The book of Ephesians was the foundation for the conference. The purpose being, if we do not allow Ephesians chapters 1-3, to be the very focus of our lives, then Ephesians chapters 4-6, (wives submit to your husbands, husbands love your wives as Christ as loved the church. children obey your parents. slaves submit to your masters, etcc) will be impossible and painful.
On the first day Tim Lane spoke about being One with the body of Christ. I am going to take part of his analogy and expand upon it. He paralleled the Christian life with an ocean; vast, unmeasured,.. the ocean full of blessing, hardship, relationship, LIFE. And we the Christian, as a whale. While the whale remains in the ocean of relationship with God and with His body (the church) he will live, and move, and have being. (Acts 17:28) But if the whale beaches himself on the sand because the ocean is hard, painful, hurtful, not what one expected it to be; then he will surely die (not a physical death, but a spiritual death). No justification for isolation will give life to that whale. Only when the whale is being what it was meant to be in the ocean will it thrive and have true life. As married couples, we can not beach ourselves on the sand convincing each other that we have all the gifts we need to meet the others needs. As parents, we can not beach our families on the sand and justify our isolation because we think we have all the gifts to meet the needs of our children. Ephesians 1:18 says, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,"
What is our hope? What are the riches of His glory? Where is our inheritance found? In the saints. In relationships with others who call on His name. Not in the church building, not in the church programs, not in church traditions, not in the church laws, BUT IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SAINTS. Glimpses of eternal heaven are found in our relationships with others. The burden is shared, the joy is found, dances of celebration begin, the relationship with Christ is enhanced and deepened when we entertain angels in our homes (Hebrews 13:2), when our hands and feet are the tools our Savior uses to touch His own. We, renewed and determined, link arms with the saints and actively charge the gates of hell. That is why "church" is important. That's why communion with the saints is important. That's why corporately joining together in song, and the hearing of the word is commanded not suggested. Not to bore us, not to require another "act of goodness" from us. Rather so, that we, (you and me) may experience the fullness of our inheritance in the here and now. He is giving us hope by giving us each other. He is revealing His glory in our relationships. We are partaking in our inheritance when make ourselves vulnerable and willing to risk being in relationship. He is giving us the encouragement and the strength we need to live out our calling here on earth by giving us each other. We, in and of ourselves, do not have what it takes to replicate the blessing from being in relationship with others. We can not replicate it for our spouse and we can not replicate it for our children. WE NEED EACH OTHER!!! We need our Savior, and we need the beauty of true community and relationship in the body of Christ.
C.S. Lewis says is best,
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