.” (Henry Ward Beecher). Cf. 1 Cor 13:1-3.

1 Cor 13:1-3, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” Cf. 1 Cor 16:22.