June 22, 2025 • 39 mins
Have you ever felt lost in a sea of social media comparisons, unsure of who you really are beneath the curated identities and shifting cultural definitions? The ancient letter to the Ephesians offers a surprisingly relevant remedy to our modern crisis of identity.
Like a cosmic drama unfolding across the universe, Ephesians pulls back the curtain to reveal Christ seated in majesty "far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion." This isn't abstract theology—it's a vivid portrait of your King who has already conquered every force that threatens to define or diminish you. More astonishingly, you're not merely a spectator of this heavenly scene. Paul declares that God "has raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Your life is simultaneously lived on earth while participating in heaven's story.
The letter then zooms in to show what this cosmic reality means for our divided world. Christ appears as the great Reconciler, demolishing the "dividing wall of hostility" that separated Jew and Gentile—groups divided by layers of religious, social, and spiritual barriers. What human efforts could never accomplish, Christ achieved on the cross: the creation of "one new humanity" from previously hostile peoples. This reconciled community now forms a living temple where God dwells by His Spirit.
When you understand who you are in Christ—both in cosmic and earthly dimensions—the immediate pressures of this world lose their grip. You're no longer defined by social media metrics or cultural expectations but by your citizenship in heaven. You walk through this world wearing Christ's armor, bringing truth to a world of lies, peace to a world of conflict, and salvation to a world of destruction.
Don't let doom scrolling and identity confusion keep you trapped in the immediate. Lift your eyes to see the grand vista of God's eternal purpose—and discover who you truly are within it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Doug McMasters (00:00):
If you don't have a Bible, you might find one
in front of you and there inthe Pew Bible, you can turn to
page 1036, 1036.
So for those of you that areperhaps new here, first time
here, our Route 66 study is onemessage per book of the Bible.
So starting in Genesis andgoing all the way to the book of
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Revelation, and it gives us anice overview.
Obviously, I can't covereverything in the book of
Ephesians in 20 to 30 minutes.
Four years ago we did a studyof the book of Ephesians and we
started in January 2021, I think, and we finished in December
2021.
So a whole year of looking atthat book.
(00:42):
I'm not going to try to put 50weeks of messages into one
sermon.
So, anyway, let's pray together, shall we?
Father?
We're grateful to be gatheredtogether and to have your word
open before us.
There's so many places we couldbe right now and so many things
that could be grabbing ourattention, but, lord, by your
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good design, you've brought usto the place where your word is
in front of us now and, father,we recognize that this is not
just a moment in time, this is amoment in eternity, and so,
father, we pray that you mighthelp us to enter into it as we
should.
We pray that you might help usto enter into it as we should.
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The Word of God says that weshould have our ears and our
hearts open, and Jesus saidlisten.
If you have ears to hear, hear.
So, lord, we want to have thosekind of ears and that kind of
heart that welcomes your Word,that understands your glorious
eternal truths and how theyintersect with our life in our
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days, and how we might bealigned with you in your
sovereign purposes in ChristJesus, not only for now, but
throughout all eternity.
So we ask that you might bewith us.
We pray in Christ's name, amen.
I mentioned this earlier thismorning that we live in a time
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of crisis and, yes, we might allhave our ears attuned to some
of the difficulties andchallenges that are happening
with the world powers today.
I just received a text about ahalf an hour ago from Ted.
He and Pat are planning onbeing in Turkey and enjoying
some time there doing thefootsteps of Paul, and just
received news that the travelagents have decided to move
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their tour from eastern Turkeyto western Turkey, and now he's
frantically trying to get on thephone and find some way to get
his flights changed in order tobe able to do that and just sort
of caught up in the moment,they're planning on leaving
tomorrow.
So be in prayer for Ted and Patas to do that and just sort of
caught up in the moment they'replanning on leaving tomorrow.
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So be in prayer for Ted and Patas they do that.
But I'm not talking about thatkind of crisis, as important as
that is.
I'm talking about a crisis thatis one of identity and one of
the immediacy of life.
And we live in a day and agewhere peer pressure is not just
for those people around you inyour close circles or maybe even
in your class and school.
We have a worldwide peerpressure and it's found on
social media, and we have, onsocial media, a lot of curated
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identities that are there.
We are brought into constantcomparison with them, in
comparison with them, and it'svery difficult those kind of
pressures that bear, if we giveour time and attention to them,
of how we are supposed to think,how we're supposed to dress,
even how we're supposed to holdour cameras and take pictures of
ourselves.
It's really difficult.
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We find ourselves even in atime frame in which there's
ever-shifting definitions of whowe are, time frame in which
there's ever-shiftingdefinitions of who we are, even
to the very point of our birthgenetic sex and we're called
into question, and so people areincreasingly unsure of
themselves at the most corelevel of their being.
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A lot of ways, our society isjust adrift, unanchored and
being pulled one way or anotherby all of these kind of ideas.
But we also live in a crisis ofthe immediacy of things.
There's a thing, of courseyou've probably heard, doom
scrolling, where we kind of getour head down and we get locked
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into just moving through oneseries of bad news after another
and it just sort of zooms usright in as though that was
affecting our very moment and weneeded to do something about it
.
Our bodies are raging withadrenaline or emotion when the
reality is those things are faroff from us and likely not to
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affect anything about our dayhad we not paid any attention to
them.
I received a phone call from adear friend in the middle of the
pandemic and he was explainingto me just how anxious he was
feeling, how disturbed his heartwas, just how unsettled
everything seemed to be, and Iasked him one question.
I said how much time are youspending on social media?
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And he was, and I said look,just shut the phone off, find
your Bible, go sit downsomewhere and just reflect on
the good glories of God's graceto you in Jesus Christ, and I'm
sure if you did that for just aday, you will find yourself in a
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better position.
It's too easy for us to losesight of the forest, for all the
trees, and life does that to us.
Obviously there are things thatcome at us and they need to be
addressed, and they need to beaddressed now, and we give our
attention to them, as we rightlyshould.
But when those pressuresincrease, or they double up or
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they triple up or they quadrupleup, the next thing you know you
can't see outside of any of itand perspective is lost.
I saw this in my own son, matt.
He was diagnosed withmyocarditis, an inflammation of
the heart, and at a young age itwas actually very dangerous A
number of people, as you mightknow, sports figures dying on
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the basketball court or afootball field from that sort of
thing.
So when he went into thehospital, we were deeply
concerned and they admitted himfor several days there and while
he was in hospital, the whitewalls of the hospital room just
basically closed in on him, andeach day he was there, he was
becoming more and moreinstitutionalized, if you will.
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And after he was released byGod's good mercy, he was
released without any scarring orany damage on his heart.
God intervened in a verybeautiful way, but as he was
coming out we were going to thecar he just kind of went whoa
and just a reaction to the factthat now he could look into
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space rather than at the wallsthat were right in front of him.
And that's a picture of ourhearts.
Often we get closed in, thingsdraw us into the immediate and
we can't see what's beyond itall.
And this is why the book ofEphesians is so very timely for
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us, because it's a letter thatactually does lift up our eyes.
It answers the aching questionof identity and it also restores
our perspective by revealingGod's eternal purposes.
And it doesn't just tell uswhat to do.
Wonderfully, this book tells usmuch, much more than that.
It tells us who we are.
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It tells us where we stand,what we're a part of, where
history is going, and by doingso it gives us roots as well as
vision.
It allows us to see ouridentity and beyond the
immediate in a wonderful way.
And what I love about the bookof Ephesians is it does so with
a sweeping sense of grandeur anddrama.
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If Ephesians was submitted tothe academy for an award, I
think it would win more than oneOscar.
I think it would at least winthe Oscar for the best
screenplay.
And I think it would win morethan one Oscar.
I think it would at least winthe Oscar for the best
screenplay.
And I think it would win theOscar for the best
cinematography.
Because it tells a great storyand it does so with great
pictures.
And so, as we look at this,let's not just think of it as a
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cold heart dissertation of truth.
Think of it as an unfoldingdrama of redemption from our
Lord.
Because if you were to simplyread the book of Ephesians and
miss the imagery of it, it wouldbe like reading a screenplay
and never seeing the movie.
Screenplays can be great, but amovie brings all of it to light
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, with all of its color and allof its texture and all of its
nuance and all of its majesty,as the cameras and the colors
bring us into places that wordssimply just can't do.
So this evening let's pull thecurtain back and listen well to
this story, and I want to bringus into two dimensions First the
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cosmic dimension and also tothe worldwide dimension.
And as we look up and at upfrom our world and at our world,
we're going to see the book ofEphesians giving us that kind of
scope of understanding aboutourselves and also of eternal
things that we need in our day.
So let's look first of all atthe cosmic dimension, the
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heavenly scope.
Ephesians begins by lifting oureyes into the glorious sweep of
God's eternal purposes inChrist.
Just take a look at the firstcouple of verses and you can see
that Right after theintroduction that he gives, in
the first couple of verses hesays blessed is the God and
father of our Lord, jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
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spiritual blessing in theheavens in Christ, for he chose
us in him before the foundationof the world to be holy and
blameless in love before him andpredestined us to be adopted as
sons through Jesus Christ forhimself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to thepraise of his glorious grace
that he lavished on us in thebeloved one.
(10:08):
Immediately we're brought intothe heavenly realms and into the
eternal perspectives anddesigns of God.
We are swept out of our worldand brought into this wonderful
place.
And this panoramic view is notmeant simply just to inform us.
It's meant to comfort us andshape us, and, just like those
(10:29):
humble believers in Asia Minor,we too need to be brought out of
our own little world and tostep out and to see it.
Just a couple weeks ago, we hadRoyal's niece with us and we
found out that there was goingto be possibly, just maybe, the
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ability to see the northernlights here.
Do you remember that?
Just a couple weeks ago?
So we went out east on theisland to a place where we
thought we might be able to seesome darkness, and realized we
weren't even close to dark andwe were hoping well, and then
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things just didn't work out withthe timing and all of that.
But we stood out in themidnight for a little while,
just straining to see if wemight find some glorious colors
coming out of the north.
There was nothing to see.
But many years ago, royal and Iwere driving down the Mass Pike
in Massachusetts on our way backtoward Boston, and God put his
pallet into the air that day andwe were able to see the
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northern lights as we weredriving down the Mass Pike and
back.
In those days you had to stopat the toll booths and actually
give them coin in order to keepmoving.
And I was sitting there justtaking it all in.
It was beautiful to behold.
And as we pulled up to the tollbooth and the guy was sitting
there waiting to take our money,I said have you looked up?
Have you seen what's going onin the sky?
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And he just looked at me with atypical Massachusetts attitude
what?
Look up at the sky.
I'm too busy to look up at thesky.
And I thought boy, you'remissing something.
You're missing it.
It's glorious.
And so let's get out ofourselves and let's go into this
cosmic realm.
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And I want you to notice threethings about Christ here in
chapter one and we'll startearly on in verse 20.
It tells us about the majestyof Christ as the exalted king.
Okay, he exercised this powerin Christ by raising him from
the dead and seating him at hisright hand in the heavenlies,
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far above every ruler andauthority and power and dominion
and every title that is given,not only in this age but also in
the one to come.
This is a remarkable statementabout Jesus Christ.
The book of Ephesians doesn'ttake us to Calvary's road, it
doesn't take us to the cross, itdoesn't take us to the tomb.
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It doesn't even take us toJesus out of the tomb on earth.
He takes us into the heavenliesand shows us Christ there,
exalted and enthroned, and thisis an echo of Psalm 110 in verse
1, the most quoted chapter ofthe Old Testament.
(13:19):
In the New Testament, this isthe declaration of the Lord to
my Lord Sit at my right handuntil I make your enemies your
footstool.
So here Paul, as he writes tothese Ephesian believers, is not
just giving them a teaching,he's opening up a window into
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eternity and he's showing themthat Christ is alive and that
Christ is seated in a place ofauthority and that he is
enthroned and exalted above allpowers, anyone you might be able
to name, anyone that you mightbe able to imagine in this life
and the one to come.
He goes on later in verse 22,to show Christ not only the
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exalted king, but also Christthe conquering king, far above
every ruler and authority andpower and dominion and every
title that is given, not only inthis age but also in the one to
come, and he has subjectedeverything under his feet.
Paul is developing another OldTestament thread.
(14:28):
He's teasing out the OldTestament, going to those
messianic passages that talkabout humanity in its most
exalted position.
Here is Christ the God-man, nowin a place of exaltation, but
also now in a place of rule andconquering, and he's pulling out
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of Psalm chapter 8 and verse 6.
And he's pulling out of Psalmchapter 8 and verse 6.
You have made him ruler overthe works of your hands and put
everything under his feet.
That's a quote from Psalm 8.
And this is, as Scripture tellsus, fulfilled in Christ in his
exalted ascension into theheavenlies, having subjected
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everything under his feet.
Think about that All the forcesand pressures and powers of
human construct, be theygovernment or be they societal
norms, every construct or powerof the unseen world, be they
demonic forces or pressures ofevil to conform to those ways,
(15:37):
everything that tugs at ourheart by way of the world, the
flesh and the devil, paul issaying, sits under the feet of
Jesus Christ, every bit of it.
He goes on to tell theColossians something very
similar and does so in a verydramatic way.
Having disarmed the powers andauthorities, he has made a
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public spectacle of themtriumphing over them by the
cross.
And I love that little twistbecause, if we can put this, if
we can speak in human terms,jesus, in his weakest moment,
breaks the power of all of theirstrength combined.
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That's wonderful.
When he was at the point ofsaying I give up my life, it is
finished.
That's when he was crushingdemonic forces and the powers
that be In Ephesians 1 andverses 9 and 10,.
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The result of this will be tobring everything together in
Christ, both in things in heavenand things on earth.
In him, where is human destiny?
Where is this universe headed?
To be sat under the visibledisplay of Christ's enthronement
and his empowerment and hisrule?
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But we see one more thing hereNot only Christ in his exalted
position and in his conqueringrole, but we also see him as a
benevolent king.
Let's keep reading this littlepassage that we've been looking
at.
I'll back up just to sort ofreinforce what we just read.
It said that he's at the righthand of him in the heavens, far
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above every ruler and authority,power and dominion, every title
given, not only in this age butalso in the one to come, and he
subjected everything under hisfeet and appointed him as head
over everything.
Now notice the next words forthe church, which is his body,
the fullness of the one whofills all things in every way.
(17:52):
You see, king Jesus doesn'tjust rule cosmically, he rules
us in his care and in hisbenevolence.
All of that authority is meantto be for the betterment of his
people.
Betterment of his people.
He's been appointed head overeverything to fill us with
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purpose, personally and in hispresence.
We see something about that alittle later in Ephesians.
So go over to chapter four forjust a second.
In verses eight to 10, 10 tellus something.
It's speaking about Christ.
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And here it says, in verse 7,according to the measure of
Christ's gift.
For it says and it quotes theold testament, when he ascended
on high and took captivescaptive, he gave gifts to people
.
But what does he ascended mean,except that he also descended
into the lower parts of theearth.
The one who descended is alsothe one who ascended far above
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all the heavens to fill allthings.
And he gave some to be apostlesand some prophets, and some to
be evangelists and some to bepastors and teachers, to equip
the saints for the work of theministry and to build up the
body of Christ.
Here Paul again pulls out of theOld Testament Psalm 68, a
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warrior song that brings Godinto the realm of battle and
shows God going under thebattlefield, winning the war and
taking the spoils and receivingthe tribute of those that he
had captured and also the praiseof those that he had battled
for.
And Paul takes that and turnsit around that this warrior king
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, who's conquered, has receivedall the tribute, received all
the spoils, but is now pouringthem back out onto his people
and enriching them with thethings that he's won.
And this is an image of Christwho was in the heavenlies and
yet came to this earth inhumility and in his humiliation
(20:10):
and death actually conquered thedemonic forces and the unseen
powers, and he's now reigning inorder to provide all that his
people need.
He's giving the gifts.
He is not only a cosmic Christ,he is a loving, benevolent king
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who gives to his people.
You see, we're not simplyspectators of this drama, seeing
Christ exalted, christconquering.
We're also enveloped into hiscare because all of that is for
us.
Paul says that in Ephesians,chapter 2 and verse 6.
He has raised us up with himand seated us with him in the
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heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
You see, we're not waiting forGod's blessings to come through
Christ.
We're not waiting for God'sblessings to come through Christ
.
We're participating in themalready.
We live out of them, and that'swhy Paul starts this letter in
verse 3 of chapter 1.
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Blessed be the God and Father ofour Lord, jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with every spiritualblessing in the heavens, in
Christ.
That's a past tense alreadygiven to you, and so we're part
of heaven's story, even whenwe're walking the dusty streets
of earth.
Our lives are lived in tworealms.
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Our lives are joined to thecosmic reign of Christ.
Our lives are joined to thecosmic reign of Christ, where he
is the exalted king and wefollow him, who sits on the
throne, who embraces us aboveevery anxiety, every authority.
In this age and the age to come, we are sat with Christ, the
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conquering king who has alreadytriumphed, and we don't labor in
this world in order to win avictory.
We fight in the light of onealready given to us in Christ,
and we live seated with Christ,the benevolent King, who reigns
in heaven and yet equips us hereon earth to fulfill all of his
good purposes and design.
This is a glorious vision, andthis is why I say a book of
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Ephesians really ought to winsome Oscars here.
But not only is there a cosmicscope, there's also an earthly
dimension to this book.
In Ephesians, chapter 1 andverse 3 to 20, we read this
glorious truth about how theheavenly king forms his people
and why.
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But when we get to chapter two,we start to understand more of
those purposes and his worldwidescheme.
In doing so, it's not just apersonal salvation, he's doing
something on a worldwide scope.
We zoom in to ourselves, ofcourse, but we also need to come
out and see what he's doing ina global way.
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And here in chapter 2, we findthat Christ on earth, in this
realm, is Christ the reconciler.
Take a look at verse 11 ofchapter 2.
So remember, at one time youwere Gentiles in the flesh,
called the uncircumcised bythose who are called the
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circumcised, which is done withthe flesh, by human hands.
At that time you were withoutChrist, excluded from the
citizenship of Israel,foreigners to the covenants of
promise, without hope andwithout God in this world.
Through Jewish eyes of thattime, the human family was
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divided into two groups.
There was the Israelites andthere were the Gentiles, there
was the chosen nation and thenthe wayward nations, there was
the true humanity and then therewere the beastly kingdoms of
Daniel, chapter 7.
And the Israelite status wassealed by their circumcision.
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And the Jewish people weresurrounded, here as we read, by
layers of separation, separation.
Think about that.
How many layers of separation.
This passage brought us to thereligious scorn of a term called
uncircumcised, outside themessianic hope, without Christ,
it says in verse 12, strangersto Israel's covenant promises.
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When it says excluded from thecitizenship, separated from
God's unfolding plan ofredemption.
In verse 12, when it saysaliens to the covenants of
promise, wandering about withoutanchor or assurance, without
hope and without God in thisworld.
And we were not only sociallyseparated, we were also
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spiritually separated.
Because verse 13 says far offit's a pretty stark image, this
wall of partition, this chasm ofenmity.
Jesus tears down that wall, hebreaks down that separation.
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Take a look at verse 13.
But now, in Christ, you who arefar away have been brought near
by the blood of Christ, for heis our peace, who makes both
groups one and tore down thedividing wall of hostility In
his flesh.
(25:49):
He made of no effect the lawconsisting of commands and
expressed in regulations.
Why?
So that he might create a newman in himself from the two.
What once divided us ethnicity,covenant, status, access to the
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presence of God all of it's nowbroken down in Christ.
He is our peace.
He is Christ the reconciler.
So now, on a human level, inthis global scope, not just the
cosmic scope we as God's peopleare now a new humanity.
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Cosmic scope, we as God'speople are now a new humanity.
Christ's flesh accomplishedwhat the law could not do.
Christ accomplishes whatbehavior modification could not
do.
Christ has accomplished whatsocial peer pressure could not
do.
Christ has accomplished whatthe United Nations can never,
ever hope to do To bring twopeople, in so many layers of
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separation, into one family, tomake them one Verse 15,.
One new man Verse 16, one body,a whole new humanity, no longer
Jew and Gentile, but a newpeople altogether.
Paul put it this way inColossians In him you were also
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circumcised, not done with humanhands.
God has made you alive withChrist and forgiven you all your
trespasses.
That dividing wall is torn downnow, and in its place is the
second image that Ephesiansgives us, one of a living temple
.
Take a look at verse 19.
Through him, we both haveaccess in one spirit to the
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Father.
So then you're no longerforeigners and strangers, but
fellow citizens with the saintsand members of God's household,
built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as thecornerstone.
In him, the whole buildingbeing built together grows into
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a holy temple in the Lord.
In him you are also being builttogether for God's dwelling in
the spirit.
Here Paul moves the imageryagain to that place where the
people of Israel would have mettheir God, and he now says that
he embodies his, his presenceembodies his people, jew and
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Gentile alike, that we aretogether built up to be a
habitation for God's glory,whether we're Jew or Gentile,
because this new humanity is nowalso a new temple, but we're
also a representative people.
This new humanity, this newfamily, this new place of God's
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worship is also meant to be arepresentation to the rest of
the world.
And that's why Paul, at the endof Ephesians, in chapter six,
tells us in verse 11, to bestrengthened by the Lord in all
his vast might and put on thefull armor of God that you can
stand against the schemes of thedevil.
(29:17):
Once again Paul is drawing fromthe Old Testament to bring
images to bear upon our dailylife.
And here, as we'll find outsoon, on a Sunday morning, when
we get to chapter 59 of the bookof Isaiah, that Paul is pulling
out of that chapter.
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And in Isaiah, chapter 59, youwill see humanity failing,
israel failing to stand asrepresentatives of truth and
justice and mercy in this world.
And it is of truth and justiceand mercy in this world.
And so it tells us that God,viewing out on humanity, failed
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in our original design andIsrael failing in its chosen
purpose.
That God himself goes into thearmory room and puts on the
weaponry of war and he enters in.
And this is what Isaiah 59,verse 17, says.
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He put righteousness on as bodyarmor and a helmet of salvation
on his head.
Salvation on his head.
What could save humanity?
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Only God himself, taking up therole that a righteous humanity
should have had, that arighteous representative Israel
should have been, and that Jesus, as the true Israel and as the
true Adam, was the only one whocould be.
And so he took up the weaponryof righteousness and salvation
and came to conquer the forcesthat have defeated us and that
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we continue to use to defeat oneanother.
But now Paul is pulling thisinto the life of the church who
live in 2025 on Long Island, andhe's saying to us just as he
did to the Ephesians in AsiaMinor put on the full armor of
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God.
Christ's body does exactly whatChrist did when he came to save
, and he came to demonstrate therighteousness of God by
truthful living and bydemonstrations of grace and
mercy.
We take on the same armor.
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We put on Christ's armor.
We are Christ's representatives.
Put on Christ's armor.
We are Christ's representatives.
We are moving through this worldin the same way he did when he
was in this world.
We wear the armor and we walkinto a world of lies with truth.
We walk into a world ofdisobedience with righteousness.
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We walk into a world of avaricewith peace.
We walk into this world full ofrejection with faith.
We walk into this world ofdestruction with salvation for
the glory of God.
We get so caught up in what thepowers are being that we are
fighting that we forget that wehave the winning armory on.
(32:31):
And look at that.
How wonderful it is that,through these things, we might
be able not only to stand but towithstand and, at the end,
still be standing.
We're not executioners, we areambassadors.
We are representatives.
We are ambassadors, we arerepresentatives.
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And so when God calls us, hecalls us to be truth tellers, he
calls us to be peace bringers.
He calls us to be hisambassadors.
So the book of Ephesians, whenyou look into the heavens and
(33:14):
you see Christ reigning, whenyou see that he's got a
footstool of all his enemiesunderneath his feet, the forces
of darkness there defeated, whenyou see his riches distributed
among his people, when you seeenemies reconciled and made
(33:35):
family, and when you seeyourself clothed in the
righteousness of Christ,emboldened with grace and
equipped to stand and to servein this wicked world, your
vision clears and things aren'tso important in the immediate as
they were consuming yourattention.
(33:56):
And your identity is fardifferent, because you've looked
well beyond what others aretelling you about yourself, to
what God is telling you aboutyourself.
And so he pulls us from thedark corners of fear into the
open air of God's cosmic plan,so that we might see ourselves
(34:17):
afresh, that we might be able toopen our earthly eyes, and we
won't be seeing ourselvesthrough the lenses of social
media or peer pressure, but withthe kingdom of Christ.
And the book of Ephesiansdoesn't end with a theology.
It ends with a summons that,after we've lifted our eyes to
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Christ and seen him seated above, and after showing us that
we've been raised with him,reconciled to one another,
recreated and re-assembled intoa new humanity, he tells us in
chapter four, in verse onetherefore, I urge you to walk
worthy of the calling you'vereceived, in other words, live
(35:03):
like the people you are.
You're no longer a stranger,you're a citizen.
You're no longer alienated,you're adopted.
You're no longer the old self,you're the new self.
You're created in the likenessof God.
You're no longer part of thisworld's decay.
You're a representative of anew creation.
(35:25):
You no longer smell of thestench of disobedience.
You're now the aroma of Christand his resurrection and life.
And this is why Paul tells us toput off falsehood, to put off
bitterness, to put off rage, toput off sexual immorality, to
put off greed, to put offobscenity and darkness, and to
(35:49):
put on truth, to put ongentleness, to put on integrity,
to put on sacrificial love andto put on truth, to put on
gentleness, to put on integrity,to put on sacrificial love and
to put on light.
And if you want to read aboutthat, just read chapter four and
five of the book of EphesiansBecause these aren't meant to be
simply rules that you have todo now that you call yourself a
Christian.
They're who you are and they'rea revelation to this world that
(36:13):
God has come in Christ and thathe's brought a new humanity
into this world to show awatching world of what this
world would look like if Godtouched the ground.
And he did, and that's whywe're here.
And so the book of Ephesianstells us to walk in unity, to
(36:34):
forgive, just as we've beenforgiven, to speak life, to love
like Jesus loved, because we'rea representative of a world
that's too much bound up andchecking each other out to see
how they should be living, andtoo often shielded from the
(36:55):
realities of eternity becauseall they can do is see one foot
in front of themselves.
Be imitators of God as dearlyloved children.
Ephesians, chapter 5 and verse1.
Not from pressure, but fromperspective, let's pray, father.
(37:24):
We thank you for the book ofEphesians and how it helps us to
understand that we can livebeyond the pressures of this
world that want us to conform towhat is there in our generation
or what is facing us in ourday-to-day immediacy.
We pray, father, that we mightbe cast into that eternal realm
and see Christ as he is, exalted, conquering and loving, and
(37:48):
that we might see Christ here,still, working in this world
today, to reconcile people, tomake a new humanity and a new
temple and a representativepeople.
Father, I pray that we mighttherefore submit every
conversation that we have, everydecision and habit and priority
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to him, to set Christ as Lordin our hearts.
I pray that you would help usto walk in love, walk in light,
walk in wisdom, walk as thosewho are joined together with an
(38:29):
already raised Christ, so thatwe might fulfill what you tell
us here in this book joinedtogether with an already raised
Christ, so that we might fulfillwhat you tell us here in this
book.
Pay careful attention, then, tohow you walk, not as unwise
people, but as wise, making themost of the time.
So, lord, as your book calls usto lift our eyes, we pray that
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we would do so and that we wouldgo with those uplifted eyes and
that wider perspective to walklike the people that you've made
us to be, and we pray this inChrist's name, amen.
If you don't have a Bible, you might find one
in front of you and there inthe Pew Bible, you can turn to
page 1036, 1036.
So for those of you that areperhaps new here, first time
here, our Route 66 study is onemessage per book of the Bible.
So starting in Genesis andgoing all the way to the book of
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Revelation, and it gives us anice overview.
Obviously, I can't covereverything in the book of
Ephesians in 20 to 30 minutes.
Four years ago we did a studyof the book of Ephesians and we
started in January 2021, I think, and we finished in December
2021.
So a whole year of looking atthat book.
(00:42):
I'm not going to try to put 50weeks of messages into one
sermon.
So, anyway, let's pray together, shall we?
Father?
We're grateful to be gatheredtogether and to have your word
open before us.
There's so many places we couldbe right now and so many things
that could be grabbing ourattention, but, lord, by your
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good design, you've brought usto the place where your word is
in front of us now and, father,we recognize that this is not
just a moment in time, this is amoment in eternity, and so,
father, we pray that you mighthelp us to enter into it as we
should.
We pray that you might help usto enter into it as we should.
(01:26):
The Word of God says that weshould have our ears and our
hearts open, and Jesus saidlisten.
If you have ears to hear, hear.
So, lord, we want to have thosekind of ears and that kind of
heart that welcomes your Word,that understands your glorious
eternal truths and how theyintersect with our life in our
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days, and how we might bealigned with you in your
sovereign purposes in ChristJesus, not only for now, but
throughout all eternity.
So we ask that you might bewith us.
We pray in Christ's name, amen.
I mentioned this earlier thismorning that we live in a time
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of crisis and, yes, we might allhave our ears attuned to some
of the difficulties andchallenges that are happening
with the world powers today.
I just received a text about ahalf an hour ago from Ted.
He and Pat are planning onbeing in Turkey and enjoying
some time there doing thefootsteps of Paul, and just
received news that the travelagents have decided to move
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their tour from eastern Turkeyto western Turkey, and now he's
frantically trying to get on thephone and find some way to get
his flights changed in order tobe able to do that and just sort
of caught up in the moment,they're planning on leaving
tomorrow.
So be in prayer for Ted and Patas to do that and just sort of
caught up in the moment they'replanning on leaving tomorrow.
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So be in prayer for Ted and Patas they do that.
But I'm not talking about thatkind of crisis, as important as
that is.
I'm talking about a crisis thatis one of identity and one of
the immediacy of life.
And we live in a day and agewhere peer pressure is not just
for those people around you inyour close circles or maybe even
in your class and school.
We have a worldwide peerpressure and it's found on
social media, and we have, onsocial media, a lot of curated
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identities that are there.
We are brought into constantcomparison with them, in
comparison with them, and it'svery difficult those kind of
pressures that bear, if we giveour time and attention to them,
of how we are supposed to think,how we're supposed to dress,
even how we're supposed to holdour cameras and take pictures of
ourselves.
It's really difficult.
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We find ourselves even in atime frame in which there's
ever-shifting definitions of whowe are, time frame in which
there's ever-shiftingdefinitions of who we are, even
to the very point of our birthgenetic sex and we're called
into question, and so people areincreasingly unsure of
themselves at the most corelevel of their being.
(03:58):
A lot of ways, our society isjust adrift, unanchored and
being pulled one way or anotherby all of these kind of ideas.
But we also live in a crisis ofthe immediacy of things.
There's a thing, of courseyou've probably heard, doom
scrolling, where we kind of getour head down and we get locked
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into just moving through oneseries of bad news after another
and it just sort of zooms usright in as though that was
affecting our very moment and weneeded to do something about it
.
Our bodies are raging withadrenaline or emotion when the
reality is those things are faroff from us and likely not to
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affect anything about our dayhad we not paid any attention to
them.
I received a phone call from adear friend in the middle of the
pandemic and he was explainingto me just how anxious he was
feeling, how disturbed his heartwas, just how unsettled
everything seemed to be, and Iasked him one question.
I said how much time are youspending on social media?
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And he was, and I said look,just shut the phone off, find
your Bible, go sit downsomewhere and just reflect on
the good glories of God's graceto you in Jesus Christ, and I'm
sure if you did that for just aday, you will find yourself in a
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better position.
It's too easy for us to losesight of the forest, for all the
trees, and life does that to us.
Obviously there are things thatcome at us and they need to be
addressed, and they need to beaddressed now, and we give our
attention to them, as we rightlyshould.
But when those pressuresincrease, or they double up or
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they triple up or they quadrupleup, the next thing you know you
can't see outside of any of itand perspective is lost.
I saw this in my own son, matt.
He was diagnosed withmyocarditis, an inflammation of
the heart, and at a young age itwas actually very dangerous A
number of people, as you mightknow, sports figures dying on
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the basketball court or afootball field from that sort of
thing.
So when he went into thehospital, we were deeply
concerned and they admitted himfor several days there and while
he was in hospital, the whitewalls of the hospital room just
basically closed in on him, andeach day he was there, he was
becoming more and moreinstitutionalized, if you will.
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And after he was released byGod's good mercy, he was
released without any scarring orany damage on his heart.
God intervened in a verybeautiful way, but as he was
coming out we were going to thecar he just kind of went whoa
and just a reaction to the factthat now he could look into
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space rather than at the wallsthat were right in front of him.
And that's a picture of ourhearts.
Often we get closed in, thingsdraw us into the immediate and
we can't see what's beyond itall.
And this is why the book ofEphesians is so very timely for
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us, because it's a letter thatactually does lift up our eyes.
It answers the aching questionof identity and it also restores
our perspective by revealingGod's eternal purposes.
And it doesn't just tell uswhat to do.
Wonderfully, this book tells usmuch, much more than that.
It tells us who we are.
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It tells us where we stand,what we're a part of, where
history is going, and by doingso it gives us roots as well as
vision.
It allows us to see ouridentity and beyond the
immediate in a wonderful way.
And what I love about the bookof Ephesians is it does so with
a sweeping sense of grandeur anddrama.
(07:55):
If Ephesians was submitted tothe academy for an award, I
think it would win more than oneOscar.
I think it would at least winthe Oscar for the best
screenplay.
And I think it would win morethan one Oscar.
I think it would at least winthe Oscar for the best
screenplay.
And I think it would win theOscar for the best
cinematography.
Because it tells a great storyand it does so with great
pictures.
And so, as we look at this,let's not just think of it as a
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cold heart dissertation of truth.
Think of it as an unfoldingdrama of redemption from our
Lord.
Because if you were to simplyread the book of Ephesians and
miss the imagery of it, it wouldbe like reading a screenplay
and never seeing the movie.
Screenplays can be great, but amovie brings all of it to light
(08:41):
, with all of its color and allof its texture and all of its
nuance and all of its majesty,as the cameras and the colors
bring us into places that wordssimply just can't do.
So this evening let's pull thecurtain back and listen well to
this story, and I want to bringus into two dimensions First the
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cosmic dimension and also tothe worldwide dimension.
And as we look up and at upfrom our world and at our world,
we're going to see the book ofEphesians giving us that kind of
scope of understanding aboutourselves and also of eternal
things that we need in our day.
So let's look first of all atthe cosmic dimension, the
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heavenly scope.
Ephesians begins by lifting oureyes into the glorious sweep of
God's eternal purposes inChrist.
Just take a look at the firstcouple of verses and you can see
that Right after theintroduction that he gives, in
the first couple of verses hesays blessed is the God and
father of our Lord, jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
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spiritual blessing in theheavens in Christ, for he chose
us in him before the foundationof the world to be holy and
blameless in love before him andpredestined us to be adopted as
sons through Jesus Christ forhimself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to thepraise of his glorious grace
that he lavished on us in thebeloved one.
(10:08):
Immediately we're brought intothe heavenly realms and into the
eternal perspectives anddesigns of God.
We are swept out of our worldand brought into this wonderful
place.
And this panoramic view is notmeant simply just to inform us.
It's meant to comfort us andshape us, and, just like those
(10:29):
humble believers in Asia Minor,we too need to be brought out of
our own little world and tostep out and to see it.
Just a couple weeks ago, we hadRoyal's niece with us and we
found out that there was goingto be possibly, just maybe, the
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ability to see the northernlights here.
Do you remember that?
Just a couple weeks ago?
So we went out east on theisland to a place where we
thought we might be able to seesome darkness, and realized we
weren't even close to dark andwe were hoping well, and then
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things just didn't work out withthe timing and all of that.
But we stood out in themidnight for a little while,
just straining to see if wemight find some glorious colors
coming out of the north.
There was nothing to see.
But many years ago, royal and Iwere driving down the Mass Pike
in Massachusetts on our way backtoward Boston, and God put his
pallet into the air that day andwe were able to see the
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northern lights as we weredriving down the Mass Pike and
back.
In those days you had to stopat the toll booths and actually
give them coin in order to keepmoving.
And I was sitting there justtaking it all in.
It was beautiful to behold.
And as we pulled up to the tollbooth and the guy was sitting
there waiting to take our money,I said have you looked up?
Have you seen what's going onin the sky?
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And he just looked at me with atypical Massachusetts attitude
what?
Look up at the sky.
I'm too busy to look up at thesky.
And I thought boy, you'remissing something.
You're missing it.
It's glorious.
And so let's get out ofourselves and let's go into this
cosmic realm.
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And I want you to notice threethings about Christ here in
chapter one and we'll startearly on in verse 20.
It tells us about the majestyof Christ as the exalted king.
Okay, he exercised this powerin Christ by raising him from
the dead and seating him at hisright hand in the heavenlies,
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far above every ruler andauthority and power and dominion
and every title that is given,not only in this age but also in
the one to come.
This is a remarkable statementabout Jesus Christ.
The book of Ephesians doesn'ttake us to Calvary's road, it
doesn't take us to the cross, itdoesn't take us to the tomb.
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It doesn't even take us toJesus out of the tomb on earth.
He takes us into the heavenliesand shows us Christ there,
exalted and enthroned, and thisis an echo of Psalm 110 in verse
1, the most quoted chapter ofthe Old Testament.
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In the New Testament, this isthe declaration of the Lord to
my Lord Sit at my right handuntil I make your enemies your
footstool.
So here Paul, as he writes tothese Ephesian believers, is not
just giving them a teaching,he's opening up a window into
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eternity and he's showing themthat Christ is alive and that
Christ is seated in a place ofauthority and that he is
enthroned and exalted above allpowers, anyone you might be able
to name, anyone that you mightbe able to imagine in this life
and the one to come.
He goes on later in verse 22,to show Christ not only the
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exalted king, but also Christthe conquering king, far above
every ruler and authority andpower and dominion and every
title that is given, not only inthis age but also in the one to
come, and he has subjectedeverything under his feet.
Paul is developing another OldTestament thread.
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He's teasing out the OldTestament, going to those
messianic passages that talkabout humanity in its most
exalted position.
Here is Christ the God-man, nowin a place of exaltation, but
also now in a place of rule andconquering, and he's pulling out
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of Psalm chapter 8 and verse 6.
And he's pulling out of Psalmchapter 8 and verse 6.
You have made him ruler overthe works of your hands and put
everything under his feet.
That's a quote from Psalm 8.
And this is, as Scripture tellsus, fulfilled in Christ in his
exalted ascension into theheavenlies, having subjected
(15:16):
everything under his feet.
Think about that All the forcesand pressures and powers of
human construct, be theygovernment or be they societal
norms, every construct or powerof the unseen world, be they
demonic forces or pressures ofevil to conform to those ways,
(15:37):
everything that tugs at ourheart by way of the world, the
flesh and the devil, paul issaying, sits under the feet of
Jesus Christ, every bit of it.
He goes on to tell theColossians something very
similar and does so in a verydramatic way.
Having disarmed the powers andauthorities, he has made a
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public spectacle of themtriumphing over them by the
cross.
And I love that little twistbecause, if we can put this, if
we can speak in human terms,jesus, in his weakest moment,
breaks the power of all of theirstrength combined.
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That's wonderful.
When he was at the point ofsaying I give up my life, it is
finished.
That's when he was crushingdemonic forces and the powers
that be In Ephesians 1 andverses 9 and 10,.
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The result of this will be tobring everything together in
Christ, both in things in heavenand things on earth.
In him, where is human destiny?
Where is this universe headed?
To be sat under the visibledisplay of Christ's enthronement
and his empowerment and hisrule?
(17:04):
But we see one more thing hereNot only Christ in his exalted
position and in his conqueringrole, but we also see him as a
benevolent king.
Let's keep reading this littlepassage that we've been looking
at.
I'll back up just to sort ofreinforce what we just read.
It said that he's at the righthand of him in the heavens, far
(17:27):
above every ruler and authority,power and dominion, every title
given, not only in this age butalso in the one to come, and he
subjected everything under hisfeet and appointed him as head
over everything.
Now notice the next words forthe church, which is his body,
the fullness of the one whofills all things in every way.
(17:52):
You see, king Jesus doesn'tjust rule cosmically, he rules
us in his care and in hisbenevolence.
All of that authority is meantto be for the betterment of his
people.
Betterment of his people.
He's been appointed head overeverything to fill us with
(18:14):
purpose, personally and in hispresence.
We see something about that alittle later in Ephesians.
So go over to chapter four forjust a second.
In verses eight to 10, 10 tellus something.
It's speaking about Christ.
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And here it says, in verse 7,according to the measure of
Christ's gift.
For it says and it quotes theold testament, when he ascended
on high and took captivescaptive, he gave gifts to people
.
But what does he ascended mean,except that he also descended
into the lower parts of theearth.
The one who descended is alsothe one who ascended far above
(18:59):
all the heavens to fill allthings.
And he gave some to be apostlesand some prophets, and some to
be evangelists and some to bepastors and teachers, to equip
the saints for the work of theministry and to build up the
body of Christ.
Here Paul again pulls out of theOld Testament Psalm 68, a
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warrior song that brings Godinto the realm of battle and
shows God going under thebattlefield, winning the war and
taking the spoils and receivingthe tribute of those that he
had captured and also the praiseof those that he had battled
for.
And Paul takes that and turnsit around that this warrior king
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, who's conquered, has receivedall the tribute, received all
the spoils, but is now pouringthem back out onto his people
and enriching them with thethings that he's won.
And this is an image of Christwho was in the heavenlies and
yet came to this earth inhumility and in his humiliation
(20:10):
and death actually conquered thedemonic forces and the unseen
powers, and he's now reigning inorder to provide all that his
people need.
He's giving the gifts.
He is not only a cosmic Christ,he is a loving, benevolent king
(20:35):
who gives to his people.
You see, we're not simplyspectators of this drama, seeing
Christ exalted, christconquering.
We're also enveloped into hiscare because all of that is for
us.
Paul says that in Ephesians,chapter 2 and verse 6.
He has raised us up with himand seated us with him in the
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heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
You see, we're not waiting forGod's blessings to come through
Christ.
We're not waiting for God'sblessings to come through Christ
.
We're participating in themalready.
We live out of them, and that'swhy Paul starts this letter in
verse 3 of chapter 1.
(21:26):
Blessed be the God and Father ofour Lord, jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with every spiritualblessing in the heavens, in
Christ.
That's a past tense alreadygiven to you, and so we're part
of heaven's story, even whenwe're walking the dusty streets
of earth.
Our lives are lived in tworealms.
(21:46):
Our lives are joined to thecosmic reign of Christ.
Our lives are joined to thecosmic reign of Christ, where he
is the exalted king and wefollow him, who sits on the
throne, who embraces us aboveevery anxiety, every authority.
In this age and the age to come, we are sat with Christ, the
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conquering king who has alreadytriumphed, and we don't labor in
this world in order to win avictory.
We fight in the light of onealready given to us in Christ,
and we live seated with Christ,the benevolent King, who reigns
in heaven and yet equips us hereon earth to fulfill all of his
good purposes and design.
This is a glorious vision, andthis is why I say a book of
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Ephesians really ought to winsome Oscars here.
But not only is there a cosmicscope, there's also an earthly
dimension to this book.
In Ephesians, chapter 1 andverse 3 to 20, we read this
glorious truth about how theheavenly king forms his people
and why.
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But when we get to chapter two,we start to understand more of
those purposes and his worldwidescheme.
In doing so, it's not just apersonal salvation, he's doing
something on a worldwide scope.
We zoom in to ourselves, ofcourse, but we also need to come
out and see what he's doing ina global way.
(23:12):
And here in chapter 2, we findthat Christ on earth, in this
realm, is Christ the reconciler.
Take a look at verse 11 ofchapter 2.
So remember, at one time youwere Gentiles in the flesh,
called the uncircumcised bythose who are called the
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circumcised, which is done withthe flesh, by human hands.
At that time you were withoutChrist, excluded from the
citizenship of Israel,foreigners to the covenants of
promise, without hope andwithout God in this world.
Through Jewish eyes of thattime, the human family was
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divided into two groups.
There was the Israelites andthere were the Gentiles, there
was the chosen nation and thenthe wayward nations, there was
the true humanity and then therewere the beastly kingdoms of
Daniel, chapter 7.
And the Israelite status wassealed by their circumcision.
(24:21):
And the Jewish people weresurrounded, here as we read, by
layers of separation, separation.
Think about that.
How many layers of separation.
This passage brought us to thereligious scorn of a term called
uncircumcised, outside themessianic hope, without Christ,
it says in verse 12, strangersto Israel's covenant promises.
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When it says excluded from thecitizenship, separated from
God's unfolding plan ofredemption.
In verse 12, when it saysaliens to the covenants of
promise, wandering about withoutanchor or assurance, without
hope and without God in thisworld.
And we were not only sociallyseparated, we were also
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spiritually separated.
Because verse 13 says far offit's a pretty stark image, this
wall of partition, this chasm ofenmity.
Jesus tears down that wall, hebreaks down that separation.
(25:28):
Take a look at verse 13.
But now, in Christ, you who arefar away have been brought near
by the blood of Christ, for heis our peace, who makes both
groups one and tore down thedividing wall of hostility In
his flesh.
(25:49):
He made of no effect the lawconsisting of commands and
expressed in regulations.
Why?
So that he might create a newman in himself from the two.
What once divided us ethnicity,covenant, status, access to the
(26:11):
presence of God all of it's nowbroken down in Christ.
He is our peace.
He is Christ the reconciler.
So now, on a human level, inthis global scope, not just the
cosmic scope we as God's peopleare now a new humanity.
(26:32):
Cosmic scope, we as God'speople are now a new humanity.
Christ's flesh accomplishedwhat the law could not do.
Christ accomplishes whatbehavior modification could not
do.
Christ has accomplished whatsocial peer pressure could not
do.
Christ has accomplished whatthe United Nations can never,
ever hope to do To bring twopeople, in so many layers of
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separation, into one family, tomake them one Verse 15,.
One new man Verse 16, one body,a whole new humanity, no longer
Jew and Gentile, but a newpeople altogether.
Paul put it this way inColossians In him you were also
(27:22):
circumcised, not done with humanhands.
God has made you alive withChrist and forgiven you all your
trespasses.
That dividing wall is torn downnow, and in its place is the
second image that Ephesiansgives us, one of a living temple
.
Take a look at verse 19.
Through him, we both haveaccess in one spirit to the
(27:47):
Father.
So then you're no longerforeigners and strangers, but
fellow citizens with the saintsand members of God's household,
built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as thecornerstone.
In him, the whole buildingbeing built together grows into
(28:08):
a holy temple in the Lord.
In him you are also being builttogether for God's dwelling in
the spirit.
Here Paul moves the imageryagain to that place where the
people of Israel would have mettheir God, and he now says that
he embodies his, his presenceembodies his people, jew and
(28:31):
Gentile alike, that we aretogether built up to be a
habitation for God's glory,whether we're Jew or Gentile,
because this new humanity is nowalso a new temple, but we're
also a representative people.
This new humanity, this newfamily, this new place of God's
(28:55):
worship is also meant to be arepresentation to the rest of
the world.
And that's why Paul, at the endof Ephesians, in chapter six,
tells us in verse 11, to bestrengthened by the Lord in all
his vast might and put on thefull armor of God that you can
stand against the schemes of thedevil.
(29:17):
Once again Paul is drawing fromthe Old Testament to bring
images to bear upon our dailylife.
And here, as we'll find outsoon, on a Sunday morning, when
we get to chapter 59 of the bookof Isaiah, that Paul is pulling
out of that chapter.
(29:38):
And in Isaiah, chapter 59, youwill see humanity failing,
israel failing to stand asrepresentatives of truth and
justice and mercy in this world.
And it is of truth and justiceand mercy in this world.
And so it tells us that God,viewing out on humanity, failed
(30:00):
in our original design andIsrael failing in its chosen
purpose.
That God himself goes into thearmory room and puts on the
weaponry of war and he enters in.
And this is what Isaiah 59,verse 17, says.
(30:21):
He put righteousness on as bodyarmor and a helmet of salvation
on his head.
Salvation on his head.
What could save humanity?
(30:41):
Only God himself, taking up therole that a righteous humanity
should have had, that arighteous representative Israel
should have been, and that Jesus, as the true Israel and as the
true Adam, was the only one whocould be.
And so he took up the weaponryof righteousness and salvation
and came to conquer the forcesthat have defeated us and that
(31:04):
we continue to use to defeat oneanother.
But now Paul is pulling thisinto the life of the church who
live in 2025 on Long Island, andhe's saying to us just as he
did to the Ephesians in AsiaMinor put on the full armor of
(31:25):
God.
Christ's body does exactly whatChrist did when he came to save
, and he came to demonstrate therighteousness of God by
truthful living and bydemonstrations of grace and
mercy.
We take on the same armor.
(31:46):
We put on Christ's armor.
We are Christ's representatives.
Put on Christ's armor.
We are Christ's representatives.
We are moving through this worldin the same way he did when he
was in this world.
We wear the armor and we walkinto a world of lies with truth.
We walk into a world ofdisobedience with righteousness.
(32:08):
We walk into a world of avaricewith peace.
We walk into this world full ofrejection with faith.
We walk into this world ofdestruction with salvation for
the glory of God.
We get so caught up in what thepowers are being that we are
fighting that we forget that wehave the winning armory on.
(32:31):
And look at that.
How wonderful it is that,through these things, we might
be able not only to stand but towithstand and, at the end,
still be standing.
We're not executioners, we areambassadors.
We are representatives.
We are ambassadors, we arerepresentatives.
(32:52):
And so when God calls us, hecalls us to be truth tellers, he
calls us to be peace bringers.
He calls us to be hisambassadors.
So the book of Ephesians, whenyou look into the heavens and
(33:14):
you see Christ reigning, whenyou see that he's got a
footstool of all his enemiesunderneath his feet, the forces
of darkness there defeated, whenyou see his riches distributed
among his people, when you seeenemies reconciled and made
(33:35):
family, and when you seeyourself clothed in the
righteousness of Christ,emboldened with grace and
equipped to stand and to servein this wicked world, your
vision clears and things aren'tso important in the immediate as
they were consuming yourattention.
(33:56):
And your identity is fardifferent, because you've looked
well beyond what others aretelling you about yourself, to
what God is telling you aboutyourself.
And so he pulls us from thedark corners of fear into the
open air of God's cosmic plan,so that we might see ourselves
(34:17):
afresh, that we might be able toopen our earthly eyes, and we
won't be seeing ourselvesthrough the lenses of social
media or peer pressure, but withthe kingdom of Christ.
And the book of Ephesiansdoesn't end with a theology.
It ends with a summons that,after we've lifted our eyes to
(34:40):
Christ and seen him seated above, and after showing us that
we've been raised with him,reconciled to one another,
recreated and re-assembled intoa new humanity, he tells us in
chapter four, in verse onetherefore, I urge you to walk
worthy of the calling you'vereceived, in other words, live
(35:03):
like the people you are.
You're no longer a stranger,you're a citizen.
You're no longer alienated,you're adopted.
You're no longer the old self,you're the new self.
You're created in the likenessof God.
You're no longer part of thisworld's decay.
You're a representative of anew creation.
(35:25):
You no longer smell of thestench of disobedience.
You're now the aroma of Christand his resurrection and life.
And this is why Paul tells us toput off falsehood, to put off
bitterness, to put off rage, toput off sexual immorality, to
put off greed, to put offobscenity and darkness, and to
(35:49):
put on truth, to put ongentleness, to put on integrity,
to put on sacrificial love andto put on truth, to put on
gentleness, to put on integrity,to put on sacrificial love and
to put on light.
And if you want to read aboutthat, just read chapter four and
five of the book of EphesiansBecause these aren't meant to be
simply rules that you have todo now that you call yourself a
Christian.
They're who you are and they'rea revelation to this world that
(36:13):
God has come in Christ and thathe's brought a new humanity
into this world to show awatching world of what this
world would look like if Godtouched the ground.
And he did, and that's whywe're here.
And so the book of Ephesianstells us to walk in unity, to
(36:34):
forgive, just as we've beenforgiven, to speak life, to love
like Jesus loved, because we'rea representative of a world
that's too much bound up andchecking each other out to see
how they should be living, andtoo often shielded from the
(36:55):
realities of eternity becauseall they can do is see one foot
in front of themselves.
Be imitators of God as dearlyloved children.
Ephesians, chapter 5 and verse1.
Not from pressure, but fromperspective, let's pray, father.
(37:24):
We thank you for the book ofEphesians and how it helps us to
understand that we can livebeyond the pressures of this
world that want us to conform towhat is there in our generation
or what is facing us in ourday-to-day immediacy.
We pray, father, that we mightbe cast into that eternal realm
and see Christ as he is, exalted, conquering and loving, and
(37:48):
that we might see Christ here,still, working in this world
today, to reconcile people, tomake a new humanity and a new
temple and a representativepeople.
Father, I pray that we mighttherefore submit every
conversation that we have, everydecision and habit and priority
(38:09):
to him, to set Christ as Lordin our hearts.
I pray that you would help usto walk in love, walk in light,
walk in wisdom, walk as thosewho are joined together with an
(38:29):
already raised Christ, so thatwe might fulfill what you tell
us here in this book joinedtogether with an already raised
Christ, so that we might fulfillwhat you tell us here in this
book.
Pay careful attention, then, tohow you walk, not as unwise
people, but as wise, making themost of the time.
So, lord, as your book calls usto lift our eyes, we pray that
(38:50):
we would do so and that we wouldgo with those uplifted eyes and
that wider perspective to walklike the people that you've made
us to be, and we pray this inChrist's name, amen.
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