THE FIRST ONES

Ephesians 1:12 “…So that we who were first to set our hope on Christ might live for the praise of His glory.”

Missionaries! That’s become a broad term that conjures up different images that are often bookended by pictures of the famous C.T. Studd all the way to the blond and dark-haired Mormon missionaries on their bicycles. But here, Paul talks about the “first” to set their hope on Christ!

These were the “first sheaves,” the first fruits,” of the early church, the pioneers who could not settle for the norm of confined living in the world. These were the first ones, and I am certain there will one day be the “last ones” as well. But these words speak to us today long after Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians.

Are there not the “first ones” among us? They go to the scorching poverty of New Deli, enter lands filled with darkness, trade their cars for canoes in the Amazon, eat strange food partially cooked over an open campfire instead of prime steak at Applebee’s. They go to the tribes they do not understand. The barriers of language are real to them.

They endure! They explore, they give – because THEY ARE THE FIRST ONES!

But what is it that these valiant men and women of God bring with them that supersedes the barriers of language and all the obstacles they face?

They bring more than words, more than money, THEY BRING LIFE, a life radically set on “The Praise of His Glory!”

They bring with them a life of example, a walking illustration of the One they speak of.

These “first ones” are the ones chosen to be “unmixed.” Their cultural identity and bias are laid aside. They are not seen as North Americans, Latinos, or Asians. Their former habits are lost in transition. They are seen instead as that strange new creation that is wonderfully absorbed by His majesty.

These are indeed the first, and the last, and all those who are in the middle!

I would suggest that our influence whether it be at home or abroad is authenticated by this one peculiar thing: a life that lives for the praise of His glory!

That my friend is the “GREAT ATTRACTION” to win the world!