Our Daily Work

One of the biggest “buts” in all of literature comes at the beginning of Ephesians 2:4. Paul has been describing the utter hopelessness of all those who are outside of Christ, using the metaphor of life and death. He says everyone was once metaphorically, symbolically, spiritually dead. Everyone was doing the bidding of the “prince of the power of the air,” the one who works in all the “sons of disobedience” which means everyone – “all mankind.”

“But God,” Paul says, “made us alive together with Christ.” God cancelled the penalty due for disobedience and brought life into that which was once dead. And not just any life, but spiritual, eternal life, according to the Greek word Paul used. As if that were not enough, Paul goes on to say that God has “seated us with him in the heavenly places.” And there we sit, positionally, not yet physically, in the throne room of God. That’s quite a promotion: from death to life, from earth to Heaven.

The natural question is why. Why would God do such an amazing thing? Paul says it’s because God wanted to, “show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Then comes a couple verses that are among the most well-know, often-quoted in all Scripture: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So through no work of our own, God gave us this marvelous promotion just to show His grace.

Next question: to whom did God want to make this demonstration of His marvelous grace? We have to skip into Chapter three to find the answer. Verse 10 says, “So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Throughout the New Testament, “rulers and authorities” is a way of referring to angels, either good or bad angels. Angels are a higher class of created being, created before humans (I believe) for the purpose of doing God’s work. For some reason known only to God, He wanted to show His love and grace in action to a watching group of angels. Et voila, here we are.

Last question: what is it we are supposed to be showing the angels? Bottom line: God’s love for us. Paul says that God abolished the penalty against us through His grace so that He might reconcile us to Himself. Now that we are reconciled, seated in the heavenly places, what are we supposed to do about it? Work. 2:10 says, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand.” We are supposed to stop doing the works of the prince of the power of the air and start doing the works the Creator of the universe has prepared for us.

Those of you who work for a living probably have at one time or another heard from the boss what you are supposed to do with your workday. It may have been once in a job description, or it may be every day you are told what to do. It’s kind of like that with the Big Boss too. In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul says we are not saved because we work, but because God worked. He worked out the details of our salvation before we were born… before the Earth was born. Paul then says that we were saved in order to work the works that God planned for each one of us way, way back when He planned our salvation. God has something specific for each one of His chosen to do, something that is part of His ongoing, eternal plan. You have a part in the ongoing, eternal plan of the Creator of the universe. Have you checked in with the Boss today to see what work He has scheduled for you today?