Instructions of Christian living Series
New Life in Jesus
Good Morning everyone,
Here we are in the New Year, for some they stayed up to welcome the New Year in with hopes that it would be as good or better than last year, some stayed up to watch 2021 go out and said good riddance, stayed up to make sure that it left. Then there are some that went to bed before 12 and said to themselves that the year will end and the New Year will come wither you stay up or not.
I don’t know which one you are this morning but happy New Year 2022!
My prayer is that no matter which one you are that you approach this New Year with the hope that is in Jesus Christ.
Just like our message from last week that you remember
“That His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)
As we begin this series, you have to remember that as a believer that the Lord has given you everything that you need to live the life that He called you too.
Prayer-
I pray Lord that as we go into the New Year that we ourselves would be made new. We continue to allow you to work in our lives the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us to do far more than we can do in ourselves and we can accomplish all that you want done through our lives and in our lives. We pray that we are sensitive to what you want done and we live out new lives. We move daily farther away from who we were and closer to who you want us to be. In Jesus name Amen.
We will start a new sermon series entitled “Instruction for Christian Living.”
I laid the foundation last week as we looked what it is to be Christian. We will pick up there today and look at relationship with the Lord and next week how that will affect how we treat each other.
Ephesians 4:17-19
We must not live like the Gentiles/ What would Paul mean by that?
We are Gentiles! Anyone that is not Jewish was considered a Gentile-
His long opening paragraph describes;
The immoral life of the gentiles.
Their perverse thinking, their lack of sexual control over their bodies.
Having the loss of sensitivity, they are continually getting worse-
The second paragraph opens with you however, have not come to know Christ that way- talk more in a minute about that,
Why would he make such a comparison?
Because once you come to know Christ there should be a change in your life- if you were born a baby and 20 years later you still acted like a baby, they would have had you to the doctor because that is not normal- as you get older, as you mature, there should be a change in your life-
Paul is saying to his gentile readers and to us as Gentiles-
Don’t act like you used to act- as you did before you knew Jesus.
He is saying that their identity has changed.
They are not identified by race but by the gracious calling of God to be included in the works of God.
Not their pagan past, but their new relationship to Christ should be their identity.
Conversion should lead to moral renewal. Paul is speaking with the authority of the Lord as he tells them that they should be different. This is not optional.
He let them know walking close to the Lord describes their character.
Walking as a pagan was their old identity because they were gentiles but as believers they were not to walk as the gentiles do.
That the futility of their thinking needed to be corrected- (futility thinking) is
Empty headed thinking
Purposelessness thinking.
Thinking coming from their mind was to be changed.
Their idolatrous assumptions made their thinking worthless
Pagans were not stupid people nor cursed, they were deceived by satan people-
Eph 2 -“The spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
Faith in the one true God is foundational in getting our thinking correct.
Paul shows us that without Christ, our thinking is incapable of productive godly thinking, planning, or making sound moral judgments because our mindset without Christ is flawed and our efforts to know God’s will -will be frustrated.
Because they were darkened in their understanding.
They reason in the dark because they were in the dark. Without the divine revelation, they will reason in the dark.
The eyes of their heart need to be opened, they needed to be enlightened to know God. They understood this because they were in the dark of the things of God until they were enlightened.
They suffered from ignorance of God, not a lack of intelligence.
It is like I said last week, the smartest person in the world that does not know Christ is still lost.
They were separated (alienated) from the life of God-
They had no revelation of God
They had no divine light shined on them, they were dark and depraved.
The life they lived was death.
They were strangers to God’s life and God’s blessings. Moral darkness and alienation from God- not a good place to be. Without divine light, you don’t even know how bad it is.
Society wants to use ignorance as an excuse.
Their ignorance was deliberate rebellion.
They willfully were disobedient
Hardness of heart- (dullness) there conscious was unable to convince them they were wrong. They refused to obey what they knew. (Romans 1:21-23)
Calloused
Shameless
Indifferent to God
Illustration-
One time a guy came to the church for money. He came in and told his story of how he needed to get back to a town about 70 miles away and had no gas money. He said that his girlfriend was in the car with a new baby and that they were in need. I gave them money I had in my wallet and he left the foyer. The girl who I thought was his girlfriend came in right after he left and told me if he comes again to not give him any money… that everything he said was a lie. No baby, not needing gas money to get home. She then told me her story of need that she had just moved here and her brother was supposed to help her get settled. She ended her conversation with … do you have a few dollars? I told her that I had just given her brother all the money I had. She paused and went out the door saying I will make him give me half. Indifferent to the things of God because they only want what they want and God is only a means to their end.
Ephesians 4:20-24
You have learned Christ-
Three infinitives complete this statement of truth- “To put off”, “to be made new,” and “to put on”
They understood that their new life was a radical break from the past and a continuous new life in the future.
Our future looks bright when Jesus is in it.
Moral renewal had begun but it is a process.
You have not come to know Christ that way-
You have been taught the truths of Christ
You were taught to put the old life behind you.
Your mind is stayed on the things of God and has been renewed by bringing your thoughts under the captivity of Christ.
In your newness to Christ, you have a desire to be more the image of Christ
Children of the light live in the light and do not desire to be in the dark doing things that are displeasing to the Lord.
We are not to give the devil a foothold in our lives.
The gospel message is all about what Christ did for us at the cross- because of that we can be forgiven.
We can have new life and experience abundant life in Christ. Some think the gospel is all about don’t sin, don’t sin. There is truth there- when we come to Christ, there should be a desire to not want to displease the Lord but to allow the Lord to make us more in His image.
Before the fall of Adam and Eve, they walked with God. They knew God in a personal relationship and they experienced His presence.
The gospel is God getting us back to that right relationship so that we can again walk with Him and enjoy His presence.
Understand that we must avoid sin and live our lives according to the word of God but also realize that it is God’s desire that we again walk with Him and experience His presence.
When you walk with God, you will discover your true identity and your true value to God.
Put off the old you-
Accept the new you because of what Christ has done for us-
Put on your new identity and see what value you have in the Lord and the impact allowing Him to change you will affect your life! You are a new creation; all things are made new!
