Crafted: A New Mind
During his talk on Sunday, Adrian spent some time looking at how we've died to our old selves and risen to a new life; a life with Jesus at the centre that’s found in him and revealed through him. It’s a theme that we've seen Paul keep coming back to in the book of Ephesians as we've worked through it over the past few months. In the three chapters so far, Paul has continuously sought to reveal the wonder of what this new life looks like - that because of what Jesus has done, our new identity is those who are:
CHOSEN, BLAMELESS & SHAMELESS
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (1:4)LOVED, PREDESTINED & ADOPTED
In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship… in accordance with his pleasure and will (1:5)REDEEMED & FORGIVEN
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (1:7)GIVEN PURPOSE
He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure (1:9)FILLED WITH POWER
and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms (1:19–20)ALIVE BY GRACE
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved (2:5)HIS HANDIWORK
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works (2:10)ACCEPTED
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ (2:13)BELONGING
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household (2:19)DWELLING TOGETHER
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (2:22)FREE & CONFIDENT
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence (3:12)LOVED
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge (3:19)UNIQUELY GIFTED
But to each one of us grace has been given (4:7)
This is the new reality that each of us get to live from - and all from only the first three chapters of Ephesians! It’s astonishing! If we were to look at other parts of the New Testament and the Old Testament, we’d find loads more passages expanding on what this new life looks like. Paul’s encouragement is to take care to live in the light of that, taking off the clothes of our old lives and putting on the truth of what we have in Jesus. The challenge from Sunday is to continuously ask ourselves these questions:
Do I know this reality?
How am I doing in living in this reality?
What do I need to do to live more in this reality?
Who do I need to help me?
