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PROFILE OF THE NEW PERSON
Eph. 4:17-5:2
INTRODUCTION
1 Corinthians 1:18 says "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being it is the power of God." And this is true. I mean, what wisdom is there in God revealing Himself to us through His son Jesus only to have him killed on a cross in the end - and at the moment I am not regarding His resurrection or ascension because many people in the world only regard the death of Jesus. So the thought here is, "God is supposed to be powerful - if Jesus was God, then how come he died?"
One thing I have discovered about life is that we view things with a certain bias, and sometimes as we do this we miss the truth. The Jews expected the coming Messiah to lead them into military victory, so when Jesus came teaching love, peace, forgiveness, patience etc. they did not see He was the Messiah simply because Jesus did not match up to what they expected. The result was they missed the truth.
The passage we are looking at today expresses how 'In Christ' we discover ourselves in a new light as new people with new attitudes. So I've asked Greg Cox if he could share with us his testimony to help us focus on what Paul is speaking about here in Ephesians 4:17-5:2. First I'll read the passage and then let Greg share with us.
In verses 17-19 of this passage Paul is expressing the futility of a life without Christ. And we've heard from Greg some of the futility he discovered in his life of living a life without Christ. So what are the components of this futility?
If the Bible is true and accurate, then early on in the book of Genesis we learn that we, as human beings, are made in the image of God. That is, we are not made in the image of an ape, or by the process of chance - but intentionally by God and in His image. That means, we are intentionally created to mirror a number of God's attributes and characteristics. Some of these include unconditional love, belonging, forgiveness, honesty, trustworthiness etc. Now if we live our lives in obedience to Christ, then these attributes and characteristics take effect into our lives. But what happens when we deny God His rightful place in our lives?
(draw illustration about our division with God to describe points a, b, & c)
Ephes. 4:21
Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
Up until Jesus, the world was under judgement. Jesus’ role was to end the role of Judge. The Father has taken off His wig and gown. The Father could leave judgement and allow mercy to flow. He could, through Jesus, express the loving Fathers heart He has always had.
Rom 5:8-17 says this:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
(From the New International Version of the Bible)
No more anger (judge) for those who know Christ. But God does need to remain as judge for those who deny Him.
In Christ we reign in life. We have been reconciled back to God if we have allowed Christ to be both our Lord and Saviour. It is as if we were the run away child. In our teens we leave home thinking that we can live life as we want to without the restrictions that are handed down by mum and dad which are only there for our own nurture, never-the-less, we reject their authority, love, and guidance for something we think is better. Once out in the world though, we come to realise it isn’t as rosy as we thought. We get caught up in drugs and sex and booze. We now have the freedom we wanted, but deep inside we cry out for love and acceptance. The only love we receive is sex and the only acceptance we receive is when we join in with the drugs and alcohol. Life is one confusing mess and all we want is a safe haven where real love exists. As time goes on we then phone mum and dad and ask if they will have us back. They say, "Child, we love you and want the best, of course you can come home. Let’s work through the heartache, the disagreements. Let’s work towards understanding and restore the love and relationships we once had.
Our relationship with God is no different. He waits with open arms waiting for you and me just to call out to Him and say - "Dad, I want to come home, I am sorry, I want to work things out. I’m sorry for blaming you, I now realise it is me who walked away."
His reply, to a genuine heart will always be, "It is safe to come home, it has always been so. I love you and I want the relationship restored too, that love flows between us - let’s work things through together."
You see, Father God’s desire isn’t to be judge, but it is to be Father.
Eph 2:14-18
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
You see, Jesus abolished the point of trouble between us and God. We now have access to Father through our position in Jesus. The law of judgement has been dealt with in Jesus. Those who are in Christ now know God as Father.
You and I can now find approval in the presence of God rather than trying to find it in defective people.
Ephes. 4:22-23
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
Ephes. 4:24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
So how does Paul discuss our relation to the former life. We see a list of put-on / put-off principles.
Paul says in verse 30 "don't grieve the Holy Spirit."
So we find here, that as we live lives that are the lives we came from, rather than the new life we now have, then, the Spirit of God can be grieved. He can easily be made sorrowful concerning specific things.
So, how is the Holy Spirit grieved? There are several indications in the passage:
1. Lying (verse 25).
2. Anger (verse 26).
3. Yielding to temptation (verse 27).
4. Stealing (verse 28).
5. Corrupt communications (verse 29).
6. Disordered interpersonal relationships (verses 31 & 32).
Here we find Paul puts forward a negative, but he replaces the negative with a positive action we are to take.
Ephes. 4:26-27
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.
Anger in and of itself is not sin, it is what we do with that anger that determines that is sin of otherwise. The Bible doesn’t tell us that we shouldn’t feel angry, but it points out that it is important to handle our anger properly. If anger is vented thoughtlessly, anger can hurt others and destroy relationships. If its bottled up inside, it can cause us to become bitter and destroy us from within. Paul tells us to deal with our anger immediately in a way that builds relationships rather than destroys them. If we nurse our anger, we will give Satan an opportunity to divide us.
So we need to ask ourselves, Am I angry with someone right now? What can I do to resolve your differences?
Don’t let the day end before you begin to work on mending your relationship.
Ephes. 4:28
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Ephes. 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
As we have said, we can grieve the Holy Spirit by the way we live. Paul warns us against unwholesome language, bitterness, and improper use of anger, brawling, slander, and bad attitudes toward others.
Ask yourself: Am I grieving or pleasing God with my attitudes and actions?
Act in love toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, just as God acted in love by sending his Son to die for your sins.
Ephes. 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
This is Christ’s law of forgiveness as taught in the Gospels (Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 18:35; Mark 11:25). We also see it in the Lord’s Prayer—"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." God does not forgive us because we forgive others, but solely because of his great mercy. As we come to understand his mercy, however, we will want to be like him. Having received forgiveness, we will pass it on to others. Those who are unwilling to forgive have not become one with Christ, who was willing to forgive even those who crucified him (Luke 23:34). So we should be forgiving, just as God has forgiven us.
Two Christian psychologists named Minirth and Meier said this:
"Forgiving starts with an act of the will. Forgiving is a choice. It may take some time to work through the emotional feelings that are involved. We cannot immediately dismiss the feelings. Again, it takes time to reprogram the computer. It takes time to reprogram the feelings. However, we can forgive others immediately by an act of the will."
To sum up all of this passage Paul makes a simple, yet profound and difficult statement. "Be imitators of God."
Here we have seen all God has done for us. He implores us, then, to put off the old lifestyle, and put on the new man. How? By our own efforts and by our own understanding?
No! God would never ask us to do these things by our own efforts. He knows we need a positive and righteous example in a world decaying morals, values and ethics. So He says, imitate me, look to me, and I will do that work in you. We just need to listen and obey.
So what do we imitate?
This pulls all the ingredients in from these verses of forgiveness, encouraging one another, being kind and compassionate etc.
This is to give to one another. Give to those in need, make ourselves available for God's work, obey Christ etc.
This is the lifestyle that honors God as we reflect and imitate Him.
David Hoke said on reflection of this passage: "The highest privilege for any Christian is to be like God. That is our privilege. That is our calling. That is our destiny. We can live our lives in such a way that we hinder and even destroy that privilege, or we can live our lives in such a way that we cooperate with God's Spirit in allowing Jesus to live His life in us and through us."
God has done His all for us and continues to do His all for us. He just asks for our availability and obedience. This series is about the purpose of the church. And I think this passage is the crux of that purpose. We as God's people - His Church - are called to imitate Him in His love and sacrifice. Jesus said that if anyone who wanted to follow him, then they had to deny themselves the rights and privileges this world portrays as rights and privileges. He spoke of taking up the cross - that is sacrifice. The result of this challenge was that a number of his disciples followed and obeyed, whilst a significant number turned their back and said, "Hey man, that's just too higher calling."
Are we as the Burdekin Baptist Church going to say, "Yes Lord Jesus, lead the way as we obey and follow you in service, life and love."
Or, will we say, "Hey God, I'm comfortable with life and I don’t want it to change. Let me serve you occasionally so I can still maintain my personal pleasures of life."
Folks, God's call for us to imitate Him is no easy thing to do - in fact it is a very high calling - one He gives to each and every one of us. But, as we obey, He then leads, nurtures, guides, and restores. Our old clothing of the world begins to fall off - a bit like old flaking skin. What happens then is that God encases us with a new skin - a new life which is caught up in His righteousness and Holiness.
Therefore, I urge you with the words Paul wrote in verse 24, "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
By Scott Douglas, Pastor, Burdekin Baptist Church, 21 February 1999
Portions of this sermon have been adapted from sermons by David Hoke (Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church, 2303 Evesham Rd. Voorhees, NJ. 08043) and C.M.Wylie (Pastor, Cornerstone Baptist Church, P.O. Box 7403, Amarillo, TX 79114-7403).