Tokyo Update #2

Why did God save us by grace through faith? Is it so that we can go to heaven when we die? Is it so that we can have a relationship with our Maker without works? That was the main topic of my sermon on Sunday. We explored the context of Ephesians chapter 2 more broadly in order to understand the answer to the initial question.

While those suggested answers mentioned above are not necessarily false, they are only a small part of the bigger picture. God did not merely save us from sin so that so that we can independently experience forgiveness and renewal; God did not save us so that we can live victorious Christian lives on our own without other believers; rather He made us alive with Christ so that we as a community of believers can collectively, and not independently, become more like Christ as we are transformed by His grace.

The community emphasis is rather obvious when we pay attention to the immediate context. Paul writes, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (v. 10). Paul tells us that “we” (plural) are His workmanship (singular). When we who were once disjointed and alienated from God and one another are saved by grace, we become part of God’s temple collectively which is His workmanship.  According to the context, God made us alive in Christ so that we would grow together as one community where God’s presence is witnessed by others. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (vv. 19-22).

As far as I can tell, Paul does not teach the mindset of “me and my salvation” in these verses. Rather, he focuses on “God and God’s purposes”, which are much wider than just my salvation. I used these verses to encourage our people in Tokyo to recognize God’s purpose for saving us. After our salvation, our next step is not simply going to heaven. It is being made into a one-of-a-kind community on earth that incarnationally demonstrates His existence and grace to those around us in Tokyo. If we understand God and His purposes for believers’ lives according to these verses, we have no choice but to commit ourselves to live by grace and be built up as God’s temple together in love. We need to invest our money, time, and ability to create more locations throughout Tokyo where these values are communally embraced, encouraged, and practiced by authentic believers.

However, the more we minister to people, the more we realize how inadequate we are to fulfill the vision that God has given us in Tokyo on our own. Yet, simultaneously, God’s Spirit through His Word gently reminds us that God is not limited by our evident lack of ability or resources (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:9). If He desires to use us to change the city of Tokyo for His glory, all He has to do is say so. Our adequacy is found in God’s willingness and His divine power with which He strengthens us. We need to clearly recognize our entrusted task and define our expectations accordingly. We are not called to Tokyo to change people. We are simply called to proclaim the One who is capable and willing to change people in the city. We are nothing more than His ambassadors trying to effectively and attractively communicate His message of hope to those who are blinded by the world, the flesh, and the devil (cf. 2 Corinthians 3). Please pray that we will continue to serve Him one day at a time by proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and the difference it makes to those we encounter in deed and truth. We appreciate all of you for partnering with us through prayer.