08-29-2021 – Cultivate or Stagnate !
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08-29-2021 - Cultivate or Stagnate !
Ephesians 3:14-21
The Body of Christ is made up of all true believers and followers of Jesus, no matter what ethnicity, gender, socio-economic or educational level, we are all part of God’s family
(see 1Corinthians 12:12-18; 26-27; Galatians 3:28).
1Corinthians 12:12-18
12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
1Corinthians 12:26-27
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
Galatians 3:28
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Read Ephesians 3:14-15…
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
Paul prays for believers, proclaiming that we have been given God's name [Christians], having been born-again by God's Spirit at the moment we trusted in Jesus Christ (see John 1:12-13; Ephesians 1:13).
John 1:12-13
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Ephesians 1:13
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The Bible doesn’t teach a One World/One People theology; nor does it teach a Universal Fatherhood of God/Brotherhood of Man theology. God is the Creator of all, but He is only the Father of those who trust in Christ by faith; those belonging to God are called Christians in the Bible.
Neither does the Bible teach that it takes a Village to raise a Child; it takes a family.
And God’s design for a family, is one man and one woman, committed to God and to each other, in order to raise children in the love and knowledge of God.
God wants every member of His family to realize that our most important distant relative isn't a mortal man, but God Himself.
Have you ever researched your ancestral heritage?
Your father's surname?
Your mother's maiden name?
It can be quite interesting, but what Paul says in
Ephesians 3:14-15, is that Christians derive their name and their family heritage from God!
Ephesians 3:14-15
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
Christian means "adherent [follower & believer] of Christ,"
and it is used three times in the New Testament:
In Acts 26:28, it speaks of becoming a Christian.
Acts 26:28
28 Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.”
In Acts 11:26, it speaks of living as a Christian.
Acts 11:26
26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
In 1Peter 4:16, it speaks of suffering as a Christian.
1Peter 4:16
16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.
Read Ephesians 3:16-21…
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Paul prays for us to take hold of, understand, and apply to our lives all that we have been given by our merciful and gracious heavenly Father. God not only provides a special name for those who are born into His eternal family, He also expresses His love for us and graciously equips us with everything we need to enjoy this life and trust Him for the next (cf. 2Peter 1:2-4).
- 2Peter 1:2-4
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Paul reminds us of "all" that we have been given in Christ, and this is a great mystery. God purposed to have an eternal relationship with us, NOT because of our good looks, intrinsic nature, intelligence, special abilities, or human ancestral heritage. He has done this, just because He loves us.
Paul prays for us to be strengthened in our hearts, for it is only God who can reach into and heal the inner soul of a person, to bring eternal spiritual life to us through the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
Paul encourages us to have confidence in God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine," and this is "according to His power that is at work within us," through God's Holy Spirit.
Paul makes it clear that everything to be done "in God's church" [God's Family], is to be done for God's glory, "throughout all generations, forever and ever!"
As God's children we are to imitate Him
(Ephesians 5:1-2),
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
How can we imitate God the Father whom no man has seen? By following the example of Christ
(1John 2:4-6),
“The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
Jesus said (John 14:6-7),
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
Jesus Christ is God's sovereign plan, purpose and provision for salvation and eternal life in God's Family.
We are to (1Peter 2:12),
12 “Keep [our] behavior excellent among [unbelievers], so that…
…they may because of [our] good deeds, as they observe them,
glorify God in the day of visitation.”
We are to live in a manner that is excellent before unbelievers so they can see our good deeds, and many unbelievers will come to Christ because of our behavior, our good works, our witness to them, they will glorify God because they have have believed in His Son and come to Him for forgiveness.
We must allow Christ to show in and through our lives
(1Peter 3:14-16),
14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
Sanctify means to be set apart by the love of God for the purpose of loving others on His behalf through Christ.
Jesus is the living God, He is the Word of God (see John 1:1).
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus is God and yet He died for us in the body of Jesus, so that we can live for Him. We need to encourage one another toward love and good deeds. We need to come and fellowship with our believers in Christ. The world needs to see the good deeds God has prepared for us to complete (see Ephesians 2:8-10).
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
We are born-again (created) for good (anything that pleases God) works. We are born from above
(John 1:13),
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
We must read and study God’s Word, then apply it to our life (see 1Peter 3:15), only then can we be obedient witnesses for Christ. We must set Christ as Lord in our heart, remaining sober minded (clear headed) and ready to be used by God; so that when someones asks us why we do what we do, why we are the way we are, wee can tell them we are trying to do what pleases God.
We just remain ready to share the gospel with gentleness to unbelievers (horizontal), out of reverence for God (vertical).
We were all unbelievers at one time, but God in His merciful love for us reached down and saved us in Christ (see Ephesians 2:1-7).
Ephesians 2:1-7
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
This world is angry, confused, chaotic, and corrupt. The world needs peace, the world needs Christ. We are to be peace makers, we have God’s peace in us through Christ, and we must share it with those in need.
Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25 commands us to come together with other Christians in order to stimulate one another toward love and good deeds. We are not to abandon the practice of meeting together, getting to know each other and encouraging each other in the things of God.
If we don't consistently come together, in person, around the Word of God, for the purpose of encouraging one another toward love and good deeds, the Body of Christ will suffer spiritual apathy, becoming weak, leading to atrophy, a lack of appropriation of God’s Word, and therefore, a diminished witness for Christ.
This should not be! When family members don't pray, study, serve and play and together, they lose their intimacy and their sense of connectedness; their relationships stagnate [becoming apathetic], if this is left unchanged those relationships may grow cold, causing everyone to look out only for their own personal interests, instead of what is good for the whole family of God.
When concern for personal freedoms and comforts rise above our witness as Christians, and coming together for the purpose of praising, honoring, and worshipping the Lord, then we need to seek God’s forgiveness.
We must be diligent and determined in building up one another: in our homes, in our Church, in our Community, as we spur one another on toward love and good deeds; living more willfully and proactively as believers and followers of Christ, applying the whole counsel God's Word to our lives where others will see.
The world needs Jesus, and if you are a Christian, God’s Spirit (the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Christ) is in you; and you are to live for Him.
Galatians 2:20,
20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Read Romans 10:8-15…
8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”
Your birth into God’s family occurs when “you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, at that moment, you are saved; for with your heart you believe, resulting in righteousness, and with your mouth you confess, resulting in salvation, “for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
As Christians, we will experience pleasure and pain, victory and defeat, sorrow and joy, but God has promised and provided all we need to know Him, serve Him, and enjoy life on this earth, while trusting Him for our eternity in heaven.
As Christians, we are new creations, brothers and sisters in Christ, children of Almighty God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them.
As Christians we are called to serve God together, in His Church, His Body [of which Christ is the head and every Christian is a member of that body].
God's Word is clear that as Christians
(Ephesians 4:4-6),
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
we are members of one Body, and there is only one Lord, one Faith, one Spirit, one Baptism, one God and Father over all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior & Lord.
It is my sincere prayer today, that God's Spirit will encourage and exhort and convict each one of us, to become and to remain more deliberate about cultivating our relationship with God, God's Word, and God's people; so that we might influence this godless world for Christ.
May God be praised now and forever, Amen!
Pastor Mike
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