Work out your salvation (Philippians 2:12-18)

The Jeremy Lin problem

About a month ago, the New York Times published an op-ed piece entitled, “The Jeremy Lin Problem”. In case you don’t know who this is referring to, Jeremy Shu-How Lin is a 23-year old Asian-American basketball player who went unnoticed for most of his career up until February this year when he started leading the New Yorks in a string of wins, sparking the interest of sports fans within the United States and worldwide, in a phenomenon that has now widely come to be known as “Linsanity”. He is a graduate from Harvard University with a degree in economics (which explains why he is such a hit with the Tiger Mums). Unlike many basketball personalities, Jeremy does not use coarse language on or off the court but comes across in interviews as courteous, polite and is often heard commending his team-mates rather than putting them down.

Yet according to columnist David Brooks, Jeremy Lin has an anomaly; by which he is not talking about Jeremy’s ethnicity, education or athletic ability. You see, Jeremy Lin is a Christian, and the article suggests that his biggest anomaly - Jeremy’s greatest problem - is this: “He’s a religious person in professional sports”. David writes:

“The modern sports hero is competitive and ambitious. (Let’s say he’s a man, though these traits apply to female athletes as well). He is theatrical. He puts himself on display...This is what we go to sporting events to see. This sporting ethos pervades modern life and shapes how we think about business, academic and political competition.

But there’s no use denying — though many do deny it — that this ethos violates the religious ethos on many levels. The religious ethos is about redemption, self-abnegation and surrender to God.”

Notice how this doesn’t just apply to basketball and sports: “The sporting ethos... shapes how we think about business, academic and political competition.” The conflict that is described here applies to you as a student, as a businessman. It affects the way someone runs for political office (or treasurer of ABACUS). In any and every situation where you will need to prove yourself and deliver on a set of goals, this article is saying that your belief in God is going to trip you up and hold you back. Trusting in Jesus is incompatible with achievement in the workplace, or so the article suggests.

Our passage today begins with humility but ends with glory. Paul, who wrote this letter to the Christians at Philippi, focuses on the obedience, the sacrifice, the humility of Jesus Christ but from that centre of Christian faith, he urges us to work out our salvation; in other words, to strive. Right at the end, he points to the athlete and to the hard-working farmer as illustrations of what it means to live to God’s glory. It is a tension that the bible insists is authentic and essential for every believer. We need both - to trust Jesus for our salvation and to work out our salvation.

We will approach this passage under three headings:

1. Be faithful: God is present

2. Be confident: God is working

3. Be all in: God is rejoicing

Be faithful: God is present

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Philippians 2:12-13

Paul begins by telling his readers, This is something you already know. In fact, it’s what you have always been doing. Paul begins with their obedience, in the first instance, to him as their senior pastor. Paul looks back at the history he has had with these Christians and he smiles. “I thank God every time I remember you”(Philippians 1:3). While the NIV has “my dear friends” in verse 12, a better translation would be “loved ones.” This is the ultimate bromance. Here is a deep affection, a real connection, a partnership in the gospel.

Now, when Paul talks about obedience, he isn’t dealing with a church who is going, “Who does this guy think he is - telling us what to do?” No, he says You have always obeyed. But now, it is even more important that you continue in your obedience in my absence. Why? Because their ultimate obedience isn’t to Paul but towards God. “Not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence,” adding these words, with fear and trembling.

Obedience has a bad rap today. It is seen as foolish. It is considered dangerous. Our modern understanding of democracy and freedom encourages us to question any authority that sets itself up against popular opinion, to rebel against any power that suppresses the voice of the people. So when we read Paul’s words encouraging Christians to obey God with fear and trembling, it is possible that some of us imagine a harsh dictator oppressing his citizens using force and coercion. Yet what we need to realise is that Paul has just been describing Jesus Christ, exalted by God to the highest place as Lord and Judge because of his obedience - an obedience which verse 8 says, flows from humility and led to indignity, to a shameful death on the cross. His obedience is rooted in a loving relationship with God the Father. His obedience is empowered through a humble dependence on the Spirit of God. And Paul says, ours is the same.

That’s the why of obedience: we obey Jesus, who himself was obedient unto death. But now Paul deals with the questions of how and when. How are you obedient to God? When do you display your obedience to Jesus Christ?

The answer is not just when you’re in church. Not just when your leaders are around to give you a pat on the back for helping set up the sound system, for teaching the kids at Sunday school. If that is what you’ve been doing so far, Paul is saying, That’s good. Well done. But... But it is even more vital that you continue in obedience when there’s no one watching. “But now much more in my absence,” he writes.

In other words: Are you the same person on and off the court? If here in the Chinese Church with your brothers and sisters around, you are a gracious person, a loving brother, a caring sister, a helpful servant - would I see the same person on Monday morning, when you are in the office, when you are stuck in traffic, when you are revising for your exams at the Central Library, when you are at home with mum and dad, when clocks have switched over and you’ve had one hour less sleep. It is even more important for us as Christians to be obedient in the absence of authority because ultimately, we answer to God’s authority mediated through Jesus Christ. This is faithfulness. This is true obedience.

It is unfortunate when the topic of God’s authority is brought up only to justify rebelling against a human authority - like oppressive governments, dictators and the like. The bible teaches us as Christians to submit to authority; that there is no authority except that which God has established; and that he who rebels against authority, rebels against God (Romans 13:1-2). Some even find excuses within the bible to justify rebelling against church authority, citing passages like 1 Corinthians 4:4 (“It is the Lord who judges me”) while ignoring 1 Corinthians 5:12 (“Are you not to judge those inside?”), dealing with church discipline. Again, these troublemakers are not the ones Paul has in mind. Rather, Paul says of his friends in Philippi, You have always obeyed. Now do so even more in my absence.

The immediate context is authority over God’s church and accountability amongst God’s people. Paul as the founding pastor writes from prison, in chains. That is the reason for his absence. He is confident that he will be released soon (Philippians 1:25-26), but until then, he writes to this small congregation in the city of Philippi, encouraging them to remain faithful in the gospel.

How does that translate here in the Chinese Church? Two years ago, we had two senior pastors. Two years on, we have none. And it is tempting to put off our responsibilities as the Chinese Church until the next one is found. It is tempting to put off mission, prayer, devotion, evangelism, membership until a pastor is here, because really, some of us might think, That’s his responsibility. That is his job. Notwithstanding the importance the bible places on clear leadership within God’s church, especially with regards to the teaching of scripture, with regards to the accountability over people’s spiritual lives, isn’t this text saying to all of us - whether we are leaders or not - How are we being faithful to Jesus now? When Jesus returns on that final day and asks you for an accounting for your life, I sincerely hope you aren’t planning on giving the excuse, “Well, it’s not my fault. We didn’t have a pastor. That’s his job.”

Paul is telling us, Be faithful today. Learn obedience now. God is your sovereign judge. That phrase “with fear and trembling” recurs in the Old Testament describing man’s response to God’s final judgement (see Exodus 15:16). Most notable however is Psalm 2, where it is speaking not just of God’s enemies (though it does includes them as “the kings of the earth”), but calls them his servants; those who “serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11). Psalm 2 is the same psalm spoken by God at Jesus’ baptism and at his transfiguration, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” It recognises Jesus’ authority as God’s chosen King, the Christ. Meaning, for Christians today, our obedience to Jesus is not simply motivated by the final day of judgement - in dread and fear - but rather more so because of Jesus’ death on the cross, where he was exalted as the Christ. Christians therefore serve Jesus in love tempered with obedience, in joy sustained by reverence. Serve the LORD, the Psalmist says, with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Which is why, Paul doesn’t say Watch out for judgement! Rather, what he says next is Work out your salvation!

Be confident: God is working

Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act (literally, to work) according to his good purpose.

Philippians 2:12b-13

Have you ever had someone say to you, “Try your best and God will do the rest”? When you are at a crossroads in your life and you can’t decide which path to take; when you feel like giving up on a long and difficult situation that never seems to improve; when you are stressed out about facing a huge challenge - an assignment, an exam, an interview - it is such an encouragement to know that God is always in control. That you should just do what you can, try your best and God will take care of the rest.

Having said that, I don’t think that’s what Paul is saying. I think he’s saying something even more profound, and much more encouraging.

On the one hand, Paul says Continue to work out your salvation. Keep working at it. Don’t give up, that’s what it means. Give it all you’ve got. Two very important things to notice about what Paul is saying: (1) It’s continual; and (2) It’s personal.

Firstly, it’s continual. This needs to happen every day. Continue to work out your salvation. Whether you became a Christian twenty minutes ago or twenty years ago, Today, this needs to happen. Right now, work out your salvation. And tomorrow, when you get up, continue working out your salvation. The term for this is sanctification. It is a daily, continual, process of growth, renewal and relationship with Jesus Christ. Secondly, it’s personal. Your own salvation. I can’t do this for you. Your parents can’t do this for you. When it comes to prayer, reading the bible, giving, serving; especially when it comes to repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus - you work out your own salvation.

That’s verse 12, speaking from our perspective. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling before God. The flipside though comes in verse 13. Here we find God’s perspective. For it is God who works in you. So on the one hand, yes, you need to work it out. You need to do the math. But actually God is the one working through you. Meaning this: It’s not 1% you and 99% God. That’s not what Paul is saying. Paul is not saying, “Try your best, God will take care of the rest.” Rather he is saying, God is the working God who enables you to join him in his work. It is 100% you. It is 100% God.

Where do I get this? From the second half of verse 13, “To will and to act according to his good purpose.” Whose will and whose actions is Paul describing? It’s yours. It’s not talking about God’s work, God’s will. Paul is saying your will and your actions are all determined by God. Try to wrap your heads around this: As you work out your salvation through your daily actions and decisions, the bible says that God is ultimately the one working, not just alongside you, but through you. He wills your will. He works your work. It is 100% you. It is 100% God.

What difference does this make? If you are in that situation of uncertainty and you are praying for direction. If you are in that situation of difficulty and you are praying for wisdom. If you are in that situation of helpless and you cry out to God for salvation. God help me. Please give me a sign. Please make a way. If you are stuck in difficulty, uncertainty and helplessness, I’ve got to tell you, that advice of “trying your best and letting God do the rest” will only work short-term. Now I understand why we give this advice - I’ve said the same thing to some of you in the past. But it really only works in the short-term at best, and in the long term, it may lead to even greater depression and disappointment.

Why do I say this? Because ultimately, the “1% me and 99% God” formula still draws attention to what I can do about that situation and what God expects me to do in that situation. It may just be 1%. It may just be that one thing. But when you’re stuck in depression and uncertainty and helplessness, that 1% is going to be the one thing that weighs you down. You are going to place all your eggs in that one basket. You are going to place all your chips on that one hand. You are going to spend all your energy and time finding that one key to success, that one magic prayer, that one special person and either it’s going to all work out beautifully, reducing God to a genie in a lamp who grants all your wishes because you said the right words, you came to church, because you did something right; or more likely what’s going to happen is you’re going to be disappointed with God and question your faith in him. What’s the alternative? The bible points us to a working God who work is seen in us and through us. And what Paul is saying to us as Christians is, “Join him”.

It boils down to our confidence in a sovereign, gracious God. Do you realise what Paul is implying when he says, God is the one who works “to will and to act”? He is saying, it’s not just what I do in terms of my actions, it’s not just how I do in terms of my performance, but even at the level of what I think in terms of my motivations - Why I’m doing that job, why I’m in that relationship, what I expect to get out of coming to church today. That is how sovereign and in control God is. And what that does is two things: Firstly, it frees me from second-guessing myself. Should I do this or that, does God want me to go this way or that way? - not that we should not pray over our choices - but rather it encourages me take risks for the sake of the gospel and to work out my salvation every day, How can I work on my holiness today? How can I work on my generosity today? It means I will fail. It means it is going to hurt. But that’s OK because God is in control. The bible says I can keep going back to God in repentance, asking him for forgiveness, knowing that Jesus Christ covers me with his righteousness. Secondly, it motivates me to press on with absolute confidence that my life is going somewhere. Katergazomai, translated here as working out, means to produce something, even to finish something. It means God wants my life to be fruitful, to display concrete evidences of Jesus work through my actions, words and thoughts. Earlier in the letter, Paul writes this:

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6

When you look at Christian, you should a big sign that says, “Work in progress”. When you look at Christ, you see blueprint, the plans of what that finished work will look like. And God guarantees us that the construction will be completed on schedule.

Let me ask put it this way: Where is your life headed? What do you hope to do with your one life such that when you look back at it, there will be no regrets? In other words, what’s the plan? Get married? Be a successful entrepreneur? Win X-Factor? Some of us hear that question and get excited - Yeah, I’m going to do this and to be that. Some of us get depressed - I have been there, done that.

Do you realise what you have here in these verses? It’s a guarantee. God will finish his  perfect work in you and through you. It’s a guarantee the bible wants you to take out and to look at every single day of your life - Every action that I take, every thought in my heart - is being used by God to change me, to mould me, to transform me to be like Jesus. If we are honest, some of those actions we’d like to take back. Some of those thoughts we deeply regret. But if God is God, and Jesus Christ is Lord, it is especially those difficult circumstances in our lives that God uses for his glory. 100% means the good years and the bad years. 100% means the times of plenty and the times of want. All of it is under God’s control. Nothing falls outside of his plan. If you have this confidence, you can look back on your life, see something really painful or difficult and you can honestly say, “I messed up,” or “Oh wow, that was really awful”, but you are able to do so without bitterness, without regret, but instead with thankfulness in your hearts and renewed trust in the grace of God. That’s the guarantee God gives us through the cross. Jesus takes all our sin, all our shame. He gives us all his joy, all his reward.

Paul is urging us: Work it out. Keep on going. Why? Because God is 100% for you in Jesus Christ. God is 100% in you, working out your salvation in Jesus Christ.

Be all in: God is rejoicing

One of my all-time favourite movies is Toh San which is Cantonese for “The god of gamblers”, starring Chow Yuen Fatt. The final scene is a real cliche: Toh San, the hero sits across the table from his arch-nemesis, Chan Kam-Sing in a high-stakes game of five-stud poker and says, “Don’t waste any more time. Let's say we go all in - 26 Million!” (Mo sai si kan. Zhou wai Sai - Yee chin lok pat man!) What’s he doing? He is going all in. Toh San bets everything he has on one hand!

In these final verses, Paul says, “I’m all in!” He does so with no regrets. No hesitation. What is more, he does so with joy. I am glad and rejoice and with all you. Paul writes:

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Philippians 2:17-18

What would it take, I wonder, for you to go all in? To place everything you have on the line. To sacrifice everything you have spent your lives working towards. To risk losing it all in one go. What would it take for you to that - responsibly and willingly? We’ve looked at two possibilities so far. We looked at faithfulness: that knowledge that God owns all things and blesses us with all things. And we looked at confidence: that guarantee that God gives us through the cross. So for some, maybe what we need is to be faithful with the gifts God gives us; they are not our own; they are to be used for his kingdom. For others, it is the reminder that God is worth the investment, his guarantee is that he will bring every work to completion. His plan will never fail.

So, we’ve seen two motivations, two reasons to invest our lives fully in God. What Paul does here is give us a third: It is joy. Paul has put his life on the line. That’s what he means by the drink offering being poured out alongside the sacrifice. It’s a picture from the Old Testament temple. The sacrifice was the bull, the goat, the main thing that was offered up to God on the altar by the priest. The drink offering was the side event, almost like a toast (Yaaaamseng!) By analogy Paul is saying this: his life isn’t the most precious thing he has to offer. The most precious thing he wants he already has. It’s Jesus.

Or take this as another example. Next week, many of us will be celebrating M and L’s wedding. It’s going to be in a beautiful college here in Cambridge, there’s going to be amazing food, people are going to get all dressed up. Let’s face it, it’s going to be an elaborate, beautiful, joyful and frankly, quite costly thing to have, all on just one single day. But the two people who are paying for it all, who are bearing most of the cost - not just the money, but also the time, the effort, the preparation and the stress - for them, it is nothing compared to the most precious thing they will receive on that day - the promise to faithfully love one another in marriage as husband and wife before God. There is no comparison. The cost is real. The cost is significant. But they gladly spent it - they go all in - with fullness of joy because the most precious thing they want, they already have.

Paul says, “I am glad and I rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” He’s saying you have that reason to go all in. If you have Jesus Christ, you have found that joy. Through Jesus Christ, God is working in your life to bring you into that joy - For it is God who is works in you to will and to act according to his good pleasure.

The Jesus Christ problem

According to the New York Times, Jeremy Lin has a big problem. He can either be religious as a Christian or he can pursue his joy in sports as an athlete. But according to columnist, David Brooks, he can’t do both. They are in conflict with one another.

And let me tell you, David Brooks is right but at the same time, profoundly wrong. It is a problem not for Jeremy Lin but for Jesus Christ. You see, how can Jesus bring glory to God and bear the punishment of God? How can Jesus save others and not himself? How can Jesus be absolute judge of the universe and at the same time be handed over to the judgement of men?

Through the cross. Don’t you see? Jesus Christ is able to do both and he did accomplish both through the cross. Mercy and wrath. Love and justice. Glory and ignominy. Life and death. They meet at the cross where Jesus Christ was crowned and crucified.

Go to the cross. Give your all to him. And receive from Jesus Christ full forgiveness, full restoration, fullness of life and fullness of joy.

The transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13)

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus asked the disciples. John the Baptist (who had been beheaded back in Chapter 14), or one the prophets from the Old Testament - Elijah or Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14). Jesus was more than he appeared to be; an uneducated blue-collar worker from Galilee, touring the country, preaching to masses and healing the sick. Jesus was asking his disciples, What’s the word on the street? Who do people say I am?

But then he turns to them and asks, “Who do you say I am?” What do you guys think? You, who have been with me all this time? Peter speaks up, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” It’s an amazing revelation and altogether a different answer. The Christ. Son of the Living God. Jesus was not like one of the great prophets. He wasn’t like these servants of God. The prophets spoke of him. These great men of God were his servants.

Peter didn’t have a clue what he was saying, of course. Jesus tells him plainly, “This was not revealed to you by man (in other words, you didn’t work this out yourself), but by my Father in heaven.” Just a few moments later we find Peter scolding Jesus for talking about his impending death and resurrection. “Never Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus’ reply must have stung. “Get behind me Satan!” Peter and the disciples could not conceive of a crucified Christ. It didn’t make sense to them for God to send his Son to his death. Jesus exposes their thoughts, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” In their minds, Peter and the disciples were anticipating a human kingdom; a human king.

Yet the episode ends with Jesus giving a great promise to his friends. Some of them, according to Jesus, would see this kingdom with their own eyes. “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Six days later, some of them did.

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Matthew 17:1-2

Jesus was revealing who he really was, but he did so to a select few. Away from the crowds; away from the rest of the disciples, Jesus brought Peter, James and John up the high mountain by themselves. Later on, Jesus would instruct them to keep the vision to themselves. Why the secrecy?

In part, they weren’t ready. There is an awesomeness to the revelation of who Jesus is; of what he really is like that would overwhelm them to the point of fear and despair (Indeed, this is the reaction we find in verse 6). But I think there is another reason. Jesus chooses his friends. Jesus chooses who he reveals his glory to and consequently who he hides his glory from. Yes, Jesus had the Twelve with him at all times but Peter, James and John - they were in Jesus’ inner circle. They were the first of his disciples; they were the first whom Jesus called. At this point in his life, Jesus reveals to them - and not to others - who he really is. And what Peter, James and John saw that day was nothing less than Jesus’ full glory.

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” Now, Matthew records this incident in such a way that it bears a striking resemblance to the events in Exodus when Moses encounters God at Mount Sinai. After God rescues Israel from slavery in Egypt, he brings them to his holy mountain to gather in worship before him. The people tremble with fear as they behold God’s glory in the form of fire and smoke covering the mountain and as they hear God’s voice speaking to them out of the cloud from the mountain. So terrified were the Israelites of God’s presence and especially of God’s voice that they beg Moses to mediate God’s word to them. “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:19) The people keep their distance; Moses alone approaches God on the mountain.

The result is the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant. Moses spends forty days receiving instructions from God on how Israel is to live and worship as the people of God. Now this encounter had a profound effect on Moses himself because Exodus 34 tells us how he came down the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant, not realising that “the skin on his face shone because he had been talking with God.”

So here in Matthew 17, we find the same ingredients of (a) the mountain, (b) the voice of God from the mountain and (c) an amazing transformation occurring on that same mountain. What Peter, James and John were experiencing was nothing less than an encounter with God’s presence, God’s word and God’s glory. Yet almost immediately, we see a striking difference. Unlike Moses, Jesus’ transformation was from the inside-out. His face shone, Matthew tells us, like the sun. Meaning, he wasn’t reflecting God’s glory; Jesus radiated God’s glory. Furthermore, his clothes became white “as light”. The apostle Paul, when describing Moses’ glory, equated it with something that was impermanent; something that was being brought to an end (2 Corinthians 3), whereas Jesus is called the “radiance of the glory of God” (Hebrews 1:3). In other words, Moses’ transformation was external; Jesus’ glory was internal. His transformation was from the inside-out.

This was something new. This was something altogether different; from Moses’ encounter with God; from anything ever recorded in the Old Testament scriptures. There was continuity and yet a profound discontinuity with Jesus. As if to drive home this point, two of the greatest figures in Israel’s history appear next, Moses and Elijah, and they are talking to Jesus on the mountain.

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Matthew 17:3-5

Notice the two sudden occurrences in these verses, marked by the word “behold”. Behold! - there appeared to them Moses and Elijah; Behold! - a bright cloud overshadowed them. The three disciples were caught off-guard. They saw two completely unexpected, spectacular visions. The bible punctuates each of these visions with a Wow! (or Wahlauweh!, if you are Chinese).

In reaction to the first vision, Peter says to Jesus, “Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents.” I like how Mark explains Peter’s response: “he did not know what to say” (Mark 9:6) which is a nice way of saying that Peter was being an idiot. He had just seen Jesus transformed with light, and then Moses and Elijah appear next to Jesus; so Peter’s first instinct is ask if they would like to stay for tea and biscuits. “Lord, it is good that we are here,” Peter say, by which he is not expressing how privileged it was for him and his two friends to be there with Jesus and Moses and Elijah. Rather, what he is saying is, “Good thing you brought your buddies with you, Jesus. We got your back. I’ll just go pitch us some tents and we can all gather round the campfire, holding hands and singing Kumbayah.”

The King James Version has Peter saying, “let us make here three tabernacles.” It is the same word used to describe the tent of meeting/Tabernacle constructed during the Exodus as God’s ordained place of worship. The Tabernacle was symbolic of God’s abiding presence amongst the Israelites. The gospel writer, John picks up on this imagery when he writes, “And the Word became flesh and tented among us,” (John 1:14) meaning the Old Testament tabernacle of worship pointed forward to the New Testament incarnation of Jesus Christ. He was God with us.

Peter was speaking better than he knew. Yet his words give us insight in how his mind worked. Beholding Moses and Elijah, beholding the glory of God in Jesus Christ, Peter’s first instinct was to frame his experience in terms of religion and tradition. Firstly, he felt he needed to do something: I will build tents. Secondly, he felt he needed to ground his experience in some place: I will build tents here. Peter’s first instincts are ours too, if we’re honest. We encounter God; we have an experience of his goodness and glory - and something in us goes, “I need to do something to earn this.” That’s religion. “I need to replicate this experience.” That’s tradition.

The bible brings our focus back to Jesus and to his glory alone. That’s the purpose of the second vision, which if you notice, breaks in and interrupts Peter mid-sentence.

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Matthew 17:5-6

The second vision of the bright cloud is indicative of God’s presence, what is sometimes referred to as God’s shekinah glory. The Hebrew words for presence (shukan) and tent (mishkan) are closely related. Indeed, you find both recurring in the Old Testament. The closing words to Exodus describe how “Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled/dwelt (shukan) on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent/tabernacle (mishkan)” (Exodus 40:35). The symbolism carries over into the New Testament where the Greek word for tent (skene) bears a striking similarity to the Old Testament Hebrew counterpart.

As Peter tries to contain the glory of the first vision suggesting that he build three tents; three dwellings, so here God interrupts Peter with a second vision of his overwhelming uncontainable presence filling the entire scene with light; with his shekinah glory.

As he does so, God speaks from the cloud authenticating the glory of his Son. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” These are familiar words to Peter, James and John. These ought to be familiar words to us if we have been attentively following Matthew’s gospel. Back in Chapter 3, these same words were spoken from heaven as Jesus emerges from the waters at his baptism. They are taken from two Old Testament sources - Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42. The first is a coronation psalm - a song that is sung during the installation of a new king where God declares that the king to be God’s Son. “The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you” (Psalm 2:7). The second quotation from the prophet Isaiah reads, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Isaiah 42:1; see also Matthew Chapter 12). On the one hand, Jesus is the Son, meaning the true King chosen by God. He is the Christ. On the other, Jesus is the true Servant, who humbles himself under God’s rule. These two pictures of Jesus’ identity - as the Servant King - are so important for us to grasp that we find God speaking the exact same words twice to these disciples; that we find Matthew recording these words twice in his gospel.

Only this time, God adds these words, “Listen to him,” by which God is saying, Obey him. A transition has occurred from what the three disciples are meant to see, to what Peter, James and John are now meant to hear. Because the moment these three lift their eyes again, the vision is gone. No more cloud of glory. No more transfiguration. No Moses nor Elijah. Just Jesus, and Jesus alone.

The voice from heaven says Obey him; Listen to Jesus. But what does Jesus say next? Puzzlingly, Jesus instructs his three friends to tell no-one what they have just seen.

And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

Matthew 17:9

Why does Jesus tell them to keep this a secret? Why doesn’t Jesus reveal his true nature as God’s chosen Son and King to the world? “Tell no one the vision, until the Son the of Man is raised from the dead,” Jesus says. Something needs to happen first and that is the cross. You cannot begin to grasp Jesus’ glory if you do not first come to grips with Jesus’ suffering. That’s what he seems to be saying. Peter, James and John are meant to share their experience. They are supposed to bear witness to the vision on the mountain that day. That’s why we have this account recorded for us three times in the gospels; in Matthew, Mark (Chapter 9) and Luke (Chapter 9). But after, not before, the events of the cross. Only after, not before, his resurrection from the dead.

Why? Because we cannot begin to understand Jesus’ glory without first coming to grips with his suffering. In fact, that’s the very case with these three disciples. They still don’t get it. The Son of Man must suffer, Jesus says.

And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Matthew 17:1-13

Remember that we just met Elijah a few moments ago. He was one of the two Old Testament figures to appear next to Jesus on the mountain; the other was Moses. I’ve always wondered: Why these two? Some of suggested that together, Moses and Elijah represent the Law and Prophets - the whole canon of Old Testament scripture. That makes sense for Moses, since he authored the first five book of the bible, known as the Law or Torah. But the thing is, Elijah doesn’t really represent the Prophetic writings. He never wrote anything that became part of the Old Testament. It would make more sense to have Isaiah or Jeremiah, prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah, whom Jesus and the New Testament writers quote extensively from.

I think we find the reason for Elijah’s place on the mountain here in the conversation the disciples have with Jesus on their way down the mountain. They ask Jesus, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” This is an interesting reference from the Old Testament because if you know anything about Elijah, it is probably from reading his adventures in 1 and 2 Kings: Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal, Elijah calling fire down from heaven and barbequing the whole battalion of soldiers, Elijah raising the dead to life or Elijah when he was finally taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Those are the action-packed chapters you think of when you mention the name Elijah.

Yet the passage the disciples are referring to was written much, much later (something like 300 years later). It comes from Malachi Chapter 4.

Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.

Malachi 4:4-6

Now isn’t that striking! Both Moses and Elijah are mentioned in Malachi’s prophecy of a terrible day of judgement - “the great and awesome day of the LORD”. In other words, we are not to think of Elijah, the superhero prophet from 1 & 2 Kings who stands up to corrupt dictators and Baal worshippers. Nor are we to think of Moses, deliverer of Israel from the clutches of Pharaoh. Instead Malachi warns us that it’s Israel that stands under God’s judgement. It is Israel who have turned away from God’s law; Israel who have been unfaithful to God’s love.

This much at least, the scribes got right. “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things,” Jesus says, only to then add, “But I tell you, Elijah has already come.” This day of judgement is not a future event, it’s already happened. According to Jesus, it happened with the ministry of John the Baptist, who did not perform a single miracle, as far as we can tell. Instead he boldly called for repentance. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Ever seen that on an Easter greeting card? Heard a sermon recently where the pastor got up the pulpit snarling these words - You brood of vipers? Yet Jesus points to John the Baptist, who looks more like the homeless guy standing outside your local supermarket flogging his last copy of the big issue than he does your average middle-class church pastor - Jesus points to this guy and says, That’s Elijah. No wonder Jesus says they didn’t recognise him. No wonder Jesus says they did to him whatever they pleased. He’s a nobody, they must have thought. He’s a lunatic. John was imprisoned, beheaded, thrown out like trash they thought him to be.

Who’s the they Jesus is talking about? Herod, the scribes, the bible experts, the religious leaders - the very people looking forward to the coming of Elijah. They did this John. “So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Ironically, Jesus is saying the very people expecting the coming of the Christ will reject him as the Christ. Yet by their rejection they confirm that Jesus is the Christ, he is the true Son of God.

Why does Jesus tell Peter, James and John to keep the vision of his glory to themselves until after the cross? Because the cross is the true revelation of Jesus’ glory. It is not on this hill enveloped in light with Jesus standing next to the two giants of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah; it is not on this hill that we see his true glory. No, it’s on another hill: one called Golgotha, the place of the Skull, where Jesus would be hung on the cross between two criminals, when darkness covered the whole land, when there was no voice from heaven declaring the Father’s love for his Son, but instead the loud cry of Jesus, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Where the crowds of bystanders say to one another, “He’s calling for Elijah; let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” Elijah does not come. Jesus dies on the cross, rejected by man, forsaken by God.

The Son of Man will be mocked, despised, rejected. Yet it is this rejection that authenticates Jesus true identity as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. On the cross, Jesus displays his true glory - the glory of a conquering King who destroys sin, death and Satan. On the cross, Jesus displays the glory of the suffering Servant who was obedient unto death, even death on the cross. On the cross, Jesus displays the glory of grace of God who forgives the wicked, justifies the sinner and transforms them into the image of the Son he loves.

In Christ alone

I place my trust

And find my glory in the power of the cross

In every victory

Let it be said of me

My source of strength

My source of hope

Is Christ alone

Real love (Ephesians 3:14-21)

God’s plan

The big idea in the book of Ephesians is God’s plan: God is working through all circumstances to bring all things under Jesus Christ as Lord.

I remember as a young Christian hearing of God’s plan put to me like this: God has a plan for your life. He has everything under control. His plan is to bless you through Jesus Christ.

That’s true. But what the bible is doing is pointing us to is an even greater truth: God’s plan is to bring all things under Jesus Christ as Lord. How it works out in your life and my life is like this: When things are going well; when God blesses us with good things - like a plum job, good health, a pass in that exam - we give all glory to Jesus. We say, “This isn’t because I deserved it. It is a gift from God. And it comes to me from the cross.”

But more importantly, the big difference is seen when things aren’t going well: you’ve lost your job; you are in a hospital bed, you’ve flunked your tripos - even so, you are able to say, “God is working through all these circumstances - difficult as they are - for the glory of his Son.”

God’s plan is for Jesus Christ to be Lord over everything. So, that’s the big idea. God’s plan. Our praise. Jesus’ glory.

God’s love

How does that fit in with God’s love? Think about it for a moment. How does the love of God connect with the glory of God? That’s the question we’re looking at this week. Because often times, we understand God’s love in one of two ways: (1) God demonstrates his love through the giving of his Son; or (2) I receive God’s love through his forgiveness, blessing and restoration. The first is the knowledge of God’s love; the second is the experience of that love.

And you might be thinking, “Shouldn’t these two ingredients - the knowledge of God’s love and the experience of God’s love - lead us to praise, to thank and to glorify God?” Yes it should. Don’t get me wrong. Of course, it should. The knowledge of God’s love and the experience of God’s love ought to lead us to praise God and thank God for his love.

But often times, it doesn’t.

Firstly, we can take love for granted, the way we tend to take the love of our parents for granted. The very knowledge of the stability of that love, and constancy of that love, leads us to take it for granted. We say to ourselves, “God will always love me. My mum and dad will always love me,” just before turning around doing something that will hurt the ones we love. “God must forgive me. That’s his job.”

Secondly, our hearts are prone to wander - to quote an old hymn. Having experienced God’s love, we are tempted to seek that same experience elsewhere. The bible calls that idolatry. In the Chinese culture, we tend to think of idolatry as bowing down to statues of Kuan Yin in the temple. But the real problem of idolatry lies in the heart. It has less to do with our actions of bowing down to an idol, and more to do with our motivations of seeking fulfilment and even love in something other than God; in the process, making that thing - whether it’s our job, our family, our looks, our achievements, shopping, eating, sex - which are often good things that God has blessed us with, but taking that thing and turning it into God. We end up worshipping our job, our family, our looks, our achievements, shopping, eating and sex. The sad thing is, idols always fail to satisfy, and it’s only a matter of time before we move on to something idol. Our hearts are prone to wander.

To recap: the two truths about God’s love, that is, the knowledge of God’s love and the experience of God’s love, ought to lead us to thanksgiving, worship and praise of God. But often what happens is we pervert these two truths: we take the knowledge of God’s love for granted; we turn the experience of God’s love into idolatry.

Now this is a problem for Christians. In today’s passage, the apostle Paul prays for Christians to know the “love of Christ... that surpasses knowledge.” Aren’t Christians supposed to know the love of Christ? Doesn’t Paul himself say to them that “you (are) being rooted and established in love” (verse 17).

Furthermore, why does Paul pray that Christ might dwell in their hearts through faith (verse 17)? Doesn’t the bible teach us that his Spirit dwells in every heart of every believer?

What Paul is doing is recognising how God’s love is a real struggle for Christians. We’re not talking about unbelievers. We’re not talking about people who have never heard the gospel; who do not trust in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Paul is praying for Christians who come to church every week, who have grown up in a Christian home, who know their bibles - he is praying for them and for us - because we constantly need God’s help to know and experience the reality of his love.

We will look at this prayer under three headings:

1. Real love strengthens us in our inner being

2. Real love stretches us as God’s people

3. Real love supersedes us to bring all glory to God

It strengthens us, stretches us and it supersedes us. Those are the three points.

1. Real love strengthens us in our inner being

For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.Ephesians 3:14-17

It might seem strange to hear Paul praying repeatedly for strength and power in the lives of these Christians. He asks God to strengthen the believers with power (verse 16), that they might be rooted and established (the word describes pillars that support a building structure - verse 17), that Christians might have power (verse 18) together with all the saints, and finally, that God’s power continues to work within us (verse 20). It is strange because Paul is praying for the strength in order to understand God’s love - not knowledge, not wisdom, not even, experience - but strength. He prays for power.

The reason we think it’s strange is because we see strength as an external quality. It is about having the muscle, having the ability, having that external attribute that enables us achieve that goal and scale that mountain. A strong person is an impressive person. A powerful Christian is an influential Christian.

But notice how Paul asks God to strengthen us with power but in our inner being. Some translations have “the inner man”. It is an internal strength. Elsewhere, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “Though our outer self (literally, man) is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

Real love is love that strengthens our inner being. That’s talking about more than just confidence. It’s talking about more than just being a nicer person “on the inside”, or feeling good about yourself.

It is talking about life. God has put his life into you. He has created a new you through his Spirit. The real you.

Meaning: if you do not know God; if you do not trust in Jesus Christ and received gift of eternal life through the cross - the reality is that you’re dead. Ephesians 2 says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and ruler of the kingdom of the air.” (Ephesians 2:1-2) Outwardly you are wasting away. Inwardly, it’s far worse: You’re dead. Some of you reading this: that’s you. The bible says that you are spiritually dead. And all the prayers in the world to strengthen you outwardly aren’t going to address the real problem inwardly. The man and the woman inside of you is dead to the world and is dead to God. What you need is life. What you need is Jesus.

I say that because otherwise we are going to misunderstand Paul’s prayer. He is praying for Christians who have been made alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:5) even when they were dead in their transgressions. He is assuming that they have already turned to Jesus for forgiveness, reconciliation and new life - not just a changed life - a new life. And it’s that new life that they have received through faith, that Paul prays for.

Well, what is he praying for? He prays for strength that comes from the gospel. Look at verse 17:

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ

Ephesians 3:17-18

The gospel is the fixed point of God’s love and what Paul is saying to us is, “Stay there!” He wants us to be rooted like a tree: A tree doesn’t get up and uproot itself - if it did, it would die. He want us to be established (meaning lay our foundations) in the gospel: your whole life is built on this foundation of the gospel.

Why is this important? The gospel is the only real context of God’s love. It is the cross. When someone asks you, “How do you know that God really, really loves you?” The gospel says look to death of Jesus Christ on the cross. That is where I get my certainty of God’s love for me; my confidence and assurance of the reality of God’s love. It is rooted in actual event in history: Jesus Christ came as a man and died on the cross. He cried out, “It is finished!” to let me know that all my sin had completely been dealt with. There is no more condemnation for me.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Or as Graham Kendrick puts it in an old song that I love to sing, especially whenever we celebrate the Lord’s supper:

Amazing Love! Oh what sacrifice!
The Son of God given for me.
My debt he pays and my death he dies

That I might live

That I might live

The gospel roots me into the certainty of the love of God by reminding me of the death of Christ. This is real love - that bring me life. That strengthens my inner being.

So the first point was, real love is love that strengthens the inner being. It is love shown us on the cross. It is love proclaimed through the gospel.

2. Real love stretches us as the people of God

Secondly, real love stretches us. And I get that from verse 18 where Paul talks about “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”, which almost sounds like he is describing Ikea furniture. But in what sense does God’s love stretch us?

Here, the NIV (New International Version) English translation may need some clarification. What they’ve done is combine two separate phrases in verses 18 and 19 into a single idea - the love of Christ. So it sounds like Paul is talking about the breath, width, height and depth of Jesus’ love, the way it looks in your bibles in verse 18.

However, this is put rather differently in the ESV. Notice that “the love of Christ” only occurs in the next verse.

Verse 18: may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,Verse 19: and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

You can understand why the NIV has combined the two - it’s just more readable! It is describing the many dimensions of Christ’s love.

But when you separate out the two, what you find is that verse 18 is a request for God’s love to first stretch us, and only after that in verse 19, for God’s love to then fill us in Christ Jesus. Do you see?

And it’s that first component of God’s love stretching us that is vital to our understanding of what Paul is praying for. That’s what he means he talks about the breadth and width and height and depth. He means, “Your categories of God’s love are too small. Your experience of God’s love may even be rather selfish. You think it’s just about you.”

The clue lies in the way that verse 18 begins: “That you may have power together with all the saints.” Paul is talking about the church. When you are with other Christians, your understanding and experience of God’s love is stretched is all directions. It opens your eyes to what God is doing in other people’s lives. It teaches us what it means to live as a community - to be generous, sacrificial, patient and loving. Often times, being “together with all the saints” is an experience that is challenging and even painful. But that is God’s love stretching us. The church is the context of Paul’s prayer for these Christians.

Now there’s another reason why Paul says this. He says so in verse 14, “For this reason I kneel before the Father.” For what reason? Well, then you notice that Paul says the exact same thing in verse 1 “For this reason...” meaning we have to keep on going backwards to find the answer. We finally see the reason in Chapter 2, verse 11 onwards:

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-13

What is the reason for Paul’s prayer? God has made the outsiders insiders through Jesus Christ. The Gentiles - or non-Jews - were previously excluded, “without hope and without God”. But now, they have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

What God has done is stretched the church. Previously, God’s promise was made to one people, to one race. Previously, God’s kingdom was only for one nation. Now because of the blood of Christ, all peoples from all nations are brought into the kingdom of God.

If we are going to call ourselves the Chinese Church, we need to pay special attention to this. You come here each week and everyone has black hair. Everyone eats with chopsticks. Everyone is the same. And it is all to easy to equate our oneness in food with our oneness in Christ. It is all to easy to mistake uniformity for unity in the gospel.

Jesus Christ died on the cross so that his church would united through his blood in diversity. All peoples. All nations. All languages. All cultures. We need to be careful when we come here each week and see only one people, all from one nation, speaking one language and practising one culture. Because what we might end up doing is rejection other peoples, looking down on other nations, ignoring other languages and alienating other cultures. We may not do this intentionally, but when we focus on just our needs and our church and our mission - forget God’s mission. His plan is to bring all things, every people group, every nation under the lordship of Christ.

Paul prays that our understanding and experience of God’s love might be stretched, in order that, verse 19 says, we might know the love of Christ. What’s going on?

At the heart of Paul’s prayer for these Christians is not their love for God but God’s love for them. The focus is not us, it’s God. Not our love for God but God’s love for us.

Let me use an illustration with adoption. When a son or daughter is adopted into a new family there is great need for constant assurance and love, especially when that family is different racially and culturally. Especially even, when there are other kids born in this family. The adopted child will take one look at their new parents and go, “They are so strange. How can they love me? How can I be a part of this family?” They will look at their new brothers and sisters and go, “I’m an outsider. I’m not loved like them.”

How would you reassure this son that he really is your son? How do you let your daughter know she is in every way loved as your daughter?

We might try to assure them how lovely they look. We look out for talent that he or she has and make special note to appreciate them for it. We affirm their struggles and but help come to see how much potential they have and their unique and treasured role in the family.

Or, we could remind them of our love for them.

Paul’s prayer is in the second sense. As the church is being stretched and searching for assurances, Paul prays that God will give them strength to understand the dimensions of his love for them, not their love for God. Right from the beginning, Paul reminds his readers, God is their Father. In fact, every family in heaven and on earth is named under the fatherhood of God.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives it name.

Ephesians 3:14-15

Meaning: When you look around you in church, at other Christians and believers gathered in God’s name, you should say, “God is their Father as well. I know that he loves me much more than I could every have hoped. But the fact that these brothers and sisters are also his children reminds me that God’s love is much greater than I could have ever imagined.” This needs to happen again and again. It’s what the church is here for: “Together with all the saints,” Paul says. The church displays the immeasurable glory of God’s grace. It stretches our categories of his love shown through the cross of Jesus Christ.

And it’s in this same context of the church that Paul refers to when he speaks about the fullness of God - “That you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.” The “you” in verse 19 is a plural “you”. It’s not talking about you, individually. It is you and me and all of us gathered here on Sundays, or gathered together for bible study. This is God’s fullness - the display of men and women, all of whom different and diverse, but gathered around the Jesus Christ as their Lord.

Real love stretches us but then also fill us as the people of God. That’s point 2.

Real love supersedes us

Finally, real love supersedes us - meaning, it results not just in our good but in God’s glory.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

We have seen so far that (1) Real love strengthens us - we are grounded in gospel, in the knowledge of God’s love displayed on the cross; (2) Real love stretches us - it constantly challenges us to see afresh the fullness of God’s love so that we can be filled with it; so that we can be overwhelmed by it.

And here we have our final point: (3) Real love supersedes us - it gives all glory to God. Remember that this was the question I posed at the beginning. How does God’s love lead to glorify God?

Or put it another way: How can God be loving and yet command his people to praise him for his glory? Some people have a real problem with that. In their minds, God is like a vain woman, needing to be praised for her new haircut. Therefore, when they hear someone say that God loves them, they think it’s a kind of manipulative love, because God is really just absorbed with himself.

They might then suggest, “If God really loved us, he wouldn’t command us to worship him, or honour him.” This is a real and genuine problem that many people face today - especially amongst students here in a place like Cambridge University - with the idea of a loving God who’s eternal plan is for all people’s to worship him through Jesus Christ. That’s his plan.

So, the question again: Why must God’s love inevitably lead us to worship Jesus Christ as Lord? Answer: Because it is the only love that saves. Because it is the only love that won’t consume us or destroy us.

You see, love is exactly the problem. You might have expected me to say something like “Hate is the problem. Anger is the real problem in this world. Or even that sin is the problem.” No, our problem is love: self-love that leads to our hatred of God; fickle loves that leads to devaluing God (and those around us, for the matter); idolatrous love that leads to unfaithfulness towards God. In our hearts we yearn to love and we long to be loved. But it’s that same love that destroys us.

Except the love of God. Real love that sustains. True love that transforms.

What we see in Paul’s prayer is God’s sustaining love. He is faithful to his promises given to us in Christ Jesus. And God strengthens us so that we remain faithful and steadfast in his love.

What we see in Paul’s prayer is God’s fullness through his love. His is a love shown to his enemies. His is an undeserving, redeeming love that adopts rebellious sinners into his family. And by his grace, he stretches us - well, perhaps it would be better to say that he transforms us - enabling us to love our enemies. As the church gathers as the body of Christ, it becomes a display of the fullness of God’s presence and power of Christ’s sacrificial love - when all nations and all peoples are gathered in worship of God and in love for one another.

One last thing we must see in Paul’s prayer, especially in these closing words of verses 20 and 21 is God’s love for his son, Jesus. In all this talk of love, it is very easy to get caught up in how much God has done for us; what a big difference God’s love has made in our lives. But the truth is God’s love is first and foremost displayed in his relationship not with us, but with his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the obedient Son who loves his Father completely and obeys his Father fully even unto death on the cross. And God is his true Heavenly Father who says of Jesus, “This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), who raises him from the dead and seated him at his right hand, giving all authority and power to Jesus.

So when Paul ends by talking about God’s glory, this is what he means: It is glory that reflects the love of God, not to us, but towards his one and only Son. And Paul’s prayer ends blessing God that this glory is displayed clearly in the church and in the praise of Jesus Christ, for all generations, for all time.

This is the plan of God: That in all circumstances, all creation will clearly see Jesus as Lord of all through his death on the cross.

And this is the love of God: that sinful men and women are redeemed and transformed through the cross into the likeness of Jesus, so that he might have many brothers. It is love that saves us. It is love that gives all glory to Jesus.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:28-29