Transforming Series

The Second Best Day of My Life

?

December 31, 1994

After 5 years of on and off dating, nearly 2 years of engagement Danielle and I got married.

We assembled at her home church with close to 300 guests, 10 attendants, a few musicians, many family members, a Bible teacher, and a pastor

We got dressed up

?We sang songs

?Read scripture

?Listened to challenges from a pastor and a Bible teacher

?Received blessings from our parents.

?We worshiped

?We said vows. While we had been preparing for a while with counseling, books, and audios, we committed to something that we knew was serious, but I don’t think we fully understood.

?You see, on that day, Danielle and I made 2 decisions.

?We decided to put off being single

-? actions

?- thoughts

?- motivations

?- commitments

?we decided put on being married to each other

?- actions - making decisions together, realizing that so many decisions would impact more than just ourselves individually, but now as a family

?- thoughts - we get to consider someone else

?- motivations

?Both of those decisions happened at one time on the same day.

?But in the 10,467 days since that initial decision, we both have been in the process of being renewed or transformed. This is in part because neither of us are the same person we were on that first date - as one person has famously said - my wife has been married to five different men, and all of them me. You see we’ve learned new things, experienced new things, matured, grown, failed, added children into the mix, changed jobs and careers, moved, added pets, buried family members, etc. We’re being renewed by each other and renewed by God.

??

In the passage that we’re considering today, we’ll find that the decisions and transformation of marriage mirror our life in Christ and the decisions and transformation that happens there.

Open your Bibles to Ephesians 4, beginning in verse 17.

Leading up to this Paul has been challenging these Gentile Christians to begin acting like Christians. As we saw last week, we were challenged to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called - to live as though we earned it - all the while recognizing that we are saved by the gracious and loving gift of God alone. He then went on to talk about the unity of the church - how God called us into one body and provided gifts for us in the church in order to foster unity and growth.

Here, as we read a few minutes ago, Paul takes a similar approach to that which he has done before - providing some contrasting comments - you were once this way, now you are this way, so live accordingly.

So as Paul continues to encourage these Ephesian Christians to live out the life that they’ve been called into - he transitions to their minds by pointing out...

The futility of our old ways of thinking (17-19)

Tim Keller has noted that so often when people begin to investigate Christianity - they begin by asking about morality - asking about making changes in their lives. They might ask if they have to give up sleeping with their boyfriend or girlfriend or adjust how they give/spend their money and time or modulate how they interact with people in the office or school. For so many people, Christianity looks like a performance-based religion. If it seems that way because of something that is coming from the pulpit, if I communicate that primarily, then I’m not communicating correctly.

Paul notes here that the difference isn’t so much the morality, but the mentality.

Ephesians 4:17 ESV

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Even though Paul is talking to Gentile Christians, he’s not referring to their ethnicity, but their worldview - their faith system, their religion, their way of thinking. Before Christ, we were stuck in a futile way of thinking - mired by selfish motivations proud notions of superiority.

Paul continues...

Ephesians 4:18–19 ESV

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

While Paul does begin to address their morality - notice that he says the root of their problem is their “darkened understanding” - they don’t know what they don’t know.

For example - people who might have a concept of God - they believe he exists and is generally good - they might think God wants them to be happy. So as a result, they begin making decisions and actions based on that world view - I will be happy if I do “x” and God will be happy with me. As a result, they pursue all of the things that we read about in verse 19.