Knowing the Christ the right way

Ephesians 4:20-24

Key verse: 20 

“You however did not know Christ that way.”

Today we would like to take a break from John's gospel, and think about the purpose of studying John's gospel. In general the purpose is described in John 20:31 where the author says he wrote the gospel that by believing in Jesus Christ, we would have eternal life. 

Specifically then how does it work? How does one get eternal life by believing in Jesus? What are the mechanics? 

In today's passage we can find the answer to this question. Now, let us get down to the specifics: in regard to the way of salvation, in the first part of the book of Ephesians the author talks about what God calls us to be, that is, to gain Christ-likeness. Now in today's passage, the author talks about how the Lord enables the believers to be like our Lord Jesus. He laid down three basic points: first, the truth on the old self; second, the truth on the renewing of one's mind; and third, the truth on the new self. 

I. Put off your old self 

In the passage the Apostle says that the old self is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. 

For this reason he says we are to put off the old self, and put on the new self. 

We can easily understand this concept and apply this truth to us for our walk in the Lord, when we think about what we do all the time with our computers, for if one's computer like PC gets contaminated with a virus such as the Worm Virus which is self-replicating, the computer will not work properly until we remove the virus. Some viruses are not so bad, that using a virus removal program if you remove it, the computer will start running alright. But there are cases where the PC has gone corrupted so much that it is impossible to get the problem fixed up. In this case, you need to adopt drastic measures such as trashing the whole system.   

             

In many ways human being is like a computer. The soul called self works like a CPU, the central processing unit. 

If it gets corrupted, the way of one's life gets corrupted, just as it is seen in v. 20 where the former "way" of life is tied with the old "self". The self determines the way. Where self has gone wrong, it is inevitable that the way has to go wrong. 

This is important for all to know, for every human being has the desire to do what is right. But no matter how hard one tries unless one gets this old self replaced with what is uncorrupted, one remains eternally condemned to go from bad to worse. 

We see tons of examples of people like this. In the book of Genesis we meet a man named Jacob. How many of you do not know him? If you don't know him especially his 'struggles' to be right and do right in his relationship with his neighbors such as his twin brother, by all means read the book of Genesis. In regard to his 'struggles' to do what is right especially in terms of his relationship with the Lord and his brother Esau, the struggles he went through at the Jabbok River are phenomenal. [Read Genesis 32:22-26.] Think about Jacob doing a wrestling match all by himself throughout the night, until the daybreak! [I say all by himself because the man he was wrestling with was not a human wrestler, but an angel of God!] Wrestle, wrestle, wrestle! Struggle, struggle, struggle!! Sweat, sweat, sweat!!! You know how wrestling match goes. It really drains one’s energy.

However based on the passage for today you might already have figured out that you do not need to go through these struggles, for Jacob's struggles especially the struggle to "improve" himself was all on the wrong person/self! Jacob at the Jabbok River was like a man who struggles to fix an old PC NOT knowing that it has gone incorrigibly corrupted.

The angel of the Lord knew this better so as Jacob asked him to bless him, the man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob" he replied. That was it! Jacob represents "the old person who is getting worse because of the deceitful desires!" The Apostle Paul said the same thing: "with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires..." So what did the angel do? He said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel.” The angel said in effect, “Here is a new self. Take off the old one, and put this on. Then you will do just fine.” 

When Jesus came to the land of Israel about 2000 plus years ago, he met another man struggling on the wrong person, that is, Nicodemus. Knowing that the old self is only going to be corrupted by its deceitful desires, on seeing him Jesus said, "You must be born again." This was the call to put off the old self and be ready to put on the new self Jesus was about to give.  

Before we proceed to the next point, I would like to point out one thing which I think is very relevant to many of us. I have to point this out for not many seem clear about this. And the point is that if you are the so-called "born-again" Christian, you have already been endowed with the "brand new self", and yet it is very possible that you still work with the old self. You let the new self go idle. You work hard to improve upon the old self. You do not want to live a double life. So you struggle. But still you end up doing what you do not want to do. Why? What is wrong with you? Nothing is wrong with you except that you are working on the wrong self - the old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. Remember that the Apostle Paul was talking to the Ephesians “believers”! Once upon a time Paul went there, collected some disciples about 12 of them, and prayed for them. He helped them to receive the Holy Spirit! He then put them through intensive Bible studies for two long years at the lecture hall of Tyrannus! Then Paul left the church. Later Paul learned that some of them, if not all of them, struggled with problems such as sexual immorality. 

Out of a broken shepherd's heart, Paul reminded them of what they were taught, that is, they were not supposed to struggle to improve on their old self, but rather to put off the old self. Paul knew that a church going person will end up living a double life, not because the gospel is ineffective but because of that person NOT knowing the doctrine of "new birth". The old has gone, the new IS come. This is the first and foremost important step towards the resurrected life in the Lord. 

Part II. New attitude of mind

The dilemma though is that not all people are willing to let go of what is old and let the new come in. They are like a man who enjoys old wine for after tasting old wine he does not want to take the new wine saying, "the old wine tastes better".  

The Lord understands our dilemma, so he came up with the solution, that is, the renewal in the attitude of our minds. When Jesus came he taught this concept to a man named Nicedomus saying, "You must be born again." Nicodemus was puzzled so he asked, "How can this be?" Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." The Apostle Paul speaks of the same transaction for the word “attitude” [pronounced in Greek neuma] is synonymous with 'spirit', 'disposition', 'influence', or ‘movement of air’. The word "mind" serves as the intellectual faculty coming with the ability to understand or reason. So by sending His Spirit, God opens one’s spiritual eyes so his children can understand what is good and what is bad on all aspects of his person. 

“You were taught to be made ‘new’ in the attitude of your minds.” It has been said, “Man’s heart represents the vessel to hold God, his mind works as the vessel to hold man, and man’s body as the container for the physical structure.” The distinction among heart, mind, and body corresponds to the way the Lord’s temple is designed, that is, the holy of holies, the holy place, and the courtyard. The holy of holies corresponds to man’s heart, the holy place, to one’s mind, and the courtyard, to man’s body. Now, as man’s heart is influenced by the Spirit of God, man’s mind gets renewed. Then, one is ‘disposed’ (or inclined) to go for what is good for life, that is, living as the new creation, ready to put on the new self, becoming one with the Lord. This process takes place through one getting taught by a man with God’s Spirit. In case of the Ephesians the Lord sent the Apostle Paul. And the process took not just one or two months or years, but as an ongoing basis. The members got taught once, but since they forgot, the Apostle is reminding them again. That is why he wrote the book of Ephesians even while the Apostle was seated in a prison cell in Rome. 

Part III. Put on the new self

The third step to consider is putting on the new self. Repenting of one's sins is one thing, receiving the grace of sin forgiveness is still one thing, and putting on the new self is still another. These transactions do not take place all at the same time. For example, although one tasted the grace of sin-forgiveness, still one might go with what is old, neglecting the new person the Lord has blessed him with. So in order to go for what is new, one must take an action, that is, put on the new self. It is just like one gets up in the morning and wears a new set of clothes before going out to work! 

This new self is dubbed as 'created' indicating that it is from God. This is important to note, for all that are made by God is perfect. The sinful old self is man-made as it was contaminated by the world whose ruler is still the Satan the master of the art of deception. 

Speaking of the Lord’s work of creation, Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

The new creation (or new self) has brand new features, that is, the capability to be "like" God in true righteousness and holiness. 

Here when we talk about righteousness a lot of people entertain a lot of different ideas. But functionally it refers to the state of a man who is uniquely qualified to get into a life giving relationship with God. The term holiness is the fruit of the life that remains connected with God. 

Last Sunday we studied John's gospel where Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." Practically then, what keeps man qualified for and enjoy the resurrected "life" is the quality called righteousness resulting in holiness. Without these qualities you cannot participate in the "resurrected life" for the Bible says, “Without holiness no one will see God.” (Read also Proverbs 12:28.) 

In the book of Isaiah, the Prophet Isaiah saw the other side of the coin, when he said in Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. “ Isaiah associated our ‘righteousness’ with a dead ‘leaf’. As a man remains disconnected from God, he may try to do what is right. But still as his life is dictated by the old sinful self, he remains disconnected from the Lord, so he ends up shriveling up like a fallen leaf. 

So putting on the new self is not just another good idea. It is the only way for us to participate in the "resurrected life." Remember that at the outset of today's worship we talked about what we are called to become, and how we are called to become. 

To repeat, we are called to mature to be a Christ-like person (4:13,15; 5:32; 2Co 3:18; Romans 8:29; Gen 1:26). This is a daring call. Yet, God never asks his children to do anything without first providing them with the means to fulfill what is required of them. So to facilitate us to attain what we are to be, for those who repent and turn to Him, and accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior, he grants each of them a NEW Self which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness! So Paul says "You were taught to put on the new self." 

Now we are told to take off old self and put on the new self 'daily'. But this line is misleading. Once you put off what is to put off, "NEVER" put it back on! When you put on the new self, never put it off again! And it is you and me who ought to stick to this decision. 

In conclusion, our Lord Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." John 21:31 says by believing in Jesus we have eternal life. By definition, “eternal” means the life with Jesus for good. This is just like a marriage life between husband and wife. Now, if it is a marriage life that lasts eternally, and if our life here on earth in a physical body is a journey to this eternal marriage life in the Lord in his eternal kingdom, one thing ought to take place during our journey for sure: that is, to attain to Jesus' likeness, for without it, how can you expect to live a husband who is NOT like you? And for this purpose, he has given each of us a brand new self, created to be like the Son! And this is the right way to know Jesus Christ. 

One word: knowing the Christ the right way