Living in Reality
Reality TV has been very popular in American culture. People seem to enjoy watching how other people live and face problems in life and interact with other people they may be forced to live with at least for the time of the program. Reality depends on your point of view toward life. There is a great difference between the reality of a Christian and that of a non Christian. Tonight I want to look at Paul’s introductory remarks to the church in Ephesus and talk about the reality of life from a Christian perspective.
Ephesians 1: 1, 2: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
#1 The Reality of Identity, Purpose and Mission
Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God
Paul was called by God to a position in his body. An Apostle was one who was sent out on a mission. Paul identified himself with Christ, he was possessed by Christ. Paul was one of the original “Jesus Freaks”. His life was consumed by Christ, everything he did in life was for him, his life was no longer his own. He was completely devoted to Christ. Our true identity is found in Christ alone.
Paul was gifted to be an Apostle. Each person is valuable to God, each person has special gifting and abilities given by God to serve his purposes, and complete his will. Life on earth is all about fulfilling God’s will, knowing what mission he has given you and what he wants you to do.
What is your calling and your mission? What has God placed within you to serve his purposes?
George Muller spent the early years of his life reveling in sin. He was a very intelligent man but completely lost in regards to salvation. His life changed radically when he attending a home meeting of Christians in which they read the Bible, sang some hymns, prayed and then read a printed sermon. When they prayed George’s heart was moved as he listened to a man who was much less educated than he was pray on his knees in such a profound way. Muller said this about his life, “At a time when I was as careless about Him as ever, He sent His Spirit into my heart. I had no Bible and had not read one for years. I went to church but seldom; but, from custom, I took the Lord’s Supper twice a year. I had never heard the gospel preached. I had never met with a person who told me that he meant, by the help of God, to live according to the Holy Scriptures. In short, I had not the least idea that there were any persons really different from myself.”
It was at this home study that George met believers who were real in their pursuit of God, who worshipped him and prayed earnestly to him and demonstrated what it meant to be a Christian. It was at this meeting that God met George Muller and filled his life with peace and joy. Muller was never the same man after this meeting.
While pursing studies in divinity his passion for prayer and study of the Word grew stronger. He lived in an Orphan House built by A.H. Franke for a couple of months and it was here that he learned about the great work Franke had done to reach out to orphans and depend upon God to supply for all his needs. God used the life story of A.H.Franke to plant a seed in the heart of George Muller which later became his mission in life and that was to minister to orphans. He discovered his mission according to the will of God and pursued it his whole life and left a legacy of miracles of God’s provision and faithfulness that is an inspiration to believers today.
God has something for each one of us to do to fulfill his purposes. It may take some time for you to discover exactly what that is but know for sure that God has a plan and a purpose for your life. Paul could clearly state, “Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” There was no doubting or uncertainty of what God had called him to be and do. He was not wishy washy in trying to describe what God had given him to do. This should be the norm for all us a certainty of our calling and a knowing of what God’s will is for us so we will not waste time, waver, shrink back or give up when we face challenging times and situations.
#2 The Reality of a Spiritual world
Paul’s letter was addressed to the saints in Ephesus. These were people who were dear to Paul. He spent a good amount of time ministering to these believers during his missionary journeys. He saw them as God saw them, “saints”. A saint is one who is set apart for service to God. God views us as saints, holy ones, set apart ones who serve Him. This is how we also need to view each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all set apart from this world and its pursuit of sin. We are called to a life of holiness, separation unto the Lord in service to his will. It does not mean we are perfect, sinless people but it does mean that we are endeavoring with the help of God to be different, to not be conformed to the world but transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to be like Christ. The believers in Ephesus lived in a culture that worshipped the goddess Diana. A huge temple, one of the 7 wonders of the world was built to honor her and the economy was driven by the manufacture of many idols of her. Ephesus was a city dominated by the worship of Diana. Every aspect of life was influenced by the worship of Diana. Paul ministered in this city for 3 years, confronting the darkness of the spiritual world with the power of the gospel demonstrated through signs and unusual miracles. The Ephesian believers were well aware of the 2 different spiritual worlds. They saw the power of God defeating the power of the demonic forces. When Paul addressed them as saints he was referring to how they were set apart to God and not to the demonic forces that were worshipped in Ephesus. We too are set apart from the forces of darkness and we are called to do battle against them. We live in a spiritual world and as Paul would later state in the letter to the Ephesian church, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities…” This is the real battle ground for the believer. It is not personalities but principalities that are our true enemy. As saints we are called into the battle to destroy all the works of the enemy. Our ability to do this is based in our relationship with Christ. If we are not living lives separated from the world we are powerless over the enemy. The seven sons of Sceva are great examples of people who thought they could use the name of Jesus without surrendering their lives to him and the devil sent them running. Paul was known in hell because he lived a life separated unto the Lord. He ministered in the power of the Lord. While I was in India a few months ago I saw the reality of the spiritual world more clearly than I ever have in my life. I saw demon possessed people who were controlled by the demons who inhabited their bodies. I heard voices that were not the voices of the people speaking through them. Many people were frightened by the manifestations of the demons. The Name of Jesus was more powerful than the demons and these people were set free. We may not see the same manifestations here but the reality is that the devil is in control of many peoples’ lives through a variety of means. Sunday afternoon I witness the tourist police wrestling with a young man. A large crowd had gathered to watch what was happening. I really did not pay much attention but walked by and began talking to a couple that I know. As we were talking the police had the young man handcuffed and they were walking toward us. I recognized the young man and he called out my name and said something about what had happened but I could not understand. What I did understand it that here is a young man who has been offered help by many people but has refused and gone the way of the world selling and doing drugs. He is under the power of the devil’s devices and vices and until he surrenders his life to Christ he will always be in bondage to a power that is greater than him. He is one among many people who live under the power of the evil one and most of them do not realize what is happening. As saints of God we must live lives separated unto the Lord and engage in the battles that are going on daily in the spiritual realm. How conscious are you of what is happening in the spiritual realm? Are you fighting against the principalities or struggling with your own flesh and taking yourself out of the battle?
#3 The Reality of Satisfaction found in God
I like how Paul describes the church, “Faithful in Christ Jesus”. The church was marked by faithfulness or loyalty to Christ and lives that are hidden in Christ. Faithfulness is a description of the servant Jesus told about who received his reward from his master. “Well done good and faithful servant.” The Ephesians were known for their loyalty to Christ. We live in a day when unfaithfulness seems to be the norm for many people. We see children abandoned by parents who are unfaithful to care for them but spend their money and time pursuing things that destroy the family. Last week when I took Ana to the doctor in Guatemala we passed by a man who was laying drunk on the sidewalk in front of a cantina. Manuel remarked that this man is there every day passed out. Later when I returned from the doctor, the man was still laying there. When I dropped them off at their home there were 2 precious little girls at their humble home and I was told that the man laying drunk was their father. The girls said their dad has not been home for 2 months, has not worked in 2 months and sleeps on the sidewalk at night. There are 6 other children in the family plus their mom who are suffering because of the unfaithfulness of a husband and father to take care of his family. As believers in Christ we will be challenged in the area of faithfulness to the Lord. We too can be drawn away by many vices and turn away from following Christ. We all have areas of weakness and temptation that tests our loyalty to the Lord. One night I met a believer in the park who had been drinking and was not in very good condition. My heart went out to him as I know he has struggled in this area and fallen away from the Lord. When he came up to me his first words were, “I am not doing very good.” He said his weakness was women, they drove him to drink! The truth was that he was unable to control his lust and chose to drink to try to help him overcome. Not a good solution at all. I told him he needed to go home, go to bed, seek the Lord’s forgiveness and start over the next day by seeking the Lord and finding his true satisfaction in Christ. Dr. Larry Crabb has a course called, “Soul Care.” He believes that when we are dealing with people who are struggling with problems we have to give them a compelling vision of what they could be or become.
“Effective SoulCare arouses an appetite for God, such that in the middle of life's struggles the person actually is aware of their longing to know God, to glorify God, to please God, to enjoy God—an appetite that is already there because of the Gospel. And an appetite that, at least potentially, is stronger than all other appetites. That is the first goal of SoulCare—to arouse an appetite for God—one that is already there because of the Gospel in a Christian, an appetite that literally is stronger than all other appetites.
The second goal of Effective Soul care is: “to provoke a consuming experience of God that reduces all other appetites from demands to desires, to second things not to first things.”
When our appetite for God is greater than our appetite for other things then we will find our satisfaction in God and faithfulness and loyalty to him will follow. If you are struggling with faithfulness and loyalty with God you need to have a vision of what your life could be like if you had a greater appetite for God than for the things that draw you away. You were created to enjoy God, to be completely satisfied in a relationship with him and it is possible for that to happen in each one of our lives. You can experience God is a much more profound and intimate way, one that will truly bring joy and satisfaction. All the elements of being a Christian such as: worship, witnessing, giving, devotional time, fellowship, prayer etc will not be viewed as a burden or heavy requirement but will be seen as a delight to you and you will desire to do them because of the joy it brings to you.
#4 The Reality of God’s Intervention of Grace and Peace
Paul ends his introduction or salutation by pronouncing “grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Two of the greatest things we have as believers are grace and peace. Grace is gift of God’s favor upon us. Grace is getting something from God that we do not deserve; he just gives it to us because he loves us. John Newton was a wicked man, a slave trader who one day recognized his need for God and for his forgiveness. He wrote “Amazing Grace” out of a heart of gratitude for what God had done for him that he did not deserve. The reality is we all are in need of God’s grace. None of us deserve anything but God’s judgment and justice. God would be just in sending each one of us to hell. This is hard for people to accept because we live among many people who think they are not that bad, that they have not done anything to deserve death or worse being banished to hell. They do not understand the holiness of God nor his justice. I do not want to serve a God who is unjust, who allows one sin to go unpunished. Often we want the sin of someone who has harmed us to be punished while we do not want our own sins to be punished; we want mercy not justice for ourselves. God is righteous and just in all his ways. He always acts in justice, he always does what is right and we can be thankful that he does not change and that he is no respecter of persons. The issue we all must face is that we think we deserve grace and mercy. Grace and mercy are gifts from God, if we deserved them they would no longer be gifts. R.C. Sproul in his book entitled, The Holiness of God, stated the following: “We often blame God for the injustices done to us and harbor in our souls the bitter feeling that God has not been fair toward us. Even if we recognize that He is gracious we think He has not been gracious enough. We deserve more grace…It is impossible for anyone, anywhere, anytime to deserve grace…Grace by definition is underserved…God never “owes” grace.” God’s grace is amazing. His grace has provided for my salvation. I could never do anything to take away my sin and punishment. God’s justice demands punishment but by his grace he has provided Christ as the one who took my punishment so that his justice could be met. His grace, his undeserved favor, has been given to me through Christ. The reality for the believer is that God has intervened to provide our salvation through His grace extended to us in Christ. We did not deserve it, yet because of his love for us he has made a way for us to be eternally saved from the punishment of our sin. God’s grace is always at work in our lives. His favor lasts for a lifetime. He is always giving us things we do not deserve. God has given us grace for salvation but he also gives us grace to face every difficulty and trial in our life. Grace is God’s ability working in us. His grace is always enough for every situation we face. We need it and he freely gives it to us.
The final thing Paul pronounces is peace from God. Peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Peace is the tranquility that we have in our inner being. For the believer we can live in a reality of God’s peace dwelling in us. We can have peace because we know he is in control, we can cast all our cares upon him and rest in him, confident that he will work all things together for his good. In the midst of the storms of life we can have inner peace. Anxiety, fretting, unrest, worry are not meant to be a part of our lives. God’s peace can rule in our hearts and we can live with calmness in our spirits that God has all things under his control. Corrie Ten Boom who was imprisoned for being a Jew during WWII and experience many trying times made this statement, “Don’t wrestle, just nestle.” When we draw near to God and nestle in Him, his peace invades our hearts. Her advice is still good for today as we face trying times. We need God’s peace to rule in our hearts.
Are you living in the reality of the Christian life? Is your life truly one that others could examine and say that you are truly living in the reality of what it means to be a Christian?
