Curt Harlow [00:00:00]:
Hello, my friend, and welcome to the Bible Study Podcast, or as the kids call it, the Bible Study Pod. I'm joined here with.
Kevin Thompson [00:00:10]:
My name is Kevin.
Curt Harlow [00:00:10]:
Nice to meet you. Good catch there. Another sip of this coffee.
Kevin Thompson [00:00:16]:
I feel honored. It's like one of your children.
Curt Harlow [00:00:18]:
I was trying to remember the name of your podcast, but let's play a little game here. Kevin's got a wonderful podcast you should check out right after this called, Man Your Marriage...Change the odds. That's right, Change the Odds.
Kevin Thompson [00:00:29]:
And we do not open every episode by hello friend, because we have more viewers than just one. So that's the way we do that.
Curt Harlow [00:00:35]:
I just am talking right to you, my friend. You're my friend. Okay, we're in Ephesians. Let's get to the thing. We are starting a brand new series here on. You're not supposed to have a favorite book in the New Testament, Kevin, but I do especially have a favorite epistle. And the reason is if you're gonna try to understand what the gospel is and then what you should do about it, what is this good news? What is sortariology? What is God's plan? The first three chapters of this book are the very best on the most in depth but easy to understand explanation of what God has done for us. And then the last three chapters are the best advice about what we should do about it, especially in our relationships.
Curt Harlow [00:01:19]:
That's the journey we're going to be on here from chapters one through six. We're going to jump in really quick. And Kevin today, earlier at our sermon prep meeting did a credible job with some of the context. So before I read it, what are some of the things we should know about this passage before we even jump in there? Kevin?
Kevin Thompson [00:01:37]:
Yeah, so you, I mean we just came out of the study, the book of Acts. Hopefully people go back and watch all those podcasts. And so this really is the rest of the story. So Acts 19, you have Paul there, the sons of Scevia, all the things that are going on. So it reminds us Ephesus, very influential city now dominated by the sorcery, by this magic. So a lot of spiritual kind of context and talk. Tremendous ministry that Paul did there for multiple years, but then was run out of town in a very life altering kind of riot. So he has a very sensitive heart back toward these people.
Kevin Thompson [00:02:08]:
He does not want to go back there. He's happy not to be there any longer. Matter of fact, remember he called the elders to come see him because he wasn't going to go back.
Curt Harlow [00:02:15]:
Yes, I'm near you. I'm in the next town over. Come over here and visit me.
Kevin Thompson [00:02:19]:
So there's some emotional wounds there of those experiences, but a deep love for the people. And here now in the church, Jews and Gentiles, there's a great deal of tension, probably Jews and Gentiles, maybe male and female, all the divisions that are there. He's now going to call Father, son. Yes. Now going to call them into a unity based on what God has done for us.
Curt Harlow [00:02:40]:
So very good. Yeah, Paul got beat up hard, literally here, and it's the prototypical city, probably the most prototypical city for all of the ministry and acts, all three missionary journeys in that. He had great success, the gospel, did great things there. He had great opposition, Demetrius and the whole crew that are like, you're going to ruin our idol industry. And massive confusion, confusion on why he should be jailed and what to do about that. And then there was some middle ground. There was some people that didn't make a decision. And especially among the Jewish population, you see a few incredible great converts to Judaism.
Curt Harlow [00:03:19]:
So we know there's a very strong Jewish component in this church. But. But yeah, that's where. That's the whole context of this. And to that situation, he writes this. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God to God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world and to be holy and blameless in his sight in love. He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Christ Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Curt Harlow [00:04:24]:
And I'll leave it right here, verse 9 and 10. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he proposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment, to bring unity to all things in heaven. Easy for you to say, Paul.
Kevin Thompson [00:04:45]:
And you actually cut him off mid sentence. Yes, this actually continues to go. We'll cover it in the next episode. But 3 through 14 is all one sentence in the Greek. And it's almost as though now Paul gets this almost ecstatic kind of utterance and can't control himself.
Curt Harlow [00:05:03]:
Right.
Kevin Thompson [00:05:04]:
And so I think about this as we're filming this. School's about to get started. As you're watching, probably school's about to get started. If the apostle Paul were to go to eighth grade English, this sentence would fail. Yes, because it is a run on sentence that he just can't end because he's so excited about what could happen if they would understand who God is in their lives.
Curt Harlow [00:05:23]:
So early on, when I was taught how to study the Bible, one of the things that they emphasized is because Greek doesn't have punctuation and because often it's being transcribed. So you imagine Paul pacing around a room in Rome while someone else is writing very fast to keep up with his thoughts. Two things you do to a passage will help you get the essence of it. Number one, it's called a manuscript study. Exactly what you just said. Write it out in English, but leave all the punctuation, all the paragraphs and all the capitals out. And when you do it, it's the funniest thing. You start going, oh, I see how the run on sentence makes sense.
Curt Harlow [00:06:02]:
It's us injecting the verses and injecting the periods that somehow makes it read a little bit more clunky.
Kevin Thompson [00:06:09]:
It's like us watching. It's like go to YouTube and get a transcript of this conversation. And you will see we do not speak grammatically correct. And that's not just because of Washington and Arkansas. It's just because of our human being, nature and clarity.
Curt Harlow [00:06:21]:
There's so many other tools we're using when we're talking instead of writing. I often when I'm doing chores, I'll have a page up and I'll ask Google to read the page out loud. And it's hilarious because they will read. It will read like number 14, figure 1, blah blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah. Start of the paragraph is that exact same sentence again. And then here's an ad, here's an ad that just popped up. You will get more out of the New Testament, especially these passages, if you manuscript it and then go back and say, where are the, the thought separations here? Then another little hint that I will do entirely through this whole series on I will speak the passage out loud. Oh yeah, when you speak it out loud all of a sudden and you get that transcribey sort of feel or listen to it on an audio recording, as ever, I don't get any of the ones that have sound effects.
Curt Harlow [00:07:15]:
The Sound effects kill it. For me, that's too theatrical. It's amazing what insights will become more clear, more sharp when you're doing those two things. Okay, so manuscript and audible. Let me ask you this question, Kevin. If you were to sum up Paul's goal in all of chapter one, but especially this first section on down to 14, what would the goal. What is he trying to say first to the Ephesians?
Kevin Thompson [00:07:40]:
Yeah, I mean, for me, it really does come down to this idea of unity under Christ. That, to me, is the whole book. So as I think about what this book is accomplishing, obviously there's debates over what's the most important verse and all those kind of things. I would generally say 110 is probably the centerpiece of what's going on. So all this to be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment. That's now to bring unity to all things in heaven and earth under Christ. And then in 310, we're going to see how he's doing that. And the text is going to say it was his intent that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.
Kevin Thompson [00:08:21]:
So it's through us now that he's doing that. And so for the church in Ephesus, it's like unity is found not in one side defeating the other. Unity is found now in submission. As you understand what God has actually done for you, and you're just as called as I'm called. We disagree on things. We have different backgrounds, all those kind of things. But in the end, we find this unity in who Christ is. And the whole book now is gonna show it is not just what's going on here on earth.
Kevin Thompson [00:08:45]:
It's within the cosmic realms that this ultimately is gonna take place. And this is the mystery that's been held until right now in Jesus.
Curt Harlow [00:08:52]:
Well, let me disagree with you on that, and I'm just joking as you're saying this. You're absolutely right, especially in context. He would like the Ephesian church to not be split by the drama and opposition, the racial divide, the cultural div. And then there's some male, female and family division in there. We see from the book. So I do think the main goal here is unity. I would just add to it. He is provoking unity by telling them how blessed they are, by getting their focus back on what God has done in the past, in the present, in the future.
Curt Harlow [00:09:30]:
And so the first chapter is just. I'm going to throw out in a run on sentence. You said it earlier, a flourish, a diatribe he's going to say, I'm going to list everything and hopefully I'll bombard you with this. And that way you'll go, gosh, why are we fighting? We are so blessed. In fact, he begins it by saying, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing? And then the rest of the whole chapter, he lists a lot of spiritual blessings.
Kevin Thompson [00:10:01]:
It's almost like that's a headline. I mean, when I read this, you got a headline.
Curt Harlow [00:10:04]:
Every spiritual blessing.
Kevin Thompson [00:10:05]:
What does that mean? Well, here's where we go.
Curt Harlow [00:10:08]:
Yes. And then. Okay, this is what makes your answer really interesting and a little bit humorous to me. If the goal is that the church would be unified under the blessings of God, we are so blessed. How can we not respond? By having charity and grace and love for one another and sticking together. This passage, however, its history has been one of the most de. Unifying.
Kevin Thompson [00:10:36]:
I don't understand, Curt, are you claiming that in some way it's possible that humanity can take the intention of God and cause the exact opposite of what he desires?
Curt Harlow [00:10:45]:
Yes. It's like when people use the Bible passages about feeding the poor and they use them for prosperity gospel. So of course it's important to talk in depth about this idea of what God predestined and do we have free will? What he predestined and predestined is all over this place. So all the folks that really like predestination. That idea, by the way, I love it too. This idea that I added nothing to my salvation, that God's completely in control, irrefutable in the Bible. And then you have the people say, yeah, but there's a word mystery in there. So, you know, how does God let me have free will and I'm morally responsible.
Curt Harlow [00:11:23]:
I'm not an atonatom. How does that. Oh, it's a mystery. All of that debate and sometimes like in the 16th and 17th century, violence comes from this passage about unity.
Kevin Thompson [00:11:38]:
Yeah, no, yeah. I would say all of it, but I would say a good amount of it, no doubt. And you would think that this could. Yeah, this is a place that I, as somebody who leans a little bit more toward predestination than others would turn to very quickly and be like, ah, preach that. Right.
Curt Harlow [00:11:53]:
It's right there four or five times.
Kevin Thompson [00:11:54]:
The question came up earlier, like, hey, how are you going to explain that idea of where he chose? I'm like, I don't have to explain it. He chose us. There's not a lot of things I need to explain at that moment. Right. But this idea of the theological differences and how easily humanity, I think, can jump in and try to make our own point rather than understanding what is the overarching purpose of this text. Let's start there because, let's face it, we joke about this all the time. And I actually don't think we disagree that much. I think we surfacely disag.
Curt Harlow [00:12:31]:
I think then I'm easily bored.
Kevin Thompson [00:12:34]:
So I, as I listen to you preach, you're as Calvinist as anybody I know. But just this idea of whenever you're reading the passage, the detail of the minutiae matters, but you have to get the big picture first. But what we so often do is so quickly jump into what's my tribe.
Curt Harlow [00:12:54]:
Right.
Kevin Thompson [00:12:55]:
All right, let's go there. I mean, seriously, I have no problem with predestination, choosing all of that. But as you heard me say earlier, the word that jumps off the page to me on this is lavished.
Curt Harlow [00:13:05]:
Yeah, exactly.
Kevin Thompson [00:13:07]:
I don't. The other words matter, but they're not the things that just kind of light a fire under me as much as that actually does.
Curt Harlow [00:13:14]:
Yeah. You know, I stick to old Baptist Calvinist preacher named Dr. Bob Utley here, and he's Calvinist, he believes in all five of the tulip tips. And he'll say, but there is a measure of tension here in the Bible, not just in this passage. And I'm going to try my Bob Utley accent right now. He said, we want clarity. God wants tension. And there is a tension.
Curt Harlow [00:13:41]:
I believe, in this particular issue. And the tension is do not make the error on one side of it of adding anything to your salvation. Jesus didn't say it is finished except for Curt's tiny little part at the end. On the other hand, do not underestimate the mystery of God's ability to say, you are not an automaton. And there is some dynamic in this where you are morally responsible. And so, yeah, here's how I teach it when I teach it at Bayside and the approach we should have. The first thing, exegesis, is, of course, the proper handling of the passage to get the original meaning. Essentially, exegesis to me, the way I explain it is it's the attitude you bring to the Bible.
Curt Harlow [00:14:31]:
So if I bring in Calvinist attitude to the Bible, I'm going to see Calvinist proof and evidences. If I bring Arminian attitude to the Bible, I'll bring Arminian. And even worse than that, the one we really do is if I bring the perspective of what would be Comfortable for Curt. I'll read the passage in a way not intended. I have to come as a blank sheet and say, God, what did this mean to Paul and his hearers? Inspired by the Holy Spirit. When we do that, we have the side issue of what is the mechanism of predestination? Great conversation. And we have the bigger, bigger point of unity through being lavished, which is. I think you make the exact good point on this.
Curt Harlow [00:15:16]:
One other little story for anyone out there that's interested in a little deeper look at theology, these passages are great when you're in seminary, because in seminary I could never get all of my reading done. I was always behind on my reading. Do you ever read a guy named Blesch? No. No. He's a German guy in English. He takes days to finish one page. And I would be walking to the round table of the study cohort. I was in to have lunch with our.
Curt Harlow [00:15:49]:
The. The grad student that. That oversaw us, Ron Urkus. And I would say to the guys, you get all your reading done now. Are you ready to discuss this? No, I'm. Me either. No, no, no. I said, let's get in a fight over once saved, Always saved.
Kevin Thompson [00:16:03]:
And.
Curt Harlow [00:16:03]:
And we'll use up the whole lunch. It worked beautifully.
Kevin Thompson [00:16:06]:
When in doubt.
Curt Harlow [00:16:07]:
Yes.
Kevin Thompson [00:16:09]:
I will add, I think one important note on that too, is to make sure, and this is just good, I think, loving each other. Well, we have to make sure that as we present whatever is the other side of what we disagree with, that we're doing it properly, because it's not uncommon at all for me, who again, has no problem with the Calvinist label. And then somebody will say, oh, well, you don't believe in human responsibility? I'm like, of course I do. Bible says it. I'm 100% responsible for my sin. Absolutely. Clearly I am. And so if we're not very careful, we can begin to misrepresent.
Kevin Thompson [00:16:42]:
I can't look at you and go, well, you don't truly believe in the sovereignty of God. Of course you do. The Bible very clearly talks about that. So to be compassionate in how we're talking about what is the apparent disagreement on the other side, I think is vital.
Curt Harlow [00:16:54]:
Yeah. So here at Bayside, as you know, Kevin, there is such a wide variety of theological backgrounds. So the biggest group that is here is the no theological background at all. All or very, very little. And then you have a tremendous. Just in our area where our campuses are. And I've done this at multiple campuses. If you come from a not religious background, at all raise your hand.
Curt Harlow [00:17:16]:
That's about 30% of the room. If you come from a liturgical background, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, anything like that, that'll be 10%, 15% of the room here, Granite Bay, where we're recording this, it's a little bit more. It's more like 20, 25% here, then, okay, charismatic background, foreshare, assembly of God, CMA, blah, blah, blah. You get a. A good representative, another 10, 15% there. And then, okay, now you come from a more Reformed background. Are you any Presbyterians in here? Blah, blah, blah. And you'll get a good solid group.
Curt Harlow [00:17:47]:
So you have every evangelical expression and a bunch of folks that are like, haven't formed an opinion yet on this particular issue or. I'm new to forming an opinion. I just formed my opinion last year. And what I always say is, listen, have your convictions. I love convictions. I love the fact that you studied hard, you studied honestly, exegetical attitude there, and you came to a conviction. That's absolutely beautiful. Just don't use debate in the Kingdom of God, because debate only causes people to be walked into a corner and believe what they already believe harder and reject what you believe.
Curt Harlow [00:18:25]:
So I'm like, if you really actually believe this stuff, and it's a true conviction, it's very important to you. The first thing you should do is say, I wonder, what about their position? I don't understand.
Kevin Thompson [00:18:33]:
Yes, yes.
Curt Harlow [00:18:35]:
And I have just found we have some nuances on our whole team theologically, very much so. And I have found the more I'm kind of in the room going, that's interesting. I didn't go to that type of school. I didn't grow up in that type of church. I bet you there's stuff I don't know, man. Does great stuff come out of having that question? And not only that, now people owe me the debt of listening. Yeah. Curt, what do you really believe about this stuff? Oh, you don't want to know.
Curt Harlow [00:19:03]:
Please tell us. I don't want to know. Come on, please tell us. I couldn't wait until they get there, and then I can tell you.
Kevin Thompson [00:19:09]:
You know, I have a personality quirk in that if you just dismiss me, I become more confident. But if you listen to me and disagree with me, I begin to doubt. But within this. I mean, that's one thing that our preaching room really does for me, is there are some very intelligent people that I deeply respect that love other people, well, preach so well who disagree with me on this. So I'm like, all right, I may not be Right on. I have a thought. But man, the mystery is much larger than just. Just me.
Curt Harlow [00:19:37]:
Yes. Yeah, I. It's the old saying, I know a lot more. I used to know a lot more than I know now. So. Okay, the big metaphor in here, Kevin, let's switch to this is the metaphor of adoption. So we're very blessed. We're so blessed.
Curt Harlow [00:19:54]:
We should be in unity. We've been lavished on, we've been given redemption through his blood. That's a perfect example, perfect phrase for explaining the gospel. All wisdom, all understanding has been given to somehow in a mystery, we've gotten all that, all of that gives God pleasure. And that is all wrapped in. It's all under the umbrella of God made a deliberate decision to adopt us and give us the full legal rights of an adoptee. So why this, why this emotional word picture? Why this metaphor?
Kevin Thompson [00:20:30]:
Yeah, I mean, especially in the culture where that wasn't nearly as normal as what it is now to us. If we were to use this illustration today without any biblical reference, this would be a very common illustration. We all have friends who've been adopted, family members who've been adopted. This is just part of our culture, wasn't so much part of theirs, in part because children weren't seen to have the value that children today would be seen to have. But I do think that the power of this image is to show the dramatic change, to go from literally vulnerable, defenseless, having nothing to now protected, being named, being valued, not just having resources now, but now having a future inheritance of what is actually going to come. To me, it is a similar illustration of death to life. What's the most dramatic way now that the writer can show under the power of the Holy Spirit, but the, the transformation that's taken place.
Curt Harlow [00:21:26]:
Right.
Kevin Thompson [00:21:26]:
There may not be a better image now.
Curt Harlow [00:21:28]:
Yeah. In the Roman Empire too. And there is, there is a, you know, maybe Paul's using his bicultural knowledge here. There is a practice where wealthy landowners would go, I'm not, I'm not sure my son deserves this. And they would go out and adopt another son. They would go pick another human and go, by the way, you're getting all this. So there is a little shadow of that. But you're right.
Kevin Thompson [00:21:50]:
In the Jewish culture, and that's where counseling came in. Can you imagine?
Curt Harlow [00:21:55]:
Here's the thing. When I first ran into these passages as a young budding preacher and theologian, I would like, I would rather have God say, you are my natural born son, you're of my DNA line. So I thought the Adoption seems a little strange. And the reason I thought that is because I didn't know any couple that had adopted, and I didn't know any child that had. Had been adopted. And the first time this happened to Kelly and I, very close, dear friends of ours, and they were kind of. They were just happy. Go lucky.
Curt Harlow [00:22:29]:
They weren't like ultra planners. You know, we're going to have this many kids, and we're going to live them. We're going to make this. They're just fun to be around. And they did the next right thing, and they were living life. And then one day, probably three years into their marriage, they were like, we want to have a baby. The baby button got pushed, and they were like, we. I mean, we want to have this baby now.
Curt Harlow [00:22:50]:
And so they changed priorities, they changed finance, and they started trying for that baby. And, you know, at first you're like, I can't wait. What's going to happen? We're going to get that pink balloon when I come home from work one day, or that blue balloon, and nothing. And nothing. And then they had a miscarriage, and then another miscarriage, and then they gave up, and then their marriage struggled, really struggled, and then they fought through that struggle and said, maybe this is God calling us to adopt. So then they're trying to get the money together to adopt, and it is not easy. This is back when a lot of babies from China were being adopted and a lot of babies from Russia were being chatted. So then you're asking the question, a child that is two years old and has not had the nurturing a parent needs to give that child, are we called to adopt that child? And the set of problems that comes with that.
Curt Harlow [00:23:45]:
Excruciating. They've already been through a really hard thing now in the adoption world. It's excruciating. And you follow that excruciating desire for a child all the way through to when they bring that baby home and how that deep need is met. And it turns out whether that child's perfectly healthy or that child's got profound challenges, it didn't matter as much as they thought that calling on God, that nurturing desire, that parental role was so strong, it doesn't matter. Give me two more of these babies with these challenges on it. So once you see the deliberateness of that, you get it. You're like, oh, the amount of desire for an heir God has, the amount of desire for you to be joined into his family, the.
Curt Harlow [00:24:38]:
The amount of work. And then, of course, adoption is beautiful because the Expense emotionally, physically and financially.
Kevin Thompson [00:24:47]:
There's a price the baby can't pay.
Curt Harlow [00:24:49]:
We. And the baby's not even aware of the price that has been paid. Christ on the cross paid the price for our adoption papers and all of a sudden it went from I don't know if that's the strongest word picture to oh my goodness, God. God picked me and paid for me to be his son.
Kevin Thompson [00:25:09]:
Giving us all rights now where we had none. Yes, that's exactly right.
Curt Harlow [00:25:14]:
So can I ask you a personal question then?
Kevin Thompson [00:25:18]:
Yes.
Curt Harlow [00:25:19]:
Yeah. Okay. We could, you could say no.
Kevin Thompson [00:25:22]:
Okay.
Curt Harlow [00:25:26]:
Are, are you, do you live in the sort of family where your grandfather, let's say, was successful enough economically where like the, the Bible says he left an inheritance first? No, no, no, no.
Kevin Thompson [00:25:40]:
Yeah, so, so what I got, and I mean they hard working people no doubt love me in every way. When upon the death of my grandparents, yes, what I asked for was their wedding rings. That's the one thing I got from my grandparents. They were married 70 years. I wanted the rings. It's not like my kids college is paid for because papa's success years ago.
Curt Harlow [00:26:01]:
Kelly, I say there's divorce going back as far as you can count on my fashion family, both sides. And there's no divorce in Kelly's side because they never got married in the first place. No wedding rings to ask for. When the first parents of our four parents, Kelly and I passed, suddenly we got debt.
Kevin Thompson [00:26:23]:
Oh, there you go. I didn't know that could happen.
Curt Harlow [00:26:25]:
Yes, well, it turns out it can't. The debtor, the company said we had to pay and then the funeral director said no, you guys, we were only 20 years old. They're like, no, no, this is not on you. But they would if we were going.
Kevin Thompson [00:26:38]:
To write a check. Yeah. Oh, Kelly would have written more.
Curt Harlow [00:26:41]:
Contrast that to, let's say that you come from that background where you're the first generation to go to college like we were. You're the first generation to understand anything about saving and not going to debt like we were. And all of a sudden you have an inheritance that is called the riches of God's grace. It's the story that we love and this is why we tell that story over and over again. Down on my luck. 17 bad things out of my control happened. There's no way out except for the telegram comes. You had an uncle in Kansas who always admired you and finally found you.
Curt Harlow [00:27:23]:
And the family farm worth five gabillion dollars is yours. All you have to do is show up. We love that story because it is. This story.
Kevin Thompson [00:27:32]:
Is it? I mean, is it? I mean, it is. It is. I'm just saying, is it the reason we love it?
Curt Harlow [00:27:36]:
It.
Kevin Thompson [00:27:37]:
It's the echo.
Curt Harlow [00:27:38]:
Yes. Right.
Kevin Thompson [00:27:39]:
It's the echo of the truth that we don't. We don't want to understand why it is that there's something within our soul that longs for all things to be right.
Curt Harlow [00:27:48]:
Yes.
Kevin Thompson [00:27:49]:
And the need to be quenched and, and life to be settled and it's because we come from this.
Curt Harlow [00:27:55]:
Yes.
Kevin Thompson [00:27:55]:
And we're going toward this.
Curt Harlow [00:27:56]:
Yeah.
Kevin Thompson [00:27:57]:
And we live in this. In between.
Curt Harlow [00:27:58]:
Now, every trope in our movies and literature is an echoing of something eternal. So. So Luke Skywalker is about to blow up the Death Star, but all of a sudden, Darth Vader comes. He's got him. You're locked in. He's not about to be locked. He's locked in by Darth Vader. He's going to die.
Curt Harlow [00:28:15]:
It's over. Death Star wins. But at the last second, he's saved by Han Solo. And every Lord of the Wings battle. At the last second, the Riders of Rohan come in. Every army movie, every. And the funny thing about that whole. At the last minute, we're saved by an all powerful force that no one saw coming and we didn't deserve.
Curt Harlow [00:28:38]:
We believe it every time. We're like, will it happen? What's going to happen? And when it happens, we're like, yay. Even though we should not be surprised at all. And the reason we feel that way is because we know that we are the ones that are overwhelming. Odds are against us and we need a powerful, often last minute rescue from something far beyond our control that we do not deserve.
Kevin Thompson [00:29:04]:
Without hope and without God is where we were. And yet, here's how he stepped in.
Curt Harlow [00:29:09]:
Mark Clark would like this episode. A lot of movie talk. Okay, we're running out of time. We're halfway through just the very first chapter. Not even quite halfway, but let's make an application. If you were to tell someone, here's what I want you to do on Monday morning about the first half of the first chapter of this great book of Ephesians. What would you tell them?
Kevin Thompson [00:29:27]:
Yeah, I mean, just as I look down at the text, I mean, my first thought is, Kevin, see this? See, see this? Lose sight of all this other stuff you're worried about and concerned about. And, you know, does Curt appreciate you? Does your family appreciate you? Where are you in the organization? Where are you in your community? Where are you? Are you achieving enough and accomplishing enough? And do you have value. And just go down into this idea. Notice Mark made the point earlier of where these blessings are in the heavenly realms, where they are untouchable. Here's the thing. If they were lower than that, I could screw them up, but they're not. They're accessible to me, but beyond my reach.
Curt Harlow [00:30:09]:
That's it.
Kevin Thompson [00:30:10]:
And so to now live in this blessed state of who God has called me to be, of what he has done done for me, what he has secured for me, to see here how the Father, Son and the Spirit have been active in my life, to see how my past, my present, my future have now been transformed, live in that and let everything else be interpreted through that. Instead of where I often live, which is fixated on these opinions of others and my own sense of value and what I can achieve and what I can accomplish. And then I view this in light of that and in so doing, lose who Jesus is.
Curt Harlow [00:30:44]:
That's very good. My application. Simply treat this like Halloween candy or your Christmas stocking. So you know you come from a little bit of lack. When you get done trick or treating, you pour it all out on the ground and you separate it and you count it. You take an accounting of it. And you do that because you don't want your brother to steal any of it. And you do that also just to have that moment where you go, this is a lot.
Curt Harlow [00:31:06]:
I have a lot today. Or with your Christmas stocking, same thing. You put all that out there. Maybe you put it next to all your Christmas. You know, the socks Grandma gave you and the toy you actually love. And you Just to have a moment. I've got a lot. I would just deconstruct every one of these sentences and go, what is Paul saying? God has given me, so I've gotten the riches of his glorious grace.
Curt Harlow [00:31:29]:
I've gotten his inheritance. I've gotten his wisdom. I've gotten his pleasure. God takes pleasure in the and let yourself have a moment in this first chapter before Paul tells you what to do in your relationships. Let yourself have a moment where you go in Jesus. I've got a lot.
Kevin Thompson [00:31:52]:
It's good.
Curt Harlow [00:31:52]:
We're gonna have a great time on this. As you can see, the book of Ephesians. Don't miss it. Hey, would you just take a moment right now and tell someone to listen to the Bible study on the Thrive Podcast Network? By the way, check out Kevin's podcast as well.
Kevin Thompson [00:32:07]:
What's it called, Curt? What's it called?
Curt Harlow [00:32:08]:
You Could Do Better Regular list. What you.
Kevin Thompson [00:32:11]:
No, that's not That's Jenny's podcast.
Curt Harlow [00:32:12]:
Against Against.
Kevin Thompson [00:32:14]:
Change the Odds. Change the Odds. Marriage and family are never meant to be a game of chance.
Curt Harlow [00:32:18]:
I kid him. Change the Odds. Go get on that mark's hair. Go look at all of them. And don't forget, as always, you got to finish these things and say like. And subscribe and share this. Thanks, guys.