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WHAT A REDEEMER! #5

IS STAR WARS REAL?

Hollywood successfully suggests to us vast worlds Out There, unimagined species that fly around at the speed of light and fight great laser battles. Kevin Spacey shows up in New York and says he's from K-PAX. In reality, if these civili- zations exist, are they under the rule of Jesus Christ?

There are ten words out there, ten Hollywood words, which have triggered the imaginations of millions of people around the world. Here they are:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

As you're hearing this radio message, it's likely that Episode II in the new Star Wars trilogy is playing to huge global audiences. Internet gossip provided a working title, back in January, of Attack of the Clones. And even if you're not into this kind of George Lucas-concocted fantasy, you can't help but wonder if there's someplace Out There where the following is happening:

"Anakin has grown into the accomplished Jedi apprentice of Obi-Wan, who himself has transitioned from student to teacher. The two Jedi are assigned to protect Padmé whose life is threatened by a faction of political separatists. As relationships form and powerful forces collide, these heroes face choices that will impact not only their own fates, but the destiny of the Republic."

Well, friend, let's take many grains of salt here with our Friday time of Bible study. Speaking of Bibles, let's move without delay from "upcomingattractions.com" to the holy Word of God. But is it possible that there are indeed great societies out in Deep Space, holy beings who have always worshiped God without falling into sin? Are battles being fought in distant galaxies, where the choices you and I make each day help to tip the scales? Is there perhaps such a thing as "Star Wars" after all?

We've been studying here in Ephesians chapter one about the unstoppable will of God, the cosmic plans He is relentlessly pursuing to their completion. As we learned this week, we can have confidence that God's purposes are going to be fulfilled because He demonstrated His own strength in resurrecting His Son Jesus, and putting Him on the throne. But see if you don't almost hear the Star Wars soundtrack theme music playing as we read beginning in verse 19:
"That power [of God's] is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS." That's interesting, isn't it? And now notice: "The heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."

The Bible is filled with fantastic imagery about the "lifting up" of Jesus, about His coronation on the throne. And we have to understand, first of all, that this is real, but that Christ isn't just assuming His place at the head of the Christian Church on Planet Earth, but over all creation: all stars and planets and galaxies and universes.

Dr. Francis Foulkes writes in the Tyndale commentary series for this book of Ephesians:

"There is given to the Church, and for the Church's benefit, a Head who is also Head over ALL things. The Church has authority and power to overcome all opposition because her Leader and Head is Lord of all. Jesus Himself had authority because He was under the Father's authority; He was doing His will and therefore had all the authority of God."

Have you recently sung that Christian praise song, "Lord of All"? Listen, there is absolutely no limit, no stopping place, no finiteness to that word "all" when it refers to the rule and authority of Jesus. You mathematicians know about functions and range and domain – and the domain of Jesus is everything. There isn't some place where His territory stops and He has to look across a barbed-wire fence at kingdoms which aren't His.

We've mentioned a number of times on this program the famed space trilogy by Christian writer C. S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. They're fiction, to be sure, but they portray a vast cosmic battleground, a "Great Controversy," as my Adventist Church likes to describe it, where unfallen worlds are considering the ebb and flow, the rise and fall, the clashing of these two systems: God's and Lucifer's. There are eldils, powerful angels who serve God on behalf of these ancient civilizations, and spiritual leaders, the Oyarsa, for every world God has made. In the second volume, Perelandra, a Christian man from earth named Ransom is actually taken to this distant world where Satan is just about to launch his Garden-of-Eden, please-eat-this-apple attack on the queen of that virgin world. And the play and interplay of events is just incredible, with the lowly man from earth invited by God to fulfill his crucial part.

The scholars who put together the New International Version text notes here for Ephesians 1 point out, beginning with verse three, that this phrase, Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms, occurs five times in the book. Then they add:

"[This emphasizes] Paul's perception that in the exaltation of Christ (His resurrection and enthronement at God's right hand) and in the Christian's union with the exalted Christ ultimate issues are involved — issues that pertain to the divine realm and that in the final analysis are worked out in and from that realm. At stake are God's eternal eschatological (meaning end-time) purpose and the titanic conflict between God and the powerful spiritual forces arrayed against Him" — there's your "Star Wars" right there — "a purpose and a conflict that come to focus in the history of redemption."

Well, you may ask, what does this have to do with me? If Star Wars is playing in my neighborhood multiplex, I can pay nine bucks and go, or keep my money and stay home. If there's this great battle taking place in the distant galaxies between Jesus and Lucifer, can I sit on the sidelines there too? We shouldn't steal from Ephesians 6, which we'll cover several weeks from now, but just listen to what Paul says in verse 12:

"For OUR struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this dark world AND against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

So we're already in it, aren't we? It was interesting to us, in reading the intro to Eugene Peterson's paraphrasing of Ephesians, how he, too, picks up on this galactic theme . . . and then brings us each one into it. Listen to this:

"[Paul] ranges widely," he writes, "from heaven to earth and back again, showing how Jesus, the Messiah, is eternally and tirelessly bringing everything and everyone together. He also shows us that in addition to having this work done in and for us, we are PARTICIPANTS in this most urgent work. Now that we know what is going on, that the energy of reconciliation is the dynamo at the heart of the UNIVERSE, it is imperative that we join in vigorously and perseveringly, convinced that every detail in our lives contributes (or not) to what Paul describes as God's plan worked out by Christ, ‘a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in Him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.'"

In that trilogy by C. S. Lewis, if you've read the books, you know that everywhere in the cosmos, on all worlds, the issue is the same. There's basically one question: Are you loyal to "Maleldil" — the Christ figure in the stories? Do you love Him? Do you serve Him? That's all. There's nothing else anywhere, in any galaxy, no matter how long ago or far away: past, present, or future. You're either with Jesus or a rebel against Him.

So are you involved? Friend, you bet you are. Last week we thought together about how in verse four we're told that God chose us to be participants with Him before our world was even made. He made up a battle plan before the events of Genesis 1 ever happened, and He wrote your name and my name down as important players in the drama. The bottom line is that He needs us! He wants us! And the best way for us to make sure Jesus Christ is successful on the throne of the universe is to determine that He will always be on the throne of our lives as well. In the Tyndale series, Dr. Foulkes points out how wonderfully this works out for us when we make that decision:

"From eternity to eternity God works all things," he comments, "according to His perfect plan. All history, all men, all that exists in heaven and on earth are included in His purpose. . . . That purpose is fulfilled in Christ, and thus in Him EVERY BLESSING that men have is found."

Here's our final thought. Back in verse ten, Paul talks about God's great plan, which He purposed "in Christ," to be put into effect — and now note this timetable:

". . . When the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."

The NIV scholars make a terrific point, and we'll close with it:

"Paul uses a significant term here," they write, "that not only has the idea of leadership but also was often used of adding up a column of figures." "Everything together under one head," remember? "A contemporary way of putting it might be to say that in a world of confusion, where things do not ‘add up' or make sense, we look forward to the time when EVERYTHING will be brought into meaningful relationship under the headship of Christ."

Friend, do you want to bring order and peace and purpose to your world right now? To have things "add up" again? Then invite the Star Wars victor, the King of all galaxies, to also be the Ruler of your life.