©2005 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

01-23-05

The World As It Really Is

1/23/05 The World As It Really Is

We are going to return this morning

to our study of the Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

I have been thinking a great deal this past week

about the Christian’s relationship to Scripture.

I mentioned to you last week

that I have come to realize

that there are some things that can never be accomplished in our lives through teaching.

The one I mentioned last week

was that I, as your Bible teacher, can never create within you

a hunger and thirst for righteousness.

If I was skilled enough

I could stir strong ego driven

or guilt driven feelings within you

for improved performance in your life.

But that is not what our God does for us.

He doesn’t attempt to paste on some external, emotion-based motivation for change.

God is not the supreme motivational speaker.

God recreates us at the spirit level.

He places within us a new heart,

one that loves Him,

and through that love,

gives us a hunger and a thirst for a life that honors Him.

That is a work that only God can accomplish within us.

Once He has done that work,

teaching then becomes an important tool in our lives,

providing us with both the knowledge

and the attitudes we need

in order to turn that desire for righteousness

into practical changes in our lives.

But until the initial work has been accomplished within our spirits by God,

all the teaching in the world will change nothing.

It may equip us to play intellectual games with the ideas,

batting them back and forth with one another,

examining them from different angels,

debating their merits and validity.

But it doesn’t feed the spirit,

it doesn’t draw us to our God,

it doesn’t equip us for change.

And there is something else I can never do through teaching, too.

I can never create within a person

a heart of submission

to the absolute authority of the Word of God over us.

That, too, is a work that only God can accomplish within us,

and it is a work that comes into our lives

as a by-product of the submission of our spirits

to the Author of Scripture - Christ Jesus Himself.

When we finally reach the point

where we know that this Jesus Christ is not just a great prophet,

not just a wise teacher,

but that He is literally God in human form,

and as such He is truly the only way,

the only truth,

and the only source of life,

and that no person can ever reach the Father except through personal faith in the death of Christ

as full payment for their sins,

when we, like Thomas, bow before Him and cry out, “My Lord and my God!”,

one of the many things He accomplishes within us

is to bring our spirits into submission to the written Word.

I like to put it this way.

Before we submit to Christ we stand in authority over the Word,

after we submit to Christ

the Word stands in authority over us.

Before we submit to Christ

we will read the words contained in the Bible

and we’ll quote the ones we like,

and skillfully avoid,

or openly reject the ones we do not,

while all along

respectfully nodding toward the book as being a great religious document.

But after our spirits submit to Christ

our relationship to the written Word changes dramatically.

It takes on a power,

and an authority in our lives

unlike anything else we’ve ever known.

I love the way the author of Hebrews said it.

HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

He is describing the working of the Word of God in the life of the Christian.

And it is a work that is absolutely unique in all of human experience.

It is not simply an intellectual process

in which we come across an idea or a principle or concept

and then think to ourselves,

“That’s an interesting idea. I’ve never thought of that before. I believe that may have some truth to it.”

It is a process in which God literally

opens the eyes of our spirits to His truth,

and through that truth changes us.

Sometimes it will give our spirits hope

when there is no external reason for us to have that hope.

Sometimes it will convict us of our pride,

or our sin,

giving us eyes to see ourselves

as we’ve never seen ourselves before,

yet doing it in a way

that brings with it the assurance

that what our God has shown us

He will forgive,

and He will rebuild.

Sometimes it will flood our spirits

with a new and powerful awareness of the love of Jesus Christ for us,

a love that alters our lives as nothing else can do.

And always, when we hear it correctly,

it will feed our spirits

in a way that draws us closer to the heart of our God.

It’s funny how it is...

That arrogant spirit within us

that we bring with us into this world at birth

is so afraid of that Divine voice of authority in our lives.

We avoid it whenever we can,

or else we hold it an intellectual arms length away from us,

pretending we have the ability

to skillfully sort through what our God has said,

choosing what we think is of value,

while setting the rest aside.

But when we finally end the battle between us and Jesus Christ,

when our spirits finally submit to Him,

recognizing Him as our only hope,

our Redeemer,

we cease to stand in judgment over His words to us,

and find within us rather

a heart of submission to them,

and the security

and the peace that comes into our lives

through our submission to His authority

is glorious beyond words.

That doesn’t mean, of course,

that what He says is always easy for us to understand.

But what it does mean

is that, when we do understand it,

we recognize it

and submit to it as the authority of God in our lives.

I have been reading

and studying the Word of God for nearly 40 years now,

and still every time I read a passage

I see in it some things that I do not understand.

In fact the older I get,

and the more I learn,

the more I see that I have yet to learn.

But every time I read the Word

I also find there things that I do understand.

And it is those things the Spirit then uses

in His rebuilding process in my life.

So, with that as background,

let’s move ourselves back into our study of Ephesians.

We’ve been in and out of this book so often

that I do know it is difficult for us to remember where we’ve been.

The last time we were in this study

I offered you a paraphrase of verses 3-14 of chapter one,

and I think maybe my reading it once again

might be the easiest way to mentally return us to the book.

Basically all I did with this paraphrase

is to take the truths given to us by Paul

an put them into the first person

to help us better appreciate the fact that our God really is speaking directly to each of us personally.

So, when I read those verses,

this is what I hear our God saying to us.

Though I know you don’t realize it and don’t believe it yet, I have already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Long before you were born, even before I brought this world into existence, I knew I was going to create you and I chose you for Myself, and then, through my Son, designed a way in which you would stand forever holy and blameless before Me. Because I love you so much, I predestined you, not just to be forgiven, but to be adopted by me as my child, an adoption made possible through Jesus Christ. It has been My intention from the very beginning to show you kindness, a kindness that, when you begin to see it, will cause your spirit to overflow with praise for my grace poured out on you, a grace which I freely bestowed on you in Christ. Because you have placed your life into My hands, you now have redemption through the blood of Christ Jesus, and by that I mean that you have now received total and eternal forgiveness for all of your trespasses against Me. This forgiveness is the first of many great riches you will receive through my grace which I have lavished on you. In all wisdom and insight I have chosen to make known to you the mystery of My will, yet another expression of my kindness to you, a kindness that is in every way consistent with the purpose I had for My Son, Jesus Christ, the purpose of establishing on this earth an administrative system for the entire human race, a system that will ultimately result in the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also you have become My special inheritance, the special gift that has come to Me as a result of the death of My Son. And this friendship that now exists between you and Me is no “Plan B”. It is what I have been planning and working for from the very beginning, predetermined by Me and then brought into reality as I have worked all things after the counsel of My will, to the end that you who are among the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. And because you are now in My Son, sharing in His death, because after you heard the message of truth - the good news of the salvation I was offering to you, you then chose to believe what I was telling you, I have now sealed you in Christ with my own Spirit. And this Spirit is given to you as My promise, My sure and certain pledge to you that you will one day inherit everything I have promised you. You are now My possession and I look forward to the time when My great redemptive work within you will be completed bringing about your praise of my glory.

OK, that’s the way God begins this letter to His people.

And keep in mind that this letter,

like all of the New Testament Epistles,

are not open letters from God to the entire world.

His open letter to the world

is Jesus Christ Himself -

His life,

His death on that cross for our sins,

His literal, physical resurrection from the grave,

and His offer of forgiveness to all who come to Him.

But these New Testament Epistles are private letters

written by God exclusively to those

who have responded to His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Anyone can read them, of course,

but most of the truths contained within them

are true only for Christians.

And in this opening passage in Ephesians

Paul reviews for us our history with God

and our security with Him in Christ.

And then, in 1:15-19 Paul prays for us.

Don’t you find that to be a comforting thought?

The Apostle Paul prayed for us.

He never met us, of course,

but he knew we would one day be

and so prayed,

asking that God would give us “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”

Then he went on in his prayer

to ask for three specifics.

EPH 1:18-19 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

And when we were moving through this section originally

we saw that what Paul was asking

was that God would open our hearts to the incredible truth

about this remarkable relationship He has established

between Christ and His people on the earth.

It’s as if Paul is saying,

“Christian! Do you have any idea who you really are?

Do you have any idea what God is doing through you?

Do you know how much it matters?

I pray that God will open the eyes of your heart to the truth!”

And then, following that prayer,

Paul uses the next two chapters of His letter

to reveal to us the truths

that he has just prayed God would open our hearts to.

And what he says is not all that complicated,

but it is extremely hard for us to grasp

because of the lies about this life and about ourselves that bombard our minds.

You see,

nearly everything being fed us by the world system in which we live

is carefully designed to tell us one of two things -

1. our lives don’t really matter,

or 2. if they do matter it is because we have done something that our society recognizes as being significant.

We know where significance comes from in our society.

We know it before we finish the first grade.

It comes from being really smart,

or from being really good looking,

or from having that certain type of personality that draws people to you,

or having certain things that other people want.

Money,

power,

prestige,

beauty,

charisma - these are the things that give a person significance.

But do you remember what Paul told us in Ephesians?

Listen to this!

He begins in 1:20-22 by reminding us of the supreme position in all of creation given to Christ,

a position in which all power, an authority, and dominion is given to Him.

Then in the last half of verse 22 and verse 23

he makes this remarkable statement.

EPH 1:22-23 ... and (God) gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

In that statement

Paul reveals to us

the remarkable relationship God has created between Christ and His people.

It is a relationship in which Christ is given to us as our head,

and we are given to Christ as His physical body here on this earth.

Paul then takes the next section of the letter,

from 2:1 - 3:7

to trace through our own personal history with Christ,

the history that has resulted in our being qualified by God

for this role that has been assigned to us,

this role of being the physical body of Christ here and now.

It is a history that begins where we all begin -

EPH 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins...

We had nothing whatsoever to offer our God

that would in any way qualify us for the role we now play in God’s design for the ages.

In fact, we couldn’t even offer Him life.

All we had was a dead spirit,

separated from Him,

in rebellion against Him.

But then Paul goes on....

EPH 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us...

And from there Paul reveals to us

what this God who loves us did for us

in response to our being willing to simply listen to Him

about what He was saying to us about His Son,

and our decision to believe He was telling us the truth.

He removed all of our transgressions from us forever.

And He raised us up into a new life with Christ,

and seated us with Christ in the spirit world,

and then, after joining us to Himself,

He joined us to one another,

making us a part of the His family forever.

And then,

after walking us through our history with God,

Paul then brings us back once again to his central theme,

revealing to us what it is that He receives from us, through us

as a result of all that He has done in and for us.

God has done what He has done...

EPH 3:10 ...so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

That’s Paul’s way of saying

that you and I are the means by which

God is able to reveal to His entire creation

who He really is,

and what He’s really like.

...so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church...

Do you think you know what God is like?

Where are you looking?

Do you think you know what things are really important to God?

Where are you looking?

Do you think you know what God is doing on this planet right now?

Where are you looking?

Paul says if you really want to know,

then look at His church.

Not at all these little human organizations that call themselves churches,

but at the real thing,

at His people,

filled with His Spirit,

living out His life here and now one day at a time.

Start by looking at that remarkable redemptive work He accomplishes

when He calls us to Himself.

Two weeks ago we had a baptism service.

In that service

those of us who were there

watched eight precious people

stand up before their friends and family

and proclaim their faith in and their commitment to their Lord Jesus Christ.

And as I listened to each of them share the things that had been happening in their lives

that had brought them to that point,

I saw the manifold wisdom of God being made known through the church.

I saw a tiny bit of the way in which

God has been carefully working in each of those lives

to draw those people to Himself.

And in that tiny glimpse

I saw, too, what’s really happening here on this planet.

I wish so much that I knew

how to say this in a way that we could really hear it,

and understand it,

and believe it,

and build our lives upon it.

You see, there are some things happening on this planet each day

that are of tremendous significance

both now, and for all eternity.

But they are not the things we think they are.

They are not the things we hear broadcast on the 6 o’clock news each night.

We are each allotted a certain amount of time on this planet,

and entrusted with certain resources -

the specific bodies in which we live,

the amount of time given to us,

the talents and abilities we possess,

the physical resources we have,

even our gender -

all of these things are just a temporary stewardship given to us.

It’s a little bit like that new TV show that came on this season - LOST.

All of these people are on a jet that crashes on this Island

and they are trying to figure out how to survive

and how to get back to civilization.

At first it seems like it’s just a normal tropical island,

but then things begin to happen.

There are forces on that Island that cannot be explained,

forces that have tremendous influence over the people there.

And as the program progresses,

there is a growing sense among the survivors

that there may be far more purpose,

far more significance to their being on that island than they first thought.

Folks, that us on this planet.

You did not just happen.

It was not just random chance

that caused your plane to crash on this planet.

You were created by God,

and placed on this earth by Him for Him.

And there are very definitely things going on here,

things we cannot see, or hear, or sense with any of our other senses,

yet things that are at the very center of the reason why we exist,

and why this world itself exists.

At the top of that list

is our discovery of the love of our Creator for us

and our response to that love

through our choosing to trust Him and what He has said to us.

When Paul wrote the book of Ephesians,

he was not simply jotting down some interesting religious platitudes.

He was praying,

and then writing with the hope

that the eyes of our hearts would see

what’s really taking place on this earth.

It all begins with God calling to each of us -

calling us to Himself,

calling us into an eternal Father/child union with Himself

as we trust the death of His Son for our sins.

And then it continues on

through His living out His life through each of us each day

literally changing us,

and then changing our world through us

as we become the physical body of Jesus Christ here and now.

And if we could step back from this creation

and see it as it really is

we would understand why Paul then proclaims that

the manifold wisdom of God is now made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

That’s what Paul does in the first half of Ephesians,

and he then ends this remarkable presentation

with a prayer.

It is a prayer that reveals to us

the one thing that must take place within our lives

if we are ever to successfully fulfill the calling and the role assigned to us.

EPH 3:14, 17-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

And that brings us to back into our study of this book

and up to the point where we stopped our study a year ago.