Once Darkness, Now Light

—Ephesians 5:1–14 (pt8)

 
 
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• Andrew Fountain – Feb 3, 2013

Ephesians

• Ephesians falls into two halves
  • Part one (chs 1–3) explains the truth, tells us what reality is about
  • Part two (chs 4–6) tells us how we should live by this truth
• Summarising part 1 is a prayer for us to know
  1. the power of the Spirit in our inner person
  2. the love of Christ which is “beyond knowledge”
  3. the destiny of being the very dwelling place of God

God’s Laws

• God created Adam and Eve
• He gave them laws
• They broke them
• He created the nation of Israel
• He gave them the 10 Commandments
• They broke them
• Why? —were they not good laws?

Eph 4:22–24

22. to put off according to your previous way of life, the old man
          which is being corrupted according to deceitful desires
23. to be renewed in the spirit of your minds
24. and to put on the new man
          created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.

Our DNA

• Adam was created in the image of God, bearing in some ways God’s likeness
• But he rebelled and defaced that image
• He was created from dust
• As the new creation we carry God’s DNA in a living way
• We are created in the Spirit, not dust
• This new nature will naturally live like its parent

You can chose

• If you have the new life in Christ, you can live like this!
• Learn Christ!
• Put on the new man!
• Your DNA is to show the love of Jesus

1 Corinthians 6:9–11

9. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, practicing homosexuals, ¹⁰thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
11. Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ9 and by the Spirit of our God.

Galatians 5:19–21

19. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity,
20. idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions,
21. envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Colossians 3:5–6

5. So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.
6. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

The point

1. This is not about falling into sin, but chosing to stay in it
2. He does not say “avoid these things and you will be saved”
   • Instead it is “These things are signs of the old, not the new”
   • It is ultimately about Who you are not what you do
   • But what you do does reveal who you are!
3. So the command is to let who you are now override who you were