THE MESSENGER OF PEACE
By Lay Pastor Budi Avianto
Lemah Putro, Sunday, January 7, 2018
Shalom,
Preceded by the Christmas message “Born to Make Us One” (Ephesians 2:17-18), the end-of-year sermon 2017 took up the Letter to the Ephesians.
On this occasion, we would like to learn fom Ephesians 1: 1-2, “From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!”
The Apostle penned this letter while he was imprisoned in Rome. Despite his plight, he remembered the church in Ephesus that he had ministered to for three years (Acts 20:31). This shows an emotionally close relationship between a shepherd and his sheep.
In his letter, he introduced himself as an apostle (a messenger) of Jesus Christ, not out of his own will but rather out of God’s will. Typically, a messenger carries a message from one institution or person to another. An ambassador to a foreign country, for example, exercises his full authority on behalf of his own country or kingdom. As a messenger of Christ, Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That’s why his letter alongside the other 65 books is included in the Bible and canonized as the Word of God.
Because the Apostle Paul was commisioned by God – the Creator of the universe, the King of kings and the Ruler of the Kingdom of God – He imparted all of His power to him. In this way, the Letter to the Ephesians imparts its power if we read and take it as the Word of God.
In fact, the Lord commisoned not only the Apostle Paul but also all of us. We are all His messengers.
What makes a God-chosen messenger of Jesus Christ?
We no longer live for ourselves / our self-interest, but rather for Him who died for us (2 Corinthians 5: 15).
God knew that man, His creation, was on the way to condemnation due to the sin of disobedience. Thanks to His love, He sent His only Son to the world to die for us. Having set us free from all kinds of sin by His death and resurrection, He wants us to live for Him like Paul who bluntly shouted, ”For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me .... ” (Philippians 1: 21-22).
We are new creations in Him (2 Corinthians 5: 17-21).
Once we lived in sin, but we were reconciled and justified by the death and resurrection of Jesus. → the Altar of Burnt Offerings.
Next, He keeps sanctifying us until we become new creations totally clear of the desires of the flesh that tend to satisfy our own will. → the Laver
Via rebirth, we are filled with the Holy Spirit to live as messengers and as priests who serve Him.
What is the condition of a messenger like?
A messenger has a specific position (Ephesians 4: 11) conforming to the ability / talent that God has granted to him (1 Corinthians 12: 4-10).
Our duty as messengers of Christ is to proclaim the Gospel of salvation to those close to us – husband, wife, children and siblings. Later we shift our attention to our relatives and friends at school or work. To win a soul, we can witness without words since we are letters of Christ open for others to read (2 Corinthians 3:3).
If we are truly the messengers of God, the message we convey has power because He does not give His Spirit sparingly (John 3: 34). One thing is sure: The Word of God first transforms us before others see us.
A messenger is not limited to any condition whatsoever (free or imprisoned, strong or weak, poor or rich, eduacted or uneducated, etc.). That’s why do not refuse to be His messenger, making up one thousand and one excuses. The Apostle demonstrated that he managed to keep his post as a messenger of God even in prison where he led the jailer and his whole family to repentance (Acts 16: 25-34).
A messenger must first be reconciled with God since no one is good and righteous, but everyone has sinned (Romans 3: 10, 12, 23). Having lived and preached the Kingdom of God in Ephesus, Paul knew the characters of the Ephesians. Some of them were stubborn and even reviled the way of God so that Paul left them.
The reality is that churchgoers who regularly hear the Word of God do not automatically undergo life transformations as they cherry-pick the sermons that fit in best with their heart’s desires. It is, in fact, a matter of grace that applies to someone is open to a reprimand by the Word of sanctification so as to transform his old ways. If he turns it down and prefers to cling to his sinful lifestyle, the chances are that his heart wil get hardened. This will bring about a separation, meaning that there is no fellowship.
What causes a hardened heart and makes it allergic to transformations?
- Sin’s deception (Hebrews 3: 13) that causes death (Romans 6: 23)
Didn’t Adam and Eve fall into sin due to the serpent’s deception (Genesis 3: 1-7)?
- Anger that overwhelms the heart (Hebrews 3: 15)
A messenger of God (the right one) may deliver a sermon that includes some advice, a warning or even a reprimand, but never welcome the Word with an angry heart just because you feel it is being addressed to you.
- Disbelief (Hebrews 3: 19)
By performing one miracle after another, God took care of the Israelites in the wilderness for 4 decades, but they failed to enter the Promised Land because they disbelieved God’s promise.
Why was the need of messengers in Ephesus so urgent?
Because seven exorcists (children of a Jewish high priest) roamed down the streets, using the name of the Lord (Acts 19: 13-14) while they were not the messengers of God. As a consequence, they experienced public humiliation.
Stay on your guard because the practice of witchcraft can creep into those who call themselves followers of Christ. Quite many take the wine of the Holy Communion for an elixir. Others commercialize anointing oil and the list goes on and on. Follow in the footsteps of the believers in Berea who eagerly examined the Scriptures to double-check the truth preached about (Acts 17: 11).
It is noteworthy that the Word of God never fails although there are people who reject it (Acts 19: 18-21) because the Word has power to bring people to their senses and lead them to repentance so that they will turn their backs on their sinful deeds.
Because idolatry misled a great number of people not only in Ephesus but in most parts of Asia as well (Acts 19: 26-28).
The idol worship of the godess Artemis was in the long run related to money (Mamon) due to the the failing business of silver trinkets of Artemis shrine (vv. 24-27).
Mamon can be an idol intercepting our relationship with God. Who do we choose? God or Mamon? We cannot worship two masters because we will eventually hate one and love the other (Matthew 6: 24). Keep in mind that God is a jealous God (Genesis 34: 14) since He redeemed us to be His own and to make us His Bride.
Who are the idol worshippers? Apart from Mammon worshippers, the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy and so on, all belong to those practicing idolatry and will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6: 9-11). With this in mind, we need constant sanctification since the “offspring” of this sin of idolatry is quite numerous.
Admittedly, only the Word of Christ is able to make people believe / have faith and live a holy life. But this costs multiple challenges to face like what happened to the Apostle Paul (Acts 20: 18-21) who did ministry in humility both in the Temple and at people’s homes. Paul did not stop sharing what the Lord had instructed him to do (vv. 31-32).
God’s Word is able to make people believe and sanctify them so that they will stay alert to face the evil days because the devil is never “asleep.” On the contrary, he even works harder like never before to attract as many children of God as possible to be his followers (vv. 25-30).
We need to stay connected with the Word of God to keep our faith stronger and stronger. On top of that, we must stay on our guard against the wolves in sheep’s clothing that make efforts to mislead us with their false teachings.
Given the threatening dangers, we must put on the full armor of God to fight off the rulers in the heavens, particularly toward the advent of His coming. Since the devil knows that he does not have much time left, he does his very best to chase and mislead the children of God. On the other
hand, the Word of God is revealed more than ever before. As a result, there are two forces of power: The evil/filthy will be more evil/filthier whereas the holy will continue to be holy (Revelation 22: 11).
Christ is the parameter of righteousness (1 John 3: 7) and holiness (1 John 3: 3) while God the Father who is perfect is the ultimate standard of perfection (Matthew 5: 48).
To put it another way, God wants us to boost our spiritual lives. To confront sin that hampers our spiritual progress, He provides the means and messengers that we should benefit to the fullest. The question is whether or not we will make good use of His provisions so that we will be found without blemish upon His return and we will fellowship with Him forever and ever.
God desires to be with us all the time (Ephesians 1: 2) until the moment comes when we are united in Christ as the Head of everything (vv. 9-10). Unity starts with something “small,” namely, household. The Lord wants us to be more than conquerors when He returns. We, the Body of Christ, will be united with Him as the Head. In this way, the unity of those in Heaven and those on earth will come to pass. A m e n.
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New English Translation (NET Bible)