A young man was head over heals in love with a young lady. The time they spent together was magical. When they were with each other everything was always perfect; there was never a problem. He decided that the two of them should be married, so he set off in search of the prefect engagement ring. When he arrived at the first jewelry store; he was unprepared for the cost of diamonds. He went from store to store, but each time the ring he thought could symbolize his deep love was thousands of dollars more than he could afford. The only rings he could afford to buy had diamonds you could hardly see.
He was about to give up all hope when he walked by a store with a sign that said, “High price of diamonds got you down? We can help.” Curious to see how anyone could help him he went into the store. Looking around he saw hundreds of beautiful rings sparkling in the light. The salesman asked what he was looking for and showed him a case full of engagement rings. The young man saw many rings that looked just like what he had seen in the other stores, but he already knew he couldn’t afford those.
He was about to thank the man and leave when he saw the perfect ring. He was sure that he wouldn’t be able to afford it, but he at least wanted to hold it–if only for a moment. Curiously holding the ring, he asked how much it was. The salesman told him all the engagement rings were the same low price, only $350. The young man was shocked. He had seen rings like these for thousand of dollars more, so he asked, “How can you sell diamond rings so cheaply?” Of course you already know that these were not diamonds, but cubic zirconias. The salesman assured the young man that he could buy this ring now and purchase a real diamond when he could afford it. And besides his fiancee would never know the difference because love is blind.
With hope renewed the young man purchased the ring and planned the perfect occasion to ask his girlfriend to marry him. The evening was going perfectly and came to the climax when on bended knee he asked her to be his wife. With tears in her eyes she said that nothing would make her happier than to spend their lives together. Taking her hand he placed the ring on her finger; it fit perfectly.
She took one look at the ring and immediately took it off and said, “I’m sorry; I can’t marry you with this imitation diamond.”
Broken hearted the young man said, “But how did you know? I was told you couldn’t see the difference; I couldn’t tell it wasn’t a diamond.”
“Sweetheart, love may be blind, but it isn’t stone blind.”
Turn with me again to Ephesians 5:21-32 as we again look at the mysterious relationship of Christ and His Church as seen within the husband wife relationship. Jesus is passionately in love with us. Not only is His love not stone blind, but it’s also not sin blind. May the Holy Spirit help us today to understand how God’s love is at work within and through us to make us into the Church He has designed.
✞ Ephesians 5:21-31 21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery–but I am talking about Christ and the church (NIV)
That God can take two individuals and make them one flesh is a mystery, but it is a profound mystery that God can take the countless members of the Church and make of the many one. And yet that is what He has done; we are the body of Christ, the Church–not made of bricks and mortar, but joined together by the Holy Spirit.
In the previous two messages we have seen what a church will look like that is passionate in its relationship with Christ. The believer that shares a love affair with Jesus is a part of [1.] A Submissive Church, and [2.] A Loving Church. Submission and love are interconnected with each other; you can’t have one without the other. The evidence that we have submitted to God is seen as we submit one to another, and only as we demonstrate love towards our brother whom we have seen, can we really love God whom we have not seen.
But the love affair between Christ and His Church does not stop there. Within the mysterious relationship between husbands and wives we also see that Christ wants us to be [3.] A Radiant and Glorious Church, and [4.] A Nurturing Church. This morning we are not looking at dry dead religion. We are looking at a vibrant living relationship that Jesus has with His Church. As each of us share in a passionate relationship with Christ He will make us a part of His Church as He designed it to be. Today we are going to look at what it means to be:
3. A Radiant and Glorious Church.
In verse 27 Paul says that because of Christ’s love for each of us in the Church His desire is “to present her to himself as a radiant (or glorious–KJV) church, without stain or wrinkle.”
What does it mean to be a radiant and glorious church? A radiant and glorious church reflects the glory of God. Perhaps we can better understand what it means to reflect God’s glory if we think about the mystery of the Church as Paul describes it using the picture of the husband and wife relationship.
An old love song says, “Are the stars out tonight, I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright. ‘Cuz I only have eyes for you, dear; I only have eyes for you.” The lover has tunnel vision; everything falls out of sight except the lover’s sweetheart. Someone really did say that love is blind. The lover does not see the faults or flaws in his beloved; he can only see the beauty of his truelove.
Our love for God doesn’t have to be blind. He is completely holy and without sin. The more passionate our love for God grows the more we come to know His perfection.
✞ Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. (NIV)
God has no imperfections to hide from us. His loveliness is a wonder to behold. But what about God’s love for us, is His love blind?
God loves us, but His love is not blind. God sees all of our sin, and yet He does not just overlook it. God doesn’t pretend that our sin is not there. God loves us enough to do something about it. We are powerless to clean ourselves up for God; we can’t make ourselves look presentable.
✞ Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (NIV)
But when we believe that Jesus died for our sin, He purifies us. Not only are we cleansed from our sin, but the Holy Spirit works within our lives to keep us from sin. God not only cleans us up, He keeps us clean.
When we confess our sins before God, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Now when God looks at us, He no longer sees our sin–it has been forgiven. All that God can see is His glory at work in us. The radiance and purity of Jesus shines from our lives. A radiant and glorious church reflects the glory of God. The glory of God within His Church is not just for Him to behold; a watching world can see His glory within us also.
Look again at Ephesians 5:25-27.
✞ 25. . . Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
God’s love in action transforms us into a radiant and glorious church. Jesus is passionately in love with His Church, He purifies us to be a spotless, holy and pure Church. He makes us are radiant reflecting God’s glory.
But how is God’s glory seen in our lives? If we share a love affair with Jesus, then what will the reflection of His glory look like in our lives? In a word God’s glory looks like Jesus–each of us reflect the image of Jesus to our world. But what does that look like?
First, God’s glory is displayed through righteous living. God enables us to live holy lives free from sin.
✞ Titus 2:11-14 11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (NIV)
Notice these three things that Paul instructs Titus (which by the way Paul said are to be passed on to us in verse 15).
1. God’s grace instructs us in righteousness. This is part of what I think being washed by the water of the word is about. Before coming to Christ we are ignorant of His expectations of a holy life; we live only to fulfill the desires of the flesh. But the Word of God renews our minds; our thinking is transformed. We now understand God’s plan and purpose for our lives and can begin to live it out.
2. God’s grace not only instructs us, but it also enables us. Notice Paul says we can live “upright and godly lives in this present age.” The Holy Spirit equips us to live a life of righteousness now, not later. We can say no to sin and the passions of the world because God’s grace is working in us.
3. God’s grace also gives us a desire to do what is right; we are “eager to do what is good.” God’s grace is not in short supply; He will enable us to live a life free from sin as we cooperate with His Spirit. So does that mean we never sin? No. We all have times when “self” wants to rise its ugly head and have it’s way. Sometimes we give into selfish desires; we must choose to cooperate with the Spirit of God within us. But God’s grace transforms our desire so that we want to please God.
Those who have a love affair with Jesus, if you are passionate in your relationship with Christ, He will make you radiant. Your life will reflect the glory of God through righteous living.
✎ Let me show you how this works in everyday life. I was at Lowes Thursday night to return 5 bags of concrete. It took an hour, and it was both a trial and temptation. The natural mind would take advantage of the situation if at all possible, but God wants to work righteousness. As the clerk was trying to ring up my return, he said 6 bags not 5. God’s grace worked wonderfully in my life and I told him there were only 5. About twenty minutes later I realized he was still crediting me for 6 bags, only he hadn’t credited my charge account as I had asked. They would get it right, but it would take just a few more minutes. He apologized for not getting it right, and we waited for the manager. My patience was doing fine on the outside, but inside I felt justified in letting the mistake ride; I didn’t want to muddy the water any more by telling him again he had the quantity wrong. My time was worth something right? Another 30 minutes later they finally had credited my account for the return, and it was still for 6 bags and not 5. I got an extra $5 and change for my time. Yet the Bible tells us that the good you know to do and don’t do–it’s sin. No one else knew what had happened–no one that is except God. So now I had to choose if I would still resist the Holy Spirit for $5 in my pocket, or if I would go back to the store and make it right. What would you do if you had just spent an hour making a return that should have only taken 5 minutes? It’s not a hypothetical situation, it really happened to me, and it could happen to you. (FYI: I made it right with God, and with Lowes!)
Second, God’s glory is made known as we do good works.
✞ Ephesians 2:8-10 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)
We can never earn our salvation; it is the gift of God. None of us have the right to brag about our position before God. It’s all about His grace working in our lives, and not what we have achieved through hard work.
But go back and re-read what Paul said in verse 10. We can’t receive the gift of God’s grace and then just sit and wait for our admission into heaven. God has prepared good works for us to do. God’s grace will flow through me to touch the lives of others–God already has it planned; I just have to cooperate and do what God asks.
✞ Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (NIV)
✎ Have you ever noticed what often happens when a light burns out? Many times when a light is turned on for the last time it produces a sudden burst of light (even burning brighter than it normally does) until the element burns into darkness. A sudden explosion of light is followed by the search for a new lightbulb. None of us would want to light our homes with flash bulbs, or the pulse of a strobe light. We want a steady consistent light that will make the room comfortable to be in.
Our lives are to have that same kind of consistency. Jesus said that our lives should be as lights for the world to see. That’s His plan that the world might see the reflection of His glory through us His Church. Look at the context of what Jesus says in verses 14-16:
✞ Matthew 5:14-16 [The Message] You’re here to be light, bring out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand–SHINE!
What is Jesus telling us? He doesn’t want His light within us to be hidden; no one turns on a light to hide it in a closet, but the light is set out to give light to the whole room. Jesus has placed His light within us by His Holy Spirit and it is his intention that the world will see that light. Jesus wants the world to see His glory within us.
But did you notice that Jesus said we should let OUR LIGHT shine. Although Jesus has placed His light within us, we are a light with a built-in dimmer switch; we can choose to shine or not shine. We must decide to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and let our lights be seen.
Have you ever know someone that you would consider a “carnal Christian”? They have been saved, maybe even filled with the Holy Spirit, but they still live their life a lot like the rest of the world. You can’t see any difference between the way they live and the pagan. I’m sure none of us are like that, right?
How is it possible for them to live as a “carnal Christian”? They are living their lives with the dimmer turned down; their lights are not shining–it’s under a bucket. They are not cooperating with the Holy Spirit to be what Christ has designed them to be.
Unfortunately, the carnal Christian often doesn’t even know there is a problem; they know that they have received the light of Christ into their lives. They believe that because they prayed to accept Christ as Savior that they have done all that is required of them; they are on their way to heaven right?
What would you think if I told you that the problem with the carnal Christian is not only with them, but also with the “Pharisaical Christians” who stand in judgement over them rather than teaching them to live like Jesus? You see a church that is passionately in love with Christ, the believer who is living in a love affair with Jesus will be [4.] A Nurturing Church. Not only is Jesus building up His church to reflect the glory of God to our world, but the church is also to encourage one another to be like Jesus. But that’s another message, so you will have to be here again next Sunday.
Conclusion:
✞ 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (NIV)
In everything we do we are to bring glory to God. Christ makes us to be a radiant and glorious church. As His church we are to reflect the glory of God through righteous living, by being holy even as he is holy. And we are also to reflect His glory through good works which He has prepared for us to do.
Will you chose today to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and live a righteous life; will you let the grace of God keep you from sin?
Are you willing to let the grace of God flow through your life through good works? Will you use the gifts that God has given you to do the work He has prepared for you in advance?
Let’s be radiant. Let’s be glorious. Shine church; shine!
