Timeless and Timely
An example of how the Bible is made relevant today.
The Apostle Paul writes a letter and it is sent from where he is a Roman prisoner to a church in the city of Ephesus. By our standards it might be considered a long letter.
It really isn’t.
As a society we aren’t as into reading as our ancestors.
Back then the highest level of technology was ink on parchment, now we are considering computer-brain interfaces.
Wouldn’t want to have to hold some device in order to communicate, after all.
Of late, I have been thinking about something Paul wrote the Ephesians and it shows up late in his letter. He starts with the word (at least in my English translation) “finally,” which is a hint he is about to wrap things up. “One last thing,” he might have put in his letter to us.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Ephesians 6:10
Okay Paul. Exactly how were his readers then as well as us today to do this? How does God’s strength and might get into us?
Let’s keep reading.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11
The last couple of posts have been on this subject — the idea of clothing — the need for it, in fact.
Paul tells us to wear God’s armor.
In other words, we are not to trust in our own strength and might regardless our physical physique, strong or puny. This isn’t Iron Man’s suit we build and control. We put on a suit of armor that enables us to get into the battle as witnesses to be able to see God fight on our behalf. We aren’t passive because he is calling us to suit up for the battle, but we can’t defeat this particular enemy in our own strength ever.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12
So if today you have a beef with other people and you get into conflicts without putting on God’s armor, you are missing this timeless truth. They are not yours or my real problem. It goes much deeper than that.
To be continued . . .