12. Lesson 12 Ephesians Chosen to Love Ephesians 5 verses 15 to 33

Church of Christ Dapto The letter to the Church in Ephesus Lesson 12—Chosen to love Ephesians 5:15-33      Living in Wisdom is living in Love Ephesians 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, Ephesians 5:8-11 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. I must always examine myself and the way I am living to ensure that I am living by God’s wisdom. Be constantly taking heed how accurately you are conducting yourselves. That is, see to it that your conduct is accurate with respect to the demands of the Word of God.1 Are my words, actions, and thoughts all formed from the Word of God? Then I am being wise. Are my words, actions, thoughts all formed by the pressures of the world? Then I am as unwise as the people of the world and cannot please God. God chose me to live in His wisdom. 1. Use all opportunities to show God’s love Ephesians 5:16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Living a life of God’s wisdom means that I see everything that happens in my life as an opportunity presented by God—one of the good works He has prepared in advance for me to do, and I use it to glorify Him. If I think that there is plenty of time and I will get around to doing these good works, I fail to understand that the evil in the world needs to be opposed now because it is opposing my attempts to do good. 2. Understand His Will shown in Love Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. God makes His will plain to those who believe in Him. Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Those who refuse to seek, or understand, God’s will, are being foolish. The fools of the world are those who deny God. a. Be filled with the real Spirit of Love Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Which spirit controls your life? In choosing to resist the false spirits, I rely on the power of God’s Spirit in me to fill me. Which Spirit makes my life more acceptable to God? 1- Word Studies in the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest – Copyright © 1942-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Used by permission. All rights reserved. He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:4 Dapto Church of Christ Sermon Series The Letter to the Ephesians—Lesson 12 Chosen to Love December 8, 2019 b. Sing the message of Love Page 2 Ephesians 5:19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. I am to share my joy in the songs we sing together to praise God. c. Give thanks always for His Love Ephesians 5:19-20 Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am to show my gratitude to God for His constant and loving provision through Christ acknowledging that all I have and all that happens to me comes from God. d. Submit in Love Members submit to members Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Submitting) one’s self to another is the opposite of self assertion, the opposite of an independent, autocratic spirit. It is the desire to get along with one another, being satisfied with less than one’s due, a sweet reasonableness of attitude.2 All members of the Church are to show their submission to others in the Church, not because of any demand, or duty, or tradition, or in resentment, but because it is Christ’s Church He taught us to submit to Him, and we honour Him and His Words above all. If you do not submit, you show that you do not honour Christ above your own judgement. There are consequences for rebellion. Romans 13:2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves. There is blessing and benefit in choosing to submit. James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Wives submit to husbands Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. This is a command for the members of Christ’s Church and it has a reason and purpose. As an example of Christ and the Church Ephesians 5:23-24 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The relationship of husbands and wives in the Church is intended to show the world the relationship between Christ and His Church! Your submission, or lack of it, is important in the world’s view of Christ. 2- Word Studies in the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest – Copyright © 1942-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Used by permission. All rights reserved. He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:4 Dapto Church of Christ Sermon Series The Letter to the Ephesians—Lesson 12 Chosen to Love December 8, 2019 Page 3 Husbands love wives Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, This is the love described in 1 Corinthians 13. It is not an emotion, although it can affect emotions, but is the unchanging decision of commitment. As an example of Christ’s love for the Church The love the husband shows the wife stands as an example to the world of how much Christ loved the Church in His sacrifice for each one of us. Ephesians 5:25-27 just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As evidence of real love Ephesians 5:28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Christ loved the Body of the Church to the point of complete self-sacrifice. Husbands are to aim for the same standard in their love: in loving their wives, they love their own body. With Christ as example Ephesians 5:29-30 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. In the Unity God intended Ephesians 5:31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” God’s plan for mankind. Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. As obedient to the Word Ephesians 5:33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. ... let each one in this manner be loving his own wife as himself, and the wife, let her be continually treating her husband with deference and reverential obedience.3 This is how Christians are to live. There is no exception or excuse. Christians are to choose to live by the highest standards: the standard of Christ Himself.      3- Word Studies in the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest – Copyright © 1942-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Used by permission. All rights reserved. He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:4 Dapto Church of Christ Sermon Series The Letter to the Ephesians—Lesson 12 Chosen to Love December 8, 2019 Page 4 What does this verse mean for your life? If you submit to your husband and you think he does not show Christ’s love to you, do you have an excuse to refuse to submit? If you seek to show Christ’s love for the Church to your wife, and she refuses to submit to you, does that provide justification for not loving her? If you do not have a husband or wife, are you excused from showing Christ’s love for the Church to the world? Each member of the Church is challenged to commit themselves to submission, not primarily for their own benefit, or even the benefit of their spouse, but to play their part in being an image of Christ’s relationship to the Church and for the blessing of the Church. You are to submit because Christ did. You are to submit because Christ called you to do so. You are to submit because that is how you show Christ’s love. You are to submit because that is how you show you love Christ. You are to submit because that is what members of Christ’s Body do! You are to submit because that is how you live a life of God’s wisdom. Refusing to submit does not show that you have strength of character, but rather that you lack the character of Christ in your life. Refusing to submit shows that you still believe you are the one in charge of your life, not Christ. Refusing to submit has eternal consequences for you, and all those to whom you are supposed to present the image of Christ! When all the members of the Church practice submission, the Church reveals the true nature and depth of Christ’s love and God is glorified. We have been chosen by God to be like Him and show it in all our relationships. We are to choose to obey Him, rather than ourselves. What choice have you made? To whom do you really show reverence in your actions: the world, yourself, or Christ?  Next Lesson: Chosen to serve Focus Verse: Ephesians 6:7     Ephesians 6:1-9      He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:4