One morning, as I recited Ephesians 2:18, I thought of an evening in 1968. Cruising along in Steubenville, Ohio, with three of my friends, the music of Jackie Wilson blared from the radio. We sang, ŅYour love, liftinÕ me higher, than IÕve ever been lifted before. So keep it up, quench my desire, and IÕll be at your side forever more.Ó As teens, we were looking for love, never once thinking of God or His love as we sped toward the Market Street Bridge. Little did I know that those lofty words would add such incredible depth to my life almost 40 years later.
As I pondered this verse, I thought of Mount Everest, as well, the highest point on Earth. Yet, its majesty pales in comparison to the heights Paul lifts us to in this summit of Christian theology. Line after line, Paul has been lifting us higher and higher, finally bringing us to one of the most amazing statements in all of Scripture. We have access to the Father!
The Trinity is painted here, yet that is not what peaks our attention. The pinnacle is fellowship with God the Father. We have been blessed by the FatherÕs work, for He initiated our salvation. We have been the recipients of grace through the sacrificial death of Christ Š our bridge to God. Jesus purchased us from the slave market with His blood. After that, the Holy Spirit drew us to God, gave us the faith to believe, and sealed us with His mark. All three members of the Trinity - our one God - worked to deliver us from the power of sin and the kingdom of Satan. All was done so we could have access. Now, only, can we truly pray.
That is the most thrilling aspect of the work that was done. Whether we are Jew or Gentile, we have access to the Father. Our salvation, then, is more than forgiveness of sin and eternal life; it is fellowship with the Father through His Son by His Spirit.
Priests of old never had this fellowship. Only the high priest could enter the holiest of holies in the tabernacle, and he could only enter once per year with blood as he went. The priestÕs work never ended, but Jesus is now interceding for us - seated at His FatherÕs side.
For believers, the reality is this: we can have deep fellowship with the Father through the Son by the Spirit. As a child has free access to a parent, we have access to God the Father Š forever more Š as His children. This, beloved, is our zenith starting in this life Š deep amity!
Mountain Time Moment
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:18 NKJV
Entire article with verse links at:
http://home.comcast.net/~flgrace/Ephesians218.pdf
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