September 25, 2011

One day while living in Cameroon we have a terrible thunderstorm. I was walking across the compound and found an electric wire had come down. I figure it was dead because it was on the ground and so, for some reason, I picked it up to move it.

I thought I knew enough, but I didn’t really know anything about downed wires. Fortunately nothing happened to me. They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Indeed, a little knowledge can be a fatal thing.

Now Christianity is so pervasive in our society that most everyone has an idea about what Christianity is. Unfortunately, what most people think Christianity is, is not at all what it is.

We’ve been in the book of Ephesians. In chapter 4 Paul begins applying the teaching from chapters 1-3 to everyday life. In 4:1-16, he emphasizes the importance of unity in the church. In 4:17 extending well into chapter 5 Paul talks about living the Christian. But in v.17-24 Paul gives a summary of what being a Christian is. So this morning I want to address the question: What is a Christian?

I. WE SEE WHAT A CHRISTIAN IS NOT. Eph.4:17-19

In the Bible the word, “gentile” is used in two ways. It’s used in an ethnic sense to distinguish Jews from non-Jews, and it’s used in a moral sense, referring to those who do not embrace the God of the Bible. Used in the moral sense, Gentiles are unbelievers.

Because the first Christians were primarily Jews who embraced Christ, the word, “gentile,” continued to be used to refer to unbelievers. So here P, writing to Christians, most of whom were non-Jewish tells them that they must not live or walk as the Gentiles or unbelievers do. Then he goes on to describe what it means to be an unbeliever.

We notice immediately that what distinguishes a Christian from a non-Christian has much to do with the mind. Paul says that unbelievers live in the futility of their thinking. Their thinking, their understanding of reality is distorted. Futility refers to meaninglessness and emptiness. Instead of embracing the knowledge of God revealed in Jesus Christ, unbelievers try to find fulfillment and satisfaction in life apart from God. The Bible teaches that God is our Creator. God is the one who gives us life, purpose and meaning. But if we don’t embrace the light of the knowledge of God then we are darkened in our understanding. Paul goes on to say that because unbelievers are darkened in their understanding they are separated from the life of God.

Where does this ignorance come from? Well, it is not just a result of misplaced priorities or a lack of information. It goes much deeper than that. Paul says that the ignorance comes from the hardening of their hearts. Like a rock or marble, there’s no feeling or sensitivity towards God. They have hardened their hearts to God and the things of God. Why would a person harden his or her heart to God?

Well, as our Creator, God has a claim of ownership on our lives. Not only that, but God, the giver of life, knows best how life should be lived. But there is something in us that makes us think we know better how life should be lived. And we do not want to be owned. We want to be our own person, in charge of our own life, to do whatever it is we want to do no matter what God thinks about it. Like little children, we are very headstrong in saying, “No,” to God. The Bible refers to this attitude and mindset as sin. Sin is willful living and thinking apart from God. In Rm.8:5 Paul says, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires.He says, “The mind of the sinful man is death,” or “The sinful mind is hostile to God."

I have come to believe that many, if not most, of those claiming to be atheists, are not atheists because the philosophical arguments against God are so compelling. Rather they are atheists because their hearts are hardened against God. They don’t want for there to be a God.

So if God is the source of life, meaning and purpose and our hearts are hardened towards God, we will seek to create our own meaning and purpose apart from God. And that’s exactly what we do.

For most people, the goal of life is to make money and to secure a standard of living that will bring happiness and fulfillment in life. Success, recognition, achievement, fame, status, marriage, family, material possessions, and power are pursued because it is thought that life is found in these things. None of these things are evil in and of themselves, it’s just that none of these things can deliver the goods. This is why many successful people are walking around feeling unfulfilled and empty inside. Once they reach their goal and have what they think will bring them meaning and purpose, they find that it doesn’t.

Now think about this for a moment with me. God created us to know him. God is love. God has a sensitive and tender heart and those who know God cultivate a sensitive and tender heart towards God and others. Those who know God have an increasing awareness of what is right, good and honoring to God and others. If we harden our hearts to God, will we become more sensitive to that which is right, good, and honorable? No. Paul writes, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more. Surely I don’t have to convince anyone that sexual impurity and lust is deeply ingrained in our society, culture and our hearts and minds. You see, once we turn away from God, we will find lesser gods to serve. And anything less than God cannot give the life that only God can give. Ultimately life apart from God leads to emptiness and futility and death.

All of us can relate to this line from Kathleen Norris in her book, Acedia & me. She writes, “I have become like the child I once knew who emerged one morning from a noisy, chaotic Sunday-school classroom to inform the adults who had heard the commotion and had come to investigate, ’We’re being bad, and we don’t know how to stop.’” That is a problem. That is our problem. We don’t know how to stop the sinful and godless activities of our lives. We don’t know how to rid ourselves of the guilt from our sinful actions. We don’t know what will bring peace, meaning and purpose to our lives. That is the plight of the unbeliever. Unbelievers are separated from God and are darkened in their understanding.

II. WE SEE WHAT A CHRISTIAN IS. Eph.4:20-24

The thinking of the unbelieving world is absorbed with self. I will make my own meaning and purpose in life. And Paul quickly points out that that kind of thinking will never lead a person to Christ. It only leads away from Christ. And yet, according to the Bible, Christ is the only way to know God. Paul writes, “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.

Many people look at Christianity and they get the idea that being a Christian is all about getting baptized, taking holy communion and going to church on Sunday. There are rituals and holy obligations. And if you don’t do what you are supposed to do, you’re in for it! Look out, God is watching! When Christianity is presented in this way it become nothing but another empty pursuit. If I do this and that and do it good enough I will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. The focus is again on oneself, one’s ability to perform.

But the Bible does not present the Christian message in that way. Christianity is not about how good you and I can be. Notice that Paul writes, “You did not come to know Christ that way.” Ah, Christianity is about knowing Christ, not just knowing about Christ, but knowing Christ personally. If we are going to be in a personal relationship with Christ, we must certainly learn about him and be taught the truth about Jesus. What did Jesus say? In Jn.14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So, if we what to receive the life of God, we must come through Jesus. Jesus often referred to himself as the son of man, and in Lk.17:9 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. The truth about life is found in Jesus Christ. He is the truth.

Why must we come to Jesus? It’s because Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves and what no one else could do. Because Jesus is God in the flesh and has never sinned, he willingly bore the guilt of our sins. Your guilt before God and guilt before God was placed on Jesus. In 2Cor.5:21 we read, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus became guilty for us. And then he willingly died on the cross for us. In Rm.6:23 it says, “For the wages of sin is death....” Jesus paid the penalty for us by dying in our place.

So in v.22 Paul talks about putting off your old self. What is that, your old self? Your old self is your life apart from God. Your old self is your self-directed, self-absorbed, self-centered, sinful life. It is what Paul describes in v.17-19. How do we put off our old self? It’s by turning away from our old self and entrusting our life and eternity into the care of Jesus. He is the Savior. Through his death and resurrection he has made it possible for us to be saved from our sin. By trusting in Jesus our sins are forgiven for ever. By trusting in Jesus, his perfect righteousness is applied to our life. Paul says it is a righteousness that is by faith. Jesus isn’t selling salvation. He’s giving salvation to all who turn away from their former way of life and call upon him to be saved.

What happens when a person turns to Jesus? Paul says that person is made new in the attitude of their mind. The person who turns to Christ, does indeed, have a new attitude, a renovation, transformation of one’s mind. Paul says it’s kind of like changing clothes. You take off your old sinful clothes and put on new eternal, righteous clothes. You put off your old sinful self and put on the new self created in Christ Jesus. The new self is given to you by God. It is a self that is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

For thousands of years philosophers have discussed what it means to live the good life. What is a truly good life? If you look at the life of Jesus, most would conclude that Jesus understood what a truly good life is. In fact he lived a truly good life. And Jesus says, come to me and I will give you life. In Jn.20:31, John writes, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

If you do not know Christ in a personal way, you need to turn to him. No one else has ever promised to forgive all our sins and give us eternal life. No one else has ever died and risen from the grave so that we might have eternal life. No other religion makes the claims and promises that Jesus has made. Why would you not turn your life over to Christ?

 

Seven week ago, my neighbor was in the backyard working in her garden. She didn’t feel that great, but didn’t really feel all that bad either. She was doing great. But then she went to the doctor and it was discovered that she had ovarian cancer. It was there all the time, for quite awhile but she wasn’t aware of it. She died.

Now you may hear this message and be thinking, “Well, I’m a pretty good person. I don’t think I’m a really bad sinner. I don’t think I am going to die and go to Hell. So I’m not going to worry about it. But you know it’s not really about how bad of a sinner you are. Nor is it really about what you think it is. Paul puts his finger on the problem. Unbelievers are darkened in their understanding because they do their thinking apart from God, separated from God. So according to Scripture, you really are a sinner deserving of hell and you are not even aware of it. You need Christ. Why not give your life to him today. Amen