The Resurrection Life is a Transforming Life
November 5, 2015
God didn’t just give us Jesus to get us into heaven. He didn’t just give us Jesus so we could become part of His family. He gave us Jesus so we can become more like Jesus. And this text tells us how. It reveals our responsibility in the process and what God promises to do in us to change us as we embrace this new lifestyle He has for us. This new lifestyle has three steps:
1. We are to engage in a lifestyle of continual repentance
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22, 24
That old deceitful, empty and destructive way of thinking wants to keep calling the shots in how we live. But Paul says, no, you have a new life and a new way of living. Throw out the old and put on the new! So repentance is the first step to real life change: Throw out the old ways of thinking so that we reprogram our minds to think and ultimately live like Jesus.
Now, let me tell you why repentance is such an important first step in change. If we do not acknowledge that the world’s way of thinking is empty and destructive, and turn away from it… we end up just adding to our lives these new habits of righteousness. And we end up worse off. Because at the heart of the old way of thinking is that life is all about me. It is a self-centered mindset. Add righteous behavior to a self-centered lifestyle and what do you get? You get a self-important and self-righteous Pharisee. You get someone who criticizes you because you don’t measure up to his or her standard of righteousness. You get someone who is proud of how righteous they are. What you don’t get is a gracious and humble Christ-follower. The first change of repentance is actually a change of heart. That’s why repentance must always come first. That’s our first step in the new transforming way of life. Now the second step:
2. We are to let God continually renew our thinking
To be made new in the attitude of your minds. Ephesians 4:23
So how does that work? We put on the new by taking in His Word, His Truth. God cannot change us without His Word. He is the source of all truth. He is the truth. So as we immerse ourselves in His truth, He will begin to renew or reprogram how we think.
God’s renews us by washing us, healing us, strengthening us and changing us so we will not just think like Jesus, but so we can become more and more like Jesus. Are you downloading God’s operating program? Are you letting His Word cleanse you? Heal you? Change you? As the Psalmist says in Psalm 19: The Law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul!
We need to eat this book! We need to digest God’s Word! And do it continually. This may be the main application for many of you here today. Maybe it’s time you stopped feeding your mind with futile thinking and start feasting on the truth. God is an infinite and good God. If we continually take in God’s Word, God will keep on renewing us. That’s the second step. Now the third:
This is the next step of change. We need to eat this book! We need to digest God’s Word! And do it continually. Now the third step:
3. We are to embrace the alternative ways of the kingdom
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. Ephesians 4:25
Falsehood is the first thing we throw off. Lying is what selfish people do to get what they want. Lying has its origin in the Devil, the Father of lies, the Deceiver. His first lie in the garden is what broke the relationship between Adam and Eve and God. When our first parents fell for the lie, they thought: “God, I don’t believe you are good. I don’t believe you really love me or want what’s best for me. I believe you are holding me back. I don’t like that, so I’m not going to trust you anymore.”
Believing the lie broke their relationship with God and resulted in fear and selfishness. “God, now that I believe you are against me, I’m afraid of you and I can’t trust you to watch out for me, so I’m going to take control of my own life and take care of myself.”
So, in their fear Adam and Eve hid from God. The first lie destroyed the harmony of friendship between man and God, and mankind and mankind has running from God ever since. This is we are to have nothing to do with falsehood. Falsehood destroys relationships. So we put off falsehood.
“In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26-27
Anger is what happens when we don’t get our own way. God knows we will get angry.
Paul gives us a godly way of handling anger. Anger in itself is not sinful, but it can quickly become sin, if we don’t deal with it. That’s why Paul says, Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. God is a God of reconciliation. He came to resolve our differences – to create peace. When we leave differences unresolved, we leave potential for the deceiver to cause division among us. So, we are to keep short accounts – to be like God and seek to reconcile differences before the day ends.
Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28
Stealing is an ultimate act of selfishness. It’s putting your needs or wants above anyone else, especially the person you are stealing from. Stealing, then, is very damaging to relationships. In the way of love, we don’t take from others to meet our needs. Instead, we work so we can help meet needs.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29
Words have the power to tear down or build up. This word “unwholesome” could bring to mind one of three images: spoiled fish, rotten fruit, or crumbling stones. The person who lives for themselves uses words to destroy people. Proverbs 12:18 puts it like this: The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18 Words that build others up are gracious words.
God loves you too much to leave you the way you are. When He called you, He didn’t just forgive you. No, when He called you to believe, He began a good work in you, and me… to change us into something beautiful.