Love Works

Introduction

Who doesn’t like a good story?

Most common storyline in books and movies:

The most common storyline is of course the hero's journey or Monomyth put forth by Joseph Campbell. The hero's journey boils down to this:

Call to adventure…supernatural aid

Transformation begins with a helper who is most often a mentor

The transformation journey leads the hero through challenges and temptations

A radical revelation takes place when the hero falls to his or her deepest, darkest night of the soul. The old person dies and rebirth happens completing the transformation.

The hero atones for his transgressions

Returns “home” to the gift of someone who loves her or him.

OR

A regular person leaves his home/small town/regular job and travels to some unfamiliar place/magical realm/dangerous culture.

Powerful foes/dangerous seducers/great physical challenges face him there which the hero overcomes.

The hero returns home physically transformed/made king/religiously enlightened.

Almost always about love and the way it brings us back from the brink, turns us into our best selves.

Ephesus

Maybe the most important city in the story of the emerging church. For a time, Paul’s home base.

How Love Works

What goes on inside of us when we watch a movie with that story arc:

He invested a great deal of himself in the evangelization of this city,

Yeah, like that’s realistic

I would LOVE to live that story!

We live in a hero’s story but we’re not him. The hero’s story - a bit different than the one we just saw - is one that breaks into ours.

It works like this:

[SLIDE] The Father makes a world for his creation to thrive and live in perfect harmony with him and itself. The first humans of the creation

Making Dead Things Live

Makes Dead Things Live

Ephesus is maybe the most important city in the story of the emerging church. For a time, Paul’s home base.

He invested a great deal of himself in the evangelization of this city…a lot of stories to tell not of bad people becoming good but dead people coming to life.

Here’s how it goes:

Some heroes, some not. Maybe a few with an adventuMost, probably not.

[SLIDE] The Father makes a world for his creation to thrive and live in perfect harmony with him and itself. The first humans of the creation

Dead

[SLIDE] The Father makes a world for his creation to thrive and live in perfect harmony with him and itself. It was heaven. The first humans of the creation made a fatal choice

A fatal decision recorded in Genesis led to spiritual death that would be passed down from generation to generation until the end of time. Freedom came with a warning: Be responsible with it.

Described like this:

But who are dead - lacking spiritual vitality; being indifferent toward the things of God

Overstepping bounds into forbidden things whether in their thoughts, emotions or behavior, ignoring what God’s character calls for.

Sin - act or feeling that oversteps into something forbidden or ignores something required by God’s character.

Far apart, alienated from the life of God in their soul/spiritual nature…dead.

Words for trespass and sin carry the meaning of missing the mark, slipping or falling away…inability to live in the way we’re made to live - in God’s image and children in his family, immersed in his presence, following his direction.

Freedom came with with it a warning - be responsible with it.

They were made in God’s image to live as children in his family, aware of his presence, rejoicing in his direction. Freedom was given, but with it a warning that it involved the possibility of disobedience, and that disobedience would lead to death (). This death is not primarily physical death, but the loss of the spiritual life given, life in fellowship with God and the consequent capacity for spiritual activity and development. Thus the description here is not merely metaphorical, nor does it refer only to the future state of the sinners. It describes their present condition, and indeed the Bible often speaks therefore of humanity in a state of spiritual death because of sin

Disobedience - overstepping would lead to death - the loss of the spiritual life in fellowship withe God.

Following the Course and Living Among/Being Like Disobedient People

The spiritually dead walk or follow a course an age; a mindset, customs and practices of the present system and people who run it that are far from God. It holds people in captivity, dehumanizes by political oppression, bureaucratic tyranny, materialism, poverty, hunger, unemployment, discrimination, injustice.

It follows the prince of the power of the air - the enemy, Satan - whose existence is spiritual.

An authority working in those whose way of life is contrary to the living God - created to be good but chose a different way.

Desires of the flesh - dominated in mind and body (thoughts, purpose, intellect by impulses of a self-centered life that causes us to put our needs ahead of everything else.

the course of this world—the career (lit., ‘the age:’ cf. ) or present system of this world

‘The age’ [aion] (something internal and ethical) regulates ‘the world’

The Jews called their laws of conduct Halakah, which means ‘Walking.’ Here it describes a life lived according to an authority contrary to God.

The biblical phrase ‘the lusts of the flesh’, as it is often translated, is not to be taken in too narrow a sense, but as the longings and impulses of the self-centred life.

desires of our flesh Refers to the selfish part of human nature that causes people to put their own needs ahead of everything else.

Passions/Desire/Lust - and inordinate, violent boiling up/forceful, self-indulgent craving for especially food or sex that that displaces proper affections for God.

Apart from their restoration to God and the indwelling of God’s Spirit, men and women are not only dominated by self-centred passions, but found actually following the desires of body and mind. The last word translates the plural of a word more commonly used in the singular (dianoia) meaning a ‘thought’ or ‘purpose’, or ‘intelligence’. It signifies clearly that the effects in human life of evil and selfishness are not limited to the emotions but embrace intellect and reasoning processes as well (cf. ).1

[JR] Paul is likely not saying that heart longings and desires are bad but to allow them longings and impulses of the self-centered life (emotions, intellect, reasoning, etc) to have free reign and making them our leader (following them) as we walk is.

It permeates, indeed dominates, non-Christian society and holds people in captivity. Wherever human beings are being dehumanized—by political oppression or bureaucratic tyranny, by an outlook that is secular (repudiating God), amoral (repudiating absolutes), or materialistic (glorifying the consumer market), by poverty, hunger, or unemployment, by racial discrimination or by any form of injustice—there we can detect the sub-human values of “this age” and “this world”.’

Then secondly, it is following the prince of the power of the air. By this phrase, grammatically difficult in the original, but essentially clear in meaning, the devil is described; and by speaking of the devil’s authority as ‘in the air’, Paul was not necessarily accepting the current notion of the air being the abode and realm of evil spirits. Basically his thought was of an evil power with control in the world (see on 6:12), but whose existence was not material but spiritual.

the essential meaning is clear. The old life, without the energizing of God (see 1:11 and 20) is subject to the energizing (Gk. energountos) of the powers of evil, controlled by the spirit which has the evil one as its source. For a person’s inner life must be surrendered to the working of God or to that of the powers of evil (cf. ; , ; ; and especially see ). And if people are surrendered to the power of evil, they become those whose habit of life is contrary to the living God, and so they are rightly called the sons of disobedience (cf. 5:8).1

Living Among/Being Like Disobedient People

Realization: Children of disobedience. Created to be good but chose a different way.

Sin - act or feeling that oversteps into something forbidden or ignores something required by God’s character.

World System - the people constituting the part of the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in conflict/rebellion to God’s.

World System - the people constituting the part of the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in conflict/rebellion to God’s.

This group denotes desire, especially for food or sex.

Paul the Christian had come to see that the possession of the law of Moses was no protection against desires of body and mind, i.e. the promptings of instincts and false ideas.’

Lifeless, motionless.

To Life

How?

There is longing in the heart of God for humanity—the us now means Jews and Gentiles alike—to be restored to the highest and best that he had planned for them

God the hero, rescuer, restorer delivers people from death and giving them life.

From love being merciful - rich to the undeserving

From Mercy

There is longing in the heart of God for humanity—the us now means Jews and Gentiles alike—to be restored to the highest and best that he had planned for them (cf. ; ); and so he has shown himself full of mercy, and has acted in grace towards them.1

Made New

The creative work of God, sharing in his resurrection life makes us alive with Christ - new creations. We are identified with his resurrection reversing the effect of death.

Called a new creature,

Gentiles and Jews coming together becoming God’s family.

Christ’s victory over the powers make resurrection with God possible

And the new life with Jesus possessed here and now.

Raised Together With Christ

Gentiles (non-Jews) becoming part of God’s family. In this chapter, Paul discusses how that happens: Christ’s victory over evil powers makes reconciliation with God possible.

Why can the life of heaven be possessed here and now? How is there such an exhibition of the love of God from which the whole creation of God can learn and wonder? Because by grace you have been saved.

Grace

It’s a gift that brings together all believers under Christ to be with Him. Accomplished, perfect…complete, permanent.

salvation by grace through faith the words and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.

What the apostle wants to say is that the whole initiative and every aspect of the making available of this salvation is God’s.

Why?

Why?

To be with Jesus.

Sit With Jesus

All believers on earth and in heaven will be brought together under Christ the Head of the church.

We are His Workmanship

In this new life, we are his workmanship.

Created in Christ

The new life in fellowship with God must be God’s creation and cannot be our work.

To Walk in Good Works Prepared Long Ago

To Walk In

The essential quality of the new life is good works.1

God mapped out, made ready his purposes, the particular good works for us - the time and way, which he sees best.

He makes us ready to do them, to walk in them.

We are not saved by, but created for, good works. before ordained [proetoimasen]—‘before made ready’ (cf. ). God marks out for each in His purposes beforehand the particular good works, the time, and way, which He sees best. God both makes ready by His providence the opportunities for the works, and makes us ready for their performance

that we should walk in them—not ‘be saved’ by them. Works do not justify, but the justified man works

Not to earn anything but out of love, faithfulness.

Not actions motivated by a desire to earn favor or right standing with God.. Here Paul is talking about acts of faithfulness and service to God

New life in Christ and good works cannot be separated. It’s how we express what has been declared about us - righteousness.

The purpose of God for his church, as Paul came to understand it, reaches beyond itself, beyond the salvation, the enlightenment and the re-creation of individuals, beyond its unity and fellowship, beyond even its witness to the world.

The church is to be the exhibition to the whole creation of the wisdom and love and grace of God in Christ.

Here, the purpose of our being raised to new life in Christ, and become Kingdom citizens, is that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

‘in the limitless future, as age succeeds age, the crowning display of God’s grace will ever be His kindness to His redeemed people …’ (Bruce, EE).1

We must allow 3:10 to help interpret this verse. The apostle’s vision of the function of the church in the purpose of God has been lifted beyond this present order: as ‘in the limitless future, as age succeeds age, the crowning display of God’s grace will ever be His kindness to His redeemed people …’ (Bruce, EE).1

R. W. Dale puts it, ‘As the branch is created in the vine, we are created in Christ; as the fruits of the branch are predetermined by the laws of that life which it receives from the vine, so our “good works” which are the result of our union with Christ, are predetermined by the laws of the life of Christ which is our life …

Caitlene’s Story

Tell us about yourself…family, childhood (in general), faith journey up to now.

What experiences have you had with people and places that dehumanize others, oppresses them, are unjust?

Was there a tangible evil presence? If so, describe it.

How have you experienced new life in Christ? Personally? With the community of faith?

What does it mean to you to hear that you are God’s workmanship?

What good works have you seen grow in and come from yourself? Other believers?