Dear Family at Christ Community,

     This coming Sunday we will celebrate Christ’s cosmic victory and eternal reign in our gathered worship. Through Ephesians 1:15-23, we will hear Paul’s declaration of Christ’s cosmic victory and reign as the firm and eternal foundation from which we grow in love for others and knowledge of God.  The Lord’s Table will help to make these glorious words visible as the elements signify the totality of Christ’s victory over sin and death. The bread broken and given will thunder the truth of our forgiveness in Christ louder than the faint whispers of our shame and guilt! The lavish cup of the New Covenant will fill us with newness of life in Christ revealing once again that death has been swallowed up by resurrected life! We have the opportunity to be nourished through Christ’s victory as represented in these elements to have the kind of faith that participates in turning the world upside down in Christ. Timothy G. Gombis  in The Drama of Ephesians: Participating in the Triumph of God captures the upside down nature of these things when he writes:

The manner in which God achieves his victory over the powers is crucial, since the way God triumphs determines how the church participates in his triumph. God defeats the powers through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is a radically subversive way of doing things. The cross turns everything on its head—God wins by losing; the powers lose by winning. The powers’ triumph over Christ on the cross was their own defeat; and Christ’s defeat won him victory.

     Pray for the Holy Spirit to grant you wisdom and knowledge of God the Father through His Word and our worship. Ask to have the eyes of your heart enlightened so as to transform your imagination for the sake of the work that you have been called into to the praise of God’s glory for the life of the world. Seek reconciliation with those who you need to forgive or be forgiven by as evidence of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love for them as image bearers. Give thanks for God’s sovereignty and power as displayed in Christ’s cosmic victory and reign accomplished through the death, resurrection, ascension, and His promised return!

In Christ,

Cameron