We the People...
Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsPaul shows the church how to be the community of God in the present.
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Introduction - The Constitution
Introduction - The Constitution
These are the beginning three words to...
If someone asked you what the letter to the Ephesians was about, what would you say?
It’s the constitution of the church
It’s an explanation of our grounds of our faith and a demonstration of the practice
Rather than thinking of the future coming of Christ, Paul shows the church how to be the community of God in the present.
Bound
Bound
Let me ask you this: who is a member of an organization? Clubs, social organizations, etc.?
I’m a member of Costco.
I belong because the value I receive exceeds the resources I put into the membership - I’m a good Scotsman
I’m a member, but I can cancel anytime I don’t perceive I’m getting value
The company has values and commitments, but does’nt require that I buy into them in order to belong
Unintentionally, we use the same language when it comes to belonging ot the church
We do a cost/benefit analysis, we find one that meets our nees for an acceptable level of effort, and stay as long as that arrangement continues
We view it as a voluntary association from which we can cut our connection at any time
Yet is this the idea of church or of being connect that we find in Ephesians? Or in Acts? No, of course not
Connection is more like family
connectedc by the bonds of family - of blood, but not our own
Christ breaks down the markers that we put up to define our existence and defines our existence by him instead (more specifically by his work on the cross in crucifying our old selves)
But we like our markers
Midwesterner versus New Englander
People say I’m a New Englander, but am I that or your New England brother?
Breakfast w/Mark
My brother Mark
would you see our connection in Christ first OR
would you see his Roman Catholicism & my Protestantism first?
As you might imagine, this has major implicaiton for the way that we treat one another - but let me make one note here before we talk about that
Permanently
Paul talks about adoption with respect to our being brought into God’s family, and he’s very intentionally using the Roman understanding of adoption
Roman family -
a natural born child could be diowned/disinherited HOWEVER
an adopted child could not be disowned/disinherited
Adoption was permanent
Paul uses this understanding to describe God’s action in adopting us through his son
So if you wonder or if you are talking to someone who thinks they’ve been away for too long or have done too much, open & 2 & consider Paul’s words that we have been adopted
Shaped
Shaped
Not only are we bound to one another by Christ, we are then shaped by Christ as well
we aren’t adopted and then get to call the shots; we put on the identity of our new family
The early church acted as a new people - not quite Jewish and not quite Roman, though similar to both
E.g., Dec 1936, someone got a new job
He was expected to speak publicly, but he stuttered
Paul was making sure that the Ephesians - and we - put on our new identity, values, and behaviors
Starting in Chapter 4, Paul holds up their culture and shows the corresponding redeemed culture in Christ