Review:
Last Sunday I spent some time talking about Rubik’s Cube—the 3-D puzzle made up of 26 little cube-like parts faced off with a total of six colors.
The puzzle is solved when each face of the cube is showing a solid color. That sounds easy until you try it. The reason it’s not easy is that there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (43 quintillion) ways to arrange this cube and only one of theme solves the puzzle.
How do you say a number like that? Here’s how.
43 quintillion
252 quadrillion
3 trillion
274 billion
489 million
856 thousand
All those combinations out of 26 working parts? Yes!
But you know what?, 43 quintillion is very small number compared to the number of ways you could arrange the millions of bits of data and pieces and colors of information floating around in your brain—the information that makes you, you. Arrange the data one way and you see yourself as a victim. Arrange the same data another way and you see yourself as an over-comer; same data, different arrangement.
We know what Rubik’s cube is supposed to look like when it’s solved (six sides, six solid colors), but what about us? Is there a way that all these bits and pieces are supposed to be arranged—a way to know if you’ve solve the puzzle of you?
More and more people answer that question by saying; “No! There is no right arrangement. There is my arrangement and your arrangement, but there is no right arrangement. We exist as individuals in a hostile universe and we each do the best we can to arrange the bits and pieces in whatever way we can.”
But this notion hasn’t brought any sense of peace to us. In fact our kids and our families and our communities are living more and more in despair and chaos and life is being devalued.
In Christ God came among us preaching the Gospel (good news) that there is a right arrangement and what it looks like is the broken image of God being restored to you and me being restored to our original condition before the warping and bending and deteriorating affect of sin rearrange our minds in all kinds of contorted and toxic ways. The standard for this one correct arrangement is found in
Scripture … Genesis 1:26-27
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image , after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image , in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ESV
That God-image (Imago Dei) was defaced when Adam and Eve sought wisdom beyond the wisdom that God had revealed to them. The wisdom they embraced so obliterated the original Imago Dei that neither Adam or Eve, nor any of their offspring (us) were able to get back to it, death set in and Adam and Eve died, and this toxic wisdom is still killing their children all these generations later. We are made in God’s image, we are His creatures but we have embraced a dark and destructive wisdom.
Scripture … Isaiah 5:20-21
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight! …
24b-25a they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, ESV
What the prophet is talking about is everyone coming up with their own way to solve the puzzle and saying my solution is right. And it gets worse. There are times when we know better but still choose the dark wisdom of this world over the puzzle solving wisdom of God. God, who loves us with an extravagant love, sorrows over this.
For this reason God in Christ entered into the world to preach the Gospel of God’s love and forgiveness.
Scripture … John 10:10-12
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ESV
Jesus offered His own perfect life as a sacrifice for our sins. He died so that we might live, His message in living and dying and in rising again in triumph over death is the good news that God is able to arrange every detail of our lives (the millions of bits of data and information) in a way that restores us to our original function and purpose—restores in us the true image of God.
If you wonder if this is true here is what you might do. Find a Bible and begin to read it, asking God to show you His paths. Begin to walk down that path and watch what happens to the anger, the confusion, the depression, the feeling that you are lost and wondering without any real purpose.
Scripture … Romans 8: 29 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. (MsgB)
We are studying Ephesians 5 & 6 to discover God’s paths for relationships and especially in this reading you will see that God has some very specific puzzle solving instructions for human sexuality.
Scripture Reading ESV
Ephesians 5:1-21
5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not associate with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
"Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. ESV
It is very clear from this chapter that God’s solution to solving the puzzle of sexuality is radically different from current thinking.
The solution is radical and extravagant love. That is why this chapter begins by telling us to be imitators of God—watch and listen to Him do what He does. Watching and listening; this is how children from their parents.
When it comes to God you learn by listening to him speak through His Word—this book. What you find out in this book is mostly what God does is love and that is what you will learn by watching and listening to Him.
Jesus (God in human flesh) showed us that God’s love is not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give himself to us. He didn’t come to take our life, or diminish our life but to make it exactly what it is supposed to be, full and abundant.
In Eph 5:6 Paul uses three words to describe the wrong use of sex.
1. Immorality – sexual promiscuity
2. Impurity – filthy practices
3. Covetousness – bullying greed
Let’s talk about the covetous or greedy use of sex. This is treating sex the same way a greedy person uses money. It is something to have, something to own and accumulate. There is no intimacy, only idolatry—worshipping a god of your own making, a god who is not only ruining the image of God in your life, but is also defacing the image of God in someone else’s life. When you know the every human being is God’s treasured possession, God’s loved and sought after creature, a person He loves extravagantly you will take no pleasure in using them in a self-satisfying and greedy way.
These words, immorality, impurity and covetousness (greed), represent the world’s best guess as to how to solve the sex puzzle. How is that working out?
Compare! On the one had you have the Puritans whom many now mock for their narrow lives. But here is what you find in their writing. They gave themselves to their spouse, enjoyed intimate marriages and were able to talk and write about it very plainly. Where are we? Sex can no longer be talked about plainly or naturally. It can be joked about, obsessed about, observed from a distance as Hollywood and pornographers portray it, but it can not be enjoyed in any natural or relaxed kind of a way.
This is the greed problem in spades. There is more and more going on sexually with less and less satisfaction. This is the sign of greed. I have more stuff but find no sense of satisfaction. I just need more stuff.
Listen to this from Ephesians 2:1-6
Ephesians 2:1 It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. 2 You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. 3 We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. 4 Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, 5 he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! 6 Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. (MsgB)
Millions of people over thousands of years have found that God has the answers to the sexual puzzle. In the mean time, you have Paul telling Christian people that all the other sex solutions are no solutions at all and should never be mentioned, which is to say never found, among people who are walking in the extravagant love of God.
If you’re a believer you have an identity. You are an imitator of God, a person who was born to walk in extravagant love. If your identity has been stolen (and it’s a big problem these days) and your back walking in lust then you need to repent, receive God’s loving forgiveness and treat others as God has treated you, as one who was born to bear the image of God.
You will notice that verse 5 ends by saying that those who make use of sex for immoral, impure or greedy purposes have fallen into idolatry and that idolaters have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Does this mean that if you are living by the wisdom of the world you will lose your salvation—lose your place in God? What it means is that those who choose to ignore the wisdom of God and live by the wisdom of this world never had a spiritual inheritance.
You may have been raised in the church or not raised in the church, but you are living the life of an idolater.
The scene when all humanity will stand before the Judge of heaven and earth describes a final judgment where Jesus says; Matthew 7:23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' ESV
Last thing Ephesians 5:10-17 modern language translation by Peterson.
Ephesians 5:10-17
10 Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
11 Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. 12 It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. 13 Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
14 Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!
15 So watch your step. Use your head. 16 Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
17 Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants. (MsgB).)
For those of you who still young men and women, maybe approaching or already in your college or early career days, let me urge you to find the will of God by reading the Word of God and by prayer, and then live it with reckless abandon. Live it out with all your strength. Let the image of God shine in and through you. Love extravagantly. Help others to shine with His glory as well.
Don’t waste time and energy living by the instructions of a world that knows nothing about life.
Work, save, related with joy and health to the opposite sex, go on mission trips, take chances in doing the will of God.
If you have already started to put the sexual puzzle of your life together by the world’s instructions, just stop where you are, get out God’s instructions and as risky as it may seem to you (I’ll never find a wife this way. I’ll never find a husband this way), follow God’s instructions and all will be well, not always easy, not always without struggle, but all will be well here and more importantly for eternity.
