In the busyness of this time of the semester I forgot to post the power point presentations for the remaining part of Ephesians we will be covering. Here they are below for your reference:
Ephesians Chapter Five
Ephesians Chapter Five and Six
Ephesians Chapter Six
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Week Six Wrap Up Wednesday November 5, 2014
It was nice to get back into Ephesians this past Wednesday and begin looking at the later half of the letter. As we saw, Paul's encouragement is to live in light of the great vision of the Father who gives all spiritual blessings and has rescued us in Christ and given us a new humanity. Paul will now work out practically what that looks like as we live as God's community.
We immediately saw that Paul spoke clearly about the reality of our being humble, kind, gentle, patient and putting up with one another maintaining the Spirit of unity. As we journey together - Paul uses the analogy of walking - we support one another and orient ourselves according to the new humanity that Paul outlined in the first three chapters. Paul points out that we are to be patient with each other as we now grow into what we are in Christ. That means that we focus on maturing and growing together into a body that reflects Jesus in all we do. Our leaders give gifts to us that equip us with maturity and they, along with us, grow with the community until we all reach the fullness of what God desires.
In light of what Paul says here, a good question came up about one of the statements Jesus makes in chapter 5 of Matthew in his sermon on the Mount. In verse 48 Jesus says, "Be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect." NIV. The context of this verse is very important and actually lines up with what Paul says in chapter 4 and 5 of Ephesians. If you read further up into chapter 5 of Matthew, what we find is Jesus encouraging those listening to shine their light. What that light looks like is described in the beatitudes - blessed are the poor, those that mourn, those that are peacemakers. He encourages those listening that their righteousness needs to exceed that of the Pharisees. In other words not a righteousness on the outside - through ritual observance, but an internal righteousness of heart. He then points out that this outlook demands more than just what the Jewish law allows. So we have the encouragement to love our enemies, not lust in our hearts after others, give generously. These are not things that come by nature to us in our fallen humanity but are a reality for God the Father and are things that we need to strive for. The example of just one of these statements will show that it will take a life time to learn how to love like this. "But I tell you love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you." When you realize that Jesus is encouraging the Jews who are listening to love the Romans - then you know that this is not natural at all and they will need divine help to be able to do this.
Now in light of the context of chapter 5, some of our translations fail us with how they translate verse 48 quoted above. The word for "perfect" is the Greek word "telos" which actually refers to the concept of completion. The form of the verb "to be" that telos is paired with is in the future tense. That means that to interpret accurately what Jesus says as Matthew writes it is to translate this as "you will be complete as your Father in heaven is complete." This is not a state of being in an immediate sense but rather a state of becoming - more and more each day - like our Father in heaven. The word telos also is used in regard to the "end" in terms of a final result in the future. So really what Jesus is saying to the Jews of his day is that unlike how they have been going about being God's people by following the outward ritual of the law, they need a change on the inside and that only comes to those who understand their present position - poor, mournful, weak, in need of God and his help. In order to reach the righteousness Jesus talks about, which to be honest I think is a daily giving ourselves over to Him to help us do what Jesus describes is the character of such righteousness, we need to strive for it continually since it is something that will come in the end - the telos!
One of the best translations of the actual intent of this verse is by Eugene Peterson in the Message - "In a word, what I'm saying is Grow Up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God created identity. Live generously toward others the way God lives toward you." As you can see by this understanding, Paul actually compliments what Jesus says in Matthew 5 by encouraging us to live in light of our new humanity - and let it shine so that we express who God our Father is and engage relationships like He does. That is going to mean a gentle, slow but consistent maturing. The Pharisees thought they had arrived and had mastered being God's people and Jesus raised the bar so that the understanding is that an internal change is necessary if we want to be like our Father. That change results in a process of growing up - a working toward completion - becoming what we are in the new humanity that Jesus has given us. The final completion, or the state of being perfect, as some translations choose to translate telos, has bound up in it our death; death to our fallen humanity. Jesus' glorified humanity assures us that this telos/perfection/completion will come when we are fully transformed into our glorified humanity -as Christ is in the future resurrection. C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, puts it this way,
"Those who put themselves in His [Jesus] hands will become perfect, as He is perfect - perfect in love, wisdom, joy, beauty, and immortality. The change will not be completed in this life, for death is an important part of the treatment. How far the change will have gone before death in any particular Christian is uncertain."
We immediately saw that Paul spoke clearly about the reality of our being humble, kind, gentle, patient and putting up with one another maintaining the Spirit of unity. As we journey together - Paul uses the analogy of walking - we support one another and orient ourselves according to the new humanity that Paul outlined in the first three chapters. Paul points out that we are to be patient with each other as we now grow into what we are in Christ. That means that we focus on maturing and growing together into a body that reflects Jesus in all we do. Our leaders give gifts to us that equip us with maturity and they, along with us, grow with the community until we all reach the fullness of what God desires.
In light of what Paul says here, a good question came up about one of the statements Jesus makes in chapter 5 of Matthew in his sermon on the Mount. In verse 48 Jesus says, "Be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect." NIV. The context of this verse is very important and actually lines up with what Paul says in chapter 4 and 5 of Ephesians. If you read further up into chapter 5 of Matthew, what we find is Jesus encouraging those listening to shine their light. What that light looks like is described in the beatitudes - blessed are the poor, those that mourn, those that are peacemakers. He encourages those listening that their righteousness needs to exceed that of the Pharisees. In other words not a righteousness on the outside - through ritual observance, but an internal righteousness of heart. He then points out that this outlook demands more than just what the Jewish law allows. So we have the encouragement to love our enemies, not lust in our hearts after others, give generously. These are not things that come by nature to us in our fallen humanity but are a reality for God the Father and are things that we need to strive for. The example of just one of these statements will show that it will take a life time to learn how to love like this. "But I tell you love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you." When you realize that Jesus is encouraging the Jews who are listening to love the Romans - then you know that this is not natural at all and they will need divine help to be able to do this.
Now in light of the context of chapter 5, some of our translations fail us with how they translate verse 48 quoted above. The word for "perfect" is the Greek word "telos" which actually refers to the concept of completion. The form of the verb "to be" that telos is paired with is in the future tense. That means that to interpret accurately what Jesus says as Matthew writes it is to translate this as "you will be complete as your Father in heaven is complete." This is not a state of being in an immediate sense but rather a state of becoming - more and more each day - like our Father in heaven. The word telos also is used in regard to the "end" in terms of a final result in the future. So really what Jesus is saying to the Jews of his day is that unlike how they have been going about being God's people by following the outward ritual of the law, they need a change on the inside and that only comes to those who understand their present position - poor, mournful, weak, in need of God and his help. In order to reach the righteousness Jesus talks about, which to be honest I think is a daily giving ourselves over to Him to help us do what Jesus describes is the character of such righteousness, we need to strive for it continually since it is something that will come in the end - the telos!
One of the best translations of the actual intent of this verse is by Eugene Peterson in the Message - "In a word, what I'm saying is Grow Up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God created identity. Live generously toward others the way God lives toward you." As you can see by this understanding, Paul actually compliments what Jesus says in Matthew 5 by encouraging us to live in light of our new humanity - and let it shine so that we express who God our Father is and engage relationships like He does. That is going to mean a gentle, slow but consistent maturing. The Pharisees thought they had arrived and had mastered being God's people and Jesus raised the bar so that the understanding is that an internal change is necessary if we want to be like our Father. That change results in a process of growing up - a working toward completion - becoming what we are in the new humanity that Jesus has given us. The final completion, or the state of being perfect, as some translations choose to translate telos, has bound up in it our death; death to our fallen humanity. Jesus' glorified humanity assures us that this telos/perfection/completion will come when we are fully transformed into our glorified humanity -as Christ is in the future resurrection. C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, puts it this way,
"Those who put themselves in His [Jesus] hands will become perfect, as He is perfect - perfect in love, wisdom, joy, beauty, and immortality. The change will not be completed in this life, for death is an important part of the treatment. How far the change will have gone before death in any particular Christian is uncertain."
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