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The
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for Family and Life (KFL) Youth
for Family and Life (YFL)
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for Family and Life (SFL)
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for Family and Life (HFL)
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for Family and Life (SvFL)
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The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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ON THE TRIUNE
GOD
(Part 5)
September
21, 2011
Today’s reading: Ephesians 4:1-13
God sends out His people on mission. It is the one God who gives His
people the one work. Thus the people themselves, as instruments of God,
should also be one. In vision. In love. In single-mindedness of purpose.
In the pursuit of holiness.
Unity is a basic hallmark of the Trinity. The Triune God--Father, Son,
Holy Spirit--is three Persons in one God.
“one
body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.”
(Eph 4:4)
The
Holy Spirit animates the body, granting God’s people the grace to grow
in holiness and righteousness. The Holy Spirit sends God’s people out
on mission, to fulfill God’s call to them. This mission provides hope
for all, as God is known and Jesus is accepted as Savior and Lord.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian faith. Jesus is the
Savior who won salvation for God’s people on the cross. When people
are baptized, their original sin is forgiven, through the sacrificial
death of Jesus, and they are brought into the faith, having been
restored in their relationship with the Father.
The Father gathers His children to Himself. He reigns as King over their
lives, establishing them as royalty in His Kingdom. He works through
them, using them as His prophetic instruments in the world. He lives in
their hearts and in their homes, allowing them to minister to one
another with the very love of God. This is a call to the kingly,
prophetic and priestly ministry. This is how one is “to live in a
manner worthy of the call you have received” (Eph 4:1).
The call to ministry is a call to be like God. As such, it is also a
call to unity that reflects the unity of the Triune God.
What are the essential aspects of this call? How can God’s people be
united?
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Humility
(Eph 4:2). We humble ourselves, not looking down on others, but in
fact regarding others as more important than ourselves. We realize
our lowliness, especially in the face of the God who calls us, that
apart from His grace and strength we are nothing. We realize that
God uses those who are nothing in this world, and cuts down the
proud but exalts the lowly. With humility, we look on our brethren
as children of God clothed with dignity and honor, and as co-workers
whom God will use in power.
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Gentleness
(Eph 4:2). We are to be gentle in dealing with our brethren,
especially with those who are less mature than we are, as a nursing
mother cares for her children. We are to be meek in the face of
verbal or pastoral assaults.
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Patience
(Eph 4:2). We are to be patient with the failings of others. We
realize that people respond to God’s call at a different pace. In
the face of great difficulty or frustration, we look to how God has
patiently dealt with us in our own sinfulness.
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Bearing
with one another through love (Eph 4:2). We are more tolerant of the
quirks in others that irritate us. We practice forbearance whenever
we are wronged. We forgive as God has forgiven us. We love with the
very limitless and unconditional love of God.
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The
bond of peace (Eph 4:3). We eagerly work for peace in the body. We
correct but we encourage. We are not judgmental. We are quick to ask
forgiveness for our own moral failings. We seek out the good of our
brethren. We help mediate conflicts whenever we can. We always seek
the truth.
The
call to ministry is also the call to do the very work of God in the
world. If we are focused on the one work, then we can more easily become
united, as we desire to accomplish the task God gives to His people.
In this, we realize that God’s people need to be formed and equipped.
As such, God raises apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers (Eph 4:11). Their task is “to equip the holy ones for the
work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4:12).
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Apostles
are those who are sent. But since every disciple of Jesus is one who
is sent into the world to do God’s work, then we all partake of
the calling of the original Twelve.
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Prophets
are those who speak in the name of God to His people. We are all
called to be prophetic, in speaking what God reveals to us for the
care and direction of His people.
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Evangelists
are missionary preachers, who go into the world in order to proclaim
the good news of salvation in Jesus. Since the world as it is now,
especially the developed world that has turned pagan, has become a
mission field, then every one of us ought to be evangelizers, in the
day-to-day environments of our lives.
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Pastors
and teachers attend to the pastoral care, ongoing formation, and
shepherding of God’s people. Parents themselves are called to
pastor and teach their children, the next generation of God’s
people.
What
is the goal of all the above, aside from building unity and equipping
the saints for mission? It is “mature manhood, to the extent of the
full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:13b). “Mature manhood” means literally" a
perfect man.” The goal is to present everyone perfect in Christ. We
are to be another Christ. We are to be holy as God is holy. We are to be
perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.
Now that takes some doing! And so the servant leadership is to help
equip, build up and form, and everyone in turn is to strive eagerly," until
we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God”
(Eph 4:13a). When we finally know and live out the reality of Jesus as
Savior and Lord, when we eagerly desire to bring his salvation to the
ends of the earth, when we become united in faith and as one faithful
community and well-knit and properly-equipped army, then we will become
worthy of our calling.
“The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the
heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph 4:10). This is Jesus. He
came down to earth as man, accomplished his work, and has ascended into
heaven. We await his glorious return.
We in turn are here on earth, but we look to heaven. In the meantime, we
are to go about the work of the Kingdom. We are sinful flesh but we are
called to be holy as God is holy. We are mere humans but we have been
made little less than gods. We are weak but God gives us His strength to
be able to do His work.
We continue to look to the Triune God. In the unity of God we find our
motivation to be united ourselves, and the direction that we need to
fulfill our ministry.
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