Drew Boswell

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“Quickly Bring the Best” Ephesians 2:1-10

“Bring Quickly the Best”  

Ephesians 2:1-10

Opening

In Luke 15 we see the story of the prodigal son. The boy went to his father and demanded his inheritance, even though his father was still alive (which was a great insult, and potentially hard on the family financially). But the father gives the boy his inheritance and the boy leaves home, travels far away and absolutely wastes the money. Eventually he runs out of money, finds a job taking care of pigs, and is so hungry he wants to eat the slop the pigs are eating. He comes to his senses and decides to ask his father back home if he can work on the family farm as a servant.

Luke 15:20 “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’3 22 But the father said to his servants,4 ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

We know that the prodigal son was not physically dead while in the far country, or physically made live when he returned home. The prodigal son was dead because he was away from home, out of touch and out of communion with the father. He is dead in his trespasses and sin against his father.

 

Prayer  

Your Past (vv. 1-3)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Paul begins our chapter by reminding us of our past. “Scripture uses many metaphors to describe man’s sinful state, such as blindness, deafness, fever, paralysis, leprosy, etc. but not one more forceful in meaning than this one of being dead in sins.”[1]

Man does not become spiritually dead because he sins; he is spiritually dead by his nature, therefore he is sinful. His condition has nothing to do with the way he lives; it has to do with the fact that he is dead even while he is alive.  He is spiritually dead while being physically alive.

We are “dead in the trespasses and sins,” – to trespass is a violation of a definitive law, and to sin is to miss the mark (like an archer aiming at a target). We are guilty on both accounts. It is as if there is a giant “no trespassing sign” and we willfully went past it.

“We are sinners because we have taken our own way, and we are trespassers because we have transgressed what we knew to be the revealed word of God; and so we are dead to God in our natural condition.”[2]

 And no one will deny that there are degrees of sin. If we compare Hitler who oversaw the killing of millions of Jewish people, and someone who stole a package of gummies at a gas station – are they the same? Both are sin.

 If we look at Mark 5:21ff. we see Jairus’ daughter, and by the time Jesus got to her she had only been dead for a very short period of time, yet dead still. And later when we see Jesus coming to Lazarus’s tomb (John 11) – he intentionally stayed away for days, and when it was time to roll away the stone at the entrance when “Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”[3]

Both Jarius’ daughter and Lazarus are in different stages of corruption, yet they both are dead. You may not be Hitler, but we are all sinners by our nature, Romans 3:23 “. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Man’s common state of sin is like people trying to jump across the Grand Cannon (4 to 18mi.). 10 year old (8 feet), 20 year old Olympic long jump (30 feet), 50 year running from the IRS (50 feet) – all will fall short. We are all, “Sons of disobedience and children of wrath” are parallel verses, meaning the same thing.

(v. 2) “in which you once walked,” – The word walk is often used in the New Testament to describe a way of life. The words transgressions and sin describe the path in which people walk and the boundaries that shape their lives.[4]

Because we were spiritually dead, by nature (v. 3) “in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” – it is our nature as human beings to live this way, and which always results in God’s Wrath. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the gospel of Matthew 11:16-19 we see “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” John the Baptist and Jesus were both preachers, John’s message was focused on repentance and judgement (like a funeral dirge), and Jesus’ sermons he compares to a flute at a party (good news, joyful) – but the people did not respond to either.

But in the heart of some, there is a quickening.

The Holy Spirit draws some toward Jesus.

 Your Present (vv. 4-6)

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

(v. 4) “But God,” – dead people can’t do anything. They can’t breathe, they can’t heal, they can’t take action to please God – all they can do it decay. And since they can do nothing to improve their situation, God chose to do something to make our relationship with Him right again. He made the first move.

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

“being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us” – “There is an infinite resources of mercy for the vilest sinner. There is no one for whom there is no mercy” or where the mercy will run out.[5] Not just a little bit of mercy, God is rich in His mercy toward sinners.

In Genesis 1 we see that at the beginning of time, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” God spoke, God took action, and there was light where there once was darkness.

God saw our condition of sin and spiritual death, and out of compassion and love for His creation He took action, “made us alive together with Christ Jesus.”

Jesus’ death on a cross and his resurrection from the dead is a picture and a promise of us being made alive with Jesus. “There was a time when because of my sins Jesus Christ lay dead in the grave, but having completed the work that saves, God quickened Him from the dead and brought Him back in triumph from the tomb.”[6] We believe in Him and are brought forth from the place of the dead and are brought back to life.

“by grace you have been saved” – grace is God’s action toward us when we do not deserve His favor.

“raised us up with him and seated[7] us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” – Jesus has done all the work (dying on the cross, bearing the weight of our sin, He has done all the things required for our salvation), then we get to go with him to heaven. Jesus bought the ticket, and he turns and hands us one for free, and we get to go with him.

Your Future (vv. 7-10)

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

(v.8) “Grace is God’s part, faith is our part.”[8]

God loves his creation so much that He sent His Son into the world to be a propitiation for our sins, but He loves His Son so much that he will not permit anyone into heaven who ignores the work of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished.”[9]

When a person chokes or drowns and stops breathing, there is nothing he can do.  If he ever breathes again it will be because someone else starts him breathing. A person who is spiritually dead cannot even make a decision of faith unless God breathes into him the breath of spiritual life.  Faith is simply breathing the breath that God’s grace supplies.[10]

Every person lives by faith.  When we open a can of food or drink a glass of water we trust that it is not contaminated.  When we go across a bridge we trust it to support us.  When we put our money in the bank we trust that it will be there when we go to withdraw it.  Life is a constant series of acts of faith.

Human effort has nothing to do with it.  And thus, no one should boast, as if he had any part of it.  All boasting is eliminated in salvation. When we see each other in eternity, we will know that none of us deserve to be there and will bow before Jesus in his glory and grace.

(v. 10) “For we are his workmanship” – Psalm 100:3 “Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

(v. 10) “created in Christ Jesus for good works” Not in order to be saved but because we are already saved are we to do good works. As the sun was created to shine, the rose to give forth its delightful fragrance, the bird to fly, so we are created anew to do good works and thus to glorify him who created us as what we are in Christ Jesus.”[11]

(v. 10) “which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”[12] – “What Paul says is not that God prepared us that we should walk in good works (so Luther), but that he prepared the good works.”[13] The believer is saved, but then we don’t look around for just something good to do, God lays out the journey before us. Our job is to stay close to God and His Word, so that “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

“We are saved not by but for good works, and we are saved not just for a beautiful heavenly destiny that God has prepared but for good works here, likewise prepared by God.”[14]

Conclusion – let’s go back to Luke 15, remember when the father sees the son returning home, he says, “Bring quickly the best” – for the farmer it was a robe, a ring, sandals, and a celebration meal. When our heavenly father see us he says, “Bring quickly the best” What is the best that the heavenly father gives us?

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God gave His best so that we may have eternal life – have you received Jesus’ free gift of salvation and new life?

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[1] August Van Ryn, Ephesians The Glories of His Grace (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers Publishing, 1963) 40.

[2] H. A. Ironside, In the Heavenlies (Neptune, New Jersey; Louizeaux Brothers, 1979) 101

[3] Ironside, 100.

[4] Klyne Snodgrass, The NIV Application Commentary, Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1996) 96.

[5] Ironside, 105.

[6] Ibid, 106.

[7] Seated is given in the past tense (aorist tense) indicating it being so definite that it is as if it has already fully taken place. MacArthur, 60.

[8] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 4 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 525.

[9] Ironside, 111.

[10] John MacArthur, The John MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Ephesians (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1986) 61.

[11] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians to the Ephesians and to the Philippians (Minneapolis, Minnesota; Augsburg Publishing House, 1961) 427.

[12] “C. L. Mitton concludes his discussion on this verse with an appropriate comment: “This final phrase about our ‘walking in them’ reminds us that fine phrases or eloquent sermons about love are not what is required, but the actions, costly actions, which express in practical conduct the love which God’s saving power has created in our hearts.” David J. Williams, New International Biblical Commentary, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishers, 1990) 186.

[13] Lenski, 427.

[14] Walter L. Liefeld, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, Ephesians (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity Press, 1997) 67.

A Reaction to The Ashley Madison.com Leak: Genesis 3

 

imagesEd Stetzer in an article submitted to Christianity Today said, “Based on my conversations with leaders from several denominations in the U.S. and Canada, I estimate that at least 400 church leaders (pastors, elders, staff, deacons, etc.) will be resigning Sunday.”[1] That means that tomorrow (Sunday) across the country over 400 faith communities will be losing their pastors, key leaders, deacons, staff members, etc. because of the Ashley Madison leak of membership information. The truth is that 40 million men’s sin has come to light. As a man who himself sins, I do not judge nor point a finger. These men thought their sin would remain hidden, as we all do.

Ashley Madison is a website that advertised itself as a means for a man to have an affair. But as we will see it really made it easier for a man to have the fantasy of having an affair. Popular figures, NFL stars, and millions of other not-as-popular men’s names have been placed on the internet for the world to see. There have also been a string of suicides to this information leak where men were unable to deal with their sin being exposed.

In an article for Gizmodo.com Annalee Newitz wrote, “Overall, the picture is grim indeed. Out of 5.5 million female accounts, roughly zero percent had ever shown any kind of activity at all, after the day they were created.”[2] As the story develops it has become clear that the site was made up of 40 million people. 35 million were men who paid to have access to women’s accounts (who supposedly wanted to have an affair.) Of the less than 5 million all but around 3,000 were shown to be false accounts generated by ashleymadison.com. These were women’s accounts that were completely fake. So 35 million men were interacting with false accounts.

Newitz says, “The men’s accounts tell a story of lively engagement with the site, with over 20 million men hopefully looking at their inboxes, and over 10 million of them initiating chats. The women’s accounts show so little activity that they might as well not be there.”[3] There was no statistically mentionable activity by the women.

So what does this mean? It means that many men were paying for the fantasy of having an affair, but not many actually were having a “real” affair. They weren’t aware of it, but the fantasy alone was enough to drive them to keep checking their e-mail on the site and to sift through the fake accounts. Newitz goes on to says, “Either way, we’re left with data that suggests Ashley Madison is a site where tens of millions of men write mail, chat, and spend money for women who aren’t there.”[4]

How does this happen?

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Sin’s Transformation

Genesis 3:6

[6] “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

Independence

Eve observes the forbidden fruit and made up in her mind that it looked ok to eat. She believed the serpent’s lies that God was keeping something “good” from her. This is what has snagged us all. We say things like, “I don’t see anything wrong with this.” “It looks ok to me, in fact I believe that this will make me very happy.” “God is trying to keep this from me, because he doesn’t want me to have this.”

The fruit wasn’t rotten, “it was good to eat.” The fruit looked very appealing, it wasn’t gross. She knew that this experience would allow her to know something that God did not want her to know. God tries to keep certain experiences away from us not because He wants to keep some happiness from us, but instead He wants what’s best for us.

Adam instead of being the leader of the home, became the follower. Instead of correcting his wife and telling her the truth, he buys into the lie as well. He was right there the whole time. Satan had gone to the woman to disrupt the created order of what God had established. Adam became the woman (helper) and the woman became the man (leading).

Separation

Now when it is too late, they saw the folly of eating the forbidden fruit. They saw the happiness they had fallen from, and the misery they had fallen into. They saw a loving God provoked, his grace and favor forfeited, his likeness and image lost, dominion over the creatures gone.

They saw their natures corrupted and depraved, and felt the disorder in their own spirits of which they had never before been conscious. They saw a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, and captivating them both to sin and wrath. They saw as Balaam, when his eyes were opened (Num. 22:31), the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in hand.

Their eyes were opened but what they saw they did not want to see. They saw themselves separated from God. Isaiah 59:2 says “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

Because God is holy and righteous, He will not continue in friendship with those who disobey His commands. He hates everything that is wrong and punishes all disobedience of His commands by death.Romans 6:23 says “…the wages of sin is death…” Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were cut off from their friendship with God. Their relationship with God was dead.

They had taken sides with God’s great enemy, Satan, and they too, were now the enemies of God.

Imagine a green branch broken from a tree it would not die immediately, but in time separated from its life source it would die. The same thing happened to Adam and Eve. Death wasn’t evident in their bodies on the day they disobeyed God. But they had died to God.

That part of them which was made in God’s image, so they could know, love, and obey God, was immediately separated from God when they disobeyed His command. Their bodies would also eventually die, and they would go to a place of punishment which God prepared for Satan and the evil spirits.

Adam and Eve thought that they could cover their own sin. But God does not accept us based upon our outward appearance and behavior. Just as Adam and Eve tried to make themselves acceptable to God by putting on clothes, many people today think that they can make themselves acceptable to God by the outward appearance of respectability – becoming church members, being good parents, being law abiding citizens, holding membership in civic and charitable organizations.

I Sam. 17:7 says, “. . . man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Are you trying to cover your heart condition by trying to look a certain way on the outside?

Genesis 3:8

[8] “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

 God would come to the couple everyday at a certain time (in the cool of the day) and they would talk and learn. It was the couple’s responsibility to oversee the Garden and the animals, and they would seek advice and direction from God. “Walked with God” is a favorite expression in Genesis, depicting the righteous conduct of Israel’s hero’s, including Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God until now.

Now they hid amongst some trees and were seeking to hide their sin from their creator. They were embarrassed to be in front of each other. Eve because she had led them into rebellion and Adam because he had followed her, he participated in the sin.

There were signs that they were now separated from God:

 First, their attitude toward their bodies changed immediately. Before they disobeyed God, they were naked but unembarrassed. Now they were separated from God, and their minds were no longer under God’s control. Their minds became evil, and their attitude toward their bodies changed. They were embarrassed by their naked bodies.

Secondly, they tried to provide for their own needs. Before they were separated from God, they looked to God to provide everything they needed. But now they tried to do things for themselves. They clothed themselves with fig leaves. They no longer trusted God to give them what they needed. They were trying to live independently of God.

 Sin has transformed the world. It brought a separation between the man and the woman but more importantly, it brought a separation between everyone and God. God could no longer come and walk with them because He cannot allow sin in his presence. Their relationship was broken.

But God has sent a Second Adam. This Adam corrected the mistake that the first Adam made. His name is Jesus Christ. I Cor. 15:45 says “So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” ; the last Adam, a life giving spirit. Jesus came to fix what was destroyed at creation.

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It is my hope that when the men who stand before their congregations tomorrow that the congregants will see that they have fallen for the same lie that all mankind have fallen into. It is my hope that the churches will handle their admissions with grace and mercy and an understanding that they are themselves sinners. I hope that the men who step down get the help that they need (in their marriages, in their personal lives, with their children) and that they will come to see another path for their lives. We serve a God who is never surprised, but always have a plan. The universal fall of man is not an excuse, for leaders are held to a higher standard (1 Tim. 3:1-13 and Tit. 1:5-9).

God can take our sin and in His omnipotent power take our mistakes and use them for His glory. If you are on the list, then admit it, step down, mourn the sin, seek to rebuild the relationships, but don’t give up. God is still with you, “for He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5,6). We have all experienced the emptiness of sin and how it leaves us betrayed.

These men tried to fill an emptiness within them that God had designed to be found somewhere else. We have all done this (in other ways and forms). We should never excuse the sin, nor seek to run from it. It should be dealt with as Scripture commands, but at the same time our attitudes should not be the same as the men who rush to throw stones at the adulteress only to see Jesus writing something in the sand.

John 8:3-9

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.”

What did Jesus write in the sand?

Perhaps a website.

__________________________

[1] http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/august/my-pastor-is-on-ashley-madison-list.html

[2] http://gizmodo.com/almost-none-of-the-women-in-the-ashley-madison-database-1725558944

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

 

 

Steps of Grace; Genesis 1

Creation and My Mother

UnknownAs I sit in the waiting room while my mother is having surgery on her foot, I was reading through Genesis 1 in the Bible. As I read through the passage the following questions came to mind, “Why did God not just create everything in a single moment? Why spread it out over six days? Why not create the entire universe or ‘creation’ in a single instance?”

Genesis 1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. . . And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. . . . 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.3 And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. . . “ and so on and so forth for all six days of creation.

It could have been to show the importance of how the sky or heavens are above the earth, and therefore attach some kind of theological significance; or, to show the separation of light over darkness, etc.… But couldn’t we just discern these things from the completed creation? I think so.

I believe that God broke creation down into steps or days to show a process. He desires to move from one thing to another, from one moment to another moment. Time had never existed before creation, so His ability to show process is significant. He gives order and how elements work together in creation – but in time these elements change how they work together. In eternity there is the eternal present, and any reference to time is insignificant.

Creation Teaches Us About Relationships:

1)   Creation teaches us that every aspect of creation is important and significant. It is given its own day, or part of a day in the creation account. Each day therefore is important. Each aspect of creation is highlighted.  Man was created with a need for a woman. Creation was created with a need for something to have dominion over it. We are linked together, and each part is important.

2)   There is the development of marriage and relationships, which develop, grown, deepen, and change over time. Having been married for over fifteen years, I love my wife differently than how I loved her the day we were wed. My relationship with my mother has changed as well. She is still my mother, but how we relate to each other has changed over time. She was once my caretaker and provider, now she has moved to friend and dearly loved person that I find myself helping to care for.  Not only can you know a person (which is a great blessing), but at different stages of the relationship you experience life differently with them. We can only speculate as to what a perfect marriage would have been like, and how their love for each other would have grown deeper over time apart from sin. Or as parents and children would have grown to love each other in a perfect Eden.

3)   God would come in the cool of the day and speak with Adam and Eve. This shows that God intended for mankind (His children) to have an ever-changing relationship with Him as well. The time they would spend together would help them to love Him more, and to understand Him at a deeper level.  He has designed us to take in information over time, in segments, instead of some kind of instant download as in a Matrix movie.  In many ways the work we are to do in this life is the work of deepening relationships with others and our God.

4)   God, in this time with mankind in the cool of the day, would show them their purpose, responsibilities, and how to work for/serve God in such a way that brings Him glory. As a minister, parent, husband, friend, son, etc. I have grown in my knowledge of how to bring glory to God with my life. I am not as faithful to that knowledge as I would like to be, but it is true that God teaches you how to live for Him over time. There are even specific things that we need to learn at different stages of life.  Stages and processes allows mankind to learn, grow in depth of love for others and God, and to experience life differently.

5)   Lastly, I believe that God’s grace is shown to us in the creation account. There were seven days where everything was perfect, but it would not be very long before sin entered into the world. But the days don’t stop, the sun doesn’t stop shining, and the fish still swim in the sea. Life continues onward. Every day you get to start over. Every season you can plant again (even if the previous year was a disaster). Every year brings new opportunities to learn how to live life differently.

I am thankful for my mother, her provision, her friendship, and continuing love. I am also thankful for God’s Word and how it allows us to see life through His perspective. I am thankful for another season of life to know new people, and to experience the older ones at a different level.

 

 

 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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