Memento

In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him (Eph 1:13).

In the movie "Memento," Leonard Shelby has a problem.  A big problem.  Because of a head injury, he can't remember anything more than a few minutes.  

Something called anterograde amnesia.  He tries to use a crazy combination of tattoos, newspaper clippings and polaroids to remember what's happened.  

What's worse, the people in his life know it.  They continually manipulate Lenny and use his lack of memory against him.  

In many ways, Paul is doing everything he can to prevent the Ephesians from becoming first century victims of spiritual amnesia.  

Sometimes the best way to realize our present is to remember our past.  

Just like you can't know the players without a scorecard, you can't understand a Bible verse without context.  

A group of spiritual snake oil salesmen have duped folks in the Colossian church into believing a jacked up version of the Gospel which is really NO Gospel at all!  

They've convinced folks there that Jesus might have been good but He wasn't God.  The only way they can make sure they can stay saved is by religious rule-keeping.  

While it might sound very pious, it's just a big steaming pile.  Paul writes a letter to the folks in Colossae reminding them that Jesus is not only God but He's more God than we can ever wrap our brains around (Col 1:15-20).  

He does the saving.  All of it.  And He continues saving.  Trust in what He yelled from cross, "It is finished!" (Jn 19:30).  

Paul grabs the Colossians by the shoulders and tries to wake them up.  Come on folks!  You trusted in Jesus!  You heard the truth!  You heard the Good News!  And you believed in Him!  Snap out of it!

What's this have to do with the Ephesians?  Everything.  Ephesus is just 100 miles down the road from Colossian crisis.  

Paul knows that such a spiritual epidemic can spread faster than a zombie apocalypse.  So he writes another letter to the Ephesians at the same time.  He tries to get ahead of the heresy.  

The apostle knows that if believers there will remember who Jesus is and what He's done for them, they won't swallow the lies of self-salvation that did so much damage in Colossae.

In his letter to Ephesus, Paul wastes no time in reminding his friends about the endless goodness God showers on us in Jesus.  

Ephesians 1:3-14 is an absolute Tsunami of Blessings.  In the original language, this is one, long, run-on sentence.  

Once the apostle gets started he can't stop.  It's an avalanche.  A tidal wave.  

He invites us to stand underneath the waterfall of God's grace.  Be overwhelmed.  Once we do, we realize the foolishness of that jacked up gospel of self-salvation.  

Sometimes the best way to realize our present is to remember our past.  

Paul flips open the spiritual scrapbook and reminds them how he told them about Jesus, they believed: "In Him you also" (v13).  

Just as the apostle heard about Jesus and trusted in Him (Eph 1:12), so did the Ephesians.  Dr. Luke wrote all about it in Acts 19.  

Christ used the former Pharisee to turn Ephesus upside down.  The big port city would never be the same after Paul hit town with the Gospel.  

And Paul's also describing a bigger story here too.  Just as the Jews heard first about Jesus and trusted in Him as their Messiah, so did the Gentiles.  

In one of the most mind-blowing strategies you've ever heard, God is using this one-time Jewish superstar to reach out to non-Jews around the world with the Good News.  

Paul reminds them in Whom they've placed their trust.  "In Him" (v13).  

In many ways, that's the theme of Paul's letter.  He uses some variation of "in Christ" or "in Him" some 28 times as he writes to the Ephesians.  

It's his way of reminding us that we don't bring anything to the table.  We don't save ourselves.  We've trusted in Him.  We continue to trust in Him.  

Jesus did for us what we could never, ever do in a million years.  He lived the perfect life that we completely failed to live.  He died the bloody death that we should have died.  He rose to new life that we don't deserve.  

It's not about what we've done.  It's all about what He's done.  And what He continues to do.  We've placed our complete trust "in Him."  

Sometimes the best way to realize our present is to remember our past.  

Again, Paul reminds them of what happened when he was there for those three incredible years.  "You heard the word of truth" (v13).  

The Ephesians heard about Jesus because Paul told them.  He was VERY intentional in explaining who Christ is and what He has done.  

Sure, lifestyle evangelism has it's place.  But eventually, you have to tell folks the WHO behind the WHY.  

That's the whole point of what the apostle wrote in Romans 10.  Folks can't trust in Jesus unless someone goes and tells them all about Him (Rom 10:11-15, 17).  

The Ephesians have "heard the word of truth" (v13).  This wasn't some random list of facts about some mystical dude in Palestine.  Nope.  

Truth is a Person.  Jesus said so Himself.  "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (Jn 14:6).  We need to remember the truth about the Truth.

This "word of truth" is also the very "Gospel of your salvation" (v13).  The Good News isn't that we save ourselves.  

All we do is hear about Jesus and trust in what He's done for us.  THAT'S the GOOD NEWS!  If salvation were up to me, that would be VERY bad news.  

Self-salvation is like yelling out swimming lessons to a drowning man as he's going under the water.  Can't be done.  

I desperately needed Someone to save me.  I needed Jesus.  He is the Gospel of my salvation.  

The apostle wants me to think back: Did I save myself?  Ah, that would be a "no."  All we've done is "believed in Him" (v13).  Trusted in Him.  Jesus saved me.  And He continues to save me.  

Sometimes the best way to realize our present is to remember our past.    

We need to remember that while we are currently saved, God has so much more for us in Jesus.  And to remind us of what's ahead, we "were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit" (v13).  

Yahweh pledged a very long time ago to send His Spirit.  It's all through the Old Testament (Ezek 36:27; 37:14; 34:29; Joel 2:28-29).  

Since we can ALWAYS trust Him to keep His promises, He has come through once again.  God poured out His Spirit on the folks in that upstairs apartment back in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-4) and He hasn't stopped since.  

Paul reminds us that when we place our trust in Jesus, He gives each one of us His Spirit.  

Like Lenny in "Memento," sometimes the best way to realize our present is to remember our past.  The good news is that we don't need Polaroids, newspaper clippings and tattoos.

©2013

Jay Jennings