Reigning With Christ Over the Dishes

[image error]It’s one thing to talk about the gospel, it’s another thing to walk in the gospel, to stand in grace, to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus and see everything in your life from that vantage point.

For those who are in Christ, these things are true whether we realize it or not, but there is a marked difference between seeing and understanding these realities and not.

Paul begins the book of Ephesians blessing God for all the glory and grace we have been loaded down with in the gospel, but this praise transitions into a prayer that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places…” (Eph. 1:17-20)

Paul knows that it is easy not to see what is actually true. It is easy not to know what is the hope of our calling, the riches of the saints, the greatness of His power working in us – the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the Father’s right hand. Sometimes all you can see are the dirty dishes.

In the midst of the trenches of parenting, family tension, health crises, financial instability, heartbreaking loss, political and cultural insanity, the plodding of daily tasks and routines, what do the eyes of your heart see? The beginning of Paul’s prayer summarizes the whole vision as centered on the knowledge of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. The Spirit of wisdom and revelation gives us knowledge of Him. And if we know Him, if we see Him, then we see the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance in the saints, the greatness of His power working in us who believe.

There is an enormous difference between parenting on your own and parenting in the power of the resurrection. There is an enormous difference between going to work on your own and going to work in the knowledge of Him who was raised from the dead. There is an enormous difference between looking at our deranged culture all by yourself, and looking out at our land from the vantage of Jesus ruling far above every principality and power. It is one thing to know certain facts on a page; it is another thing entirely to see Jesus, to know His grace for you and His certain rule over all things, and to stand in that grace, to sit with Him in the heavenly places, reigning with Him over the dishes, the laundry, the committee meetings, the children, your homework, the evening news, sin, unbelief, and even death itself. In Christ, there are no survivors, there are only conquerors. Ask the Lord to open the eyes of your heart that you might see Him.

 

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash