Already but Not Yet


Ephesians 2:4-10
4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.


It’s probably been over 25 years ago that I heard a sermon (preached by my husband no less) that bore the catch phrase “already but not yet.” Those of you who know me well will realize that the fact that I remember a sermon from 25 years ago is completely remarkable, for that isn’t my strong suit. But I still remember grappling with the concept that we already have the Kingdom of God in our hands, but not quite yet. It’s another one of those dichotomies that we Christians live with daily. That sermon was about Joseph from the book of Genesis, as he waited for God’s deliverance for himself and his family. Paul discusses that same idea again for us in Ephesians 2.



As we walk through our regular daily lives it is so easy to forget that we have already been raised up as members of God’s Kingdom. It is already something that we hold in our hands. And yet we are plagued by the troubles of this world. Just last week we were horrified by the events that unfolded in Boston and in Texas. How do we recognize that God’s Kingdom lives among us already when we can witness those kinds of terrible events? In those moments, God’s love feels far away. But in Ephesians, Paul reminds us that we have already been raised up by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; we are already members of that Kingdom.



Nestled into this passage lies one of the most profound verses in all of Scripture (and that is saying a great deal, for all of Scripture is profound!) “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Here lies the crux of all of our hope. We are saved by GRACE. We didn’t earn it and we can do nothing to affect that salvation ourselves. This is 100% the work of God. No amount of good works or self-promotion is going to make any difference before God’s throne in terms of our entrance into God’s Kingdom. This happens only because He loves us and moves us to believe in His Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. The good works we perform, (which HE planned in advance for us to do) are merely an expression of that faith and of our love for Him. They earn us no special favors or entrance into His Kingdom.



So the Kingdom already lies in our hands and yet we still struggle on this side of death. But the joy, the peace, the love, and the hope are already ours to enjoy and share. It is ours already – but not yet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more