THE SUPREME MYSTERY – THE BODY OF CHRIST
ACT II: The Mystery of The Body Unveiled
6. BEING HIS BODY (Eph. 5:1-14)
INTRODUCTION:
We have discussed together a lot lately about the analogy of the Church as being The Body of Christ and, for me at least, this has been been insightful and encouraging. Do you know that God’s Word also refers to the Church as Christ’s Bride? Yet, Scripture also makes clear that the metaphorical wedding will not take place until Christ returns. Have you ever considered the implications of this?
In the language and descriptions we use today it would perhaps be more accurate to think of the church of Christ’s legally and emotionally committed fiance, His future bride! We walk and live upon this earth as the future bride of Christ. Like an earthly bride, all of our time and attention during this period of time should be set upon preparing ourselves and others for this very special time. Even to keeping ourselves pure to be presented as such on that great Wedding day!
Think about it. When a woman is engaged and anxiously preparing for her wedding, she no longer has time for much anything else – least of all the frivolous, girlish thoughts and activities that previously accounted for so much of her time and attention! And she most certainly doesn’t have the time or interest to continue “playing the field”! As Vernon McGee says, “She won’t be going out with Tom tonight and with Dick tomorrow night and with Harry the following night. She is engaged, and she has no interest in them anymore.”
So it should be with us. Those who have committed themselves to Christ have no business flirting around with the world – whether it be holding on to old loves or looking for new younger, prettier or more exciting ones! WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO BE THE BODY OF CHRIST?
PRAYER
I. IMITATE GOD, NOT OTHERS (5:1-7)
A.)IMITATE GOD (vv. 1-2)
The ultimate standard for our imitation or modeling our lives is God and God alone. This theme is resplendent throughout Scripture.
HOW? Is this even possible? Practical? If not, why try only to fail?
1. As dear children.
As true children of God, it ought to be our great passion and endeavor to grow up to be like our Heavenly Father.
Illus: Dad’s haircut. Isaiah’s facial expressions.
Phillips, Craig & Dean: “Let me be like you, because he wants to be like me.”
2. In love, as Christ .
LOVE is the key and the defining element. Not just any “love,” but agape love – the very love of God! A love which is:
a.) Forgiving
b.) Giving
c.) Living
The “tangible” example for us of how this is lived out in this world is Christ Himself. And the greatest mark of that example is embodied in SACRIFICE – Loving God absolutely by Loving Others Sacrificially!
3. As an offering and sacrifice.
This phrase is used over 40 times in the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible). It is a metaphor which indicates a self-sacrifice that is pleasing to the Father and accepted by Him as a step toward reconciliation.
Q: How does your life measure up? To what degree do you imitate God in these ways?
Q: Will you play the “Mirror Game” with Jesus?
B.) RESIST WORLDLY INFLUENCE (vv. 3-7)
These words were written to new Christians who were saved and continue to live within a wicked culture. Ephesus at the time was notorious as a “sin city,” were the dominant religion was worship of the sensual & provocative goddess Diana, ritual prostitution was a normal part of life, and all sorts of sexual perversion were not only accepted as valid, but even promoted and upheld as a standard of full living!
1.) Reflect Not A Hint of Wickedness (vv. 3-4b)
Such unholy things are literally NOT even to be discussed or rehashed by or among people whom the Lord Almighty has called to be His holy people. This does not just refer to discussions of one’s own sinful desires, but even conversations about others’ sexual desires and/or sins. Don’t go there, don’t talk about it, don’t hint at it, don’t even think about it!!!
What may be perfectly acceptable, expected or normal in society is NOT always so in Christ! There is much that is done comfortably in the dark, that cannot be done in the light!
Contemporary Examples: The Clinton-Lewinsky affair. SB wardrobe malfunction. Paris Hilton. Anna Nicole Smith’s sordid life details. How many hours have born-again saints of God spent listening to, reading, and talking about the lurid details – all in the name of disgust and/or pointing out sin? And yet, according to these verses, this preoccupation of ours is itself sinful and idolatrous!
Consider these words of the old English poet Alexander Pope:
Vice is a monster of such
frightful mien
That to be hated needs
but to be seen.
But seen too often
familiar with his face
We first endure, then pity,
then embrace.
2.) Instead, Emanate Thanksgiving (v. 4c)
Rather, we should replace our degrading speech about unholy things with speech of praise about that which is holy, noble, true and encouraging!
We should be known and “marked” as Thankful People, full of praise and thanksgiving for that is good and holy; full of speech that uplifts, builds, edifies and encourages others. Full of speech which truly reflects upon and brings glory to our Father in Heaven.
Philippians 4:8-9
3.) For, Worldliness Births Wrath (vv. 5-7)
Cut and dry, black and white. There IS a standard of purity that must be maintained and upheld.
Does this mean that anyone who proclaims to be a Christian yet is guilty of one of these things is not really a Christian? NO! Just the fact that it was necessary to warn accepted Christians of such vices, shows that even they must guard against such temptation to indulge in the sins of the pagan culture in which they live. We must all be on guard at all times! However, one who persists in such things is an idolater who has put on sensual and personal desires in God’s place as central to our lives, and show that they are not born of spirit and of truth and will be condemned eternally.
“Empty words” are the false philosophies and religions that encourage moral relativism and ethical permissiveness (Col. 2:8). They are also the words that seek to make even the saved believe that they are still condemned and chained by their past and/or even future failures and incapable of anything better. But this is not the case, there is hope and victory!
Do NOT join together with others in such vices – for any reason or in any circumstances!
II. BE IN THE LIGHT (5:8-14)
Illus: Dark Walk From Camp (Delaware Water Gap)
see/imagine what’s not there
miss & trip over what is
easily stay off path and not even know it
dangers, enemies unseen
little light goes a long way!
A.) THE CONTRAST (v. 8a) “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”
New standards, goals and even rules are not enough. The problem is not with our standards, but rather it is with ourselves. We need regeneration – a change IN us, not simply our surroundings!
Once again, Paul offers us a stark contrast between what we were (apart from Him) and what we are (reconciled to and united in Him).
Not only did we once live in darkness, but we actually were darkness (cp. 4:18). Similarly, we not only now live in the light of the Lord, but we are light – in the Lord Jesus!!!
In Christ, we ARE the Light! Wow!
We have a HUGE responsibility to the world around us. But, praise God, He has given us, by His grace, all the power, all the authority, all the strength, and all the gifts and abilities we need to carry on and fulfill this great responsibility!!!
7 days/24 hrs/60 mins
B.) LIVING AS LIGHT (vv. 8b-10)
“Walk as children of light. . .”
Our behavior, our actions, attitudes and passions must be consistent with who we are in Christ. After all, is not light best recognized and known for its effects? Are we similarly effecting the environment and people around us?
“(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), . . .”
The fruit of the Spirit is the degree to which we reflect the very character of God in our lives – our thoughts, attitudes, behavior, and passions.
“finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”
If we truly love the Lord, if we are His children and He is our Lord, if we are light in Christ, then it should only be natural that we would continually strive to represent Him accurately, to bring Him joy, and to glorify Him by doing “what is acceptable” in His eyes.
When we do this, then as R. Kent Hughes writes, “the light of Jesus is refracted through the prisms of our lives, there will be sanctifying shades of life for others to see. We then ‘find out what pleases the Lord,’ and so do others.”
If you want to shine in the night, keep in the light of Christ! Ex. Moses who, when he emerged from time alone in the presence of God, his face literally shone with a light of God’s glory that was so bright that others could not stand to look at him until it faded.
C.) WHEN LIGHT MEETS DARKNESS (vv. 11-13)
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Darkness hides and even kills. Light displays and gives life. The purpose of light is dissipate darkness and expose what is hidden. Light and darkness are completely incompatible! Light can only “fellowship” or share together with darkness if the light is first extinguished and/or severely diminished and remains that way.
Be careful, though. Paul is not here advocating a sort of Pharasaical separatism. The focus is on shunning the deeds, not necessarily the doers (although that may sometimes be necessary as well). The point is that light is ALWAYS to shine, always to conquer the dark, always to expose what is hidden – NEVER to blend in with or dampen according to the darkness around it!
“For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”
As we so often see, sometimes the worst thing we can do – the thing that ends up doing the most to promote or increase sin – is to publicize it, especially in lurid detail. The details of what has been in the dark are best left there – in the dark.
“But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is
light.”
This is absolutely necessary. That which is hidden in the darkness will ONLY be found when exposed to light and that which thrives in the darkness will ONLY wither and die when exposed to light.
Illus: Matt – Tim & Kyle VS Tim & Kyle – Me.
D.) AWAKE & SHINE! (V. 14) Ring Alarm Clock!
“Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light’.”
The church needs to WAKE UP! If we are light, then we must truly be light and act like light! Rather than a dull, slumbering, faint light we must awaken and increase in our brightness and effect.
As Spurgeon warned his audience so, unfortunately, is this slumber prevalent today. Sadly it is possible (perhaps even all too common) for one to be a faint, slumbering light even while being highly regarded and praised by others in the Church (especially other slumberers). It is possible to be asleep and yet appear to others (and perhaps yourself) as one who is awake. It is possible for one to not only walk in their sleep, but to pray – automatically mouthing words and phrases so often said or heard before, but without depth or internal meaning. It is possible to sing hymns, psalms and spiritual songs while remaining fast asleep to their words, message and spirit. It is possible to live life in the unreal world of our waking dreams, confining ourselves to “the netherland of inaction.”
All of that is possible, but it is not who we truly are and what we are called to do in Christ. Rather, we must shine like Christ, the great and wondrous Morning Star. Like the sun rising at the dawn, so our lives should be like that of a great ball of firing rising in its height and intensity, shedding its light and warmth on all in its reach!
FINAL THOUGHTS: Do you seek to imitate God?
Do you sometimes live two or more lives, separating your church life from life at home/work/social/etc.?
Is your light more asleep or awake? More faint or bright?
On a scale of 1 (a spark in the dark wilderness) to 100 (Christ Himself), how bright IS your light? What, specifically, will you do now to increase your luminosity for Christ?
