We have been learning from the Letter to the Ephesians. We can read the story of the beginning of this Christian church in Ephesus in the Book of Acts. Please open your Bibles to Acts, Chapter 19. Read along with me v1-6….
The Ephesians became Christians as they repented from their sins and believed in Jesus Christ as God who died for their sins. Before we proceed with today’s message, will you seriously think about the following questions:
Do you believe that you have sinned against God and you need to repent from them? Repentance is needed to become a Christian. Repentance means you will turn to God, who is Holy; and the only way to turn to God is through Jesus Christ! And so, “Do you personally believe that Jesus Christ is God who became a man on earth, died on a cross for your sins, was buried but on the third day rose again, and is now seated in heaven but will soon return to earth to judge the living and the dead?
If you are turning to God and truly believe that Jesus Christ is your only Savior and God, then you are a Christian and you have eternal life with God.
While we Christians wait for our turn to go to heaven, we are to make the most of the life given to us on earth. And as we noted last week, if you are not a true believer of Jesus Christ you can not make the most of life to God. Believe in Jesus Christ as your only Savior and God today!
And as Believers of Christ, we are already citizens of heaven. As Christians, let us make a commitment today to live a life worthy of our calling to heaven. Please open your Bibles now to Ephesians Chapter 5. Let us together pray our commitment to God’s Word……….
Read along with me Ephesians 5:15-33……….
We will talk more about husbands and wives next week.
You see, it is important for us to understand Ephesians 5:21 before we can proceed with the instructions for husbands and wives, as well as for parents and children and employees and employers noted in Ephesians 6.
And again, God’s instructions in Ephesians Chapters 5-6 are for Christians. If you are not a Christian, not depending on the grace of God, you will not be able to obey God’s Word. To make the most of life, we must first of all always depend on the grace of God. Daily thank God for His grace through Jesus Christ.
Now look again at v17 of Ephesians 5…….
We are not to be foolish! We are to understand God’s will; in other words, study your Bible daily.
And so, before looking at specific life situations, let us note the first 6 things we must do to make the most of life as Christians:
1. Daily depend on God’s grace through Christ!
Understand how great the love of God is for you!
2. Don’t be foolish; daily study the Bible!
3. Fully depend on God the Holy Spirit!
We talked about this in the last message. Are we getting drunk on something else? In other words, always yield to God the Holy Spirit first. In a practical way, always check your heart; Is God on the throne of your heart? And before partaking on anything, always pray first!
4. Speak about God to people!
5. Worship God and sing about Him!
6. Always give thanks to God, in the Name of Jesus!
How important are these 6 things? Isn’t the Word of God telling us that these 6 things are necessary for the Christian life? If we can not commit to these 6 things, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to obey God’s instructions in Ephesians 5:21 to Ephesians 6:9.
You see, the 6 things we just talked about is all about being humble before God. If we can not be humble before God, who is the Creator of everything, how can we submit to anyone else?
Let us all take a moment to quietly pray to God. If you are physically able, kneel before God. Of course what’s important to God is the kneeling of our hearts before Him. Right where you are, quietly pray to humble yourself before God and commit to those 6 things we just talked about…….
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Amen.
And so, we come to Ephesians 5:21 - Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
If you had just prayed to God in the Name of Jesus Christ, you just indicated your fear in God. A humble prayer is a prayer of awe and reverence for God. A humble prayer is a prayer of trusting God for everything.
Do we truly trust God? Let us then submit to God, then submit to one another. What does this mean? The Apostle Paul talks about the same thing in Romans 12, please turn there. Look at Romans 12:3 and v9-16……..
Godly submission is connected to agape love. Agape love is always thinking of the betterment of the other person. You see, God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, agape loves you and I! God is always thinking, planning, praying, and taking action for the betterment of us Christians!
Because we have such a God for us, we too can agape love others. In other words, receive and experience God’s agape love and you will be able to agape love others!
The picture of perfect relationships here on earth is possible when we make the perfect God rule in our lives.
Is the perfect God truly ruling in our lives?
To make the most out of our Christian lives here on earth, we are to submit to God, then we are to submit to one another. If we are having a hard time doing this, we must go back to the basics of the Christian life.
1. Daily depend on God’s grace through Christ!
2. Don’t be foolish; daily study the Bible!
3. Fully depend on God the Holy Spirit!
4. Speak about God to people!
5. Worship God and sing about Him!
6. Always give thanks to God, in the Name of Jesus!
