The New Life: Ephesians 4:17-24
We are now in the Lenten season, which commemorates Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness before the start of his ministry. It is a time of reflection and repentance, leading us up to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
On dwelling upon this season, I thought, “What does this ritual fast really mean to me?” I see and hear of people giving up certain foods, TV; my wife gave up Facebook and deleted Candy Crush from her phone, but is this just a show, a check-the-box type exercise that Christians are just suppose to do? On Ash Wednesday a few weeks ago now, I received ashes on my forehead that visibly marked me as a Christian to everyone that saw me. But then I thought, “What about the rest of the year? How do people know I belong to Jesus?”
This brings me to an important clarification, that of Cultural Christians and of Born-Again Christians. The former are those that are Christian in name only. They identify themselves as such because that was the religion they are born into and raised in. They go through the motions of attending services, but do not have the Spirit in them; on any other day, they talk and act like the rest of society, using the bible as a decoration on the coffee table, never intending to actually open it. This was I before being born-again in February of 2007. I went to mass on Sundays, attended catechism classes on Wednesday nights, and the like, but that was it, it was completely superficial. John 3:3 however tells us how we can enter and see the kingdom of God apart from the externals, that is, we must be, “born again,” as Jesus told Nicodemus one evening, whom by the way was a Pharisee.
With that, let’s take a look at Ephesians 4:17-24…(Please open up your bible and read)
The new life, the born-again life that marks a Christian as belonging to God involves not conforming to the ways of the world, the ways of the Gentiles. “Futility of their minds” back then as it is today does not mean these people are uneducated, no, they consider themselves “Enlightened” by rejecting God, but only succeed in shutting out the only true and pure light that exists in the world, thus they are cast into darkness, blinded by the pride of life. The education and intellectualism of man is worthless compared to knowing God, these pursuits are wasted without Him. To put all of your trust into yourself is to put your trust into dust, for as Ecclesiastes says, “All are from the dust, and to dust all return.”
Sociologist Emile Durkheim’s strain/anomie theory states that individuals will be more inclined to commit crime or deviant acts when familiar surroundings, traditions, and the overall environment change. These strains lead to a “state of normlessness that people find themselves in as a result of a crisis.” With God at the center of life however, your foundation is solid and will never change; He is the same “yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, whom were quite sensual and depraved in their conduct prior to hearing the gospel, said that, “If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile” (3:18-20). What he is saying is that we must humble ourselves before God who knows all and sees all. We must become like children, relying on His wisdom and grace, not our own.
And what is the fruit of their ignorance and callous hearts that verse 18 and 19 speak of in the main verse we are looking at in Ephesians? It is a life of ungodly pursuit, which only ends up in despair. It is sensuality, greed, and every impure thing. Do you ever wonder why so many celebrities become addicted to drugs, why the likes of Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Chris Farley, Lindsey Lohan, and countless other idols fall prey to illegal substances? It’s not the problem of pain that confounds, but the problem of pleasure. One of my favorite Christian apologists Ravi Zacharias said in his book, “Why Jesus?” that, “While pain can often be seen as a means to a greater end, pleasure is seen as an end in itself. And when pleasure has run its course, a sense of despondency can creep into one’s soul that may often lead to self-destruction. Pain can often be temporary; but disappointment in pleasure gives rise to emptiness… not just for a moment, but for life. There can seem to be no reason to life, no pre-configured purpose, if even pleasure brings no lasting fulfillment.” Wow.
We cannot find true unadulterated pleasure outside of a relationship with God, through Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. There is always a God-sized hole in the souls of those who say they’re happy, believe me, this feeling of happiness for those that do not know God is fleeting. When I got home from Iraq in 2004 this feeling of emptiness overcame me. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but I knew there had to be something greater than myself at work in the world. That feeling brought me to where and who I am today, that is, in relation ship with God through Christ. God alone fulfills, for He knows us most intimately. The Psalmist understood this when he wrote in Psalms 139:14-15, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” God knows us, loves us, and has the best for us in mind. That is why Paul passionately urges his readers to put off their old self, the ways of the world, and to instead follow the ways of Jesus, which are holy and righteous.
This old self as the passage states is corrupt because of deceitful desires. Why are these desires deceitful? They are deceitful because they come from a corrupted nature, the Adamic nature. All of us, every single person reading this has been born into this sinful Adamic nature, which trades what is good and pure for what is evil, self-pleasing, and depraved. The deceitful desires mentioned come from this sickly heart of this nature and are deceitful because they promise happiness, but only render a person more miserable. They whisper, “Just a little more and you will be happy,” but ALWAYS fails to deliver!
We are to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God; we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Our unconscious mind now is infected with worldly and therefore satanic influence. It is only through a renewed heart, fashioned by the Holy Spirit, that the conscious mind can overcome these worldly desires and allow us to make conscious decisions based upon God’s revealed truth in the Bible.
Folks, put on the new self, put on righteousness, put on the better life that has been fashioned for you by your King and your God, which was bought for you by the blood and life of Jesus. Get on you knees and repent of all the wrong that the old nature has bred and led you into and thank almighty God for his undeserved mercy.
This Lenten season, do not let the act of fasting be only of a superficial nature, but let it draw you closer to God, to what He is saying and doing in your life right now. And as you go about your daily tasks at work, as you converse with others in your circle of influence, “…no longer walk [or talk] as the Gentiles do…” Put on the new self, put on Christ.
On dwelling upon this season, I thought, “What does this ritual fast really mean to me?” I see and hear of people giving up certain foods, TV; my wife gave up Facebook and deleted Candy Crush from her phone, but is this just a show, a check-the-box type exercise that Christians are just suppose to do? On Ash Wednesday a few weeks ago now, I received ashes on my forehead that visibly marked me as a Christian to everyone that saw me. But then I thought, “What about the rest of the year? How do people know I belong to Jesus?”This brings me to an important clarification, that of Cultural Christians and of Born-Again Christians. The former are those that are Christian in name only. They identify themselves as such because that was the religion they are born into and raised in. They go through the motions of attending services, but do not have the Spirit in them; on any other day, they talk and act like the rest of society, using the bible as a decoration on the coffee table, never intending to actually open it. This was I before being born-again in February of 2007. I went to mass on Sundays, attended catechism classes on Wednesday nights, and the like, but that was it, it was completely superficial. John 3:3 however tells us how we can enter and see the kingdom of God apart from the externals, that is, we must be, “born again,” as Jesus told Nicodemus one evening, whom by the way was a Pharisee.
With that, let’s take a look at Ephesians 4:17-24…(Please open up your bible and read)
The new life, the born-again life that marks a Christian as belonging to God involves not conforming to the ways of the world, the ways of the Gentiles. “Futility of their minds” back then as it is today does not mean these people are uneducated, no, they consider themselves “Enlightened” by rejecting God, but only succeed in shutting out the only true and pure light that exists in the world, thus they are cast into darkness, blinded by the pride of life. The education and intellectualism of man is worthless compared to knowing God, these pursuits are wasted without Him. To put all of your trust into yourself is to put your trust into dust, for as Ecclesiastes says, “All are from the dust, and to dust all return.”
Sociologist Emile Durkheim’s strain/anomie theory states that individuals will be more inclined to commit crime or deviant acts when familiar surroundings, traditions, and the overall environment change. These strains lead to a “state of normlessness that people find themselves in as a result of a crisis.” With God at the center of life however, your foundation is solid and will never change; He is the same “yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, whom were quite sensual and depraved in their conduct prior to hearing the gospel, said that, “If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile” (3:18-20). What he is saying is that we must humble ourselves before God who knows all and sees all. We must become like children, relying on His wisdom and grace, not our own.
And what is the fruit of their ignorance and callous hearts that verse 18 and 19 speak of in the main verse we are looking at in Ephesians? It is a life of ungodly pursuit, which only ends up in despair. It is sensuality, greed, and every impure thing. Do you ever wonder why so many celebrities become addicted to drugs, why the likes of Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Chris Farley, Lindsey Lohan, and countless other idols fall prey to illegal substances? It’s not the problem of pain that confounds, but the problem of pleasure. One of my favorite Christian apologists Ravi Zacharias said in his book, “Why Jesus?” that, “While pain can often be seen as a means to a greater end, pleasure is seen as an end in itself. And when pleasure has run its course, a sense of despondency can creep into one’s soul that may often lead to self-destruction. Pain can often be temporary; but disappointment in pleasure gives rise to emptiness… not just for a moment, but for life. There can seem to be no reason to life, no pre-configured purpose, if even pleasure brings no lasting fulfillment.” Wow.
We cannot find true unadulterated pleasure outside of a relationship with God, through Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. There is always a God-sized hole in the souls of those who say they’re happy, believe me, this feeling of happiness for those that do not know God is fleeting. When I got home from Iraq in 2004 this feeling of emptiness overcame me. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but I knew there had to be something greater than myself at work in the world. That feeling brought me to where and who I am today, that is, in relation ship with God through Christ. God alone fulfills, for He knows us most intimately. The Psalmist understood this when he wrote in Psalms 139:14-15, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” God knows us, loves us, and has the best for us in mind. That is why Paul passionately urges his readers to put off their old self, the ways of the world, and to instead follow the ways of Jesus, which are holy and righteous.
This old self as the passage states is corrupt because of deceitful desires. Why are these desires deceitful? They are deceitful because they come from a corrupted nature, the Adamic nature. All of us, every single person reading this has been born into this sinful Adamic nature, which trades what is good and pure for what is evil, self-pleasing, and depraved. The deceitful desires mentioned come from this sickly heart of this nature and are deceitful because they promise happiness, but only render a person more miserable. They whisper, “Just a little more and you will be happy,” but ALWAYS fails to deliver!
We are to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God; we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Our unconscious mind now is infected with worldly and therefore satanic influence. It is only through a renewed heart, fashioned by the Holy Spirit, that the conscious mind can overcome these worldly desires and allow us to make conscious decisions based upon God’s revealed truth in the Bible.Folks, put on the new self, put on righteousness, put on the better life that has been fashioned for you by your King and your God, which was bought for you by the blood and life of Jesus. Get on you knees and repent of all the wrong that the old nature has bred and led you into and thank almighty God for his undeserved mercy.
This Lenten season, do not let the act of fasting be only of a superficial nature, but let it draw you closer to God, to what He is saying and doing in your life right now. And as you go about your daily tasks at work, as you converse with others in your circle of influence, “…no longer walk [or talk] as the Gentiles do…” Put on the new self, put on Christ.
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