The Ephesian church was planted in a culture that loved sensuality and spiritualism. This is why the worship of sexuality was so prevalent in Ephesus. And this needed to be confronted as we saw in earlier verses.
Category: Ephesians (Page 2 of 6)
We live in a dark and perverse world and if we aren’t careful we can easily wind up looking more like the world and less like Jesus. This is why we teach our children songs like “This Little Light of Mine” and “Father Abraham” and “I’m In The Lord’s Army”. We teach these songs at a young age because we want our children to shine like bright lights in the darkness.
The world we live in is constantly offering us a platter full of things that overload our senses and can easily lead to destruction. That’s the importance of our passage today. We need to understand that our senses trigger our appetites and our appetites stir up our cravings and if our cravings go unchecked then the consequences will be severe.
The apostle Paul has previously instructed the Ephesian believers to no longer walk as the Gentiles do but to instead put on the new clothing of the Christian life. In essence he has said that if we are followers of Jesus then the clothing of our old lives, while they may feel comfortable and familiar to walk in, has no place in our lives and we should strive to put on Christ himself.
As we look at our passage for today we see that Paul’s concern is once again straightforward and clear. He is concerned that there are people in the church at Ephesus who call themselves Christians but do not live like it. I think his concern for the Ephesian church is born out of two deeply held desires. Number one he desires that the name of Christ would be honored and lifted high. And number two he desires the best for the people in the Ephesian church. He wants Christ to be honored and he wants the best for the Ephesians.
Today is a call to wake up and to grow up. Today is a day to afflict the comfortable. Today is a day like in Joshua’s day where the Lord calls out to you and says, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” Will you stay seated in the first two camps? Or will you by God’s grace get up out of your seat and not just occupy space but instead take possession of and live out of who and who’s you are? Will you leave behind foolish and childish ways of living while claiming the name of Christ? Will you take a step towards growing up?
One of the grand purposes of the church is to help people grow up spiritually. We are called to help unstable people become stable. To help weak and flighty people become strong and unwavering. To help deceived people walk in freedom through the truth of the gospel.
As we’ve studied Ephesians 4:7 – 16 over the last few weeks, I’ve been reminded of a few biblical themes regarding the purpose of the church. The church was not designed to be a country club, a social club or a political power. It’s not meant to be another activity on our list of other good things to do. And it’s also not meant to be a place where spiritual goods are merely consumed.
Every one of us is called to equip and build up the body of Christ. But most of us struggle with seeing ourselves the way God does. Some of us think too highly of ourselves and some of us think too lowly of ourselves. We are either highly arrogant or highly insecure. Sometimes we think, feel and behave like we are indispensible. Sometimes we think, feel and behave like we are useless. But the gospel teaches us that we are all, valuable and useful and gifted and are called to equip and build up the body of Christ.
It is interesting to think about how our appetite affects our growth. If we have no appetite whatsoever then we shrivel up and die. If we have an appetite that is out of control then we eat everything in sight and blow up like blimps and might eventually die from gross health issues. But if we watch our diet and feed ourselves on healthy things our appetite changes and we begin to hunger for more healthy food and we grow physically healthier.