At the church where I serve, we are spending our
time together in a sermon series entitled identity. During this series, we are
looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles
called the book of Ephesians.
This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week in the book of Ephesians.
Now if you do not buy the whole Jesus Bible thing,
here’s the thing, what the Apostle Paul is going to talk about here does not
apply to you. Actually, what the Apostle Paul is going to talk about today is
impossible for you if you do not buy the whole, Jesus, Bible, church thing. But what Paul is going to say will give you some
amazing insight and understanding when it comes to why those who say they are
followers of Jesus often live lives that look nothing like Jesus.
However, if you consider yourself a follower of
Jesus, what the Apostle Paul is about to say is not optional; instead it is
required. And it is in what Paul is going to say that we will discover another
timeless truth when it comes to our identity as a follower of Jesus. So let's
discover this timeless truth together, beginning in Ephesians 5:15:
Therefore be
careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your
time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what
the will of the Lord is.
Paul begins this section of his letter by commanding the
members of the church at Ephesus, and followers of Jesus throughout history to
“be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise”. As we have talked
about throughout this series, when Paul uses the word walk here, this word
refers to how one conducts their lives.
So if Paul was to give this command to us in the language
we use in our culture today, this command would sound something like this:
“carefully consider and take note about how you are conducting your life.
Carefully consider how you are living your life”.
Paul then makes a contrast between someone who conducts
their life in an unwise manner as opposed to someone who conducts their life in
a wise manner. An unwise person here is the person who does not exercise the
proper discernment or wisdom when it comes to how they live their lives.
By contrast, the wise person here refers to someone who
lives their life by applying the understanding and knowledge that comes from
God in a way that reveals a developed skill for living life that produces
positive results. Paul’s point here is that there is divine knowledge and
understanding that is available to you, so make sure that you are living your
life in a way that is exercising that divine knowledge and understanding in
order to produce positive results in your life.
Paul then provides the reason why we are to access and
exercise this divine wisdom in verse 16. The phrase making the most of your
time literally means to gain an advantage or opportunity. In other words, Paul
is commanding the members of the church at Ephesus to take every advantage and
opportunity to avoid what would be unwise. Paul then explains that the reason
why they were to take advantage of every opportunity to live wisely was because
the days are evil.
The harsh reality is that life on earth is filled with
plenty of activities and relationships that are morally and socially damaging
and destructive. I mean, it is not hard to get involved in relationships or
activities that are unwise, is it? As parents is that not one of our greatest
fears when it comes to our children? And students, is that not one of your
greatest fears when it comes to the relationships that you have with your
friends?
So, in verse 17, because of the timeless danger of
relationships and activities that are damaging and destructive, Paul commands
the members of the church at Ephesus to “do not be foolish, but understand what
the will of the Lord is.” When Paul uses the word fool here, it refers to
someone who lacks good judgment. This word also conveys the sense of
disregarding reality.
In the Bible, a fool is a person who knows something is
true, yet proceeds to live life as though it is not true. A fool is a person
who says “I know the law of gravity is true” then proceeds to step off a ten story
building. Instead of living life in a way that consistently disregards reality,
Paul states that we are to understand what the will of the Lord is. When you
see the word will in our Bibles, this word refers to God’s desires for our
lives.
Paul’s point here is that God has a desire for how he
would like his followers to live out our identity as a follower of Jesus in
relationship with Him and one another. God has a desire for how he would like
me to live out our identity as a follower of Jesus in relationship with Him and
one another. And God has a desire for how he would like you to live out your
identity as a follower of Jesus live in relationship with Him and one another.
As we have seen, God has created us and designed us to live
in light of the identity He has given us as a follower of Jesus. God desires
that our identity should drive us to live in a way that is worthy of our
identity as a follower of Jesus. God desires that our identity of a follower of
Jesus should lead us to live a new life as we lay aside our old life. God
desires that our identity as a follower of Jesus
should lead to a lifestyle that builds trust with others. God desires that our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to
live a life that imitates Jesus.
Now a natural question that arises here is “Well Dave,
that sounds great in theory, but I have a hard time living in a way that is
according to God’s desires when it comes to my identity. I just really struggle to live out all that
you have just said. What you are talking about seems beyond my ability, so how
do I get to the place where I am living my life in a way that reflects my
identity as a follower of Jesus?”
If I have described you, I have good news for you. And that
good news is that in the very next verse that we are going to look at, we see
Paul provide us the answer to these questions.
Tomorrow, we will discover that answer together…
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