THIS VITAL PASSAGE follows: “This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11). “The eternal purpose . . . realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Jesus, purpose became performance; the idea became fact; the Word became flesh. In all other religions, it is the word become word—a philosophy or a moralism. In Jesus, and in Jesus alone, the Word became flesh.
Through the ages men have purposed and have come short of that purpose. Once God purposed to redeem man through Jesus, and at the close of the fulfillment of that purpose Jesus could say, “It is finished.” It was! “Realized in Christ Jesus”—that is the most decisive verse in religions literature. In all faiths, except in Jesus Christ, there is verbal anticipation; only in Jesus is there realization. I have said to seekers in India, “If you can find God in some other way, then find and come back and tell me about it.” I’ve never had anyone to return to tell me he had found. A Hindu once said to Canon Holland, “You Christians find God in Christ, we Hindus find Him in ourselves. It is all the same.” “With this difference,” replied Holland, “real conversions do take place through Christ. I can take you to many in this city who will tell you they have found God through Christ.” The Hindu replied, “There you win. I have found none who have found God in themselves.”
There is only one issue left to modern man: it is increasingly Christ or nothing. All the other alternatives are being eliminated. A non-Christian conducted a radio interview with a pastor in Japan. When the minister said he regretted the comparative smallness of the number of Christians in Japan, the interviewer replied, “Your influence has gone beyond your numbers. Take me—I’m no longer a Buddhist. If I’m to be anything, I’ve got to be a Christian. So don’t be discouraged—you’ll get me and those like me, sooner or later. There is no alternative.” There really is none!
O Jesus, my Lord, since God’s purposes were realized in Thee, let my purposes be realized in Thee. Out of Thee there is nothing but barren futility. In Thee there is nothing but realized fulfillment. In Thee I am I—plus. I thank Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: The eternal purpose of God will be realized concretely in me today and always.
